Adolescent identification and academic achievement: Reporting the awareness of similarity to role models

Individualized identification grids were administered to 16–18-year-old males (N=49) in order to chart the complex of identification they have established with their parents, peers, and school personnel. It was hypothesized that patterns of identification with particular acquaintances would vary as a function of individuals' level of academic achievement. The results of this study indicated that high achievers identified more often with their liked school personnel than did low achievers, and more often with their peers and school personnel than with their parents. Low achievers were shown to most often identify with their mothers and peer. Arguments for viewing identification as a cognitive process based upon reciprocal interpersonal involvement and mediated by situation-specific competence are presented.Current research interests are the interactional effects of skill competence and personal salience of skill areas on the formation of role model identifications in adolescence.