Final Report Summary - ADOLESCENT IDENTITY (Identity development in adolescence: Longitudinal studies on identity transitions, antecedents, and consequences in various gender and ethnic groups)
The project Adolescent identity (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IEF; Marie Curie Fellow: Dr. Elisabetta Crocetti; Scientist in charge: Prof. Wim Meeus; Utrecht University, NL) was aimed at examining how youth develop their identity over time. In addressing this aim, we examined which factors can promote or hamper youth achievement of a coherent sense of identity and to what extent identity formation leads to a condition of well-being and promotes youth active participation in the civil society.
“Who am I?”, “What kind of person do I want to become?”, “What is my place in the society?”, etc. (Erikson, 1968). These questions represent a great challenge for adolescents, who need to explore various alternatives in order to find which options deserve their commitments, fulfill their aspirations, and fit their talents. The identity dynamic can be captured by the interdependence of three identity processes (Crocetti & Meeus, 2014; Schwartz, Luyckx, & Crocetti, 2014): commitment (refers to strong choices that adolescents have made with regard to various developmental domains, along with the self-confidence that they derive from these choices); in-depth exploration (represents the extent to which adolescents actively explore the commitments that they have already made, by reflecting on their choices, searching for information about these commitments, and talking with others about them); and reconsideration of commitment (refers to the comparison of present commitments with possible alternative commitments once the present ones are no longer satisfactory). Whereas commitment and in-depth exploration are at basis of the identity maintenance cycle and lead to identity consolidation and stability, reconsideration of commitment might be the expression of an identity crisis leading to uncertainty and distress.
Results of our set of studies highlighted that various individual, relational, and cultural factors influence the identity formation process. For instance, we found that adolescents at a high-risk for externalizing problem behaviors (e.g. aggressive and delinquent behaviors) faced more difficulties in defining a coherent and stable sense of identity (Crocetti, Klimstra, Hale, Koot, & Meeus, 2013). Early adolescents who had been rated as at high-risk for externalizing problem behaviors by their teachers when they were 11 or 12 years old, showed more difficulties in developing a firm sense of identity over middle to late adolescence. Specifically, high-risk boys exhibited the most disorganized identity at age 14: they displayed a combination of low commitment, medium in-depth exploration, and high reconsideration of commitment. Furthermore, over the course of adolescence (ages 14-18) high-risk girls displayed a decrease in commitment, particularly sharp at the beginning of adolescence, which was combined with an increase in reconsideration that was the most pronounced toward the end of adolescence. Because externalizing problems behaviors and an incoherent sense of identity reinforce each other in a negative spiral, it seems necessary to intervene promptly on the high-risk adolescents in order to promote positive youth development (Crocetti, Meeus, Ritchie, Meca, & Schwartz, 2014).
Furthermore, relevant life events might impact adolescent identity formation. For instance, we found that adolescents who have dropped out from high-school and have entered early in the labour market faced more difficulties in developing their identity than their peers enrolled in various school tracks (Crocetti, Fermani, & Palmonari, 2013). Furthermore, early drop-out adolescents reported high levels of anxiety, suggesting that a premature transition to work without a proper education might be an overwhelming experience for adolescents.
Achieving a clear sense of identity represents a challenging task even for adolescents who do not belong to at-risk groups and do not face major life transitions. In fact, the identity formation task is particularly complex since individuals need to make relevant choices in multiple domains (e.g. vocation, religion, politics, relationships, sexuality). We found that young people who integrated multiple social-cognitive strategies (e.g. information-oriented and normative styles) to seek, process, and structure self-relevant information (Crocetti, Berzonsky, & Meeus, 2012) and were able to enact meaningful commitments in multiple identity domains (Crocetti, Scrignaro, Sica, Magrin, 2012) were better adjusted (e.g. they reported high self-esteem, low depressive and anxiety symptoms).
These strong linkages between identity and well-being can be understood when we take into account that identity fulfills five important functions (e.g. Crocetti, Sica, Schwartz, Serafini, Meeus, 2013): identity provides individuals with (a) a sense of structure within which to understand self-relevant information; (b) a sense of consistency, coherence, and harmony between and among one’s chosen values, beliefs, and commitments; (c) a future orientation and with a sense of continuity between the past, present, and future; (d) goals and direction through commitments and chosen values; and (f) a sense of personal control that enables active self-regulation in the process of setting and achieving goals, moving toward future plans, and processing experiences in ways that are self-relevant.
Importantly, identity is not only a key predictor of adolescent positive youth development but also of civic engagement (Crocetti, Erentaitė, & Žukauskienė, 2014). More specifically, we found that adolescents who have achieved a stable identity were more involved in volunteer activities, reported higher civic efficacy, stronger aspirations to contribute to their communities, and higher sense of social responsibility than their peers who lack a firm sense of identity (Crocetti, Jahromi, Meeus, 2012). These findings have strong policy implications, especially in the current socio-political situation in which youth low levels of political and social participation are a matter of concern around the world (Crocetti, Jahromi, & Buchanan, 2012; Jahromi, Crocetti, & Buchanan, 2012).
So far, we have discussed how the identity formation is challenging but at the same time crucial for promoting mental health, positive youth development, and civic participation. It should be noted that adolescents do not develop their identity in a social vacuum. Rather the more proximal relational systems of daily social interactions (e.g. family and peers) as well as the more distal macro-cultural systems in which they grow up play a strong role in their identity development. In this respect, in a large cross-cultural study involving European and Asian countries we found that youth from different cultural contexts reported strong differences in their identity certainty. For instance, young people from East Asia (China, Japan, and Taiwan) were characterized by a significant degree of identity instability (i.e. they reported a combination of low commitment and high reconsideration of commitment) that could be related to the specific characteristics of their society. Further in-depth studies showed that also within the same geographical macro-area (Europe) similarities and differences across nations may occur. For instance, we found that the searching moratorium status, that is an identity status characterized by adolescents’ attempts to change current commitment, is less problematic in Italy than it is in the Netherlands (Crocetti, Schwartz, Fermani, Klimstra, & Meeus, 2012).
Overall results of this project have strong implications. Findings provide robust evidence that supporting young generations in achieving a clear and fulfilling sense of identity is vital not only for promoting adolescents’ positive youth development but also for stimulating civically engaged citizenships. Thus, parents, teachers, educators, practitioners, and politicians should consider the contribution that they, in light of their role and expertise, can provide to adolescents developing their identity. For instance, parents with high levels of self-concept clarity represent a model for their children and can create a secure relational context from which adolescents can start their identity search (Crocetti, 2013). In the macro-social context, policy makers urgently need to provide adolescents with real opportunities for their development. In fact, adolescents growing up in social contexts characterized by high rates of uncertainty and few opportunities for young people (e.g. because of high and increasing rates of youth unemployment, difficult school-to-work transitions; Crocetti, Rabaglietti, & Sica, 2012) can enter in a negative spiral, in which they continue their identity search without being able of finding realms in which making enduring commitments. Concluding, the final take-home message is that supporting identity achievement is the key to increase adolescents’ psychological well-being and participatory citizenship.
“Who am I?”, “What kind of person do I want to become?”, “What is my place in the society?”, etc. (Erikson, 1968). These questions represent a great challenge for adolescents, who need to explore various alternatives in order to find which options deserve their commitments, fulfill their aspirations, and fit their talents. The identity dynamic can be captured by the interdependence of three identity processes (Crocetti & Meeus, 2014; Schwartz, Luyckx, & Crocetti, 2014): commitment (refers to strong choices that adolescents have made with regard to various developmental domains, along with the self-confidence that they derive from these choices); in-depth exploration (represents the extent to which adolescents actively explore the commitments that they have already made, by reflecting on their choices, searching for information about these commitments, and talking with others about them); and reconsideration of commitment (refers to the comparison of present commitments with possible alternative commitments once the present ones are no longer satisfactory). Whereas commitment and in-depth exploration are at basis of the identity maintenance cycle and lead to identity consolidation and stability, reconsideration of commitment might be the expression of an identity crisis leading to uncertainty and distress.
Results of our set of studies highlighted that various individual, relational, and cultural factors influence the identity formation process. For instance, we found that adolescents at a high-risk for externalizing problem behaviors (e.g. aggressive and delinquent behaviors) faced more difficulties in defining a coherent and stable sense of identity (Crocetti, Klimstra, Hale, Koot, & Meeus, 2013). Early adolescents who had been rated as at high-risk for externalizing problem behaviors by their teachers when they were 11 or 12 years old, showed more difficulties in developing a firm sense of identity over middle to late adolescence. Specifically, high-risk boys exhibited the most disorganized identity at age 14: they displayed a combination of low commitment, medium in-depth exploration, and high reconsideration of commitment. Furthermore, over the course of adolescence (ages 14-18) high-risk girls displayed a decrease in commitment, particularly sharp at the beginning of adolescence, which was combined with an increase in reconsideration that was the most pronounced toward the end of adolescence. Because externalizing problems behaviors and an incoherent sense of identity reinforce each other in a negative spiral, it seems necessary to intervene promptly on the high-risk adolescents in order to promote positive youth development (Crocetti, Meeus, Ritchie, Meca, & Schwartz, 2014).
Furthermore, relevant life events might impact adolescent identity formation. For instance, we found that adolescents who have dropped out from high-school and have entered early in the labour market faced more difficulties in developing their identity than their peers enrolled in various school tracks (Crocetti, Fermani, & Palmonari, 2013). Furthermore, early drop-out adolescents reported high levels of anxiety, suggesting that a premature transition to work without a proper education might be an overwhelming experience for adolescents.
Achieving a clear sense of identity represents a challenging task even for adolescents who do not belong to at-risk groups and do not face major life transitions. In fact, the identity formation task is particularly complex since individuals need to make relevant choices in multiple domains (e.g. vocation, religion, politics, relationships, sexuality). We found that young people who integrated multiple social-cognitive strategies (e.g. information-oriented and normative styles) to seek, process, and structure self-relevant information (Crocetti, Berzonsky, & Meeus, 2012) and were able to enact meaningful commitments in multiple identity domains (Crocetti, Scrignaro, Sica, Magrin, 2012) were better adjusted (e.g. they reported high self-esteem, low depressive and anxiety symptoms).
These strong linkages between identity and well-being can be understood when we take into account that identity fulfills five important functions (e.g. Crocetti, Sica, Schwartz, Serafini, Meeus, 2013): identity provides individuals with (a) a sense of structure within which to understand self-relevant information; (b) a sense of consistency, coherence, and harmony between and among one’s chosen values, beliefs, and commitments; (c) a future orientation and with a sense of continuity between the past, present, and future; (d) goals and direction through commitments and chosen values; and (f) a sense of personal control that enables active self-regulation in the process of setting and achieving goals, moving toward future plans, and processing experiences in ways that are self-relevant.
Importantly, identity is not only a key predictor of adolescent positive youth development but also of civic engagement (Crocetti, Erentaitė, & Žukauskienė, 2014). More specifically, we found that adolescents who have achieved a stable identity were more involved in volunteer activities, reported higher civic efficacy, stronger aspirations to contribute to their communities, and higher sense of social responsibility than their peers who lack a firm sense of identity (Crocetti, Jahromi, Meeus, 2012). These findings have strong policy implications, especially in the current socio-political situation in which youth low levels of political and social participation are a matter of concern around the world (Crocetti, Jahromi, & Buchanan, 2012; Jahromi, Crocetti, & Buchanan, 2012).
So far, we have discussed how the identity formation is challenging but at the same time crucial for promoting mental health, positive youth development, and civic participation. It should be noted that adolescents do not develop their identity in a social vacuum. Rather the more proximal relational systems of daily social interactions (e.g. family and peers) as well as the more distal macro-cultural systems in which they grow up play a strong role in their identity development. In this respect, in a large cross-cultural study involving European and Asian countries we found that youth from different cultural contexts reported strong differences in their identity certainty. For instance, young people from East Asia (China, Japan, and Taiwan) were characterized by a significant degree of identity instability (i.e. they reported a combination of low commitment and high reconsideration of commitment) that could be related to the specific characteristics of their society. Further in-depth studies showed that also within the same geographical macro-area (Europe) similarities and differences across nations may occur. For instance, we found that the searching moratorium status, that is an identity status characterized by adolescents’ attempts to change current commitment, is less problematic in Italy than it is in the Netherlands (Crocetti, Schwartz, Fermani, Klimstra, & Meeus, 2012).
Overall results of this project have strong implications. Findings provide robust evidence that supporting young generations in achieving a clear and fulfilling sense of identity is vital not only for promoting adolescents’ positive youth development but also for stimulating civically engaged citizenships. Thus, parents, teachers, educators, practitioners, and politicians should consider the contribution that they, in light of their role and expertise, can provide to adolescents developing their identity. For instance, parents with high levels of self-concept clarity represent a model for their children and can create a secure relational context from which adolescents can start their identity search (Crocetti, 2013). In the macro-social context, policy makers urgently need to provide adolescents with real opportunities for their development. In fact, adolescents growing up in social contexts characterized by high rates of uncertainty and few opportunities for young people (e.g. because of high and increasing rates of youth unemployment, difficult school-to-work transitions; Crocetti, Rabaglietti, & Sica, 2012) can enter in a negative spiral, in which they continue their identity search without being able of finding realms in which making enduring commitments. Concluding, the final take-home message is that supporting identity achievement is the key to increase adolescents’ psychological well-being and participatory citizenship.