Simultaneous salience of multiple identities

Establish a quantitative definition of identity salience and determine under what conditions multiple social identity dimensions are simultaneously salient in shaping tie formation, rather than operating via a single-dimension salience hierarchy.

Background

Social psychology has long discussed identity salience and often posited hierarchies where one dimension dominates behavior in a given context. However, when and how multiple identities can be jointly salient remains insufficiently characterized.

The authors highlight the lack of a quantitative definition of salience and point to the unresolved question of simultaneous salience. Their modeling framework proposes operationalizations via departures from neutrality and model selection, but the broader theoretical question persists.