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In order to study the construction of identities, social scientists have tended to prefer narrative approaches and biographical methods. This paper explores a complementary track based on the analysis of social interactions and on a dialogical perspective. This shift is necessary in order to examine identity negotiation from both a theoretical and a methodological point of view. The analysis is based on a specific case of identity dissonance that stems from situations when people combine several activities which societal norms would consider to be incompatible. We examine the case of unemployed persons who are subject to the obligation to look a job while simultaneously being involved in activism. Interactions with others cause certain conflicts relating to values or legitimacy to arise, and are aimed at reducing identity dissonance. Four relational configurations are distinguished according to which the unemployed person interacts with a professional person who represents an institution, a person close to him/her, someone similar to him/her who is involved in the same activities, and a generic person who is not close to him/her and interacted with from a distance. The observations show that identity construction is made up of series of tests that the individual undergoes repeatedly. These tests are regulated by norms that constrain them to various degrees, and form the context for varying negotiations that contribute to the continuous, contradictory process of identity construction.