Measurement of Identity from Adolescence to Adulthood: Cultural, Community, Religious, and Family Factors

Abstract

Rather than defining identity in terms of individuality, we defined it in terms of relationships with others. People know who they are on the basis of their relationships with others in their culture, community, religion, and family. We developed a measure of identity with four subscales and gave it to six adolescent groups in Experiment 1. We revised it and gave it to another six groups, five adolescent and one adult, in Experiment 2. We further revised it and gave it to three groups, two adolescent and one adult, in Experiment 3. Identity scores increased with age and four factors emerged: family, religion, community, and culture. Identity can be defined and reliably measured in terms of relationships.

“Things Have Gotten Better”

“…The most common behavioral change described was attending religious services less frequently, which supports previous findings of decreases in religious attendance at this stage (Johnston et al, 1995). The most commonly described change in faith was a stronger sense of faith, which also supports prior work (De Haan & Schulenberg, 1997;Kotesky et al, 1990). Although the majority of emerging adults may not have been exploring their religion, many who did report changes described changes consistent with religious exploration.…”

“…There is evidence that individuals become more religious as they transition from adolescence to adulthood, including increases in commitment and in intrinsic religiosity (De Haan & Schulenberg, 1997;Kotesky, Walker, & Johnson, 1990;Stolzenberg, Blair-Loy, & Waite, 1995). In contrast, although many emerging adults report that religion is important to them, their attendance at religious services actually decreases (Johnston, Bachman, & O'Malley, 1995).…”

The covariation of religion and politics during the transition to young adulthood: challenging global identity assumptions

“…T he findings indicated that religiosity declined from childhood to adolescence. However, Kotesky et al (1990) found that religious commitment increased between high school and college years, indicating that this decline during middle adolescence may be temporary.…”

Religion and Sex Among College Freshmen

“…Emerging adults’ expression of religiosity may change over time. Most emerging adults maintain their commitment to religious beliefs, but their frequency of attending religious services decreases (De Haan & Schulenberg, 1997; Kotesky, Walker, & Johnston, 1990; Stolzenberg, Blair-Loy, & Waite, 1995; Stoppa & Lefkowitz, 2010). It is possible that other expressions of religion, such as displaying religious items in dorm rooms or displaying religious ideas or behavior on social networking sites, may become more important to emerging adults.…”