Parental identity status in emerging and early adulthood, personality, and well-being: A cluster analytic approach

Abstract

The present study was the first one in which parental identity statuses were investigated from the point of view of the processual identity model. The aim was the observation of individual differences among parents in respect of their parental identity (identity statuses) and differences between parents with a different identity status. In the study, 709 parents between the ages of 20 and 40 participated (64.8% women). The obtained results support the hypothesis that five different identity statuses in the parental domain could be identified, that is: Achievement, Foreclosure, Searching Moratorium, Moratorium, and Diffusion. Furthermore, hypothesized differences between different statuses regarding personality traits and well-being have also been observed. The present study suggests that parental identity, which is often overlooked by neo-Eriksonian identity researchers, is a fully-fledged identity domain related to parents’ personality and well-being and contextual factors associated with family life. The importance of the obtained results for our understanding of parental identity formation is discussed in the article.