The Conceptual Relationship Between Identity and Resilience in University Students:Effective Psychological Support for the Adolescent Identity Problem

Abstract

The aim of this study is to consider the relationship between university students’ identity, composed of core identity and psycho-social self-identity, and resilience by structural equation modeling. The results showed that the relationship between identity and resilience could be explained by correlation or causality. When considering the causal relationship between identity and resilience, however, it was necessary to exclude “positive future orientation,” one of the factors of resilience, from the statistical model. The effect of resilience on psycho-social self-identity was very strong, whereas its effect on core identity was moderate. This suggests that psychoeducation aimed at acquiring resilience can be useful for identity formation, but a different approach may be needed for the problems of core identity.