Research On Features And Mechanism Of Identity Development In University Students

Identity development is a main task of psychological development for university students. This research studied features and mechanism of identity development in university students from perspectives of identity style, identity script and meaning-making, so as to provide references theoretically and practically for university students’identity development. Empirical studies included three parts as follows:Study on identity style:Identity Style Questionnaire for University students was developed, in which four identity styles were differentiated, respectively were balance, assimilation, accommodation, and withdrawal. By using the questionnaire to survey features of identity style in university students, the author discussed university students’identity development features. And the participants with the accommodation style were selected for the following study.Study on identity script development:In order to study identity developmental process,9 participants with the accommodation style and 1 participant with the assimilation style for comparison were followed through telephonic interview, with duration lasted for about 7 months. By using qualitative analysis from a perspective of identity script development, the author analyzed the process features of identity development in university students, which mainly included the trend, stages, and influence factors of identity development, the rules of identity exploration. Meanwhile, the mechanism of identity development was analyzed.Study on identity meaning-making:Based on the research findings of identity script development, a semi-structured identity narrative story questionnaire was designed to further study the features and mechanism of identity development in university students from the perspective of meaning-making. The quantitative analysis findings in this part were complementary mutually with qualitative analysis findings of identity script.The main research findings were as follows:1 Key features of identity development in university studentsGrade characteristics:Generally speaking, the developmental trajectory of identity in university students was a reverse U type curve. Identity didn’t gain a substantial development in the first year in university. But it was a key period for identity development in the second year, in which university students formed different identity styles and had higher levels of accommodation and meaning-making. Identity development was continued in the third year and the meaning-making level was the highest, but it was stagnated in the fourth year and the meaning-making level declined steeply, with two developmental states mostly, resolved main identity conflicts and balance identity style, or unresolved main identity conflicts and withdrawal identity style.Gender characteristics:For the time to become a certain type of identity style, findings were as following:girls were earlier than boys, arts students were earlier than science students, rural students were earlier than urban students. The meaning-making level of boys was significantly higher than that of girls.Generally, academic performance, relationship with classmates, extracurricular achievements were the main conflict areas and meaning-making events for university students’ identity development. Deeper meanings could be made from five types of events, which were self-discoveries, psychological needs, life/death/illness, achievements, and beliefs/values.The process of identity development in university students could be divided into three stages, respectively were getting into conflicts and suffered agony, facing conflicts and reflecting on the self, jumping out of conflicts and surpassing the self.Pursing independence was the main identity developmental script or theme for university students, most of whose developmental trend was from dependence or going with the stream to independence. There was also another trend that the self and reality were from separating to combining.In the process of tending toward accommodation, the identity development level ascended wave-like with the passing time; Identity development in different areas was asynchronous; In one area, identity developmental trend was zigzag and iterative, and would fell back from a higher level to a lower level; Identity development in different areas had a significant interaction; It seemed that identity development in areas with light conflicts would reach accommodation more easily.Important others, cultural resources and one’s own experiences were main supportive resources for university students’identity development; Means of identity exploration or meaning-making mainly included critical reflection versus direct acceptance, upward comparison versus downward comparison, inner comparison versus outer comparison, internal attribution versus external attribution. Comparatively, identity development of individuals who were with critical reflection, inner comparison and internal attribution was better than that of individuals who were not.2 Mechanism of identity development in university studentsIdentity development was a process in which the supportive resources were selectively permitted by the individual’s psychological membrane to enter into the external space and dialog with the inner self so as to produce a new self. The psychological membrane would select the external supportive resources which mainly included important others, cultural resources and one’s own experiences to enter into the self space when symbolic meanings of resources were sensitive for the individual. The process of dialogical self was the process of meaning making, which mainly included comparison, critical reflection and attribution. The motivation of dialogue or meaning-making was to understand the relationship of self, others and events, and reduce the uncertainty among them. New meanings gotten by meaning making could weaken the former identity script and bring a new script to become and develop.When dialoged with important others, it was more important for the dialogical objects, the objects’reactions and the dialogical motivations than for the number of dialogical objects, the feeling of being assisted, the satisfaction for being assisted. Individuals could gain more meanings in the following conditions:1, Dialogues with the intimates or dialogues with both parents and teachers at one time.2, Different reactions from dialogical objects and one’s self.3, Motivations with individual’s functions, including seeking for help and venting bad emotion, but not with social functions.When dialoged with one’s own experiences, whether or not the present manner was same with the former was more important than times of similar experiences or if one had similar experiences. More meanings could be made during the dialogue process when there was a manner difference between the present and the past.Psychological membrane would select some events as inspirers for a dialogue with the self. And some events with sensitive symbolic meanings for individuals were selected as inspirers. The features of those events always were as follows:1, Events happened in the first half of the second year in university.2, Events were about self-discovery, psychological needs, achievements, beliefs/values, and life/death/illness. 3, Negative reactions were made by oneself in the events.4, No reactions of others in the events.5, Others’ reaction and one’s own reaction in the events were different.6, Events were negative.7, More than one strong negative emotion was aroused, or complex emotion with nearly even intensity of negative feeling and positive feeling was aroused.8, Events were important for individuals.