Identity Processing Styles Research Articles

When boys and girls make their first career decisions: Exploring the role of gender and field in high school major choice

Although choosing a high school major is often adolescents’ first significant career decision, little is known about the factors that enable adolescents to choose a high school major autonomously (i.e., a major that reflects their values and preferences) or the familial and individual constellations that affect this decision. The current study examined the mediating role of adolescents’ identity processing style in the association between perceived parental need support and adolescents’ level of autonomous motivation when choosing their high school major. Second, we examined whether these proposed relationships differed for gender-stereotyped and non-stereotyped fields. The sample was composed of 571 9th -grade students (296 boys) who self-reported their perceived parental need support, motivation for choosing a high school major, identity processing style, and their preference for a high school major. Results showed that an informative identity style mediated the relationship between parental need support and adolescents’ autonomous motivation. Gender played a moderating role in this relationship so boys’ autonomous motivation for choosing a non-STEM major was more strongly linked to parental support than girls’ motivation to make a similar choice. In contrast, girls’ autonomous motivation for choosing a STEM major was more strongly related to the provision of parental support than boys. These findings emphasize the importance of nuanced parental need-support considering the students’ gender and major (STEM vs. non-STEM) and the need to promote self-exploration when deciding on a high school major.

Social isolation and identity processing styles among students living in orphanages

The aim of the study was to understand the relationship between Social Isolation and Identity Processing Styles among students living in Orphanages. The study also aimed to understand relationship between Social Isolation and various Identity Processing Style, including Normative style, Diffuse-avoidant style and Informational Style. The study also helped to understand the impact of Social Isolation on Identity Processing Style among students living in Orphanages. A total of 100 students under the age of 10-26 were a part of the study and the data was collected through pen and paper method including the questionnaire for Social Isolation by Victor G.Cacioppo and William Patrick (2002), Identity Processing Style by Michael D. Berzonsky (2013). Informed consent was included while collecting the data and demographic details of the participants were taken. The results of the study showed that there was a relationship between Social Isolation and Identity Processing among students residing in Orphanages. The study also aimed to understand relationship between Social Isolation and various Identity Processing Style, including Normative style, Diffuse-avoidant style and Informational Style and it was found out that there was a positive relationship between Social Isolation and various Identity Styles among Students residing in Orphanages. The study also wanted to see the impact of Social Isolation on Identity Processing style among students residing in Orphanages and it was found that there is a significant impact of Social Isolation and Identity Processing style among students living in Orphanage. Which is helpful in understanding that Interventions and support systems target at resolving social isolation and foster healthy identity development among students living in orphanages

Perfectionism, Goal Orientation, and Emerging Adults’ Identity Processing Styles

The current study explored the direct and interactive contributions of multidimensional measures of perfectionism and goal orientation in predicting patterns of identity-related self-processing for pre-COVID-19 and during-COVID-19 samples of traditional age (18–22 year old) emerging adult college students ( N = 722). Regression models controlled for age, binary gender, and race, then tested the unique conditional effects and interactions between perfectionism and goal orientation in explaining variability in each of three identity processing styles. After controlling for multiple covariates and hypothesis tests, only a few effects were repeated between the two samples. Those results indicated that a growth-seeking goal orientation was predictive of an informational identity style whereas validation-seeking goal orientation was a significant predictor of diffuse-avoidant and normative identity processing styles. The overall findings suggested that fruitful targets for future intervention studies promoting healthy identity development during the college years might include reducing validation-seeking while strengthening growth-seeking motives.

Identity processing styles and personal growth initiative in college students: The mediating role of cultural tightness–looseness

Cultural norms and their regulation in society account for individual behaviour and related psychological processes. This study investigated if and how cultural norm regulation mediated the relationship between identity processing styles and intentional personal growth. A sample of 613 students (mean age = 19.72 years, SD = 1.67 years; female = 454, 74.1%) completed the Revised Identity Styles Inventory-5; the Personal Growth Initiative Scale-2; and the Cultural Tightness– Looseness Scale. To investigate the hypothesised mediation, we tested direct and indirect effects models in Mplus. Of the 14 possible direct effects between the two viable identity styles (informational and diffuse-avoidant) and four dimensions of personal growth initiative (readiness for change, planfulness, using resources, and intentional behaviour), 12 were significant. And of the 12 pathways, only three were mediated by cultural tightness, namely informational style to readiness for change, planfulness, and intentional behaviour. The findings demonstrate the value of strict cultural norm regulation in facilitating intentional personal growth in this group.

Teachers’ Attitudes towards Evaluation Research and Their Identity Processing Styles

The main purpose of this paper is to present the preliminary findings of the research focused on the relationship between teachers’ identity processing styles and their attitudes towards external and internal evaluation, as well as teachers’ self-evaluation. This goal allowed for formulating the following research questions: (1) What are teachers’ attitudes toward the three types of evaluation? (2) What are their identity processing styles? and (3) What relationships between the above variables exist? The average was highest on the informational style scale and lowest on the diffuse-avoidant style scale. The study demonstrated a clear differentiation of teachers’ attitudes: from a negative attitude towards external evaluation to a positive one towards self-evaluation. Although the study did not find statistically significant relationships, it contributed to some conclusions on how to study teachers’ attitudes towards evaluation in the future. The research is a step towards finding the factors that positively and negatively influence teachers’ perceptions of evaluation research in their work.

Radicalized Identity Styles: Investigating Sociocultural Challenges, Identity Styles, and Extremism

ABSTRACT Research has identified sociocultural challenges (life attachment) to be a primary motivator for radicalization. While individual differences may provide information about who might be at risk for radicalization, little is known about how different identity processing styles are linked with radicalization. In two studies (N = 975), we examined how identity styles can moderate the association between life attachment and various aspects of extremism. We found that insecure life attachment was significantly and positively associated with radicalization, and this association was strengthened by the normative and the diffuse-avoidant identity style. Results are discussed in relation to identity processes in late modernity, suggesting that personal identity development may emerge as an important factor in the multifaceted process of radicalization.

Identity Processing Style and Meaning in Life among Emerging Adults: Mediational Role of Commitment.

Building one’s own identity and finding meaning in life are important tasks for emerging adults. Although many agree that both are essential in terms of the well-being and proper functioning of an individual, there is little empirical data concerning the relationship between the way young people process information about themselves and the feeling that their life has a purpose and value. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore how identity processing styles (normative, diffuse-avoidant and informational) and two dimensions of meaning of life (presence and the search for meaning) are related. It was also assumed that identity commitment could play a mediating role between those variables. 183 emerging adults who participated in the study completed Identity Style Inventory (ISI-5) and Meaning in Life Questionnaire. The cross-sectional study design was used. Using Structural Equation Modeling revealed that commitment mediated the relationship between two of three identity styles (diffuse-avoidant and informational) and presence, but not search for or meaning in life. Normative identity style also negatively predicted the search for meaning in life. It seems that commitment might play an important role in meaning-making process, and as such, should be strengthened and encouraged when working with individuals at this stage in life.

Self-identity processing and grief: The role of avoidance and flexibility

There is increasing evidence that self-identity processes play a key role in adaption to bereavement. Whereas much of the research to date has focussed on the content of one's self identity, the current study draws self-identity processing style theory to investigate how the socio-cognitive processes employed to negotiate identity conflicts are associated with bereavement outcomes. Participants were 194 bereaved adults from the United Kingdom and Australia (60.5% female, mean age = 40. 23, SD = 13.46, range = 18–70) drawn from a larger convenience sample, who were participating in a longitudinal online study. Participants completed self-report measures of identity processing style, prolonged grief symptoms, major depression and generalized anxiety. Linear regression and path analysis indicated that a diffuse-avoidant processing style was associated with more severe grief, depression and anxiety. A normative processing style was associated with more severe grief symptoms only. Age and gender were also related to symptom outcomes. Results are consistent with theoretical models of grief and highlight potentially modifiable mechanisms in adaption. Findings are discussed with reference to the role of individual differences in explaining grief severity and heterogeneity in bereavement outcomes. Limitations and future recommendations are discussed.

Cross-lagged associations between cognitive dispositions, identity processing styles, and identity commitments

ABSTRACT The developmental interplay among cognitive dispositions (need for cognition and faith in intuition), identity processing styles (informational, normative, and diffuse-avoidant), and identity commitments was examined. Participants (N = 269 university students) completed measures of the study variables twice separated by a three-month interval. A rational cognitive disposition at T1 predicted increases in informational style scores and decreases in normative style scores at T2. The informational style also predicted increases in rational reasoning scores over time. High informational and normative scores at T1 predicted increases in identity commitment. Commitment scores at T1 predicted decreased diffuse-avoidant scores at T2. Implications of the findings for the role cognitive processes and identity styles play in identity formation are considered.

Predicting Commitment and Self-Regulation based on Identity Processing Styles among Students in University of Hormozgan

Predicting Commitment and Self-Regulation based on Identity Processing Styles among Students in University of Hormozgan

Identity Styles and College Adaptation: The Mediational Roles of Commitment, Self-Agency and Self-Regulation

ABSTRACT Identity processing styles (i.e., normative, informational, and diffuse-avoidant) refer to differences in how individuals engage or circumvent the challenge of processing self-relevant information and negotiating identity-relevant conflicts. The role identity commitment, personal agency, and self-regulation played in mediating relationships between identity styles and how successfully students were adapting to college was investigated. Measures of identity style, commitment, agency, self-regulation, and three indicators of adaptation (i.e., depressive symptoms, loneliness, and college adjustment) were completed by 402 college freshmen. A normative style was associated with an adaptive pattern; whereas the pattern for the diffuse-avoidant style was maladaptive. An informational style was only directly associated with college adjustment. All these relationships were mediated by personal agency and self-regulation. Commitment only uniquely mediated relationships with depressive symptoms. The findings suggest that identity commitment has a minimal to negligible impact on college adjustment independent from students’ sense of agency and regulatory resources. Implications of the role agency and self-regulation play in how freshmen students with different identity styles form identity commitments and adapt to college are considered.

Developing and Validating Identity Processing Styles Scale for Iranian High School EFL Teachers: A Mixed Methods Approach

Berzonsky (1990) conceptualized three social-cognitive components of the identity process: an informational or scientific style, normative or dogmatic style, and a diffuse or ad hoc style. Despite the importance of this concept, no previous studies have been conducted to develop and validate the IPS scale to measure this construct as it relates to the EFL settings. Accordingly, the present study aimed at developing and validating a measure that could assess IPS in the EFL context of Iran. To this end, a sequential mixed methods design was conducted in two phases. In the qualitative phase, the researchers reviewed related literature and conducted semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews with EFL teachers in order to seek out the EFL teachers' perspectives regarding what shapes their identity processing styles. Next, the researchers used the principles of data analysis of the grounded theory to analyze data. Then, seven sub-components were initially identified that constitute the Iranian version of identity processing styles model, namely, informational style (analytical/rational thinking), normative style (personal norm thinking, social norm thinking, and religious thinking), and diffuse-avoidant style (pessimistic thinking and optimistic thinking). Finally, to measure the EFL teachers’ identity processing styles, 42 five-point Likert scale items were developed. Then, the newly-developed instrument was completed by 203 EFL teachers in higher education contexts. In the quantitative phase, the IPS scale was tested through different statistical procedures included confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach alpha for reliability. Finally, statistical results were discussed and implications and applications of the study were explained.

Importance of Gymnasium Students’ Anxiety, Identity Style and Stress Coping Strategies for Examination Stress Assessment

Examinations and their results often become perhaps the biggest challenge in young person’s life, which is associated with the course of later life. For this reason, a high level of stress is observed, which is maintained by both personal and situational factors. In this context, the objective of this study is to identify the links between the experienced anxiety, identity style, examinations stress and its coping strategies of the gymnasium students. The study involved 175 gymnasium students in grades 10 to 12. Of these, 109 were girls (62.3%) and 66 were boys (37.7%), aged 16 to 19 years of age (M = 17.27, SD = 0.92). Gymnasium students were given a questionnaire based on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, 1970), Identity Style Inventory Version 5 (ISI-5) (Berzonsky, Soenens, Luyckx, Smits, Papini, Goossens, 2013), the Stress Coping Questionnaire (Grakauskas, Valickas, 2006), and the Examination Stress Scale for Adolescent Students (Sung, Chao, 2014). It was found that the more frequent experience of stress in gymnasium students examinations was predicted by stronger trait and state anxiety, more frequent choice of informational, normative identity processing style and more frequent use of avoidance strategy in experiencing stress.

Identity processing styles and quality of life in head and neck cancer.

Identity processing styles and quality of life in head and neck cancer.

The Impact of Socio-Economic Status (SES) on the Iranian EFL Learners’ Identity Processing Styles and Language Achievement (Research Article)

The present study intended to address the impact of the socio-economic status (SES) on the Iranian EFL learners’ language achievement and identity processing styles. To attain this goal, 148 students studying General English were designated on the base of purposive sampling from Yasuj University of Medical Sciences (YUMS). At the first step, questions related to social, cultural, and financial background was asked of 20 participants (sample) by an interview. Then, a the researcher constructed a questionnaire from the information attained from the interview, regarding the factors related to the social, cultural, and financial factors (variables) and was distributed among the population (148 students) of the study. The participants’ English University Entrance Exam Score (Achievement test) scores were obtained from the Education Office of Yasuj University of Medical Sciences. Afterward, Berzonsky’s forty item revised version of the identity style inventory (ISI3) (Berzonsky, 1992) assessed the identity style of each participant. Examination of the results indicated that the structural relationship between the variables of identity processing style and language skills was 0.84 and its standard value was equal to 0.345. This value indicated a positive and average relationship between the two structures. That is, with the change of identity processing style, the language skills of the participants have changed.

Social media social comparison and identity processing styles: Perceived social pressure to be responsive and rumination as mediators

Despite the growing attention to online social comparison, most studies have focused on the psycho-emotional implications of the behavior, leaving the identity implications ambiguous. Given the importance of identity development and the prevalence of social media use among emerging adults going through college transition, this study explored how social comparison on social media predicted identity processing styles among college freshmen. Short-term longitudinal survey data from 219 freshmen (M age = 18.29, S.D. = .75; 74% female; 41% White, 38% Black) showed that social media social comparison was associated with higher perceived social pressure to be responsive on social media, which, in turn, predicted less utilization of the informational identity processing style; the comparison was also associated with higher levels of rumination, which predicted more use of the diffuse-avoidant style. The study expands the literature by showing that social comparison associates with not only affect, emotions, and evaluation of the self, as indicated by earlier research, but also how people approach their identity, which can have a long-term impact on the unity, stability, and growth of the identity.

Digital Media as a Medium for Adolescent Identity Development

The aim of the present study was to examine the interrelationships between adolescent media activity, adaptive or maladaptive cognitions related to media use, and identity development processing styles. Participating in the study were 359 adolescents (47% males and 53% females), ages 11–18 years (mean age 14.52, SD 2.24). They completed the Media Activity Form—Youth Self-Report (Achenbach, T. (2018). Media Activity Form – Youth Self-Report. A self-report questionnaire developed by T. Achenbach, University of New Hampshire, New Hampshire, USA, for purposes of media activity research.), and the Identity Style Inventory ( Berzonsky et al., Psychological Assessment 25:893–904, 2013). The results showed negative associations between informational identity processing style and time spent gaming, as well as negative associations with time spent communicating via digital media. Informational identity processing style was positively associated with adaptive media-related cognitions, such as schoolwork benefits from media use. Normative identity processing style was negatively associated with time spend using media for schoolwork or for communicating. Diffuse—avoidant identity processing style was positively associated with time spent gaming, and positively associated with ratings of preoccupation with being on media. The results are discussed in regard to practical implications and recommendations for educators and counselors of adolescents.

The Material Context of Adolescent Identity Formation: A Family Economic Stress Approach

ABSTRACT Grounded in the family stress model and recent studies on cognitive effects of poverty, the current study examines how family material conditions relate to identity-relevant information processing among adolescents via family economic strain, family financial conflicts, and parenting behaviors. Data for the study come from the first wave of a longitudinal study on the development of adolescent goals in the context of socio-economic inequalities. The sample includes 1,268 adolescents (51.7% females; M = 14.87; SD = 0.39) attending 36 gymnasiums. Findings reveal that the family economic situation contributes to how adolescents process identity-relevant information, but these effects are primarily indirect. Specifically, better family material conditions are associated with more supportive parental engagement in their children’s identity-relevant decisions, which in turn is associated with higher levels of the information-oriented identity processing style. Poorer family material conditions, economic pressures, and conflicts are associated with parental interference and a lack of engagement, which in turn is associated with higher levels of diffuse-avoidant identity style. The identity styles themselves are known predictors for a wide array of outcomes. Therefore, our findings suggest that countering the adverse effects of socio-economic inequality may be crucial to break a self-perpetuation cycle of socio-economic adversity.

The study of autobiographical memory and identity processing styles in Afghan immigrant adolescents suffering from post–traumatic stress disorder

The study of autobiographical memory and identity processing styles in Afghan immigrant adolescents suffering from post–traumatic stress disorder

Cognitive Reasoning Processes and Identity Achievement: Mediating Role of Identity Processing Styles

The present study aimed to investigate the direct as well as indirect effect (through identity processing styles) of cognitive reasoning processes (rational-experiential processing systems) on identity achievement. In this model, identity processing styles serve as a catalyst for cognitive reasoning and identity achievement. For this purpose, a sample of 250 boys and 250 girls with age ranging from 15-20 years (M = 17.62; SD = 1.85) was taken. Identity Style Inventory-3 (Berzonsky, 1992), Rational Experiential Inventory-Adolescents (Marks et al., 2008), and Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity (Bennion & Adams, 1986) were administered on the sample. The mediating role of identity processing styles in the relationship of cognitive reasoning and identity achievement was investigated. The results of Multiple Hierarchical Regression analyses revealed that the relation between rational processing system and identity achievement was partially mediated by informational identity processing style. In addition, the relationship between experiential processing system and identity achievement was completely mediated by two identity processing styles-informational and normative. The current study findings were considered in terms of socio-cognitive model of formation of identity.