Between distress and agency: The difficult path of identity consolidation in narratives of young adults unemployed or precarious

Journal title PSICOLOGIA DELLA SALUTE
Author/s Simona Luigia Sica, Sestito Laura Aleni
Publishing Year 2016 Issue 2016/1
Language Italian Pages 21 P. 111-131 File size 131 KB
DOI 10.3280/PDS2016-001010
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The European financial crisis and the changes in the work market have produced effects on the ability to plan for the future and the definition of a coherent and stable self, especially for young people. The study relates to the effects that these difficulties linked to entering the world of work could have on the process of consolidation of personal and professional Italian young adults identity. We used a narrative approach, through which we explored the experiences account of looking for a work of 80 emerging adults, precarious or unemployed. The lexical analysis of texts identified five classes of meaning regarding identity consolidation and personal strategies used to coping with labour market difficulties. Implications of moratorium / achievement of identity are also discussed in terms of agency and identity distress.

Keywords: Youth precariousness and unemployment, identity, agency, distress, lexical analysis

  1. Aleni Sestito L. e Sica L. S. (2010). Uncertainty and disturbance? Emotional dimensions of the redefinition of identity in emerging adults. The 12th Biennial Conference of the European Association for Research on Adolescence, Medimond – Monduzzi Editore International Proceedings Division: 71-75.
  2. Aleni Sestito L., Sica L. S. e Nasti M. (2013). La generazione dei giovani senza lavoro: transizioni all’età adulta in condizioni di precarietà, disoccupazione e sottoccupazione, Ricerche di Psicologia, 3: 411-443.
  3. Aleni Sestito L., Sica L. S. e Ragozini G. (2011). I primi anni dell’università: processi di definizione dell’identità tra confusione e consolidamento. Giornale di Psicologia dello Sviluppo, 99: 20-33.
  4. Arnett J. J. (2007). Suffering, selfish, slackers? Myths and reality about emerging adults. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 36: 23-29.
  5. Bauer J. J. and McAdams D. P. (2004). Personal growth in adults-stories of voluntary life transitions. Journal of Personality, 72: 573-602.
  6. Berman, S.L. and Montgomery M.J. (2014) Problematic Identity Processes: The Role of Identity Distress, Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 14(4): 241-245. DOI: 10.1080/15283488.2014.944700.
  7. Berman S. L., Montgomery M. J. and Kurtines W. M. (2004). The development and validation of a measure of identity distress. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 4: 1-8. DOI: 10.1207/S1532706XID0401_
  8. Bosma H. A. and Kunnen E. S. (2001). Determinants and Mechanisms in ego identity development: A review and synthesis. Developmental Review, 21: 39-66. DOI: 10.1006/drev.2000.051
  9. Cnel (2010). Rapporto sul mercato del lavoro 2009-2010, luglio.
  10. Coté J. E. and Bynner J. M. (2008). Changes in the transition to adulthood in the UK andCanada: The role of structure and agency in emerging adulthood. Journal of Youth Studies, 11: 251-268.
  11. Coté J. E. and Levine C. G. (2002). Identity formation, agency, and culture: A social psychological synthesis. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
  12. Coté J. E. (1997). An empirical test of the identity capital model. Journal of Adolescence, 20: 577-597.
  13. Coté J. E. (2002). The role of identity capital in the transition to adulthood: The individualization thesis examined. Journal of Youth Studies, 5: 117-134.
  14. Crocetti E., Luyckx K., Scrignaro M., Sica L. S. (2011). Identity formation in Italian emerging adults: A cluster-analytic approach and associations with psychosocial functioning. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 8: 558-572. DOI: 10.1080/17405629.2011.57685
  15. Crocetti E. e Palmonari A. (2011). Le fasi adolescenziali e giovanili nello sviluppo individuale. In A. Palmonari (a cura di), Psicologia dell’adolescenza (Terza Edizione). Bologna: il Mulino, pp. 53-66.
  16. Crocetti E., Rabaglietti E. and Sica L. S. (2012). Personal Identity in Italy. In S. J. Schwartz (ed.), Identity Around the World. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 138: 87-102. DOI: 10.1002/cad.2002
  17. Crocetti E., Rubini M., Luyckx K. and Meeus W. (2008). Identity formation in early and middle adolescents from various ethnic groups: From three dimensions to five statuses. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 37: 983-996. DOI: 10.1007/s10964-007-9222-
  18. du Bois-Reymond M. and Chisholm L. (2006). Young Europeans in a changing world. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 113: 1-9.
  19. Emirbayer M. and Mische A. (1998). What is Agency?. The American Journal of Sociology, 103(4): 962-1023
  20. Erikson E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth, and crisis, New York: Norton.
  21. Goossens L. (2001). Global versus domain-specific statuses in identity research: a comparison of two self-report measures. Journal of Adolescence, 24: 681-699. DOI: 10.1006/jado.2001.043
  22. Grotevant H. D. (1987). Toward a process model of Identity formation. Journal of Adolescent Research, 2(3): 203-222. DOI: 10.1177/07435548872300
  23. ISTAT (2014). Il mercato del lavoro negli anni della crisi dinamiche e divari, Rapporto annuale Istat, 3: 83-138.
  24. Kraus W. (2007). The narrative negotiation of identity and belonging. In M. Bamberg (ed.), Narrative: State of the art. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, pp. 123-132.
  25. Kroger J. (2004). Identity in adolescence. The balance between self and other. London: Routledge.
  26. Kurtines W. M., Montgomery M. J., Eichas K., Ritchie R., Garcia A., Albrecht R., Berman S., Ferrer-Wreder L. and Lorente C. C. (2008). Promoting Positive Identity Development in Troubled Youth: A Developmental Intervention Science Outreach Research Approach, Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 8(2): 125-138.
  27. Lancia F. (2004). Strumenti per l’Analisi dei Testi. Introduzione all’uso di T-LAB, Milano: Franco Angeli.
  28. Livi Bacci M. (2008). Avanti giovani, alla riscossa!. Bologna: il Mulino.
  29. Luyckx K., Goossens L. and Soenens B. (2006). A developmental contextual perspective on identity construction in emerging adulthood: Change dynamics in commitment formation and commitment evaluation. Developmental Psychology, 42: 366-380. DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.42.2.36
  30. Luyckx K., Schwartz S. J., Berzonsky M. D., Soenens B., Vansteenkiste M., Smits I. et al. (2008). Capturing ruminative exploration: Extending the four-dimensional model of identity formation in late adolescence. Journal of Research in Personality, 42: 58-82. DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2007.04.00
  31. Luyckx K., Lens W., Smits I. and Goossens L. (2010). Time perspective and identity formation: Short-term longitudinal dynamics in college students. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 34 (3): 238-247. DOI: 10.1177/016502540935095
  32. McAdams D.P., Josselson R. and Lieblich A. (eds.) (2001), Turns in the road: Narrative studies of lives in transition. Washington D.C.: APA Press. 
  33. Nelson L. J. and Barry C. M. (2005). Distinguishing features of emerging adulthood: The role of self-classification as an adult. Journal of Adolescent Research, 20: 242-262. DOI: 10.1177/074355840427307
  34. Niemiec C. P., Ryan R. M. and Deci E. L. (2009). The path taken: Consequences of attaining intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations in post-college life. Journal of Research in Personality, 43: 291-306. DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2008.09.00
  35. Oyserman D. and Markus H. (1990). Possible selves and delinquency. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59: 112-125. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.59.1.11
  36. Reifman A., Arnett J. J. and Colwell M. J. (2007). Emerging adulthood: Theory, assessment, and application. Journal of Youth Development, 2(1). vedi link: http://www.midss.org/ sites/default/files/inventory_of_the_dimensions_of_emerging_adulthood.pdf
  37. Reinert M. (1993). Les «mondes lexixaux» et leur «logique» à travers l’analyse statistique d’un coepus de récits de cauchemars. Langage et société, 66: 5-37.
  38. Savickas M. L. (2005). The theory and practice of career construction. In S. D. Brown and R. W. Lent (eds.), Career development and counselling: Putting theory and research to work. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, pp. 42-70.
  39. Schwartz S. J. (2007). The structure of identity consolidation: Multiple correlated constructs or one superordinate construct? Identity, 7(1): 27-49. DOI: 10.1080/1528348070131958
  40. Schwartz S. J., Côté, J. E. and Arnett J. J. (2005). Identity and agency in emerging adulthood: Two developmental routes in the individualization process. Youth and Society, 37: 201-229. DOI: 10.1080/1528348070131958
  41. Sennett R. (2006). La cultura del nuovo capitalismo. Bologna: Il Mulino.
  42. Sheldon K. M. and Elliot A. J. (1999). Goal striving, need-satisfaction, and longitudinal well-being: The Self-Concordance Model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 482-497. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.76.3.48
  43. Sica L. S. (2009). Adolescents in different contexts: the exploration of identity through possible selves. Cognition, Brain, Behavior. An Interdisciplinary Journal, 13(3), 221-252.
  44. Sica L.S. e Aleni Sestito L. (2010). “Sarò come adesso ma con la barba”: costruzione dell’identità ed esplorazione dei sé possibili in adolescenti sottoposti a misura penale. Giornale di Psicologia, 4 (2): 184-203.
  45. Sica L.S. e Aleni Sestito L. (2014). Raccontarsi ogni giorno: un intervento di orientamento universitario in itinere ispirato all’expressive writing e alla narrative vocational identity, Ricerche di Psicologia, 4: 607-622.
  46. Sica L.S., Aleni Sestito L. and Ragozini G. (2014). Identity Coping in the First Years of University: Identity Diffusion, Adjustment and Identity Distress. Journal of Adult Development, 21: 159-172. DOI: 10.1007/s10804-014-9188-
  47. Sica L. S., Crocetti E., Aleni Sestito L., Ragozini G. and Serafini T. (2015). Future-oriented or immersed in the present? The Role of social support and identity styles on the Future orientation of late adolescents and Emerging adults. Journal of Youth Studies. DOI: 10.1080/13676261.2015.105992
  48. Skorikov V. B. and Vondracek F. W. (2007). Vocational identity. In: V. B. Skorikov e W. Patton (eds.), Career Development in Childhood and Adolescence. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers, pp. 143-168.
  49. Strauser D. R., Lustig D. C. and Çiftçi A. (2008). Psychological Well-Being: Its Relation to Work Personality, Vocational Identity, and Career Thoughts. The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, 142(1): 21-35. DOI: 10.3200/JRLP.142.1.21-3
  50. Stringer K. J. and Kerpelman J. L. (2010). Career Identity Development in College Students: Decision Making, Parental support, and Work Experience. Identity: an International Journal of Theory and Research, 10: 181-200.
  51. Waterman A. S. (1982). Identity development from adolescence to adulthood: an extension of theory and a review of research. Developmental Psychology, 18: 342-358.
  52. Waterman A.S., Schwartz S. J., Hardy S. A., Kim S. Y., Lee R. M., Armenta B. E., Krauss Whitbourne S., Zamboanga B. L., Brown E. J., Williams M. K. and Agocha V. B. (2013). Good choices, poor choices: relationships between the quality of identity commitments and psychosocial functioning. Emerging Adulthood, 1(3): 163-174. DOI: 10.1177/216769681348400

  • Sospesi nel tempo. Inattività e malessere percepito in giovani adulti NEET Anna Parola, Lucia Donsì, in PSICOLOGIA DELLA SALUTE 3/2018 pp.44
    DOI: 10.3280/PDS2018-003003
  • Identity Statuses and Event-Focused Narratives at University Starting Point in Italy Luigia Simona Sica, Koen Luyckx, Luc Goossens, Giancarlo Ragozini, Laura Aleni Sestito, in Journal of Adult Development /2017 pp.89
    DOI: 10.1007/s10804-016-9249-2

Simona Luigia Sica, Sestito Laura Aleni, Tra distress e agentività: il difficile percorso di consolidamento identitario nelle narrazioni di giovani adulti inoccupati o precari in "PSICOLOGIA DELLA SALUTE" 1/2016, pp 111-131, DOI: 10.3280/PDS2016-001010