Latent growth curve modeling was used to describe longitudinal trends in community and religious involvement and Marcia’s (1966) four identity statuses (diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and achievement), as well as to assess relations between involvement and identity change. Cross-lagged regression models explored temporal ordering of relations between involvement and identity. The study involved 418 participants (Wave 1 M age = 17.44, SD = .81) over four occasions. Individuals on average showed decreases in community and religious involvement, identity diffusion, foreclosure, and moratorium, and no significant change in identity achievement. For community involvement, rates of change were related negatively to those for diffusion and positively to those for achievement. For religious involvement, rates of change correlated negatively with those for diffusion and moratorium, and positively with those for foreclosure. Cross-lagged models showed some effects in the expected direction (involvement to identity), as well as some reciprocal effects. All analyses were conducted for overall identity status as well as the three domains within each status (political, religious, and occupational). In short, the present study provides evidence for community and religious involvement as contexts facilitative of identity formation in late adolescence and emerging adulthood.
Adams, G.R. ( 1998). The objective measure of ego identity status: A reference manual. Unpublished manuscript, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
2.
Assor, A., Cohen-Malayev, M., Kaplan, A., & Friedman, D. ( 2005). Choosing to stay religious in a modern world: Socialization and exploration processes leading to an integrated internalization of religion among Israeli Jewish youth. Advances in Motivation and Achievement , 14, 105-150.
3.
Barber, B.K., Stolz, H.E., & Olsen, J.A. ( 2005). Parental support, psychological control, and behavioral control: Assessing relevance across time, method, and culture. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 70, No. 4.
4.
Brown, T.A. ( 2006). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
5.
Côté, J.E., & Schwartz, S.J. (2002). Comparing psychological and sociological approaches to identity: Identity status, identity capital, and the individualization process. Journal of Adolescence , 25, 571-586.
6.
Cramer, P. ( 2004). Identity change in adulthood: The contribution of defense mechanisms and life experiences. Journal of Research in Personality , 38, 280-316.
7.
Duncan, T.E., Duncan, S.C., & Strycker, L.A. (2006). An introduction to latent variable growth curve modeling: Concepts, issues, and applications (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
8.
Dworkin, J.B., Larson, R., & Hansen, D. ( 2003). Adolescents’ accounts of growth experiences in youth activities. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 32, 17-26.
9.
Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R.A., & Spinrad, T.L. ( 2006). Prosocial development. In W. Damon & R.M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3, Social, emotional, and personality development (6th ed., pp. 646-718). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley .
Fadjukoff, P., Pulkkinen, L., & Kokko, K. ( 2005). Identity processes in adulthood: Diverging domains. Identity, 5, 1-20.
12.
Ferrer, E., & McArdle, J.J. ( 2003). Alternative structural models for multivariate longitudinal data analysis. Structural Equation Modeling, 10, 493-524.
13.
Flanagan, C.A. ( 2004). Volunteerism, leadership, political socialization, and civic engagement. In R.M. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (2nd ed., pp. 721-745). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
14.
Good, M., & Willoughby, T. (2007). The identity formation experience of church-attending rural adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Research, 22, 387-412.
15.
Goossens, L., & Luyckx, K. ( 2007). Identity development in college students: Variable-centered and person-centered analyses. In M. Watzlawik & A. Born (Eds.), Capturing identity: Quantitative and qualitative methods (pp. 105-118). Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
16.
Grimm, K.J., & McArdle, J.J. ( 2004). A note on the computer generation of mean and covariance expectations in latent growth curve analysis. Research in Multi-level Issues, 4, 335-364.
17.
Hardy, S.A., & Kisling, J.W. ( 2006). Identity statuses and prosocial behaviors in young adulthood: A brief report. Identity, 6, 363-369.
18.
Hasford, J., Rathwell, J., & Pratt, M.W. ( 2008, March). Generativity, identity and emerging adults’ narratives of community involvement/experiences. Poster presented at the Society for Research in Adolescence Meetings, Chicago, IL.
19.
Hedeker, D., & Gibbons, R.D. ( 1997). Application of random-effects pattern-mixture models for missing data in longitudinal studies. Psychological Methods , 2, 64-78.
20.
Hill, P.C., & Hood, R., Jr. (1995). Measures of religiosity. Birmingham, AL: Religious Education Press.
21.
Hunsberger, B., Pratt, M.W., & Pancer, S.M. ( 2001). Adolescent identity formation: Religious exploration and commitment. Identity, 1, 365-387.
22.
King, P.E. ( 2003). Religion and identity: The role of ideological, social, and spiritual contexts. Applied Developmental Science, 7, 197-204.
23.
Kroger, J. ( 2007). Identity development: Adolescence through adulthood (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
24.
Larson, R.,W., Hansen, D.M., & Moneta, G. ( 2006). Differing profiles of developmental experiences across types of organized youth activities. Developmental Psychology , 42, 849-863.
25.
Lewis, H.L. ( 2003). Differences in ego identity among college students across age, ethnicity, and gender. Identity, 3, 159-189.
26.
Little, R.J.A., & Rubin, D.B. ( 2002). Statistical analysis with missing data (2nd ed). New York, NY: Wiley.
27.
Luyckx, K., Goossens, L., & Soenens, B. ( 2006). A developmental contextual perspective on identity construction in emerging adulthood: Change dynamics in commitment formation and commitment evaluation. Developmental Psychology, 42, 366-380.
28.
Marcia, J.E. ( 1966). Development and validation of ego identity status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 3, 551-558.
29.
Markstrom-Adams, C., & Adams, G.R. ( 1995). Gender, ethnic group, and age differences in psychosocial functioning during middle adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 24, 397-417.
30.
Markstrom-Adams, C., Hofstra, G., & Dougher, K. ( 1994). The ego-virtue of fidelity: A case for the study of religion and identity formation in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 23, 453-469.
31.
McAdams, D. ( 1988). Freedom summer. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
32.
McFarland, D.A., & Thomas, R.J. ( 2006). Bowling alone: How youth voluntary associations influence adult political participation. American Sociological Review , 71, 401-425.
33.
McIntosh, H., Metz, E., & Youniss, J. ( 2005). Community service and identity formation in adolescents . In J.L. Mahoney, R.W. Larson, & J.S. Eccles (Eds.), Organized activities as contexts of development (pp. 331-351). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
34.
Meeus, W. ( 1996). Studies on identity development in adolescence: An overview of research and some new data. Journal of Youth and Adolescence , 25, 569-598.
35.
Meeus, W., Iedema, J., Helsen, M., & Vollebergh, W. (1999). Patterns of adolescent identity development: Review of literature and longitudinal analysis. Developmental Review, 19, 419-461.
36.
Moshman, D. ( 2005). Adolescent psychological development: Rationality, morality, and identity (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
37.
Pancer, S.M., Pratt, M.W., Hunsberger, B., & Alisat, S. ( 2007). Community and political involvement in adolescence: What distinguishes the activists from the uninvolved? Journal of Community Psychology, 35, 741-759.
38.
Pratt, M.W., Hunsberger, B., Pancer, S.M., & Alisat, S. ( 2003). A longitudinal analysis of personal values socialization: Correlates of a moral self-ideal in late adolescence. Social Development, 12, 563-585.
39.
Schwartz, S.J. ( 2001). The evolution of Eriksonian and neo-Eriksonian identity theory and research: A review and integration. Identity, 1, 7-58.
40.
Schwartz, S.J. ( 2005). A new identity for identity research: Recommendations for expanding and refocusing the identity literature. Journal of Adolescent Research, 20, 293-308.
41.
Schwartz, S.J., Mason, C.A., Pantin, H., & Szapocznik, J. (2009). Longitudinal relationships between family functioning and identity development in Hispanic adolescents: Continuity and change. Journal of Early Adolescence, 29, 177-211.
42.
Shanahan, M.J., & Pychyl, T.A. ( 2007). An ego identity perspective on volitional action: Identity status, agency, and procrastination. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 901-911.
43.
Smith, C., Denton, M.L., Faris, R., & Regnerus, M. ( 2002). Mapping American adolescent religious participation. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 41, 597-612.
44.
Yates, M., & Youniss, J. ( 1996). A developmental perspective on community service in adolescence . Social Development, 5, 85-111.
45.
Yip, T., Seaton, E.K., & Sellers, R.M. ( 2006). African American racial identity across the lifespan: Identity status, identity content, and depressive symptoms. Child Development, 77, 1504-1517.
46.
Youniss, J., McLellan, J.A., Su, Y., & Yates, M. ( 1999). The role of community service in identity development: Normative, unconventional, and deviant orientations. Journal of Adolescent Research, 14, 248-261.
47.
Youniss, J., & Yates, M. ( 1997). Community service and social responsibility in youth . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
