A Review and Integration of Three Key Components of Identity Development
Distinctiveness, Coherence, and Continuity
Abstract
Abstract. Studies on identity formation focus on various components of identity. However, these components have mainly been studied separately, and researchers in different fields are not always aware of each other’s work. Therefore, this systematic review provides an overview of theories and empirical studies on three key components of identity: distinctiveness (seeing the self as unique and distinct from others), coherence (perceiving the self as similar across life domains), and continuity (perceiving the self as the same person over time). This systematic review focused on the development of these components and linkages with psychosocial functioning. Findings suggest important differences between the three identity components. Therefore, we propose an integrative developmental framework of identity, including all three identity components and their linkages.
References
2006). Personal fables, narcissism, and adolescent adjustment. Psychology in the Schools, 43, 481–491. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20162
(1985). Self-other contrast and the development of personal constructs. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science/Revue Canadienne des Sciences du Comportement, 17, 303–314. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0080042
(2000). Consequences associated with work-to-family conflict: A review and agenda for future research. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5, 278–308. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-8998.5.2.278
(2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
. (1986). The development of a sense of coherence and its impact on responses to stress situations. Journal of Social Psychology, 126, 213–226.
(2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. The American Psychologist, 55, 469–480. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.55.5.469
(2006). On the nature of intraindividual personality variability: Reliability, validity, and associations with well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 512–527. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.90.3.512
(2017). The role of response styles in the assessment of intraindividual personality variability. Journal of Research in Personality, 69, 170–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2016.06.015
(1987). Theoretical propositions of life-span developmental psychology: On the dynamics between growth and decline. Developmental Psychology, 23, 611–626. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.23.5.611
(2014). Reorganization of personal identity in the context of motivational dynamics and internal dialogical activity. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 55, 362–370. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.12125
(2015). What self-aspects appear significant when identity is in danger? Motives crucial under identity threat. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 28, 166–180. https://doi.org/10.1080/10720537.2014.923353
(1985). Two kinds of identity crisis. Journal of Personality, 53, 407–424. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1985.tb00373.x
(2016). The quest for identity in adolescence: Heterogeneity in daily identity formation and psychosocial adjustment across 5 years. Developmental Psychology, 52, 2010–2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000245
(2017). Identity uncertainty and commitment making across adolescence: Five-year within-person associations using daily identity reports. Developmental Psychology, 53, 2103–2112. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000374
(2012). Culture and the distinctiveness motive: Constructing identity in individualistic and collectivistic contexts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 833–855. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026853
(2013). The divided self and psychological (mal) adjustment – a meta-analytic review. Journal of Research in Personality, 47, 547–552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2013.04.009
(1961). Ego identity, role variability, and adjustment. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 25, 392–397. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0042979
(1967). The second individuation process of adolescence. The Psychoanaltic Study of the Child, 22, 162–186. https://doi.org/10.1080/00797308.1967.11822595
(2017). Identity processes and parent-child and sibling relationships in adolescence: A five-wave multi-informant longitudinal study. Child Development, 88, 210–228. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12547
(2008). Capturing the dynamics of identity formation in various ethnic groups: Development and validation of a three-dimensional model. Journal of Adolescence, 31, 207–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2007.09.002
(2012). A cross-national study of identity status in Dutch and Italian adolescents. European Psychologist, 17, 171–181. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000076
(1993). The divided self: Concurrent and longitudinal effects of psychological adjustment and social roles on self-concept differentiation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64, 834–846. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.64.5.834
(2010). The continued assessment of self-continuity and identity. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 171, 251–261. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2010.483699
(1967). Egocentrism in adolescence. Child Development, 38, 1025–1034. https://doi.org/10.2307/1127100
(1950). Childhood and society. New York, NY: Norton.
(1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York, NY: Norton.
(2011). Narcissism, variability in self-concept, and well-being. Journal of Research in Personality, 45, 568–575. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2011.07.002
(2011). The imaginary audience and the personal fable in relation to the separation-individuation process during adolescence. Psychology: The Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society, 18, 85–103.
(2001). Global versus domain-specific statuses in identity research: A comparison of two self-report measures. Journal of Adolescence, 24, 681–699. https://doi.org/10.1006/jado.2001.0438
(2002). The imaginary audience and personal fable: Factor analyses and concurrent validity of the “new look” measures. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 12, 193–215. https://doi.org/10.1111/1532-7795.00031
(1982). An extension of Marcia’s Identity Status Interview into the interpersonal domain. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 11, 33–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537815
(2015). Autobiographical reasoning in life narratives buffers the effect of biographical disruptions on the sense of self-continuity. Memory, 23, 664–674. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2014.920885
(2012). The construction of the self: Developmental and sociocultural foundations (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
(1992). Development analysis of conflict caused by opposing attributes in the adolescent self-portrait. Developmental Psychology, 28, 251–260. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.28.2.251
(2012). Vocational identity trajectories: Differences in personality and development of well‐being. European Journal of Personality, 26, 2–12. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.812
(2016). Development of a Brief Form of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (B–IRI). Journal of Personality Assessment, 98, 461–471. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2016.1149858
(2011). Emotional separation and detachment as two distinct dimensions of parent – adolescent relationships. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 35, 271–281. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025410385878
(1955). The psychology of personal constructs. New York, NY: Norton.
(2005).
(A psychoanalytic theory of personality disorder . In M. F. LenzenwegerJ. F. ClarkinEds., Major theories of personality disorder (2nd ed., pp. 114–156). New York, NY: Guilford Press.1989). Separation-individuation and the “new look” at the imaginary audience and personal fable a test of an integrative model. Journal of Adolescent Research, 4, 483–505. https://doi.org/10.1177/074355488944006
(2008). Time and identity: A framework for research and theory formation. Developmental Review, 28, 370–400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2008.04.001
(2001). Adult attachment orientations, self-other boundary regulation, and splitting tendencies in a college sample. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 48, 440–446. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.48.4.440
(2006). A developmental contextual perspective on identity construction in emerging adulthood: Change dynamics in commitment formation and commitment evaluation. Developmental Psychology, 42, 366–380. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.42.2.366
(2013). Personal identity in college and the work context: Developmental trajectories and psychosocial functioning. European Journal of Personality, 27, 222–237. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12027
(1966). Development and validation of ego-identity status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 3, 551–558. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0023281
(2016). Bringing identity content to the fore: Links to identity development processes. Emerging Adulthood, 4, 356–364. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696815626820
(2011). The study of adolescent identity formation 2000–2010: A review of longitudinal research. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 21, 75–94. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2010.00716.x
(2018). The identity status continuum revisited: A comparison of longitudinal findings with Marcia’s model and dual cycle models. European Psychologist, 23, 289–299. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000339
(2012). Identity statuses as developmental trajectories: A five-wave longitudinal study in early-to-middle and middle-to-late adolescents. Journal of Youth Adolescence, 41, 1008–1021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9730-y
(2010). On the progression and stability of adolescent identity formation: A five-wave longitudinal study in early-to-middle and middle-to-late adolescence. Child Development, 81, 1565–1581. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01492.x
(2017). Linking delinquency and personal identity formation across adolescence: Examining between-and within-person associations. Developmental Psychology, 53, 2182–2194. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000351
(2010). Self-compassion and psychological resilience among adolescents and young adults. Self and Identity, 9, 225–240. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298860902979307
(1989). Self-other differentiation and the mother-child relationship: The effects of sex and birth order. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 150, 311–322. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.1989.9914600
(2014). Identity development: Dialogue between normative and pathological developmental approaches. Journal of Personality Disorders, 28, 113–120. https://doi.org/10.1521/pedi.2014.28.1.113
(2007). Developing a life story: Constructing relations between self and experience in autobiographical narratives. Human Development, 50, 85–110. https://doi.org/10.1159/000100939
(2014). Self-construal as a mediator between identity structure and subjective well-being. Current Psychology, 33, 130–154. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-013-9202-5
(2015a). The identity processes and the sense of identity: Interrelations and significance to the capacity for closeness. Studia Psychologiczne, 53, 87–100. https://doi.org/10.2478/V1067-010-0142-3
(2015b). Self-complexity and self-concept differentiation–What have we been measuring for the past 30 years? Current Psychology, 34, 723–743. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-014-9285-7
(2003). Five levels of self-awareness as they unfold early in life. Consciousness and Cognition, 12, 717–731. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1053-8100(03)00081-3
(2009). How does exposure to cigarette advertising contribute to smoking in adolescents? The role of the developing self-concept and identification with advertising models. Addictive Behaviors, 34, 932–937. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2009.05.014
(2016). Identity development in relation to time beliefs in emerging adulthood: A long-term longitudinal study. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 16, 45–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/15283488.2015.1121817
(2010). I feel unique, therefore I am: The development and preliminary validation of the Personal Sense of Uniqueness (PSU) scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 576–581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2010.05.006
(1980). Uniqueness: The human pursuit of difference. New York, NY: Plenum Press.
(2016). Understanding identity integration: Theoretical, methodological, and applied issues. Journal of Adolescence, 47, 109–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2015.09.005
(1999). The identity status field re-reviewed: An update of unresolved and neglected issues with a view on some alternative approaches. Developmental Review, 19, 497–556. https://doi.org/10.1006/drev.1999.0484
(2002). The spatial integration of adolescent identity: Its relation to age, education, and subjective well-being. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 43, 201–212. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9450.00288
(2003). The search for the structure of identity formation. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 3, 271–289. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532706XID0303_06
(2011).
(Identity motives . In S. J. SchwartzK. LuyckxV. L. VignolesEds., Handbook of identity theory and research (pp. 403–432). New York, NY: Springer.2006). Beyond self-esteem: Influence of multiple motives on identity construction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 308–333. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.90.2.308
(1982). Identity development from adolescence to adulthood: An extension of theory and a review of research. Developmental Psychology, 18, 341–358. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.18.3.341
(1988). Identity status theory and Erikson’s theory: Communalities and differences. Developmental Review, 8, 185–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/0273-2297(88)90003-2
(