Relationships between identity domains and life satisfaction in minority and majority youth in Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Kosovo, and Romania

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between identity domains (educational and relational identity) and life satisfaction in a cross-national perspective, by targeting minority (Roma) and majority youth in Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Kosovo, and Romania. Based on the three-factor identity formation model, we investigated the interplay between three identity processes (i.e., commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment) and life satisfaction. Participants were 1860 adolescents aged 12–19 years from Albania (n = 350), Bulgaria (n = 398), the Czech Republic (n = 293), Kosovo (n = 542), and Romania (n = 277). They completed self-reports of the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS) and the Life Satisfaction Scale (SWLS). We adopted a structural equation modelling approach to test (a) measurement invariance of identity and life satisfaction models across groups and (b) associations between identity domains (educational and relational) and life satisfaction. Findings indicated measurement invariance for identity and life satisfaction measures across cultural groups. In the total sample, life satisfaction was consistently associated with high commitment, high in-depth exploration, and low reconsideration of commitment in the educational identity domain. Sample-specific associations highlighted important cultural differences. Implications of these findings for identity and well-being in minority and mainstream youth across the countries under investigation are discussed.

Keywords:

• Identity
• life satisfaction
• Roma minority
• Albania
• Bulgaria
• Czech Republic
• Kosovo
• Romania

Notes

1 As ancillary analyses, we also tested for measurement invariance across gender groups and across majority and minority groups. In both cases, measurement invariance tests indicated that full metric invariance could be clearly established for gender (comparison between the metric and the configural model: ΔCFI = −.001, ΔRMSEA = .000) and minority/majority (comparison between the metric and the configural model: ΔCFI = −.002, ΔRMSEA = .000) groups.

2 Ancillary measurement invariance tests indicated that full metric invariance could be clearly established for gender (comparison between the metric and the configural model: ΔCFI = .001, ΔRMSEA = .014) and minority/majority (comparison between the metric and the configural model: ΔCFI = −.006, ΔRMSEA = −.021) groups.

3 Ancillary analyses indicated that these paths did not vary across gender groups. In fact, the constrained model in which structural paths were fixed across gender groups was not significantly different from the unconstrained model in which these paths could vary across gender groups, χ² (6) = 6.797, p = .340.