A guest post by Francesca De Lise
Adolescence is the time of life where individuals start to ask themselves crucial questions such as “Who am I?”, “Who do I want to be?” These questions are central to how we grow and understand ourselves throughout the lifespan. In this sense, it is of utmost importance to understand what drives the process of forming a sense of identity and how it is related to one’s well-being (Crocetti et al., 2023).
According to Motivated Identity Construction Theory (Vignoles, 2011), people are influenced by several needs when they are forming a sense of who they are: they need to feel accepted by others, to see themselves positively, to distinguish themselves clearly from others, to feel connected to their past and future selves, to feel competent and capable of influencing the world around them, and to find meaning in their lives. These needs, known in the literature as “identity motives,” are also thought to affect personal well-being.
Research has shown that when these needs are satisfied, people tend to feel happier and more satisfied with their lives. For example, feeling accepted and connected to others has been linked to greater well-being (Arslan, 2018), and self-esteem is consistently one of the strongest predictors of happiness (Diener & Diener, 1995; Du et al., 2017; Tan et al., 2023). Other studies suggest that feeling unique (Sheldon & Bettencourt, 2002), capable (Doğan et al., 2013; Cattelino et al., 2023), connected to one’s life story (Sedikides et al., 2023), feeling accepted (Arslan, 2018), or having a sense of meaning (Li et al., 2021) all contribute to well-being. However, most of this research has focused on one identity motive at a time, and often at a single point in time. That means we still do not know much about how all these needs work together, or how changes in their fulfillment over time may influence our lives.
Our recent research, published in European Journal of Personality (De Lise et al., 2025), aimed to address this gap. In two studies we tested whether adolescents felt happier and more satisfied with their lives at times when these needs were better met. We measured changes in the fulfillment of identity motives and in aspects of personal well-being among more than 500 Italian adolescents every day for a week (Study 1) and among nearly 1,400 Italian adolescents on four occasions during a year (Study 2). Moreover, we conducted additional analyses to explore potential cultural differences in the links between identity motives and well-being. Specifically, we examined whether these associations varied between adolescents from majority backgrounds and those with a migrant background, defined as being born abroad or having at least one parent born in another country (European Commission, 2023).
Our findings showed that, on average, the participants felt happier and more satisfied with their lives on days and during months when more of their identity needs were met. There was only one exception to this pattern: changing feelings of distinctiveness from others were linked to daily, but not longer-term, changes in well-being. We also found that after periods of identity needs being met, like, times of greater acceptance by others, more positive views of themselves, or a closer connection to their past and future selves, adolescents were likely to experience times of greater well-being that persisted several months later.
Regarding cultural differences, there were no significant differences in Study 1, and only a few small differences in Study 2. While the vast majority of associations appeared to be consistent across groups, it is notable that the few differences that did emerge involved negative emotional experiences. This suggests that cultural background may play a role in how identity-related motives may influence emotional well-being, particularly in relation to negative emotions, an area that would benefit from further research.
Overall, our research suggests that supporting young people in meeting their identity motives, helping them feel accepted, competent, understood, and purposeful, could be a powerful way to boost their general well-being. That is, creating environments where adolescents feel seen, supported, and able to reflect on who they are could make a real difference in their lives. Helping young people build a strong and flexible sense of self might not only help them navigate life’s challenges but also lead to happier, more fulfilling futures.
This research was conducted within the scopes of the ERC-Consolidator project IDENTITIES “Managing identities in diverse societies: A developmental intergroup perspective with adolescents” (PI: Elisabetta Crocetti; G.A. 101002163; https://site.unibo.it/identities/en).
References
Arslan, G. (2018). Psychological maltreatment, social acceptance, social connectedness, and subjective well-being in adolescents. Journal of Happiness Studies: An Interdisciplinary Forum on Subjective Well-Being, 19, 983–1001. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9856-z
Cattelino, E., Testa, S., Calandri, E., Fedi, A., Gattino, S., Graziano, F., Rollero, C., & Begotti, T. (2023). Self-efficacy, subjective well-being and positive coping in adolescents with regard to Covid-19 lockdown. Current Psychology, 42, 17304–17315. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01965-4
Crocetti, E., Albarello, F., Meeus, W., & Rubini, M. (2023). Identities: A developmental social-psychological perspective. European Review of Social Psychology, 34(1), 161–201. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2022.2104987
Diener, E., & Diener, M. (1995). Cross-cultural correlates of life satisfaction and self-esteem. Cross-Cultural Correlates of Life Satisfaction and Self-Esteem, 68(4), 653–663. https://doi.org/doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.68.4.653
Doğan, T., Totan, T., & Sapmaz, F. (2013). The role of self-esteem, psychological well-being, emotional self-efficacy, and affect balance on happiness: A path model. European Scientific Journal, 9(20). https://doi.org/10.19044/esj.2013.v9n20p%p.
Du, H., King, R. B., & Chi, P. (2017). Self-esteem and subjective well-being revisited: The roles of personal, relational, and collective self-esteem. PLoS ONE, 12(8), e0183958. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0183958
Li, J.-B., Dou, K., & Liang, Y. (2021). The relationship between presence of meaning, search for meaning, and subjective well-being: A three-level meta-analysis based on the meaning in life questionnaire. Journal of Happiness Studies, 22, 467–489. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-020-00230-y
Sedikides, C., Hong, E. K., & Wildschut, T. (2023). Self-Continuity. Annual review of psychology, 74, 333–361. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-032420-032236
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Tan, Q., Zhu, N., Zhang, L., & Kong, F. (2023). Disentangling the relations between self-esteem and subjective well-being in emerging adults: A two-wave longitudinal study. Journal of Happiness Studies, 24(7), 1–23. https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1007/s10902-023-00675-x
Vignoles, V. L. (2011). Identity motives. In S. J. Schwartz, K. Luyckx, & V. L. Vignoles (Eds.), Handbook of identity theory and research (pp. 403–432). Springer New York.