The Structure of Identity Consolidation: Multiple Correlated Constructs or One Superordinate Construct?

This study examined the structure of identity consolidation and its relationship to positive and negative psychosocial functioning in emerging adulthood. An ethnically diverse sample of 234 university students completed measures of identity consolidation from identity synthesis, identity status, and identity capital perspectives, as well as measures of agency and subjective well-being, depression, anxiety, impulsivity, and tolerance for deviance. Structural equation modeling analyses suggested that a model with identity consolidation cast as separate correlated processes provided a significantly better fit to the data than did a model with identity consolidation cast as a single process with multiple components. Indexes of identity synthesis were most closely related to both positive and negative psychosocial functioning, whereas identity consolidation indexes drawn from identity status and identity capital were related primarily to positive psychosocial functioning. Implications for identity research are discussed.