Identity Status and Psychological Well-Being

Identity Status and Psychological Well-Being

Identity Status and Psychological Well-Being

A wealth of research verifies that both identity achievement and moratorium are psychologically healthy routes to a mature self-definition. Long-term foreclosure and diffusion, in contrast, are maladaptive.

Adolescents in moratorium resemble identity-achieved individuals in using an active, information-gathering cognitive style to make personal decisions and solve problems: They seek out relevant information, evaluate it carefully, and critically reflect on and revise their views (Berzonsky, 2003 , 2011 ). Young people who are identity-achieved or exploring have higher self-esteem, feel more in control of their lives, are more likely to view school and work as feasible avenues for realizing their aspirations, and are more advanced in moral reasoning (Berzonsky et al., 2011 ; Kroger, 2007 ; Serafini & Adams, 2002 ).

Adolescents stuck in either foreclosure or diffusion are passive in the face of identity concerns and have adjustment difficulties. Foreclosed individuals display a dogmatic, inflexible cognitive style, internalizing the values and beliefs of parents and others without deliberate evaluation and resisting information that threatens their position (Berzonsky & Kuk, 2000 ; Berzonsky et al., 2011 ). Most fear rejection by people on whom they depend for affection and self-esteem. A few foreclosed teenagers who are alienated from their families and society may join cults or other extremist groups, uncritically adopting a way of life different from their past.

Long-term diffused individuals are the least mature in identity development. They typically use a diffuse-avoidant cognitive style in which they avoid dealing with personal decisions and problems and, instead, allow current situational pressures to dictate their reactions (Berzonsky & Kuk, 2000 ; Krettenauer, 2005 ). Taking an “I don’t care”attitude, they entrust themselves to luck or fate, tend to go along with the crowd, and are focused on short-term personal pleasures. As a result, they experience time management and academic difficulties and, of all young people, are most likely to commit antisocial acts and to use and abuse drugs (Berzonsky et al., 2011 ; Schwartz et al., 2005 ). Often at the heart of their apathy is a sense of hopelessness about the future.

Factors Affecting Identity Development

Adolescent identity formation begins a lifelong, dynamic process in which a change in either the individual or the context opens up the possibility of reformulating identity (Kunnen & Bosma, 2003 ). A wide variety of factors influence identity development.

Identity status, as we have just seen, is both cause and consequence of personality characteristics. Adolescents who assume that absolute truth is always attainable tend to be foreclosed, while those who doubt that they will ever feel certain about anything are more often identity-diffused. Young people who appreciate that they can use rational criteria to choose among alternatives are likely to be in a state of moratorium or identity achievement (Berzonsky & Kuk, 2000 ; Berzonsky et al., 2011 ).

Identity Status and Psychological Well-Being

An internship in a veterinary office enables this teenager to explore a real-world career related to her love of animals, thereby fostering identity development.

Teenagers’ identity development is enhanced when their families serve as a “secure base”from which they can confidently move out into the wider world. Adolescents who feel attached to their parents but also free to voice their own opinions tend to be in a state of moratorium or identity achievement (Berzonsky, 2004 ; Luyckx, Goossens, & Soenens, 2006 ; Schwartz et al., 2005 ). Foreclosed teenagers usually have close bonds with parents but lack opportunities for healthy separation. And diffused young people report the lowest levels of parental support and of warm, open communication (Reis & Youniss, 2004 ; Zimmerman & Becker-Stoll, 2002 ).

Applying What We Know Supporting Healthy Identity Development

Strategy

Explanation

Engage in warm, open communication.

Provides both emotional support and freedom to explore values and goals.

Initiate discussions that promote high-level thinking at home and at school.

Encourages rational and deliberate selection among beliefs and values.

Provide opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities and vocational training programs.

Permits young people to explore the real world of adult work.

Provide opportunities to talk with adults and peers who have worked through identity questions.

Offers models of identity achievement and advice on how to resolve identity concerns.

Provide opportunities to explore ethnic heritage and learn about other cultures in an atmosphere of respect.

Fosters identity achievement in all areas and ethnic tolerance, which supports the identity explorations of others.

Interaction with diverse peers through school and community activities encourages adolescents to explore values and role possibilities (Barber et al., 2005 ). And close friends, like parents, can act as a secure base, providing emotional support, assistance, and models of identity development. In one study, 15-year-olds with warm, trusting peer ties were more involved in exploring relationship issues—for example, thinking about what they valued in close friends and in a life partner (Meeus, Oosterwegel, & Vollebergh, 2002 ). In another study, young people’s attachment to friends predicted progress in choosing a career (Felsman & Blustein, 1999 ).

Identity Status and Psychological Well-Being

Identity development also depends on schools and communities that offer rich and varied opportunities for exploration. Supportive experiences include classrooms that promote high-level thinking, teachers and counselors who encourage low-SES students to go to college, extracurricular activities that offer teenagers responsible roles consistent with their interests and talents, and vocational training that immerses adolescents in the real world of adult work (Coatsworth et al., 2005 ; Hardy et al., 2011 ; McIntosh, Metz, & Youniss, 2005 ).

Culture strongly influences an aspect of mature identity not captured by the identity-status approach: constructing a sense of self-continuity despite major personal changes. In one study, researchers asked Native Canadian and cultural-majority 12- to 20-year-olds to describe themselves in the past and in the present and then to justify why they regarded themselves as the same continuous person (Lalonde & Chandler, 2005 ). Most cultural-majority adolescents used an individualistic approach: They described an enduring personal essence, a core self that remained the same despite change. In contrast, Native Canadian youths took an interdependent approach that emphasized a constantly transforming self, resulting from new roles and relationships. They typically constructed a coherent narrative in which they linked together various time slices of their life with a thread that explained how they had changed in meaningful ways.

Finally, societal forces also are responsible for the special challenges faced by gay, lesbian, and bisexual youths (see Chapter 11 ) and by ethnic minority adolescents in forming a secure identity (see the Cultural Influences box on page 406 ). Applying What We Know above summarizes ways that adults can support adolescents in their quest for identity.

Identity Status and Psychological Well-Being

ASK YOURSELF

REVIEW List personal and contextual factors that promote identity development.

CONNECT Explain the close link between adolescent identity development and cognitive processes.

APPLY Return to the conversation between Louis and Darryl in the opening of this chapter. Which identity status best characterizes each of the two boys, and why?

REFLECT Does your identity status vary across the domains of sexuality, close relationships, vocation, religious beliefs, and political values? Describe factors that may have influenced your identity development in an important domain.