Suchergebnisse

In a 3-year longitudinal study on 989 emerging adults, we assessed self-efficacy in dealing with work–family conflicts and different indices of work and relationships characteristics (e.g., satisfaction, commitment, and stress). In addition, we assessed different indices of health functioning (e.g., sick days, body complaints, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and well-being). Latent class growth analyses revealed three different trajectories of competence with work-to-partnership conflicts over time that were related to work, romantic relationships, and health. Emerging adults in the high stable group (characterized by high levels of self-efficacy in dealing with conflicts in work and partnerships) remained in considerably better health than those in the other two groups. Emerging adults following the moderate increasing and the low increasing trajectories (e.g., with increasing competencies, starting from moderate and low mean levels in self-efficacy in dealing with work–partnership conflicts), experienced a stable commitment with their partners but more partnership–work conflicts over time. Their job satisfaction also increased over time. Overall health improved in those following the low increasing trajectory but remained considerably lower than in the other two groups. Results are interpreted with respect to the challenges but also the costs of efforts involved in adapting to the difficult transitions in the domains of love and work.

Intimate relationships, both romantic relationships and friendships, are of special importance for identity development in emerging adulthood. In the current study, we investigated longitudinal associations between Big Five personality traits and relationship quality (romantic relationships and friendships) and whether these associations are mediated by identity. A sample of emerging adults ( N = 372, 55% women) completed self-report questionnaires on personality and identity in 2015 ( Mage= 21.90 years, SD = 1.16) and on quality of friendships and romantic relationships 3 years later. By using MPlus, we tested the multivariate mediating effect of identity dimensions in the relationship among Big Five personality and quality of relationships. No mediation of identity dimensions was found. Extraversion predicted higher friendship quality 3 years later and exploration in depth was positively associated with friendship quality. Regarding romantic relationship quality, no significant direct or indirect effects were found. However, personality predicted multiple identity dimensions.

AbstractThe present study builds on the child‐by‐environment model and examines the joint contribution of intra‐individual characteristics (i.e., self‐esteem and shyness) and peer experiences (i.e., social acceptance, victimization, friendship quantity, and friendship quality) in the association with loneliness. A total of 884 adolescents (Mage = 15.80; 68 percent female) participated in this multi‐informant study. Results indicated that, in addition to self‐esteem and shyness, being poorly accepted by peers, being victimized, lacking friends, and experiencing poor‐quality friendships each contributed independently to the experience of loneliness. Further, friendship quantity and quality mediated the relation between the two intra‐individual characteristics and loneliness. Finally, a significant interaction was found between self‐esteem and social acceptance in predicting loneliness. The present study highlights the importance of investigating the joint effects of inter‐individual experiences and intra‐individual characteristics in examining loneliness. Suggestions to elaborate the child‐by‐environment model in loneliness research are discussed, and clinical implications are outlined.

AbstractDevelopmental regulation strategies and identity processes are hypothesized as influencing one another over time. This three‐wave longitudinal study (N = 369; 20% male) examined, for the first time, the extent to which (a) identity exploration and commitment processes and (b) developmental regulation strategies (goal engagement and disengagement) predicted one another over time; and whether change in identity processes was correlated with change in developmental regulation strategies. Cross‐lagged analyses indicated that goal engagement predicted commitment processes and exploration in breadth whereas goal disengagement predicted exploration in depth and reconsideration of commitment. Change in goal engagement was correlated with change in commitment processes, reconsideration of commitment, and exploration in breadth and depth. Change in goal disengagement was correlated with change in all three exploration processes and in reconsideration of commitment. Our longitudinal results suggest mechanisms of human development (stability‐flexibility) and may suggest broader developmental principles underlying goal pursuit and identity work among emerging adults.

Most young adults today are following longer educational tracks and postpone entrance into the workforce. This 2-year study aimed to determine factors contributing to occupational self-efficacy in a representative sample of n = 1,891 young adults ( M = 23.92, SD = 2.17 years) with different work statuses (studying, in an apprenticeship, employed, or unemployed). Occupational identity, perceived work quality, the ability to cope with work stress, and symptomatology were assessed. Path analyses revealed that work status was the most important predictor of later occupational self-efficacy, with employment showing the strongest prediction of later agency in the professional domain. Ruminative exploration, work stress, and internalizing symptoms contributed negatively to occupational self-efficacy, whereas commitment making and coping competence contributed positively to later agency in work and study. The discussion focuses on the early developmental roots of occupational self-efficacy.

Research has demonstrated the important impact of identity on psychosocial functioning in both community and clinical populations. The present article aims to identify different mechanisms through which identity may be related to psychopathology. Emphasis is placed on neo-Eriksonian identity models targeting identity mechanisms both at the structural and process levels. With respect to psychopathology, the present article focuses mainly on disturbed eating behaviors and nonsuicidal self-injury, with both behaviors sharing a focus on the body. Emerging research lines are identified, and recent research is discussed as a sample case of how developmental theorizing on identity can yield insights in the emergence and development of psychopathological behaviors. In integrating these research lines, the present article discusses emerging themes originating from the field and provides important avenues for future research and intervention efforts.

Emerging adults engage in greater experimentation in the areas of work and love, and the transitions to work and the establishment of firm partnerships are characterized by fluctuations, discontinuities, and reversals. Whereas earlier studies on emerging adults have examined the separate effects of work and relationship, in this special section 5 studies were presented which examined these two transitions simultaneously by using a longitudinal design to account for the reciprocal influences and the long-term effects on health outcomes. In addition, methodological concerns when investigating the reciprocal influences and dependencies between love and work were raised and a cross-cultural perspective applied, putting these transitions in the changing developmental context of emerging adults in many different countries nowadays.

Identity development unfolds in different domains within a given cultural context. In the present study, we examined the relations among identity processes in future plans and goals and values domains, based on the dual-cycle model of identity development, and their association with adult and societal identity resolution. The sample for our study consisted of 288 Georgian young adults (39% male). Participants completed measures of identity exploration and commitment processes in the future plans/goals and values domains as well as measures of adult and societal identity resolution. Results based on between-domain correlations and mean-level differences indicated that identity processes in future plans/goals and value domains unfold differently in Georgian emerging adults. Associations of two domain identity processes with adult and societal identity resolution also revealed some differences. We attempt to explain these differences by referring to cultural context and age.

In this study, we examine personal identity formation using two approaches: a dual-cycle model of identity development and a narrative life-story model. We used quantitative and qualitative methods for studying personal identity: Luyckx et al.'s Dimensions of Identity Development Scale and D. P. McAdams' life-story interview. Using six cases selected from a sample of 62 Georgian emerging adults, we illustrate how identity profiles created using six identity dimensions (exploration in breadth, commitment-making, identification with commitment, reflective exploration in depth, reconsideration of commitment, and ruminative exploration) are reflected in life stories depicting participants' paths toward identity commitments and their ideas about the future and life themes. This article demonstrates how identity dimensions are connected to the context and how this connection is manifested in their life stories. The research illustrates theoretical exemplification by case studies and exemplifies the manifestation of dual-cycle identity development theorizing in case examples through narratives.

AbstractIn the present multi‐informant study, we examined dyadic combinations of adolescent and maternal conflict management styles through stepwise latent class analysis. We investigated how these dyadic conflict classes related to adolescents' and mothers' perceptions of individual and relational functioning (depressive symptoms, self‐esteem, conflict frequency, relationship satisfaction, parenting), both concurrently and over time. Four conflict styles were investigated: positive problem solving, withdrawal, conflict engagement, and compliance. Questionnaires were completed by 526 adolescents and mothers. Findings pointed to four meaningful conflict management constellations: Dyadic Positive Management, Unbalanced Management, Adolescent Negative Management and Dyadic Negative Management. These constellations were differentially related to individual and relational factors. This study emphasized the importance of a typological dyadic approach in examining conflict management.