The path from identity commitments to adjustment: Motivational underpinnings and mediating mechanisms

Abstract

The present study focused on motivational underpinnings of identity commitments and mediating mechanisms underlying their effects on well-being and distress in a sample of college freshmen (N = 399). Using a path model in a structural equation modeling approach, the authors found that causality orientations appeared to serve as motivational antecedents of identity commitments. Identity integration mediated the pathway from identity commitments to adjustment (i.e., well-being and absence of distress). Suggestions for future research and implications for counseling are provided.