Identity Of Young Adults Research Articles

How are leadership discourses reflected in the leadership identity of young adults?

PurposeThis article focuses on the leadership development of young adults. The topic is of significant importance as leadership identity tends to form early in life, and its long-term implications contribute to leadership formation. The objective of this study was to gain insights into how leadership is constructed in young adults and how it is manifested in their preferred leadership identity.Design/methodology/approachThis research was approached from a constructivist perspective, utilizing discourse analysis. The authors conducted a study involving 24 written essays by young individuals with a business background, in which they shared their early leadership experiences. Drawing upon a modified life story interview structure, the authors meticulously analyzed the content.FindingsThe authors identified eight discourses clustered into two groups according to the types of leadership orientation: toward oneself and toward others. The discourses in the toward oneself group consist of leadership as taking responsibility, leadership as courage, manifesting personal strengths and as a role/status. The toward others group includes discourses approaching leadership as balancing directivity, coordinating and organizing work, personalized approach and as performance management.Research limitations/implicationsThe major methodological limitations stem from the qualitative design per se. The findings based on qualitative data have limits in generalizing.Practical implicationsThe authors' findings have practical implications for educators. The authors propose the utilization of critical self-reflection on early leadership experiences and self-narration as effective tools in nurturing and developing young leaders.Social implicationsThis paper underscores the importance of educating young leaders, as they can create a positive impact on their subordinates and society as a whole. By providing them with leadership skills, the authors initiate a chain reaction of influence that extends through different levels of leadership, leading to significant social change.Originality/valueThe authors' originality and contribution to the literature on leadership development lies in showcasing the diversity of perspectives on leadership among participants sharing a similar background and developmental stage. This holds valuable implications for educators working with this cohort.

Autism identity in young adults and the relationships with participation, quality of life, and well-being

BackgroundAutism presents self-identity challenges across the lifespan. Like “illness identity,” the degree to which a person integrates chronic illness into their self-identity, autism identity entails unique issues following diagnosis. Accepting the diagnosis allows better coping with its challenges and psychological, social, and physical functioning. However, knowledge of autism identity’s relationship with social participation in environments such as home, school, and community, quality of life (QoL), and personal well-being is limited. This study aimed to present an autism-identity profile of young adults and assess those relationships. MethodThis cross-sectional study included 42 autistic adults (18–25 years; M = 19.62, SD = 1.1) recruited from a postsecondary training program. All completed an Illness Identity Questionnaire adapted for autism, Child and Adolescent Scale of Participation, QoL Questionnaire, and Personal Well-Being Index. We calculated autism-identity profiles using descriptive statistics and examined relationships between self-reported autism-identity perceptions and participation, QoL, and well-being using Pearson’s correlations and stepwise linear regressions. ResultsThe participants reported significantly higher positive than negative autism-identity feelings, t(41) = 6.17, p < .001, d = .95. Higher positive autism-identity perception significantly correlated with higher reported participation (r = .44, p < .01) and QoL (r = .36, p < .05). Higher engulfment feelings (i.e., feeling that autism overwhelms the individual’s identity) significantly predicted lower social participation and well-being. ConclusionsAlthough natural development and social and educational environments affect identity and self-perception, caregivers, educators, and support services should help autistic young adults adopt more positive and reduce negative feelings about their autism.

Coping, (mal)adaptive personality and identity in young adults: A network analysis.

Coping, personality, and identity are three well-known constructs within the field of psychology. Yet, findings regarding how these constructs relate to each other have been inconsistent. The present study employs network analysis to investigate coping, adaptive and maladaptive personality, and identity and how they are related, using data from the Flemish Study on Parenting, Personality, and Development (FSPPD; Prinzie et al., 2003; 1999-current). Young adults (N = 457; 47% male), aged between 17-23 years old, completed a survey on coping, adaptive and maladaptive personality, and identity. Results indicate clear associations between coping and both adaptive and maladaptive personality within the network, suggesting coping and personality are distinct, yet highly related constructs whereas identity proved largely unrelated. Potential implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

A scoping review of brief alcohol interventions across young adult subpopulations.

Brief alcohol interventions (BAIs) have historically centered on young adults attending 4-year predominantly white institutions. The purpose of this scoping review is to determine BAIs evaluated among young adults with one or more marginalized/understudied racial, ethnic, sexual, gender, and military/Veteran identities and/or who are embedded in an understudied context based on houselessness, attending a 2-year institution, or not attending college. A secondary objective is to explore definitions of the constructs young adult and brief to inform subsequent systematic reviews. Sources had to be published in English between January 1, 1999 and December 31, 2019 and report the evaluation of an intervention ≤ 5 hr long, delivered over ≤ 4 weeks, among participants aged 18-30 years (or 16-30 in college contexts) within a specified marginalized/understudied subpopulation/context wherein alcohol use and/or consequences were a primary outcome. Systematic searches were conducted in APA PsycNet, the EBSCO Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, PubMed, Sociological Abstracts, and Web of Science. Screening was independently performed by two coders who also extracted data. Of 4,825 identified records, 158 provided data; 86 described interventions fitting our definition of brief; of these, only 21 met criteria based on our definition of young adult, with nine meeting full inclusion criteria based on young adult subpopulation. Findings signify a need for additional research evaluating BAIs among young adult subpopulations and highlight the importance of carefully defining and reporting participant characteristics. Increased attention to sociocultural considerations and strengths relevant to the diverse contexts and intersecting identities of young adults may strengthen extant BAIs and equitably mitigate alcohol-related harm. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The Journey to My Student Identity: A Grounded Theory Study on Supported Education for Young Adults with Mental Health Problems

Support for developing a work identity has been shown to be essential for the recovery process of young adults with mental health problems. Since research shows that the development of a student role during the educational years for these young adults may be interrupted, this time period may be relevant to explore in order to support career development and the critical transition to adulthood for this target group. To explore young adults’ experiences of participating in supported education that is integrated with vocational and mental health services, reflecting the process of developing a student identity while struggling with mental health problems. A grounded theory design was used. The material consists of 17 individual interviews with young adults aged 18–29 years who were receiving supported education. Young adults who study while having mental health problems encountered structural barriers and challenged engagement in education that created a gap between the students and the regular education system. Access to supported education was reported to decrease this gap and formed a bridge that to facilitate educational achievements. The achievements were related to several personal benefits that were important for the experience of meaning and identity development in the future. Supported education can contribute to enabling the development of student identity for young adults with mental health problems. This involves an engagement process and positive identity formation that may reduce stigma and is therefore important for the personal recovery process and career advancement.

Dual-centric work/family identity in young adults

ABSTRACT In the present study, we studied young adults who think work and family are equally and highly central – those with dual-centric work/family identities. Using a mixed-method approach, we explored their characteristics, costs, benefits, and strategies of dual-centric work/family identities. The sample consisted of 124 participants, of which 36 participants (50% female) had dual-centric work/family identities. They reported higher levels of work satisfaction compared to those without dual-centric identities. Thematic analyses of interviews showed intra- and inter-individual costs and benefits. Strategies to handle the dual-centric identities included time management, communication approaches, and cognitive tactics. Thus, dual-centric identities are individual, but also relational as others are part of consequences and strategies. Practical and theoretical implications of dual-centric identities are discussed.

The identity imperative: mentoring as a tool for Christian young adult identity formation

ABSTRACT Mentoring is a commonly practiced and well-researched activity, as are the subsets of Christian mentoring and young adult mentoring. The research question explored here was simple: How can mentoring be most helpful for Christian young adults, given their particular nuances? This article therefore surveys the literature on Christian mentoring, showing it as a pivotal tool for spiritual formation. It then investigates the world young adults are emerging into, one that is dominated by complexity, secularity, alienation, abandonment, insecurity and a lack of identity. It shows how mentoring can be of particular assistance in helping Christian young adults to develop their identity, which in turn is fundamental to their own spiritual formation. As mentors practice the arts of listening, questioning and encouraging these young adults, the journey of identity and spiritual formation can be assisted. The article concludes with proposals for the training and promotion of Christian mentoring overall, but with a particular focus for young adults on identity.

Becoming Backpack: Towards a Counter-Inscription of Young Adult Collegian Identity Work

This article invites readers to encounter the author’s early attempts at engaging creatively with data produced during a research project called Life Lines: The Art of Being Alive to Young Adulthood. Launched in January 2019, the Life Lines project was conceived as a critical participatory arts-engaged research endeavor aimed at opening up conventional theoretical wisdom about the nature of young adult college student identity formation. In addition to providing details of the inquiry project’s design and aims, a series of visual and poetic prose narratives open and become threaded throughout the article. These multimodal expressive forms function as a type of creative counter-inscription device, working both to complicate identity development models that limit subjectivity to human consciousness and agency, and to illustrate a more expansive, somatically attuned, and materially-entangled set of practices and productions of young adult identity work’s work and its study.

Distance and acceptance: Identity formation in young adults with chronic health conditions.

Health has long been a chief concern of life course researchers, especially in examining early life. Research on chronic conditions and their impact on individual identity often center on biographical disruption or the idea of a bifurcation of "before and after" identities. This research examines identity formation in young adults with chronic health conditions that began in childhood, a population that continues to grow. This study focuses on young adults' narrative identities, both regarding how young adults describe the transition to adulthood and how cultural ideals of young adulthood and actors from institutions influence how they describe themselves. This study uses 22 in-depth qualitative interviews to reveal how young adults distance themselves from their conditions or move to acceptance through the narratives they tell about their health, feelings, and behaviors. This research suggests that identity confirmation by others forms an integral part of the nexus of health and the life course, shaping how adolescents make the transition into young adulthood. Social support from actors in institutions gives room to some young adults with chronic conditions to integrate their conditions into their narrative identities. This study reveals the social nature of young adult identities, and how cultural ideals guide them, precisely because it uses cases of young adults who must transition to adulthood in alternative ways.

Renegotiation of identity in young adults with cancer: A longitudinal narrative study

BackgroundDespite increasing international awareness of the impact of cancer on young adults, to date there has been limited in-depth research to understand their experiences following a diagnosis using a qualitative and longitudinal perspective. ObjectivesTo explore the impact of cancer on young adults’ evolving sense of self and identity over one year from the time of diagnosis. In addition, to contribute further to an understanding of innovative research methods used to examine this experience. DesignThis was a longitudinal narrative study using visual methods and a psychosocial lens. Narrative was used to re-present experiences over time. Setting and SampleRecruitment was from a Principal Treatment Centre for Teenagers and Young Adults with Cancer and a Cancer Centre for Adults in the United Kingdom. Total population sampling was used over a six-month period, recruiting 18 young adults aged between 16 and 30, one to three months from a diagnosis of bone cancer, lymphoma or leukaemia. MethodsIn depth, free association narrative interviews at three-time points over a year were undertaken. Photographs were used to help with story-telling. Extensive reflexive field notes, debriefing and the use of a psychosocial research group, also formed data sources. Forty interviews were conducted with 18 participants: eight took part in three interviews, six in two interviews and four in one interview. Analysis focused on the holistic ‘case’ of the individual temporally. In-depth, visual images were analysed from discussion in the narrative text. Through memoing, coding and comparison, themes were developed across all cases and a conceptual framework developed. ResultsThe conceptual framework illustrates the renegotiation of self over time through narrative. This was ‘biographically’ during young adult development and across ‘cancer time’; through the core components of: the inner world, (psyche, emotion and coping); self as embodied; self as relating to others, and self as relating to place. Stories indicated that there was a constant inter- relationship over time between the renegotiation of identity and adaption of biography. ConclusionsThe focus in this paper is on ‘the temporality of cancer’ through the first year from diagnosis, and the juxtaposed process of managing biographical and developmental milestones. The importance of developing health care and research which enables narrative and the patient's voice has been highlighted. It emphasises the need for professionals to ‘be with’ and ‘walk alongside’ through the intensity of a biographically and identity changing illness.Using longitudinal narrative, visual & psychosocial methods to describe the impact of a diagnosis of cancer on young adults’ sense of biography and identity.

The Identity of Young Adults and their E-learning Performance

The Identity of Young Adults and their E-learning Performance

Language Practices and Performances of Identity of Young Adults Within Spaces of a Private University in Bangladesh

Language Practices and Performances of Identity of Young Adults Within Spaces of a Private University in Bangladesh

Language Practices and Performances of Identity of Young Adults Within Spaces of a Private University in Bangladesh

This paper explores in what ways students from diverse education, demographic, and socio-economic backgrounds interpret spaces and locate themselves within a vertically built hi-tech cosmopolitan private university in Bangladesh. The data are drawn from an ethnographic study on a group of students in a private university in Bangladesh. The analysis of the data shows that the interpretation and realisation of university spaces of these students are relational and relative. These spaces are the site of exhilaration and excitement, on the one hand, and constant struggle, and resistance, on the other. They carry students’ enthusiasm of being part of the newer Western education movement in Bangladesh; they bear with their dreams, desires, and aspirations, not to mention, their conflicts and contradictions and struggles and anguishes; these are also the spaces where they engage in subversive activities and perform alternative identities. These spaces, with students’ individual and collective realisation, transform students while they are transformed too in the process. The paper concludes that the pro-English hi-tech university gives rise to alternative realities for students and these realities need to be understood critically and sympathetically.

Illness identity in young adults with refractory epilepsy

IntroductionRefractory epilepsy is an intrusive condition with important implications for daily functioning in emerging and young adulthood. The present study examined the degree to which refractory epilepsy is integrated in one's identity, and examined how such a sense of illness identity was related to health-related quality of life (HRQOL). MethodsA total of 121 18- to 40-year-old patients with refractory epilepsy (56.2% women) completed self-report questionnaires assessing the four illness identity states of acceptance, enrichment, engulfment, and rejection (Illness Identity Questionnaire (IIQ)); HRQOL (Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory – 31); and seizure frequency and severity (Liverpool Seizure Severity Scale (LSSS)). Illness identity scores were compared with a sample of 191 patients with a nonneurological chronic disease (congenital heart disease). Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to assess the predictive value of illness identity for HRQOL when simultaneously controlling for demographic and clinical features. ResultsPatients with refractory epilepsy scored higher on rejection and engulfment and lower on acceptance when compared with patients with congenital heart disease. Further, seizure severity and number of medication side-effects were positively related to engulfment and negatively to acceptance. Finally, when simultaneously controlling for various demographic and clinical variables, illness identity significantly predicted HRQOL (with engulfment being the strongest and most consistent predictor). ConclusionThe extent to which patients with refractory epilepsy succeed in integrating their illness into their identity may have important implications for HRQOL. Clinicians should be especially attentive for signs that patients feel engulfed by their epilepsy.

Serious and casual leisure activities in the construction of young adult identity: a study based on participants’ self-descriptions

Leisure activities and identity interact and structure young people’s lives. Empirical research on such interaction is scarce and contradictory. This paper explores the relationships between leisure activities with different levels of commitment (serious, casual) and identity traits. A total of 938 young people (476 men and 462 women) aged 18 to 24 (M = 21.13; DT = 1.98) completed a time budget (TB) and a self-description questionnaire about identity based on the Twenty-Statements Test, as well an association between the TB and the self-descriptions. The study shows the complementarity of serious and casual leisure in the formation of youth identities and gender differences.

Trait anger and cyberbullying among young adults: A moderated mediation model of moral disengagement and moral identity

Although trait anger has been shown to play an important role in cyberbullying, little is known about mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying this relation among young adults. Based on the integration of the general aggression model and the social-cognitive model of moral identity, the current study investigated (a) the mediating role of moral disengagement in the relation between trait anger and cyberbullying, and (b) the moderating role of moral identity in the direct and indirect relations between trait anger and cyberbullying. This model was examined with 464 Chinese young adults. Participants filled out questionnaires regarding trait anger, cyberbullying, moral disengagement, and moral identity. After gender and age were controlled, trait anger was significantly and positively associated with cyberbullying. Mediation analysis revealed that moral disengagement partially mediated the relation between trait anger and cyberbullying. Moderated mediation analysis further indicated that the direct and indirect relations between trait anger and cyberbullying were moderated by moral identity. The direct and indirect effects of trait anger on cyberbullying became non-significant for high moral identity individuals. These findings may help to design effective psychological interventions aimed at improving moral identity in young adults with higher levels of cyberbullying.

Managing the death of close others: Evidence of higher valuing of ingroup identity in young adults who have experienced the death of a close other

The death of a close other (DOCO) is perhaps the most difficult experience that people endure. According to terror management theory (TMT), people manage the potentially terrorizing awareness of their mortality by immersing in cultural worldviews that allow them to feel like valuable members of a meaningful universe who may have some existence or trace after death. Although TMT has potential implications for understanding how people cope with DOCO, few studies have examined this possibility. We report results from four studies showing that, in line with TMT, students who experienced DOCO reported stronger valuing of their identification with their in-groups, which in turn was associated with higher levels of self-esteem. These findings shed new light on the social-psychological dynamics of DOCO.

EXAMINING SPATIAL IDENTITY OF KAMPUNGS THROUGH YOUNG ADULTS’ PERCEPTION IN SURABAYA – INDONESIA

Spatial identity is a result of a connection between people, physical elements of places, and activities associated with them. The development of identity occurs through the psychological process place attachment. This article is based on a research project that observed the spatial identity of young adults living in kampungs (urban villages), in Surabaya city. The young adults are faced with the contrast of a two-sided modernity between the kampungs and the city, which affects their attachment. The study of place attachment has been undertaken through an observation of social life of the participants and spatial perception. Through this study of spatial identity not only physical characteristics were identified, but also social characteristics. This is due to physical conditions of space and social interactions in these spaces are intertwined. The study found that the identity with the strongest attachment is related to social behaviour of the young adults but which is not recognised by current planning strategies. This study of spatial identity is suggesting that policy changes are needed to improve spatial environment of the kampungs.

Development of Ethnic Identity in Young Adults from Immigrant Families: “I Want to Hold Onto My Roots, but I Also Want to Experience New Routes”

This article explores ethnic identity development among young adults from immigrant families from diverse countries of origin. Based on in-depth interviews with young women and men, the authors examined the formation of ethnic identity through childhood, adolescence, and into young adulthood. Analysis of the participants’ narratives revealed that, compared with fluent bilinguals, limited bilinguals reported weaker connections to their heritage culture. Most participants progressed through the model of ethnic identity formation, which was influenced by their family socialization and community context, and reported integrated or bicultural ethnic identities. Practitioners may use the experiences shared by our participants to inform their work with second-generation immigrant youth in varying stages of ethnic identity development.

Insofar as You Can Be Part of Me: The Influence of Intrusive Parenting on Young Adult Children's Couple Identity

What is the role of family of origin in the formation of couple identity (i.e., considering couplehood as central to one's sense of self) among young adults? Two studies tested and supported the hypothesis that intrusive parenting hinders the couple identity of young adults. In Study 1, intrusive parenting was associated with weaker couple identity in a sample of 702 dating partners (351 couples). In Study 2, intrusive parenting was linked to a confused individual self-concept (i.e., lower self-concept clarity), which in turn was associated with weaker couple identity in a sample of 200 dating partners. Extra-relational factors, such as intrusive parenting, can and do predict the quality of couple identity.