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Identity Styles and Interpersonal Behavior in Emerging Adulthood: The Intervening Role of Empathysode_595 664..684

Ilse Smits, Sarah Doumen, Koen Luyckx, Bart Duriez and Luc Goossens, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

Abstract

This study examined the intervening role of empathy in the relations between identity styles (i.e., information-oriented, normative, and diffuse-avoidant styles), and inter- personal behaviors (i.e., prosocial behavior, self- and other-oriented helping, and physical and relational aggression). In a sample of 341 emerging adults, it was found that an information-oriented style relates to a more adaptive pattern of interpersonal behaviors whereas a normative or a diffuse-avoidant identity style relate to a more maladaptive pattern of interpersonal behaviors. Empathy played an intervening role between the information-oriented style and interpersonal behavior, and between the diffuse-avoidant style and interpersonal behavior. However, empathy did not intervene between the normative style and interpersonal behavior. Implications for future research are discussed.

Keywords: identity styles; empathy; prosocial behavior; aggression

Introduction

Emerging adulthood refers to a relatively new conception of human development for the period from the late teens through the twenties, that is, between adolescence and young adulthood (Arnett, 2000). Sweeping demographic shifts have taken place over the past half century that have made late teens and early twenties in industrialized countries not simply a brief period of transition into adult roles, but a distinct period of the life course, characterized by change and exploration of possible life directions (Arnett, 1998). The development of self and identity, cognitive maturity, and interper- sonal functioning—changes and challenges that characterize adolescence—continue to be important in emerging adulthood. During this period, in which adult commit- ments and responsibilities are delayed, exploration as part of identity development that begins in adolescence continues and in fact intensifies through the late teens and the twenties (Arnett, 2000; Luyckx, Goossens, & Soenens, 2006; Valde, 1996; Whitbourne & Tesch, 1985). Erikson (1968) already stated that industrialized societies allow for a

Correspondence should be addressed to Ilse Smits, Department of Psychology, Katholieke Univer- siteit Leuven, Tiensestraat 102—Box 3715, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. Email: [email protected]

doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9507.2010.00595.x

© Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2011. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.

prolonged adolescence in which extended identity explorations can occur, also called the psychosocial moratorium.

At the cognitive level, advances in social cognition and developments towards higher-level moral reasoning during adolescence and emerging adulthood give rise to increased consideration of multiple perspectives and empathy (e.g., Crick et al., 1999; Eisenberg & Fabes, 1998). The social context also changes during adolescence and emerging adulthood. Friendships become more important, exclusive, and intense, and involve more intimate sharing and disclosure. The frequency of peer interactions is higher because adolescents and emerging adults spend more time out of the direct supervision of adults (Hill & Holmbeck, 1986). Moreover, most university students in Belgium, such as the participants of this study, live apart from their parents and only visit their parents during the weekends. That way, relations with peers, which were already important during adolescence, intensify even more during this period. On the positive side, these changes at the interpersonal level give rise to a higher incidence of prosocial behaviors (Fabes, Carlo, Kupanoff, & Laible, 1999). However, increased interaction with peers may also give rise to greater opportunities for displaying antisocial behavior (Lahey, Waldman, & McBurnett, 1999), and for a more frequent and sophisticated use of aggression (Yoon, Barton, & Taiariol, 2004). Although it is generally known that during adolescence and emerging adulthood, these developments in the personal, cognitive, and social domains are inter-connected, relatively few studies have examined associations between variables that play a prominent role in each of these domains. Against this background, the present study adds to the literature on the relation between identity and interpersonal behaviors by testing an integrated model of relations among identity styles, empathy, and interpersonal behaviors. In the following sections, we discuss each set of variables represented in our model and how they are hypothesized to be inter-related.

Berzonsky’s Identity Style Model

Most previous research conceptualized personal identity formation in terms of the identity statuses. Marcia (1966) pointed out the importance of two key processes of identity formation: exploration of alternatives and commitment to choices. Based on these two dimensions, people can be assigned to one of four identity statuses: achieve- ment (high exploration/high commitment), moratorium (high exploration/low commit- ment), foreclosure (low exploration/high commitment), and diffusion (low exploration/ low commitment). According to Côté and Levine (1988), Marcia overemphasized the commitment aspect, suggesting that there is something like a fully achieved identity (Bosma & Kunnen, 2001; Soenens & Luyckx, 2003). However, Erikson (1968) stressed that identity development is a never-ending and dynamic developmental process. Other authors (e.g., Luyckx, Goossens, Soenens, & Beyers, 2006), emphasized the need to study more explicitly the identity exploration process. Therefore, the present study examined stylistic differences in the way emerging adults approach the identity explo- ration task, as conceptualized within Berzonsky’s (1990) identity style model.

An identity style refers to the strategy that an individual prefers to use in processing, structuring, utilizing, and revising self-relevant information (Berzonsky, 1990). Three different identity styles are distinguished: The information-oriented, the normative, and the diffuse-avoidant style. Individuals who use an information-oriented style deal with identity issues by actively seeking out, processing, and utilizing identity-relevant information in order to make well-informed choices. In contrast, individuals who

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use a normative style follow the normative expectations and prescriptions held up by significant others and reference groups. Finally, individuals who use a diffuse-avoidant style procrastinate personal decisions until they are forced to make a choice by pressuring situational demands.

Although Berzonsky’s model clearly differs from Marcia’s model, there are also some similarities.According to Berzonsky (1989), each identity status is associated with a specific identity style. People in the moratorium and achievement status would predominantly use an information-oriented identity style, people in the foreclosure status would predominantly use a normative identity style, and people in the diffusion status would predominantly use a diffuse-avoidant identity style. These expected associations have been empirically confirmed (Berman, Schwartz, Kurtines, & Berman, 2001; Berzonsky & Niemeyer, 1994; Schwartz, Mullis, Waterman, & Dunham, 2000).

Until now, research has studied predominantly the cognitive and intrapersonal cor- relates of identity styles at the expense of the interpersonal correlates and outcomes of identity styles. However, a rationale for extending identity style research into the domain of interpersonal behaviors can be found in Erikson’s (1968) epigenetic prin- ciple. This principle states that the task of identity development lays the foundation for the resolution of the conflict of intimacy versus isolation during late adolescence and young adulthood, that is, emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2000). Based on this principle, it can be expected that qualitative differences in the identity exploration process are relevant to the quality of emerging adults’ interpersonal behavior.

Identity Styles and Interpersonal Behaviors

Previous research on the relation between identity and interpersonal behavior primarily looked at only one specific type of interpersonal behavior, such as prosocial behavior (e.g., Hardy & Kisling, 2006), or antisocial behavior (Schwartz, Pantin, Prado, Sulli- van, & Szapocznik, 2005). In this study, we examined associations between the identity styles and a broad set of interpersonal behaviors encompassing both adaptive (i.e., prosocial), and potentially disruptive (i.e., aggressive), interpersonal behaviors.

Prosocial Behavior

We expected the three identity styles to be differentially related to prosocial behavior. Prosocial behavior refers to voluntary and socially acceptable behavior that results in benefits for others (Eisenberg, 1982; Ma, Shek, Cheung, & Lee, 1996). We expected the information-oriented style to relate positively to prosocial behavior. Previous research found that adolescents (Ma, Shek, Cheung, & Qi Bun Lam, 2000), and emerging adults (Hardy & Kisling, 2006; Padilla-Walker, McNamara, Carroll, Madsen, & Nelson, 2008), in the achievement status—who are known to typically rely on information-oriented identity processing (Berzonsky, 1989)—rely strongly on interpersonal connections, display high levels of moral reasoning (i.e., postconven- tional reasoning; Podd, 1972), and engage in more prosocial behaviors. We also expected a positive relation between the normative style and prosocial behavior. Those who use a normative style focus on the normative expectations of significant others, thereby assigning high importance to socially accepted behavior. Consistent with this reasoning, it has been shown that adolescents in the foreclosure status exhibit high frequencies of prosocial behavior (Ma et al., 2000). In contrast, we expected the diffuse-avoidant style to relate negatively to prosocial behavior. Individuals using the

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diffuse-avoidant style have been described as hedonistic and self-centered (Berzonsky, 2004), and such a self-absorbed orientation may limit their inclination to engage in prosocial behavior. Consistent with this reasoning, research found that individuals in the diffusion status tended to exhibit low frequencies of prosocial behavior (Ma et al., 2000; Padilla-Walker et al., 2008).

Traditionally, prosocial behavior has been conceptualized as a global construct, that is, as the personal tendency to exhibit a number of prosocial behaviors across contexts and motives (e.g., Rushton, Chrisjohn, & Frekken, 1981). Recent research, however, pays more attention to motives behind behaviors, for instance, the distinction between self-oriented and other-oriented helping (Roth, 2008). Self-oriented helping is defined as an egoistic type of helping behavior enacted for the sake of others’ approval and appreciation. The helping behavior is not a goal in itself, but a means to enhance one’s own self-esteem. Therefore, it is related strongly to nonaltruistic egoistic helping behaviors (Roth, 2008). Other-oriented helping is defined as a helping behavior that is performed while paying attention to the other’s needs and inclinations, and not with the expectation of receiving external rewards or avoiding externally produced aversive stimuli or punishments. Other-oriented helping can thus be seen as a task orientation rather than an ego orientation, and is more closely related to altruistic helping behav- iors (Roth, 2008). Research has indicated that the distinction between both helping behaviors is useful. For instance, self-oriented helping related positively to feelings of internal compulsion to perform prosocial behavior. In contrast, other-oriented helping related positively to more mature and autonomous motives for performing prosocial behavior (Roth, 2008).

Because of the distinction between both helping behaviors, we expected the three identity styles to relate differentially to self-oriented and other-oriented helping. More specifically, we expected the information-oriented style to be related primarily to the other-oriented type of helping. Individuals using an information-oriented style tend to function generally in an autonomous manner, that is, they perceive their behavior as being freely chosen (Soenens, Berzonsky, Vansteenkiste, Beyers, & Goossens, 2005), they explore their identity options in a more autonomous way (Smits, Soenens, Vansteenkiste, Luyckx, & Goossens, 2010), and have an open and unbiased outlook on life (Soenens, Duriez, & Goossens, 2005). It was expected that the openness associated with an information-oriented style would translate into opportunities to pay attention to the needs of others without being concerned about the judgment of others (Hodgins & Knee, 2002).

In contrast, we expected the normative style to be related primarily to the self- oriented type of helping. Individuals using the normative style tend to function gen- erally in a controlled manner, that is, they perceive their behavior as being influenced by external forces and demands or internalized imperatives (Soenens et al., 2005), explore identity options in a more controlled way (Smits et al., 2010), and have a closed-minded and defensive attitude towards others (Soenens et al., 2005). The controlled type of functioning associated with a normative style is thought to increase the likelihood of self-worth concerns and ego involvement (Hodgins & Knee, 2002). Therefore, we expect normative individuals only to help others to the extent that the helping behavior serves their ego.

We hypothesized a positive relation between the diffuse-avoidant style and self- oriented helping. Diffuse-avoidant individuals are thought to be oriented toward hedonistic cues, such as popularity and reputation as a means to compensate for the emptiness and lack of direction in their identity (Berzonsky, 2004). Therefore, it seems

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plausible that these individuals will only help others if this contributes to their repu- tation and popularity, and if this helps to impress others. Consistent with this reason- ing, it was found that emerging adults in the diffusion status only help others when they can benefit from public recognition (Padilla-Walker et al., 2008).

Antisocial Behavior

We expected the identity styles to be differentially related to antisocial behaviors. Antisocial behavior refers to behavior that violates important norms or laws (Lahey et al., 1999). A subtype of antisocial behavior is aggressive behavior, which refers to behavior intended to harm and which is perceived as hurtful by the victim (Harré & Lamb, 1983). In this study, we focused (1) on physical aggression, such as fighting (Ma et al., 1996), and (2) on relational aggression, which is a form of aggression that involves manipulation and attempts to damage other people’s relationships (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995). Thus, we concentrated on two forms of antisocial behavior, that is, an overt and manifest type of aggression and a relatively more covert and insidious form of aggression.

We expected the information-oriented style to relate negatively to both physical and relational aggression. The use of an information-oriented style is thought to result in a responsible and constructive social orientation, and research has indeed shown nega- tive relations between this identity style and manifestations of aggression (Adams et al., 2001). We expected that a normative style may relate positively to relational aggression. It has been argued that normative individuals have a low tolerance for social information that is discrepant with their self-structures (Berzonsky, 1990). To avoid such discrepant social information, normative individuals might attempt to control others in such a way that other people do and say those things that are consistent with normative individuals’ preferences and beliefs. It is not likely, however, that normative individuals manipulate and control others overtly, that is, by using physical aggression because they are highly concerned with interpersonal rules and sanctions. The social norms and conventions endorsed by these individuals may thus reduce the risk of physical aggression (Adams et al., 2001). However, they may use a more subtle and insidious way of manipulating others, such as relational aggression.

We expected the diffuse-avoidant style to relate positively to both physical and relational aggression. Individuals using a diffuse-avoidant style are at risk of develop- ing an identity that is experienced as empty and void. This emptiness can result in self-destructive behaviors associated with harmful risk behaviors (Baumeister, 1991). In line with the frustration aggression hypothesis (Berkowitz, 1989), it could thus be argued that aggressive behaviors represent a derivative mechanism to compensate for a sense of emptiness. Consistent with this line of reasoning, research found that individuals with a less mature level of identity may be prone to antisocial behavior, such as aggression and delinquency (e.g., Ferrer-Wreder, Palchuk, Poyrazli, Small, & Domitrovich, 2008). Adams et al. (2001) also established a positive association between the diffuse-avoidant style and antisocial behavior.

Given the hypothesized associations between identity styles and interpersonal behaviors, it was also deemed important to investigate underlying mechanisms that possibly link the three identity styles to their specific interpersonal outcomes. Deeper understanding is gained when such processes partially explaining these relations are captured (Preacher & Hayes, 2004). Although evaluating bivariate relations between variables can lend insight into whether a hypothesized relation holds, it cannot address

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questions of why and how the relation holds. Investigating third variables permits the investigation of such questions (Fairchild & McQuillin, 2010). It might be useful to know whether the use of a particular identity style leads to, for example, more prosocial behavior through its influence on other socio-cognitive or affective variables. Of course, there are several variables that can be considered to play an intervening role in the relation between identity styles and interpersonal behaviors. In this study, we addressed empathy as an intervening process. Empathy relates closely to the degree of open-mindedness that differentiates mainly between the information-oriented style and the normative style. Empathy also relates closely to the degree of thorough processing of information, in this case with regard to other person’s perspective and emotions, that differentiates mainly between the information-oriented style and the diffuse-avoidant style (Soenens et al., 2005). In the following section, we discuss further that it is both theoretically and empirically plausible that empathy may play an intervening role in the associations between identity styles and interpersonal behaviors.

The Intervening Role of Empathy

Empathy refers to both cognitive and affective reactions of an individual to the observed experience and emotional state of others (Davis, 1983). In line with previous research, this study combines two dimensions of empathy, that is, perspective taking and empathic concern (Carlo, Roesch, & Melby, 1998; Laible, Carlo, & Raffaelli, 2000; Laible, Carlo, & Roesch, 2004; Soenens, Duriez, Vansteenkiste, & Goossens, 2007). Perspective taking is a cognitive dimension of empathy and refers to the tendency to adopt spontaneously the psychological point of view of others. Empathic concern is an affective dimension of empathy that refers to other-oriented feelings of concern for someone in need (Davis, 1983). Similar to identity formation and interpersonal behaviors, these two dimensions of empathy become more important and develop toward higher levels of maturity during adolescence and emerging adulthood (Hoffman, 1984).

It has been argued that identity development is related to empathy development. Higher levels of identity development are thought to relate to highly developed empathic skills, such as non-egocentric thinking and internalized moral controls (Loevinger, 1976). This hypothesis was confirmed in research demonstrating that adolescents with higher levels of ego identity status (i.e., achievement or moratorium), report higher levels of empathy (Carlozzi, Gaa, & Liberman, 1983; Erlanger, 1998; Pecukonis, 1990).

In line with previous research (Soenens et al., 2005), we expected that the information-oriented style would relate positively to empathy. Individuals using an information-oriented identity style show a high degree of cognitive complexity, a need to engage in cognitive activities, and a willingness to consider alternative ideas (Berzonsky & Ferrari, 1996; Berzonsky & Sullivan, 1992). They rely predominantly on mentally effortful reasoning and vigilant decisional strategies (Berzonsky, 2007; Berzonsky & Ferrari, 1996).

We expected the normative style to relate negatively to empathy. Previous research found that individuals in the foreclosure status were less likely to integrate information from multiple perspectives and more likely to view others in a stereotyped and biased fashion (Erlanger, 1998; Orlofsky, Marcia, & Lesser, 1973; Read, Adams, & Dobson, 1984; Slugoski, Marcia, & Koopman, 1984). Individuals using the normative style are rigid and closed in their functioning, and, above all, strive to avoid situations and

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information that may threaten their beliefs. Given that normative individuals want to protect themselves from having to deal with dissonance-inducing emotional expe- riences, they are unlikely to display genuine types of empathy. To the extent that they do experience other people’s emotional problems and distress, they are likely to feel nervous, tense, and distressed because this represents a threat to their self-views.

In line with previous research (Soenens et al., 2005), we also expected the diffuse- avoidant style to relate negatively to empathy. Individuals using a diffuse-avoidant identity style operate in a predominantly emotion-focused way with limited concern about rational considerations and long-term logical implications (Berzonsky, 2007). They perceive their actions as being influenced by factors over which they have limited intentional control, and, as a consequence, often feel overwhelmed and unable to regulate experiences effectively (Soenens et al., 2005).

Numerous studies have also documented the important implications of empathy for interpersonal behavior and social development. Based on the literature on empathy and social functioning, we expected empathy to relate positively to prosocial behavior and to other-oriented helping and negatively to self-oriented helping, physical aggres- sion, and relational aggression. Both empathic concern and perspective taking appear to be important prosocial behavior motivators (Batson, 1991; Eisenberg, 2000; Hoffman, 1989). Driven by empathic concern and perspective taking, individuals would attempt to alleviate negative emotions in others in an altruistic and other- oriented fashion. Empathy has also been shown to decrease the probability of different types of antisocial behavior, such as physical, verbal, and relational aggression (Eisenberg, 2000; Feshbach, 1987; Gini, Albiero, Benelli, & Altoè, 2007; Kaukiainen et al., 1999).

In sum, the general aim of this study was to evaluate the possible intervening role of empathy in associations between identity styles and interpersonal behavior. Specifi- cally, the following three models were compared: (1) a direct effects model (model A) including the identity styles as predictors of the interpersonal behaviors; (2) a full mediation model (model B) in which the identity styles and the interpersonal behaviors are indirectly related through empathy; and (3) a partial mediation model (model C) including both direct and indirect paths. Because it will always be difficult to find variables that fully predict outcomes (Preacher & Hayes, 2004), we expect empathy to partially mediate the relation between identity styles and interpersonal behavior.

Method

Participants and Procedure

The sample consisted of 343 undergraduate psychology students from a large univer- sity in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. Two participants were excluded because of missing data. The mean age of the participants was 18 years (SD = 1.62), and 80 percent was female. Of the participants, 77 percent came from intact families, 19 percent had divorced parents, and 4 percent came from a family in which one of the parents had deceased. Almost all participants (96 percent) had Belgian nationality. Participation was voluntary, anonymity was guaranteed, and participants received course credit for attending the collective testing session. In accordance with the American Psychological Association (2002) ethical code and the rules of the Internal Review Board of the university where this study was conducted, active informed consent was obtained from all participants, and they were fully briefed about the nature

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of the study. None of the students refused participation. Participants completed all measures in group sessions. The first author supervised all of these sessions, which took no longer than 50 minutes. If participants wanted to know the outcome of the study, they could contact the first author. None of the participants did so.

Measures

All measures used were scored on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).

Identity Styles. Participants completed the Dutch version of the identity style inventory—version 4 (ISI-4; Luyckx, Lens, Smits, & Goossens, 2010; Smits et al., 2009). Cronbach’s alpha for the information-oriented scale was .79 (seven items, e.g., ‘When facing a life decision, I try to analyze the situation in order to understand it’), for the normative scale .67 (eight items, e.g., ‘I strive to achieve the goals that my family and friends hold for me’), and for the diffuse-avoidant scale .77 (nine items, e.g., ‘I’m not sure where I’m heading in my life; I guess things will work themselves out’). Table 1 shows the correlations among these subscales. The information-oriented style was unrelated to the normative style and showed a weak negative correlation with the diffuse-avoidant style. The correlation between the normative and the diffuse- avoidant style was weak and positive.

Empathy. Participants completed the empathic concern and perspective taking sub- scales from the Dutch version (Duriez, 2004), of the interpersonal reactivity index (IRI; Davis, 1983). Cronbach’s alpha for empathic concern was .75 (seven items, e.g., ‘I often have tender, concerned feelings for people less fortunate than me’), and for perspective taking .76 (seven items, e.g., ‘I sometimes try to understand my friends better by imaging how things look from their perspective’). Preliminary correlation analysis indicated that empathic concern and perspective taking were significantly correlated (r = .28, p < .001). Because they are also theoretically and empirically related (Davis, 1983; Eisenberg & Fabes, 1992), and because the correlations between both subscales and the other study variables were generally in the same direction, an overall empathy scale was formed by averaging the scores on both scales. The same reasoning and procedure was followed and validated in previous research on empathy (see Carlo et al., 1998; Laible et al., 2000, 2004). Cronbach’s alpha for the total empathy scale was .78.

Interpersonal Behavior. Prosocial behavior was measured with six items of the proso- cialness scale for adults (PSA; Caprara, Steca, Zelli, & Capanna, 2005; e.g., ‘I try to help others’). These six items were selected from the original 16-item scale because they were found to have the strongest discriminative power in an item response theory (IRT) analysis (Caprara et al., 2005). Cronbach’s alpha was .80. To measure the two helping orientations, that is, self- and other-oriented helping, a questionnaire that was recently developed and validated by Roth (2008) was administered. Cronbach’s alpha for the self-oriented helping scale (four items, e.g., ‘When I am helping another person, I boast about it’), was .64, and for the other-oriented helping scale, .66 (four items, e.g., ‘When I help someone else, I try to be attentive to his or her needs’). These two scales were unrelated (see Table 1). Participants completed the six items (e.g., ‘I am mean to other people’), of the physical aggression subscale as found in the Achenbach system of

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