Assessing identity intersectionality in adolescents and emerging adults. A theoretical and methodological model

Current identity literature is extremely fragmented, where subfields of identity often "talk past" each other and pay little or no attention to one another (Schwartz, 2001; Schwartz, Luyckx, & Vignoles, 2011). As a result, the concept of "identity" has been assigned multiple meanings across literatures, and integrating these various meanings has rarely been attempted (Vignoles, Schwartz, & Luyckx, 2011). To a certain extent, the presence of different identity literatures focusing on disparate aspects of the identity construct (e.g., personal goals, life stories, interpersonal relationships, group memberships, et cetera) might be considered as an advantage. Indeed, integrating aspects of the various perspectives would create a whole that is larger and more inclusive than any of the individual perspectives. The present research was designed as an attempt to integrate aspects of various theoretical and empirical perspectives on identity construction in adolescence and emerging adulthood, since the development of identity is considered as consisting of a process of integration across the various relational contexts in which one functions, through adaptive mechanisms activated by the individual (Bosma & Kunnen, 2001). Such a theoretical model, also inspired by the intersectionality paradigm, has been defined in this work as "cross-contexts-domains model", and it constitutes the basis on which a novel identity measure has been developed: the Identity Labels and Life Contexts Questionnaire (ILLCQ). Indeed, the ILLCQ was constructed to answer some core questions: "How can we assess the complex interplay between identity dimensions and life contexts?", "What would be the best analytical method to study this kind of data?", and "How can we use results obtained?". The complexity of these questions is reflected in the complexity of the ILLCQ structure, which could not be analyzed through classical analysis strategies used in scale development. The measure was constructed through a pilot study, then underwent to a trial paper-and-pencil administration, and finally it was administrated online to 646 Italian and US adolescents and emerging adults. Results demonstrated that the ILLCQ is adequate to assess the cross-contexts-domains model, providing interesting information about how much and how individuals manage the balance between keeping an internal coherence in their identity, and adjusting to external requests coming from relational contexts (Bosma & Kunnen, 2001; Erikson, 1950).