Positive Identity Development

Abstract

Identity broadly refers to a cognitive structure that incorporates all of a person's answers to the question “Who am I?” Identity may be considered positive when a person has an identity (some sense of who they are and what they are about), they feel positively about this identity (there are aspects of their identity that they feel good about), and the content of their identity is positive in some way. Positive identity development can be promoted through most settings of adolescents' lives. Indirect methods of promoting such development include shaping environments in ways that are associated with positive identity development (i.e., creating the conditions under which positive identity development can happen), and helping adolescents develop skills to navigate the identity development process in a positive way. Positive identity development may also be directly promoted through intervening in specific identity processes or promoting particular identity content.