Reciprocal Associations between Educational Identity and Vocational Identity in Adolescence: A Three-wave Longitudinal Investigation

Education and vocation are core identity domains in adolescence. School is a normative social context in this developmental time frame and the formation of an educational identity is embedded in the goals that youth pursue in school. One of the main goals of education is to prepare young people for their future careers. Hence, educational identity should support the formation of vocational identity during adolescence. Considering the limited evidence on the longitudinal links between these two domain-specific identities, we conducted a three-wave investigation, testing the moderating role of age group, gender, and type of school. Participants (N?=?1030; 59.3% female) were adolescents (M _age ?=?16.72 years, SD _age ?=?1.23, age range 14–19 years) who completed self-report measures of educational and vocational identity three times during an academic year. We underscored reciprocal associations between educational identity and vocational identity. The results indicate that strong educational commitments supported the formation of strong vocational commitments across time. Adolescents who were involved in the in-depth exploration of their educational choices also reported more vocational exploration during the school year. In turn, vocational identity processes also supported educational identity formation, especially the reconsideration of educational commitments. In terms of moderators, we underscored that vocational commitment making and vocational flexibility bolstered educational commitment only in early-to-middle adolescents. Educational in-depth exploration fostered the identification with vocational commitments only in girls. Educational reconsideration of commitment promoted vocational self-doubt only in adolescents attending work-bound high-schools. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Identity Processes and Coping Strategies in College Students: Short-Term Longitudinal Dynamics and the Role of Personality

Coping strategies and identity processes are hypothesized to influence one another over time. This three-wave longitudinal study (N?=?458; 84.9% women) examined, for the first time, how and to what extent identity processes (i.e., commitment making, identification with commitment, exploration in breadth, exploration in depth, and ruminative exploration) and coping strategies (i.e., problem solving, social support seeking, and avoidance) predicted one another over time. Cross-lagged analyses indicated that processes of identity exploration seemed especially to be intertwined with different coping strategies over time, suggesting that identity exploration may resemble problem-solving behavior on the pathway to an achieved identity. Commitment processes were found to be influenced by certain coping strategies, although identification with commitment also negatively influenced avoidance coping. These temporal sequences remained significant when controlling for baseline levels of Big Five personality traits. Hence, evidence was obtained for reciprocal pathways indicating that coping strategies and identity processes reinforce one another over time in college students.     

Searching for Autonomy before the Transition to Higher Education: How do Identity and Self-Determined Academic Motivation Co-Evolve?

Identity and academic motivation are particularly at stake before the major transition to higher education. However, few studies have explored their changes and their longitudinal bidirectional links. To fill this gap, a three-wave study from the end of the 11th grade to the end of the 12th grade was conducted to explore changes in identity processes and academic motivation and to investigate how they might be interconnected over time. 599 adolescents (mean age 17.4; 59% girls) completed questionnaires containing measures about identity processes and three types of academic motivation: autonomous, controlled, and impersonal. Throughout the study span of one year, four identity processes increased: commitment making, identification with commitment, exploration in breadth and exploration in depth, while the process of ruminative exploration decreased. Simultaneously, late adolescents encountered an increase in impersonal motivation, more salient for boys. The results also revealed unidirectional links from motivation to identity processes, with no gender or age moderator effects: exploration in breadth and exploration in depth were positively predicted by autonomous motivation, ruminative exploration was positively predicted by autonomous, controlled, and impersonal motivation. In addition, impersonal motivation negatively predicted commitment making. On the other hand, identification with commitment positively predicted autonomous motivation. Practical implications are discussed.

     

Adolescents’ Identity Formation: Linking the Narrative and the Dual-Cycle Approach

The narrative and dual-cycle approach conceptualize and operationalize adolescents’ identity formation in different ways. While the narrative approach focuses on the construction of an autobiographical life story, the dual-cycle approach focuses on the formation of identity commitments. Although these approaches have different emphases, they are conceptually complementary. Yet, their empirical links and distinctions have only scarcely been investigated. Empirical knowledge on these links in adolescence and across time has been especially lacking. In the present research, it was therefore examined whether key characteristics of adolescents’ narration (autobiographical reasoning and agency) were concurrently and prospectively related to engagement in the dual-cycle processes of commitment making, identification with commitment, exploration in breadth, exploration in depth, and ruminative exploration. The findings from a cross-sectional sample of 1,580 Dutch adolescents (M_age?=?14.7 years, 56% female) demonstrated that autobiographical reasoning was significantly positively associated with the commitment and more adaptive exploration processes (i.e., in breadth and in depth). In addition, agency was significantly positively associated with the commitment processes and exploration in depth. Yet, these associations between the narrative characteristics and dual-cycle processes were only weak. Subsequently, the findings from a two-year longitudinal subsample (n?=?242, M_age?=?14.7 years, 62% female) indicated that on average commitment strength remained stable but exploration increased across middle adolescence. A stronger increase in identification with commitment and adaptive exploration (i.e., in breadth and in depth) was predicted by a higher degree of agency in adolescents’ narratives. Overall, these findings indicate that both approaches to identity formation are associated, but the small size of these associations suggests that they predominantly capture unique aspects of identity formation. Both approaches could thus complement and inform each other.

     

The Development of Ethnic/Racial Self-Labeling: Individual Differences in Context

Ethnic/racial self-labeling represents one’s knowledge of and preference for ethnic/racial group membership, which is related to, but distinguishable from, ethnic/racial identity. This study examined the development of ethnic/racial self-labeling over time by including the concept of elaboration among a diverse sample of 297 adolescents (Time 1 mean age 14.75, 67% female, 37.4% Asian or Asian American, 10.4% Black, African American, or West Indian, 23.2% Hispanic or Latinx, 24.2% White, 4.4% other). Growth mixture modeling revealed two distinct patterns—low and high self-labeling elaboration from freshman to sophomore year of high school. Based on logistic regression analyses, the level of self-labeling elaboration was generally low among the adolescents who were foreign-born, reported low levels of ethnic/racial identity exploration, or attended highly diverse schools. We also found a person-by-context interaction where the impact of school diversity varied for foreign-born and native-born adolescents (b?=?12.81, SE?=?6.30, p?<?0.05) and by the level of ethnic/racial identity commitment (b?=?14.32, SE?=?6.65, p?<?0.05). These findings suggest varying patterns in ethnic/racial self-labeling elaboration among adolescents from diverse backgrounds and their linkage to individual and contextual factors.     

A Cross-Cultural Perspective on the Relationships between Emotional Separation,Parental Trust,and Identity in Adolescents

Emotional separation and parental trust in parent–adolescent relationships are important factors for adolescent identity formation. However, prior research findings on emotional separation are inconsistent. This study aimed to conduct a more rigorous examination of the associations of emotional separation and parental trust with identity synthesis, confusion, and consolidation by applying a bi-factor model to identity, using adolescent samples from Lithuania (N?=?610; 53.9% female; M _age ?=?14.92), Italy (N?=?411; 57.4% female; M _age ?=?15.03), and Japan (N?=?759; 43.7% female; M _age ?=?14.13). Structural equation modeling revealed that emotional separation and parental trust were consistently associated with identity consolidation across the three countries, rather than associated with identity synthesis and identity confusion. Furthermore, the patterns of associations of emotional separation and parental trust with identity synthesis and identity confusion differed across the three nations. Overall, this study provides a better understanding of the role of emotional separation and parental trust in adolescent identity formation by suggesting the importance of the identity consolidation in the association between parent–child relationships and identity formation across three countries.     

Personality Traits and Educational Identity Formation in Late Adolescents: Longitudinal Associations and Academic Progress

Changes in personality traits in late adolescence and young adulthood are believed to co-occur with changes in identity, but little research is available that supports this hypothesis. The present study addressed this relatively understudied area of research by examining longitudinal associations of Big Five personality traits (i.e., Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness) with dimensions of identity formation (i.e., identification with commitment and exploration in depth) in the domain of education. For this purpose, we used four annual waves of longitudinal data on 485 Belgian late adolescents (87.4% female; mean age at T1 = 18.6 years) covering a 3-year period. Multivariate growth models revealed that changes in Big Five personality traits were related to changes in identification with commitment and exploration in depth. Cross-lagged panel models uncovered that, except for Openness, all Big Five traits predicted educational identity dimensions. Educational identity dimensions only predicted Neuroticism. In addition, adolescents with higher levels on the personality trait of Conscientiousness faced fewer study delays. In sum, the present study adds to the growing literature that explores the antecedents, correlates, and consequences of personality trait development by uncovering the interplay of personality traits, educational identity dimensions, and academic progress in late adolescents.     

Examining the Protective Effect of Ethnic Identity on Drug Attitudes and Use Among a Diverse Youth Population

Ethnic identity is an important buffer against drug use among minority youth. However, limited work has examined pathways through which ethnic identity mitigates risk. School-aged youth (N?=?34,708; 52?% female) of diverse backgrounds (i.e., African American (n?=?5333), Asian (n?=?392), Hispanic (n?=?662), Multiracial (n?=?2129), Native American (n?=?474), and White (n?=?25718) in grades 4–12 provided data on ethnic identity, drug attitudes, and drug use. After controlling for gender and grade, higher ethnic identity was associated with lower past month drug use for African American, Hispanic, and Multiracial youth. Conversely, high ethnic identity was associated with increased risk for White youth. An indirect pathway between ethnic identity, drug attitudes, and drug use was also found for African American, Hispanic, and Asian youth. Among White youth the path model was also significant, but in the opposite direction. These findings confirm the importance of ethnic identity for most minority youth. Further research is needed to better understand the association between ethnic identity and drug use for Multiracial and Hispanic youth, best ways to facilitate healthy ethnic identity development for minority youth, and how to moderate the risk of identity development for White youth.     

I and Us: A Longitudinal Study on the Interplay of Personal and Social Identity in Adolescence

The development of personal and social identity is crucial in adolescence. On the one hand, adolescents face the task of forming and consolidating their personal identity in multiple domains, with educational and interpersonal domains particularly salient. On the other hand, they enlarge their social horizon and increasingly define themselves as members of multiple peer groups, such as groups of classmates and friends met outside school. There is however a lack of integrative research on the interplay among and between personal and social identity processes. Hence the purpose of this study was threefold. First, we examined how personal identity processes in the educational and interpersonal domains are associated longitudinally. Second, we investigated to what extent social identifications with classmates and with the group of friends are associated over time. Third, with an original approach we examined the longitudinal interplay between personal and social identity processes, to connect theoretical contributions that have so far proceeded largely in parallel. Participants were 304 adolescents (61.84% female, M _age?=?17.49) involved in a three-wave longitudinal study. We found that (a) the ways in which adolescents develop their identity in the educational and interpersonal domains become more closely intertwined over time; (b) identifications with classmates and with the group of friends are interconnected; and (c) personal and social identity processes are associated both concurrently and longitudinally, with most cross-lagged effects showing that social identifications influence personal identity formation and consolidation in the interpersonal identity domain. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

Examining the Light and Dark Sides of Emerging Adults�� Identity: A Study of Identity Status Differences in Positive and Negative Psychosocial Functioning

Identity is a critical developmental task during the transition to adulthood in Western societies. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate an empirically based, cluster-analytic identity status model, to examine whether all four of Marcia's identity statuses (diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and achievement) would emerge empirically, and to identify different patterns of identity formation among American college-attending emerging adults. An ethnically diverse sample of 9,034 emerging-adult students (73% female; mean age 19.73?years) from 30 U.S. universities completed measures of identity exploration (ruminative, in breadth, and in depth) and commitment (commitment making and identification with commitment), identity synthesis and confusion, positive and negative psychosocial functioning, and health-compromising behaviors. The identity status cluster solution that emerged provided an adequate fit to the data and included all four of Marcia's original identity statuses, along with Carefree Diffusion and Undifferentiated statuses. Results provided evidence for concurrent validity, construct validity, and practical applicability of these statuses. Implications for identity research are discussed.     

Childhood Neglect,Internalizing Symptoms and Adolescent Substance Use: Does the Neighborhood Context Matter?

Childhood neglect is associated with risk behaviors in adolescence, including substance use. There is evidence that internalizing behaviors may serve as a mechanism linking childhood neglect and substance use; however, further research is needed to examine this developmental pathway. According to developmental and ecological approaches, the neighborhood context and the developmental timing of maltreatment should both be considered when examining the sequelae of childhood neglect. Hence, the present study uses a longitudinal sample of youth (N?=?965, 49.1% female, 59.2% African-American) to examine the influence of timing in the relationship between childhood neglect and adolescent psychopathology, and to examine the indirect effects of child neglect on substance use via internalizing symptoms in adolescence. Furthermore, the role of neighborhood disorder in this indirect effect was tested. Five data collection time points were used: Time 1(M _age ?=?4.557, SD _age ?=?.701), Time 2 (M _age ?=?6.422, SD _age ?=?.518), Time 3 (M _age ?=?12.370, SD _age ?=?.443), Time 4 (M _age ?=?14.359, SD _age ?=?.452), and Time 5 (M _age ?=?16.316, SD _age ?=?.615). The findings showed that internalizing problems mediated the link between the severity of neglect in early childhood and adolescent substance use, and this pathway was moderated by neighborhood disorder. These results have implications for preventative interventions aimed toward reducing substance use for at-risk adolescents.     

Effect of Victimization on Impulse Control and Binge Drinking among Serious Juvenile Offenders from Adolescence to Young Adulthood

A vast literature has found longitudinal effects of early life stress on substance use and self-regulatory processes. These associations may vary by period-specific development among youth involved in the juvenile justice system. The current study used an accelerated longitudinal design and auto-regressive latent trajectory with structure residuals (ALT-SR) model to examine the within-person cross-lagged associations between binge drinking, impulse control, and victimization from 15 to 25 years of age. A large sample (N?=?1100) of justice-involved youth were followed longitudinally for 7 years (M _{age baseline} ?=?15.8, M _{age conclusion} ?=?22.8). In general, the sample was ethnically diverse (41% Black, 34% Hispanic, 21% White, 4.3% Other) and primarily male (87.2%). Participants reported on their frequency of binge drinking, impulse control, and frequency of victimization at each time point. The results indicated that, during adolescence, victimization and binge drinking attenuated impulse control, which resulted in more binge drinking and victimization during young adulthood. The current study highlights the importance of assessing developmental processes and period-specific transitions among at risk youth, especially for youth experiencing early life stress.     

Social Media Social Comparison of Ability (but not Opinion) Predicts Lower Identity Clarity: Identity Processing Style as a Mediator

Social comparison on social media has received increasing attention, but most research has focused on one type of social comparison and its psycho-emotional implications. Little is known about how different types of social comparison influence youth’s identity development. Drawing on the theories of identity processing styles and social comparison, we examined how two different forms of social comparison on social media related to three identity processing styles, which in turn predicted youth’s global self-esteem and identity clarity. We surveyed 219 college freshmen (M_age?=?18.29; 74% female) once in the Fall and once in the Spring. Social comparison of ability on social media was related to concurrent diffuse-avoidant identity processing style, which predicted lower identity clarity months later. In contrast, social comparison of opinion on social media did not influence college freshmen’s global self-esteem and identity clarity through identity processing styles. The findings clarified the implications of online social comparison for youth’s identity development.     

Studies on identity development in adolescence: An overview of research and some new data

The fundamental developmental hypothesis of the identity status model is that as adolescents become older they undergo progressive developmental shifts in identity status: from diffusion to foreclosure or moratorium, from foreclosure to moratorium, and from moratorium to identity achievement. In Study I we give an overview of identity status studies carried out during the period 1966–1993 and show that progressive developmental trends (PDTs) are found in most of these studies. However, they usually involve progressive developmental trends in one of the higher or lower statuses (PDT 1), while only a small minority involve systematic progressive developmental trends, i.e., in at least three statuses (PDT3). It is easier to show progressive developmental trends with separate measures for commitment and exploration than with identity status classification. Study II reports on our own research into relational identity, measured with a new instrument: the Utrecht-Groningen Identity Development Scale (U-GIDS). Application of the U-GIDS allows the construction of four statuses: diffusion, moratorium, closed commitment and achieving commitment. For these four statuses progressive developmental trends were found for relational identity in both one of the higher and one of the lower statuses. The four statuses of our model display exactly the same connection with psychological well-being as the statuses of Marcia's model. The high commitment statuses show the highest level of psychological well-being, followed by the diffusions, while the moratoriums are the least happy. This result offers a new perspective on moratorium as a high identity status. Finally it was found that the differences in psychological well-being among the statuses become greater as adolescents become older.This research was supported by a grant from the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) to the Utrecht Study on Adolescent Development (USAD) 1991–1997.Research interests include personality and social development in adolescence.     

How to Attain a Popularity Goal? Examining the Mediation Effects of Popularity Determinants and Behaviors

Popularity has been examined extensively in recent years, particularly regarding its behavioral correlates. However, much less is known about the social cognitive processes related to popularity and the strategies to attain popularity. This study examined the longitudinal association between popularity goal and popularity status by focusing on the mediation effects of perceived contributing behaviors for popularity (i.e., popularity determinants) and actual behaviors in a sample of 5th and 6th graders (N?=?382; 47% girls) in China. The results revealed that participants’ popularity goal indirectly related to aggression, academic performance, and prosocial behaviors through the mediation of the corresponding popularity determinant perceptions. Furthermore, participants’ popularity goal longitudinally predicted their later popularity status changes through the mediation of perceptions of prosocial behaviors as a popularity determinant and prosocial behaviors. The findings of this study were discussed in relationship to their cultural context.     

The Role of Goal Representations,Cultural Identity,and Dispositional Optimism in the Depressive Experiences of American Indian Youth from a Northern Plains Tribe

American Indian researchers and scholars have emphasized the importance of identifying variables that promote resilience and protect against the development of psychopathology in American Indian youth. The present study examined the role of self-regulation, specifically goal characteristics (i.e., goal self-efficacy, goal specificity, intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation, and goal conflict) and dispositional optimism, as well as cultural identity and self-reported academic grades in the depressive experiences of American Indian youth from a North American plains tribe. One hundred and sixty-four participants (53 % female) completed measures of goal representations, cultural identity, dispositional optimism, academic performance, and depressive symptoms. Results supported a model in which higher goal self-efficacy, American Indian cultural identity, grade point average, and dispositional optimism each significantly predicted fewer depressive symptoms. Moreover, grade point average and goal self-efficacy had both direct and indirect (through dispositional optimism) relationships with depressive symptoms. Our findings underscore the importance of cognitive self-regulatory processes and cultural identity in the depressive experiences for these American Indian youth and may have implications for youth interventions attempting to increase resiliency and decrease risk for depressive symptoms.     

The Rise and Fall of Depressive Symptoms and Academic Stress in Two Samples of University Students

Self-reported depressive experiences are common among university students. However, most studies assessing depression in university students are cross-sectional, limiting our understanding of when in the academic year risk for depression is greatest and when interventions may be most needed. We examined within-person change in depressive symptoms from September to April. Study 1 (N?=?198; 57% female; 72% white; Mage?=?18.4): Depressive symptoms rose from September, peaked in December, and fell across the second semester. The rise in depressive symptoms was associated with higher perceived stress in December. Study 2 (N?=?267; 78.7% female; 67.87% white; Mage?=?21.25): Depressive symptoms peaked in December and covaried within persons with perceived stress and academic demands. The results have implications for understanding when and for whom there is increased risk for depressive experiences among university students.     

Development of an objective measure to assess ego identity in adolescence: Validation and replication

Three studies that evaluate the reliability and validity of the Extended Version of the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (Adams and Grotevant, 1983) are reported. In Studies 1 and 2, college students in Texas and Utah, respectively, completed the identity measure, the Extended Range Vocabulary Test, and the Crowne-Marlowe Social Desirability Scale and released achievement results from their college records. The identity measure was found to have acceptable reliability (both internal consistency and test-retest) and validity (content, factorial, discriminant, and concurrent). In Study 3, scale scores from the objective identity measure correlated in the predicted pattern with ratings of identity exploration and commitment made from the Ego Identity Interview. Although the objective measure is not intended to replace the interview, it would appear to be useful in a number of situations where administration of the interview is impractical.We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Dan Tousley in the data collection and data analysis phases of this research. Data collection and analyses for Study 3 were provided by grants from the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the University of Texas Research Institute, and the University of Texas Institute of Human Development and Family Studies to Harold D. Grotevant and Catherine Cooper, Co-Principal Investigators.Study 2 was supported by the W144 regional research grant on The Development of Social Competency in Children with funding from the United States Department of Agriculture and the Utah State University Agricultural Experiment Station, directed by Gerald Adams.Received Ph.D. in child psychology from the University of Minnesota. Research interests concern the contribution of family relationships to personality and identity development in adolescence.Received Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University. Research interests include adolescent social and personality development.     

How is Civic Engagement Related to Personal Identity and Social Identity in Late Adolescents and Emerging Adults? A Person-Oriented Approach

Adolescence and emerging adulthood are periods in life when individuals both question and define their place in society and form their identity. Meanwhile, active youth civic engagement represents a challenge for each democracy. The purpose of this study was to analyze the different forms of civic engagement among late adolescents and emerging adults and how they are related to personal identity and social identity, while adopting an integrative perspective through the lens of a person-oriented approach. The participants were 1217 (62.3% female) 16–24 year-old French students (M _age ?=?19.17; SD _age ?=?1.83). First, derived from cluster analyses, the findings emphasized diversity in civic engagement, from strong civic participation (in different formal and informal ways) to various forms of passivity. Diversity was also highlighted for personal identity and social identity profiles. Second, a Configural Frequency Analysis revealed a typical pattern associating passivity in civic engagement, personal carefree diffusion and rejection of social identity. Overall, these findings highlight an absence of general youth disaffection and provide a meaningful specific pattern for the understanding of passivity in political and civic matters in late adolescence and emerging adulthood.