Development and Validation of the Identity Negotiation Experiences and Strategies Scale

ABSTRACT

A rich theoretical and empirical literature captures experiences of identity conflict and tension at the nexus of identity domains that feel incompatible. The Identity Negotiation Experiences and Strategies (INES) scale was developed to provide a quantitative tool for capturing experiences of identity strain or conflict, and strategies for responding to or managing strain. Focus groups with college students from the United States, the Netherlands, and Finland were used to develop a pool of items capturing students’ identity negotiation experiences. Subsequently, two college student samples from the United States and the Netherlands were used to refine the scale and assess psychometric properties. Four subscales – Strain, Compartmentalization, Vigilance, and Identity Negotiation Resources – demonstrated strong and significant correlations with other theoretically relevant identity processes, as well as with depression symptoms. Metric measurement invariance was demonstrated across the U.S. and Dutch samples. We explore links with existing theory and research and potential future uses for the INES.

KEYWORDS:

• Identity negotiation
• identity conflict
• identity constellations
• identity measurement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data Availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Drs. Päivi Fadjukoff and E. Saskia Kunnen for their support with data collection.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Psi Chi International Honor Society in Psychology [01445066].