Identity Status, Identity Processing Style, and the Transition to University

Abstract

The present study investigated the role that differences in identity orientations may play as students negotiate the transition to a university context. Measures of identity status, identity processing style, and student developmental tasks were administered to 363 entering university freshmen. Results indicated that differences in identity statuses accounted for significant variation in the students’ progress on measures of academic autonomy, educational involvement, and mature interpersonal relationships. Moreover, in most cases these associations were mediated by the students’identity processing style. In general, the findings suggest that students with an informational identity style are best prepared to effectively adapt within a university context, whereas those with a diffuse/avoidant style are most apt to encounter difficulties.