Casa Vital (Vital House): A Dynamic Structural Model of Hierarchical Organization of Vital Domains in Psychological Adaptation

Contemporary societies are characterized by increasing role multiplicity and accelerated social change, intensifying identity-related strain and inter-role conflict. Although role theory, narrative identity research, and psychological flexibility frameworks have independently advanced the understanding of psychological adaptation, an integrative structural model explaining how life domains are hierarchically organized and reorganized over time remains underdeveloped. This manuscript introduces Casa Vital (Vital House), a dynamic structural model that conceptualizes identity as a hierarchical architecture of interdependent life domains organized around a central integrative function. The model proposes three core constructs: structural coherence, structural modes (rigidity/flexibility) and self-directed agency, and argues that psychological adaptation depends not only on emotional regulation or narrative coherence but also on the capacity to reorganize domain hierarchies in alignment with personal values and contextual demands. By positioning identity at a meso-structural level of analysis, the framework integrates sociological, narrative, and contextual behavioral traditions while offering testable hypotheses and a falsifiable research agenda. Casa Vital expands the current models of adaptation by introducing hierarchical structural reorganization as a central component of identity functioning in complex contemporary contexts.