Longitudinal relations between personality traits and aspects of identity formation during adolescence

Abstract

The current study focused on three aspects of identity development relevant to the adolescent years: being an authentic person, perceiving control over and consistency in one's environment, and having consistent expectations from close others. In a two-wave study of adolescents (n = 750), we examined how these aspects change over the course of a year, as well as whether these aspects correspond to the Big Five personality traits. Results indicated three important findings. First, all three aspects evidenced the capacity for change over a year, and appeared more malleable than personality traits. Second, youth higher on all aspects reported a more adaptive personality profile. Third, changes on these aspects coincide with those on personality traits over the year. Findings are discussed with respect to future directions for studying the interplay of identity and personality development.