Identity development across the transition from primary to secondary school: The role of personality and the social context

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics and correlations of the study variables.

	1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.	7.	8.	9.	10.
1. Commitment making W1
2. Identification with commitment W1	.56*
3. Exploration in breadth W1	.03	.32*
4. Exploration in depth W1	.14*	.32*	.61*
5. Doubt W1	−.52*	−.43*	−.02	.07
6. Commitment making W2	.34*	.27*	.04	.09	−.35*
7. Identification with commitment W2	.34*	.42*	.13	.19*	−.29*	.62*
8. Exploration in breadth W2	−.06	.12	.55*	.43*	.02	.10	.22*
9. Exploration in depth W2	.14	.18*	.36*	.48*	−.01	.12	.26*	.62*
10. Doubt W2	−.22*	−.19*	−.02	−.01	.32*	−.48*	−.47*	.05	.01
11. Identification with commitment W3	.16*	.35*	.17*	.13	−.33*	.17*	.39*	.21*	.21*	−.29*
12. Exploration in breadth W3	−.07	−.05	.15*	.10	.03	−.07	−.01	.17*	.08	.13
13. Exploration in depth W3	.04	.11	.21*	.19*	−.07	−.01	.15*	.28*	.37*	.01
14. Doubt W3	−.13	−.26*	−.10	−.08	.26*	−.20*	−.23*	−.13	−.11	.36*
15. Identification with commitment W4	.12	.32*	.18*	.07	−.33*	.32*	.37*	.13	.24*	−.30*
16. Exploration in breadth W4	−.12	−.12	.15	−.01	.16*	−.03	−.13	.12	.01	.14
17. Exploration in depth W4	.06	.18*	.14	.13	−.01	.14	.15	.15	.27*	−.04
18. Doubt W4	−.11	−.32*	−.03	−.02	.32*	−.25*	−.24*	−.09	−.16*	.40*
19. Neuroticism W1	<.01	−.02	−.12	−.12	.09	.10	.10	−.11	.01	.02
20. Parental support W1	.12	.39*	.30*	.27*	−.19*	.09	.25*	.23*	.20*	−.18*
21. Best friend support W1	.16*	.30*	.18*	.17*	−.21*	.04	.10	.27*	.17*	−.01
Mean	3.55	4.00	3.60	3.32	2.07	4.35	4.25	3.42	3.17	1.62
SD	0.94	2.07	0.91	0.86	0.82	0.68	0.63	0.98	0.85	0.72
Ω	.72	.85	.88	.86	.84	.61	.80	.87	.85	.89
	11.	12.	13.	14.	15.	16.	17.	18.	19.	20.	21.
11. Identification with commitment W3
12. Exploration in breadth W3	.01
13. Exploration in depth W3	.32*	.46*
14. Doubt W3	−.52*	.38*	.10
15. Identification with commitment W4	.61*	−.04	.30*	−.40*
16. Exploration in breadth W4	−.07	.34*	.11	.22*	−.10
17. Exploration in depth W4	.23*	.24*	.48*	.05	.33*	.39*
18. Doubt W4	−.39*	.21*	−.07	.58*	−.41*	.38*	−.01
19. Neuroticism W1	.04	.03	.14	.06	.05	.03	.12	−.04
20. Parental support W1	.34*	−.02	.19*	−.32*	.22*	−.02	.11	−.26*	.04
21. Best friend support W1	.24*	.07	.13	−.12	.05	.07	.17*	−.11	.08	.43*
Mean	3.90	2.06	2.86	1.65	3.71	1.93	2.66	1.67	3.76	4.19	3.72
SD	0.72	1.17	0.83	0.78	0.91	1.01	0.81	0.90	1.12	0.63	0.59
Ω	.79	.91	.79	.88	.87	.88	.80	.89	.79	.87	.86

Figure 1. Average profiles of identity trajectories.

Table 2. Means of the 1-profile solution for each of the identity constructs and outcomes of significance tests.

	Wave 1	Wave 2	Wave 3	Wave 4
Commitment making	3.55^b	4.35^a
Identification with commitment	4.00^bcd	4.24^acd	3.88^abd	3.72^abc
Exploration in breadth	3.60^bcd	3.42^acd	2.06^ab	1.93^ab
Exploration in depth	3.32^bcd	3.16^acd	2.86^abd	2.67^abc
Doubt	2.07^bcd	1.61^a	1.68^a	1.68^a

Subscripts are used to denote significant mean-level differences between scores, as tested with the Wald test and significant at p < .05; a = different from Wave 1; b = different from Wave 2; c = different from Wave 3; d = different from Wave 4.

Table 3. Fit of the latent profile analyses with multiprofile solutions with 2 to 4 profiles for each of the identity constructs.

				% of participants in profile
	BIC	LMR-LRT	Entropy	Profile 1	Profile 2	Profile 3	Profile 4
Commitment making	1007.81	33.55, p = .270	.75	20.7	79.3
	997.17	25.44, p < .001	.83	0.6	76.2	23.2
	938.99	24.71, p = .263	.79	0.6	17.3	31.9	50.2
Identification with commitment	1644.02	41.93, p = .173	.85	9.1	90.9
	1642.52	27.83, p < .001	.91	90.3	8.6	1.1
	1653.20	16.07, p = .144	.81	80.6	8.6	1.1	9.7
Exploration in breadth	2187.13	63.50, p < .001	.68	66.5	33.5
	2155.95	56.45, p = .001	.78	56.4	14.0	29.5
	2120.66	60.42, p = .001	.75	22.4	47.5	9.4	20.6
Exploration in depth	1914.58	24.78, p = .003	.64	75.3	24.7
	1927.48	13.94, p = .013	.78	8.6	22.9	76.2
	1941.85	12.51, p = .266	.74	9.1	24.4	9.6	65.1
Doubt	1712.09	78.79, p = .020	.89	90.2	9.8
	1754.30	43.75, p = .174	.83	16.9	76.4	6.7
	1695.36	83.24, p = .537	.81	58.1	24.0	15.0	2.9

Percentage of sample in profiles is based on most likely membership.

Best-fitting solution bolded.

Table 4. Unstandardized mean scores per profile and denotations of significant differences between scores.

		Wave 1	Wave 2	Wave 3	Wave 4
Commitment making	Profile 1: “stable low commitment makers”	3.12^f	3.30^f	–	–
	Profile 2: “increasing committers”	3.66^be	4.62^ae	–	–
Exploration in breadth	Profile 1: “pre-transition explorers”	3.55^cdf	3.38^cdf	1.17^abdfg	1.57^abcfg
	Profile 2: “sudden-stop explorers”	4.08^deg	4.06^deg	4.20^deg	2.35^abce
	Profile 3: “gentle decliners”	3.47^bcdf	3.21^acdf	2.73^abef	2.43^abe
Exploration in depth	Profile 1: “stable explorers”	3.30^cd	3.20^cd	2.92^ab	3.01^abf
	Profile 2: “decliners”	3.38^cd	3.06^d	2.68^ad	1.62^abce

Subscripts are used to denote significant mean-level differences between scores, as tested with the Wald test and significant at p < .05.

a = different from Wave 1 of the same profile; b = different from Wave 2 of the same profile; c = different from Wave 3 of the same profile.

d = different from Wave 4 of the same profile; e = different from the same wave of profile 1; f = different from the same wave of profile 2; g = different from the same wave of profile 3.

Figure 2. Profiles from the best-fitting multiprofile solutions for commitment making, exploration in breadth, and exploration in depth.

Table 5. Odds ratios of neuroticism, parental support, and best friend support as predictors of profile membership.

		Profile 1 odds	Profile 2 odds	Profile 3 odds
Commitment making (2-profile solution)	Neuroticism	0.68	ref. cat.
	Parental support	1.75
	Best friend support	0.89
Exploration in breadth (3-profile solution)	Neuroticism	0.95	1.02	ref. cat.
	Parental support	1.53	3.48*
	Best friend support	0.78	1.18
Exploration in depth (2-profile solution)	Neuroticism	1.11	ref. cat.
	Parental support	0.81
	Best friend support	1.43

* p < .05.

ref. cat. = reference category for odds ratios.

For exploration in breadth, there were no other significant odds ratios when profile 1 or 2 were used as reference category.