When Work Becomes Identity:

Some Notes:

Why do some people seem so strongly intertwined with their profession, in a way that the profession can hardly be separated from them?

With other people, such a fit or interweaving seems hardly to exist.

I recall a remark by @datepsych that many people tend to define themselves much more by their beliefs or assumptions, rather than by what they actually do. Yet, in the end, it is what one does that really counts. After all, adopting or presenting a particular belief can be done with relatively little effort. But to truly be able to do something, to acquire some deeper skills, always requires effort.

I also remember Colin DeYoung’s distinction between characteristic adaptations and personality traits. For example, if I practice a profession over several years, I acquire new and potentially important characteristic adaptations, even though my personality traits hardly change in the process.

And finally, general learning ability probably plays a role in how much someone can become intertwined with his profession—that is, how much knowledge and skill a person can acquire in a given field.