Are Conflicts the Motor in Identity Change?

Abstract

This paper aims to find empirical evidence for the assumption that conflicts are the motor of identity development. I hypothesized that conflicts in a specific domain cause an increase in exploration, a decrease in the strength of commitments, and a change in the content of commitments in that same domain. Eight participants kept a diary in which they reported the most important events during 6 months. The identity status in 6 domains before and after the diary period was assessed. Strong commitments with little exploration were preceded by a period of little or no conflicts in the relevant domain. Perceived change in content of commitments and decrease in strength of commitments were related to the number of conflicts during that same period, but exploration was not. This might be explained by the finding that most conflicts lasted much longer than 6 months. Using resampling techniques, significant results were found when we analyzed the 48 domains, but we cannot rule out the possibility that systematic differences between participants affected the findings.