Passing Theory

Passing Theory Defined

A unique feature of passing theory is the communicative orientation of the passing individual. The process of communicating under false pretenses develops into a more other-oriented set of social identity evaluations. What the source believes the social group members think of herself or himself becomes far more valuable than the more authentic and genuine forms of self-expression. From the individual’s perspective, choosing to pass means authentic personal expressions are replaced with what the social group members evaluate as more desirable. That is, the orientation of acceptable identity attributions becomes less about the individual’s own evaluations, and more about how the individual believes she or he is evaluated by the social group. As a result, passing individuals establish false identity attributions that incorrectly grant social group membership without entitlement. A major part of the theoretical argument is that individuals gain social benefits from a sense of belonging and at the same time avoid suffering undesirable social consequences from loneliness, rejection, or even violence. By accurately coordinating communication activity with false identity attributions that grant social group membership without entitlement, the individual passes successfully. The argument, then, rests on the assumption that to pass is to take on a strict other-oriented perspective of communication that (a) develops a set of false social identity attributions [Page 1191]assigned to the passing individual from in-group members, which (b) grants group membership without entitlement. Essentially, the process describes a unique orientation whereby the individual infers about group membership standards and behaves strictly as group membership standards dictate.

The two fundamental motivations for why individuals may choose to pass involve (a) gaining social advantages only available to in-group members and (b) avoiding undesirable social consequences. Theoretically, the motivations represent significant predictors of specific behavioral sets designed to manage life plans in a variety of social settings. Similar to just about any other mode of communication, in a variety of social contexts, the false identity influences evaluations of social group membership entitlement with the objective to achieve specific social goals. Passing theory, then, establishes a useful means for communication studies to focus on unique identity attributions used to deceive audiences, as a means of persuasion in a variety of social contexts.

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