Identity Status and Prosocial Behaviors in Young Adulthood: A Brief Report Sam A. Hardy Jason W. Kisling Presenter: Sarah H. Chung Monday, November 4 th, 2013
Introduction Studies have observed that there is a correlation between identity statuses and prosocial behaviors (Adams, 1998; Marcia, 1980; Waterman 1981 ) However, these links have NOT been empirically examined.
Specific Aim The purpose of this study was to examine links between Identity statuses in young adulthood (Marcia, 1966) and measures of prosocial behavior: IDENTITY STATUSES Diffusion Foreclosure Moratorium Achievement PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR Community Service Prosocial Activities Prosocial Behavioral Tendencies
Hypothesis Individuals high on identity diffusion would report lower levels of prosocial behavior and those high on identity achievement would report higher levels of prosocial behavior
Method Participants The sample (N = 91) included undergraduate and graduate students from a Midwestern University Age range 19 35, M= 21.89, SD = 3.01 80% European American 65% female
Measures Four Identity Statuses: Ø Diffusion the degree to which individuals have avoided exploring identity options and making identity commitments Ø Foreclosure the extent to which individuals have made identity commitments without going through identity exploration Ø Moratorium how much people are actively engaged in exploration of identity options, but have not yet made identity commitments Ø Achievement the degree to which people have made self- chosen identity commitments, following a period of identity exploration
Measures Ø Community Service frequency with which participants engaged in volunteer work in the past year [1 = never, 6 = more than 1/wk] Ø Prosocial Activities frequency with which participants engaged various prosocial activities [1 = never, 5 = very often] Ø Prosocial Behavioral Tendencies participants tendencies to behave prosocially across various situations; anonymously, in public, in emotional or emergency situations Ø Social Desirability - scale that indicated whether each item was true or false as it pertained to them [0 = less social desirability, 1 = more social desirability]
Analyses of Results Means (M) and Standard Deviations (SD) were computed. [Table 1] Bivariate correlation analyses were conducted on all study variables. [Table 2] Three regression analyses conducted to assess scores on identity statuses to prosocial functioning; accounting for age, gender, social desirability [Table 3]
Mean and Standard Deviation for study variables
Bivariate Correlations
Regressions of Identity Predicting Prosocial Behaviors
Conclusions As anticipated, individuals with higher scores on identity diffusion reported less prosocial behavior than those with lower scores, and individuals with higher scores on identity achievement reported engaging in more prosocial behavior than those with lower scores. Hypothesis is CORRECT
Conclusions Maturation of identity enables individuals to better form interpersonal connections, develop other- oriented concerns, and increase their desire to contribute to their community and society (Adams, 1998; Erikson, 1959; Marcia, 1980) For example, incorporating a component to youth development and intervention programs that focuses on facilitating identity development may help to promote positive outcomes for youth (Archer, 1994; Ferrer- Wreder et al., 2002)
Recommendations This study attempted to analyze the relationship between identity and prosocial behavior Limitations Self Reported Data Small Sample Size Further research on these links is warranted, particularly directed at examining behavioral outcomes of identity and the mechanisms involved. This would help to elucidate the motivational potential of identity
References [1] Adams, G. R. (1998). The Objective Measure of Identity Status: A reference manual. Unpublished Manuscript, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. [2] Archer, S. L. (Ed.). (1994). Interventions for adolescent identity development. Thousand Oaks, CA:Sage. [3] Ferrer- Wreder, L., Lorente, C. C., Kurtines,W., Briones, E., Bussell, J., Berman, S., et al. (2002). Promoting identity development in marginalized youth. Journal of Adolescent Research, 17, 168 187. [4] Marcia, J. E. (1966). Development and validation of ego identity status, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 3, PP. 551-558. [5] Sam A. Hardy & Jason W. Kisling (2006). Identity Statuses and Prosocial Behaviors in Young Adulthood: A Brief Report.