Relationships Between Demographic Factors and Trajectories of Identity Distress in Various Life Domains Among Young Adults: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study

ABSTRACT

Youth develop identities in various life domains by resolving identity-related subjective distress (i.e., identity distress) as well as engaging in identity processes (e.g., exploration and commitment). Despite this proposition, previous studies have relatively neglected identity distress in different domains. Moreover, previous research on identity distress in various domains has used cross-sectional data with Western samples. To obtain a deeper understanding of identity distress, it is imperative to examine this issue using longitudinal data with non-Western samples that include heterogenous youth in terms of demographic characteristics. This study aimed to investigate the roles of various demographic factors (i.e., gender, age, parents’ educational levels, family income, and region) in trajectories of identity distress in different domains (i.e., long-term goals, career choice, friendships, sexual orientation and behavior, religion, values or beliefs, and group loyalties) among a sample of Japanese youth. A total of 912 Japanese young adults participated in a three-wave longitudinal study. Results indicated that young Japanese people are likely to experience severe identity distress for domains that are closely related to their future goals. Additionally, the findings highlighted the relationships between various demographic factors and trajectories of identity distress, reflecting rapid changes in cultural values and social situations in contemporary Japan.

KEYWORDS:

• Identity distress
• domain
• demographic factors
• longitudinal
• Japan

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Individuals who participated at the first measurement wave of this study (N = 2,313) were the same sample as that in Hihara et al. (2020) and Hihara et al. (2019). A total of 448 young adults (19.37%) participated in all three measurement waves.

2. We assessed parents’ educational levels at T2 and T3. Since we analyzed those who answered at least two of the three measurement waves, all respondents (n = 912) had the information of their parents’ educational levels.

3. While our questionnaire also included an objective measure of family income, the response rate to this item was low (45.41%); thus, we used the subjective measure of family income.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Uehiro Foundation on Ethics and Education (Grant number A-066 and C-013).