Identity Processes in Poor Adolescents: Exploring the Linkages Between Economic Disadvantage and the Primary Task of Adolescence

Abstract

Despite an abundance of literature on the topic of adolescent identity formation, little is known about the relationship between socioeconomic status and identity processes, particularly potential effects of poverty on identity formation. Three correlates of poverty-derogatory self-relevant information (in the form of social stigma, marginalization, and disparate treatment), limitations in opportunity structure, and excessive stress-are hypothesized to circumscribe identity processes in poor adolescents. We present a theory that extends current and historical thinking about identity, culminating in an attempt to explain how and through what processes these correlates might impact identity formation.