Identity Development in Adulthood: Introduction

Abstract

In line with Erikson's suggestions, increasing empirical evidence substantiates that considerable identity development takes place over the course of adulthood. What then does identity development during adulthood entail? The key findings of adult identity formation from four culturally different countries, and the challenges of analyzing the complex concept of identity are discussed. Although a wide array of identity measures are available, they have not been sufficiently validated for use with middle-aged or older adults. Additionally, different measures may yield results that are not comparable across studies. More studies are needed on adult identity development in populations representing different ethnicities and living in different cultural environments.

Determinants of ethnic identity development in adulthood: A longitudinal study

“…Most research work on identity development has focussed on this phase of life. However, identity formation is not necessarily complete by the end of adolescence; rather, it can occur throughout the life span (Cramer, 2004;Fadjukoff & Kroger, 2016;Kroger, 2007). The few studies to date that have examined identity development across adulthood, focussed on the domains occupational career, intimate relationships, religious beliefs, ideology, or lifestyle.…”

Identity Status Change Within Personal Style Clusters: A Longitudinal Perspective From Early Adulthood to Midlife

“…For a complementary view, the present study employed the integrative approach and examined the long term role of personal styles in early adulthood for predicting identity stability and change during midlife. Midlife has remained an understudied age period (Fadjukoff & Kroger, 2016;Lachman, 2015) although it is an important period of life, both in itself as a time when people make their major contributions to society, and as a link between earlier development and later adulthood; it paves the way for how an individual ages (Lachman, Teshale, & Agrigoroaei, 2015). The main aim of the present study was to examine whether individual differences in identity stability and change in midlife could be explained by differences between individuals in their broader personal styles in early adulthood.…”

“…For instance, instead of only examining the present level of exploration, it needs to be considered whether an earlier crisis has meaningfully contributed to present commitments, or whether previous distinctly different life phases represented exploration of alternatives. Although this and other identity measures have been developed for adolescent studies (Fadjukoff & Kroger, 2016), the interview method, rather than self-report questionnaires, allowed for adjusting the discussion to be appropriate for each age.…”

Echoes of the Past: Meaning Making in Congolese Narratives Relates to Their Social Distance Attitudes Toward Europeans

“…Similar to Adler and Poulin (2009), this study explores whether Congolese narratives show the same structural element and the same affective themes. Given the dominance of narrative identity research conducted in the United States, Canada, or Europe, there is only little empirical research conducted in Africa (Fadjukoff & Kroger, 2016) and to the best of our knowledge, no research has been conducted in the context of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). However, political research investigating narratives about daily hassles of people living on either side of the Congolese-Rwandan border (Doevenspeck, 2011) and life stories of young Congolese refugees living in Uganda (Clark-Kazak, 2011) indicates no cultural differences in narrative processes, narrative structure, or affective themes between Congolese and Western individuals.…”