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Identity and Agency in Emerging Adulthood

Two Developmental Routes in the Individualization Process

University of Miami School of Medicine

James E. Côté

University of Western Ontario

Jeffrey Jensen Arnett

University of Maryland

The study of emerging adulthood—the prolonged transition to adulthood extending into the 20s—is a rapidly growing area of research. Although identity issues are prominent during this period, the role of personal agency and individualization in the identity formation process during these years is not well understood. This study examines three psychological aspects of identity formation (style, status, and process) in relation to personal agency associated with the individualization process. Structural equation modeling analyses suggest that higher levels of agency are positively related to exploration and flexible commitment, unrelated to conformity, and negatively related to avoidance. Cluster analysis was used to examine and support a theorized polarity between developmental and default forms of individualization. Replicated across three U.S. ethnic groups, the results suggest that emerging adults utilize agentic capacities to varying degrees, and that the degree of agency utilized is directly related to the coherence of the emerging adult's identity.

Key Words: agency • identity • emerging adulthood • ethnicity

Youth & Society, Vol. 37, No. 2, 201-229 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0044118X05275965


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