Personal identity processes and self-esteem: Temporal sequences in high school and college students

Based on a dual-cycle identity model, we examined how identity processes were associated with self-esteem in high school and college students. Cross-lagged analyses in three longitudinal studies found that commitment making and identification with commitment were positively related and ruminative exploration was negatively related to self-esteem. A self-esteem main-effects model was supported in high school students (with self-esteem predicting these identity processes) and a reciprocal model was supported in college students (with identification with commitment and ruminative exploration being reciprocally related to self-esteem). Apparently, high self-esteem functions as a resource for tackling identity-related issues in high school and college students. When adolescents enter college and make the transition to adulthood, identity consolidation, in turn, increasingly plays into self-esteem as well.