The state's propensity to assign individuals identities through voter registration lists and
social security numbers or more generally to reinforce conceptions of individual rights serves as an example; the roles of educational systems (through individualized test scores) and professional careers (organized around cumulative skills attached to the individual's biography) provide further examples.7 This work is important because it shows the dependence of self -
constructs on markers in the culture at large: the self is understood not only in terms of internal development but also as a product of
external reinforcement.