Cultural globalization, which has led to increased intercultural contact, has emerged as a defining influence on contemporary societies worldwide. In the present study, we examined individual differences in endorsement of multicultural acquisition and ethnic protection, as well as their links with well-being indirectly through dimensions of…

Educational transitions involve a number of changes for adolescents and can be challenging for adolescents and parents alike. The present study was designed to gain a better understanding as to how adolescents' perceptions of parenting evolves across a major educational transition and how the parenting perceived across this transition may…

The transition out of university education and into the workforce represents a turning point in terms of the evolution of one's goals, roles, responsibilities, relationships, and lifestyle. For this reason, this transition might create important challenges and opportunities for identity formation. The present mixed-method longitudinal study…

Coping strategies and identity processes are hypothesized to influence one another over time. This three-wave longitudinal study ("N" = 458; 84.9% women) examined, for the first time, how and to what extent identity processes (i.e., commitment making, identification with commitment, exploration in breadth, exploration in depth, and ruminative…

The longitudinal effects among self and identity processes, and between these processes and internalizing symptoms, are not well understood. As a result, the present study was designed to ascertain the over-time effects among identity commitment, reconsideration of commitments, and self-concept clarity, as well as to map the interplay of these…

The present mixed-methods study investigated meanings and affective valences ascribed to "American identity" and the ways in which these meanings and valences relate to ethnic and personal identity. The data were collected from 2004 to 2006 and used a multiethnic sample of 287 college students residing in Miami, Florida. Subjective…

Identity exploration has often been associated with maladaptive aspects of psychosocial functioning such as anxiety and depression. It is not known, however, whether maladaptive psychosocial functioning is related to both personal and ethnic identity exploration. In the present study, we examined the relationships of personal and ethnic identity…

This article reviews contemporary issues in the study of self and identity and introduces the special issue. Particularly highlighted are the need to integrate the various currents in self and identity, the need to study the role of context in the development of self and identity, research on self and identity in ethnic minority and international…

The present study investigated the influence of contextual (i.e., being in college vs. being employed) and psychological (i.e., sense of coherence) processes on achieving a sense of adulthood in a sample of 317 emerging adults. Identity formation, conceptualized as multiple dimensions of exploration and of commitment, was conceived of as a…

Responds to the comments by C. Killian on the current authors' original article, "Rethinking the concept of acculturation: Implications for theory and research." Killian has focused on issues of selective acculturation--specifically, the ability of individuals and families to direct their own (and their children's) acculturative trajectories. Let…

This article, using a controlled design, reports the results of an exploratory study to investigate the impact of two types of intervention strategies (cognitively vs. emotionally focused) on two types of identity processes (self-construction and self-discovery) in a culturally diverse sample of 90 emerging adult university students. A…

This study drew on two approaches to identity formation, each postulating differing but complementary exploration components, in an effort to better understand the identity exploration process. Overall patterns of results revealed by hierarchical regression analyses were consistent with a process model of exploration and with the view that…