Congruency Between Domains in Commitment Development

Abstract

Most identity theories conceptualize identity as a general concept that refers to the person as a whole. This conceptualization is challenged by the outcome of empirical studies that show extensive incongruence in identity development between different domains. It is hypothesized that to a great extent incongruence is caused by temporal fluctuations and differences in demands and timing in various domains. As a result, greater congruence should be evident in comparisons of trajectories instead of single measurements. In the present study, trajectories of commitment development were compared over a period of 3 to 4 years in six domains. As expected, high levels of congruence were found in that most participants had the same type of trajectory in at least four domains. With regard to the differences among the domains, the trajectories in the domain philosophy of life showed the greatest deviance compared with other domains.

Notes

¹Traditional universities in The Netherlands are large universities with many different studies and high-quality research and education. (The university occupies the 138th place in the TimesWorld University Rankings.)

*For the 2 participants with five measurement points, at least four points should fulfill the criterion, and for the 6 students with six measurement points, at least five points should fulfill the criterion.

*Outlier of dominant pattern.