The Early Identity Exploration Scale-a measure of initial exploration in breadth during early adolescence.

Maria Kłym,Jan Cieciuch

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00533

Abstract

The existing models and measurement instruments concerning identity appear to primarily focus on adolescence and early adulthood, and studies extending identity research to younger stages of life are scarce. There has been a particular lack of instruments measuring the early stages of identity formation, especially the process of exploration, which has been portrayed as a central process during this particular period of life. Our aim is to help fill the gap in the literature and facilitate further studies of the exploration process by providing an appropriate instrument to measure exploration in breadth during early adolescence. As a coherent and mature sense of identity is closely associated with psychosocial well-being, an effective identity exploration scale will enable researchers to assess the predictors of young adolescents' well-being. We propose a model of identity exploration domains based on the literature and considering 12 exploration domains: physical appearance, free time, family, work, boyfriend-girlfriend relationships, own opinion formation, perception of own place in the life cycle, self-reflection, future, future family, outlook on life, and attitude toward rules. The study was conducted on a group of N = 454 adolescents (50% males, Mage = 13.04, SD = 0.98). Both reliability and structural validity, as verified by confirmatory factor analysis were satisfactory. The instrument is invariant across gender groups at the scalar level of measurement invariance.

Highlights

Identity formation is an important lifelong process—it begins in childhood, becomes important during adolescence, and continues throughout life (Erikson, 1950; Luyckx et al, 2005; Schwartz et al, 2011)
Development of the Early Identity Exploration Scale To measure exploration in the areas listed in Table 1, we developed the Early Identity Exploration Scale (EIES)
We examined the measurement invariance across girls and boys via a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA).We conducted all factorial analyses in the Mplus 7.1 statistical software

Summary

Introduction

Identity formation is an important lifelong process—it begins in childhood, becomes important during adolescence, and continues throughout life (Erikson, 1950; Luyckx et al, 2005; Schwartz et al, 2011). Erikson describes identity as a response to the question “Who am I?” In other words, identity denotes an integrated and cohesive sense of self that endures and continues to develop as we age. Current models of identity are based on the work of Erikson’s follower Marcia (1966), who describes identity formation as consisting of two qualitatively distinct processes: exploration and commitment. Well-being can be treated as an effect of mature identity achievement, built through processes of exploration and commitment. Measurement of these processes early in identity development may have important implications for understanding the early predictors of well-being

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