Never heard of ‘identity formation’? I do know Jung’s ‘Individuation’ though. Perhaps you could look into that? Jung was pretty ahead of his time and very insightful (ignore the new age label some like to slap on him though!)

I'll get back to you soon. Im feeling a bit manic and need some much needed sleep. But, please feel free to ask whatever questions you have in regards to the OP and I'll try my best to get back to you pronto.

Cheers.

I don’t really have any questions. You seem to be the one asking right?

I just googled the term and ‘individuation’ is apparently a ‘type’ of ‘identity formation’. I’m not familiar with the latter term so you can expand on it if you want to.

As for Jungian psychology what is probably the most prominent point is the Shadow. I would rightly recommend reading Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious for further insight into what this process is all about.

I would add that whatever you need is dependent upon what kind of personality you have. I’m a big introvert (most are ambiverts). Jung appeals to many people, but I’d say especially to people leaning more toward the ‘introvert’ side. If you’re an leaning hard to ‘extrovert’ then that may be a problem. First place to start would be with a simple personality test (OCEAN not the make-belief Mills-Briggs voodoo). From there you can at least begin to gauge what is going on - if you’re able to be honest enough with yourself (an extremely difficult task; more so than people are willing to believe!).

Jung certainly paid close attention to Nietzsche’s work. If Nietzsche’s stuff strikes a cord with you then Jung should too. Nietzsche is easily misinterpreted though. It helped me a great deal by starting with his first work and getting a better grasp of Aristotle and Plato to understand that first work - things like Beyond Good and Evil take on a new meaning when you see where he was coming from.

Also, perhaps you remember me relating the buddhist ‘attitude’ as mirroring the nihilistic ‘attitude’? I can talk readily about that as it is my own observation/theory of the psychological factors involved. They both possess at attitude of ‘denial of self’ for sure - I find the darker one a little more ‘honest’, but potentially just as dangerous. If you look into ancient Greek history and ‘poetry’ competitions you’ll certainly spot what Nietzsche was referring to regarding the Apolline and Dionysian attitudes - reflected in Jungian psychology especially (and psychology and politics in general - the good ol’ Order and Chaos, Ying and Yang, or Barong and Rangda business).

My personal focus has currently shifted to more artistic and mathematical areas so I’m not exactly overly willing to jump into this too deeply tbh.

Anyway, if you come across any papers or studies I’d love to see them.

I think it’s a good idea to get back to basics in terms of identity because, as you imply, we sometimes adopt perhaps unnecessary identities over time. These can becomes superfluous at best, and cause for tribalism at worst.

I always like to go back to my first identity, my name, and try to remain there for as long as possible. It doesn’t imply some allegiance or membership in a group, but to a single individual.

https://youtu.be/vdVXqG4pqg4