Bridging development and disturbance: A translational approach to the study of identity

Across the subdisciplines of personality and clinical psychology, identity has been a psychological construct of wide-reaching importance in understanding both normative processes of human development as well as psychopathology. However, despite its wide-reaching importance, differences in the conceptualization and measurement of identity across these subdisciplines have contributed to more fragmentation, rather than unification, in our understanding of this central principle. In the present study, we sought to unify the measurement of identity across these subdisciplines through examining the extent to which personality and clinical measures of identity converge, as well as the predictive validity of identity measures across layers of personality functioning, employing a unique design for a dynamic assessment of identity. Our results supported a 1-factor model, as opposed to a 2-factor model, of identity. This Identity/Identity Dysfunction factor was significantly associated with mean-level neuroticism, extraversion, and agreeableness, but not significantly associated with stability of personality trait expression. It was also associated with more extrinsic values and aspirations, and the stability of extrinsic aspirations. Finally, the Identity/Identity Dysfunction factor demonstrated moderate and negative relationships with indices of narrative coherence. Our results suggest that identity falls along a continuum of development and disturbance and is meaningfully connected to all layers of personality functioning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).