Challenges and chances: Mediation analytical investigations of antecedents and consequences of the development of identity, intimacy, and generativity.

• Main Author: Busch, Holger
• Other Authors: Prof. Dr. Heidi Keller
• Format: Doctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: developmental psychology; generativity; identity; self-regulation; well-being; mediation; ddc:150
• Online Access: https://repositorium.ub.uni-osnabrueck.de/handle/urn:nbn:de:gbv:700-2012041710132

In the present dissertation, the twofold aim of identifying both antecedents as well as consequences of personality development in adolescence and adulthood is pursued. Personality development is seen from the point of view of Erikson's theory of psychosocial development. The theory specifies identity (i.e., developing a sense of who one is), intimacy (i.e., developing the capacity to commit to a mature partnership), and generativity (i.e., developing a concern for following generations) as central hallmarks of personality development in adolescence, young adulthood, and adulthood, respectively. The solution of these developmental tasks is assumed to be associated with challenges and obstacles. Thus, the developing individual requires psychological resources to successfully cope with each developmental task. On the other hand, if successful, the resolution of a given developmental crisis is assumed to be associated with well-being as well as the development of potentials for further personality development. Three studies are presented that illustrate this interplay of chances and challenges of personality development. In a study with German and Cameroonian adolescents prosocial behavior is found to simultaneously be a consequence of an achieved identity formation and an antecedent of the development of generative concern. Then, two aspects of self-regulation, that is, attention and action control, are found to be predictive of an achieved identity formation which, in turn, is associated with well-being. Finally, the same mechanism is shown to apply for development in adulthood as well: Attention regulation and action control facilitate the development of intimacy and generativity, respectively. Again, personality development is associated with well-being. These results are discussed with a focus on the role of self-regulation and culture on developmental processes. Throughout the discussion, open research questions that future research might address are presented.