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Identity formation and the perceived quality of one's peer relationships are theorized to be intimately linked in emerging adulthood. The present study examined the associations between identity styles (i.e., information-oriented, normative, and diffuse-avoidant styles) and the quality of relationships with peers (as indexed by friendship quality and loneliness) in a sample of 343 college students from Belgium. High scores for the information-oriented style were positively related to friendship quality, whereas high scores for the diffuse-avoidant identity style were positively related to loneliness. These direct associations were mediated, at least in part, by attachment-related emotions (i.e., avoidance and anxiety). These associations, both direct and indirect, provide the first evidence linking identity styles and the quality of peer relationships. Suggestions for future research are provided, both at the methodological and the conceptual level. (Contains 1 figure and 2 tables.)

Coping strategies and identity processes are hypothesized to influence one another over time. This three-wave longitudinal study ("N" = 458; 84.9% women) examined, for the first time, how and to what extent identity processes (i.e., commitment making, identification with commitment, exploration in breadth, exploration in depth, and ruminative exploration) and coping strategies (i.e., problem solving, social support seeking, and avoidance) predicted one another over time. Cross-lagged analyses indicated that processes of identity exploration seemed especially to be intertwined with different coping strategies over time, suggesting that identity exploration may resemble problem-solving behavior on the pathway to an achieved identity. Commitment processes were found to be influenced by certain coping strategies, although identification with commitment also negatively influenced avoidance coping. These temporal sequences remained significant when controlling for baseline levels of Big Five personality traits. Hence, evidence was obtained for reciprocal pathways indicating that coping strategies and identity processes reinforce one another over time in college students.

Theories on empathy development have stressed the role of socialization in general and the role of parental support in particular. This 3-wave longitudinal study of middle adolescents (N = 678) aimed to contribute to the extant research on the socialization of empathy (a) by examining the relative contribution of perceived maternal and paternal need supportive parenting on over-time changes in adolescents' emotional and cognitive aspects of empathy (i.e., empathic concern and perspective taking, respectively) and (b) by considering the possibility of reciprocal relations between perceived parenting and adolescent empathy. Whereas paternal need support consistently predicted over-time changes in perspective taking in both sons and daughters, perceived maternal need support predicted changes in empathic concern among daughters only. In addition, although less consistently so, empathy dimensions also predicted over-time changes in perceived parenting. Results are discussed in terms of the nature of empathy and in the light of domain-specific effects of each parent. (Contains 1 footnote, 2 tables, and 1 figure.)

The importance of identity statuses for individuals' well-being and psychosocial functioning has been demonstrated abundantly in high school and college samples. The present longitudinal study complemented this research line by (a) focusing on identity clusters or statuses in a sample of 300 working young adults (21-40 years of age), and (b) investigating the concurrent and prospective implications of these identity statuses for work engagement and burnout. Based on a recently developed dimensional model of personal identity formation, five distinct statuses were obtained, largely replicating previous research on identity clusters. These five statuses were meaningfully differentiated on the basis of their associations with the outcome measures, with the identity achievement status showing the most optimal profile (low burnout, high engagement) and the diffused diffusion status the least adjusted profile across time. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)

The fulfillment of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness as postulated within self-determination theory was hypothesized to play an energizing role in identity formation, conceptualized as multiple dimensions of exploration and commitment. Two studies among high school and college students (N = 714) were conducted to investigate (a) the cross-sectional relationships between need satisfaction and the identity dimensions and (b) the direction of effects using cross-lagged analyses. Three competing longitudinal models were tested: a need satisfaction main-effects model, an identity main-effects model, and a reciprocal effects model. All 3 needs had meaningful relationships with the identity dimensions, and, although there was a predominance of paths from the needs to the identity dimensions, the reciprocal effects model received most support. Further, identity statuses (representing multivariate combinations of the identity dimensions) were meaningfully related to satisfaction of the 3 needs, with identity achievement scoring highest on all 3 indices of need satisfaction. Suggestions for future research and counseling implications are discussed. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.)

This study examines associations between parental religiosity and parenting in a sample of 482 mother-child and 453 father-child dyads. Parents complete a religiosity measure that allows disentangling the effects of being religious from the effects of the way in which people process religious contents (i.e., literal vs. symbolic). In addition, parent and adolescent reports of two parenting style (i.e., need support and regulation) and parental goal promotion dimensions (i.e., intrinsic vs. extrinsic and conservation vs. openness to change goal promotion) are gathered. Whereas parental religiosity is positively related to a tendency to promote conservation rather than openness to change goals, a symbolic religious cognitive style relates positively to need support and the promotion of intrinsic rather than extrinsic goals. Hence, whereas relations between parental religiosity as such and parenting are limited and not unequivocally positive, a symbolic religious cognitive style systematically relates to adaptive parenting styles and goals. Implications are discussed. (Contains 1 figure and 2 tables.)

This study investigated the role of two dimensions of parental separation anxiety--Anxiety about Adolescent Distancing (AAD) and Comfort with Secure Base Role (CSBR)--and parental maladaptive perfectionism in the prediction of psychologically controlling parenting. In a sample of middle adolescents and their parents (N=677), it was found that parents' AAD scores and maladaptive perfectionism were positively related to psychological control, whereas parents' CSBR scores were negatively related to psychological control. Further, psychological control served as an intervening variable in the links between parent characteristics and adolescent well-being. These findings suggest that two qualitatively different types of psychological control may exist: one originating from parents' separation anxiety and another originating from parents' maladaptive perfectionist standards.

The present study investigates the relation between the religiosity dimensions which Wulff (1991) described (Exclusion versus Inclusion of Transcendence and Literal versus Symbolic) and both moral attitudes and moral competence. The Post-Critical Belief Scale (Duriez, Fontaine, & Hutseabut, 2000) was used as a measure of Wulff's religiosity dimensions, and the Moral Judgment Test (Lind, 1998) was used to measure both moral attitudes and moral competence. Results from a middle adolescent sample (N = 338), a university sample (N = 336) and an adult sample (N = 336) suggest that whereas the Literal versus Symbolic dimension shows substantial relations with moral attitudes and moral competence, the Exclusion versus Inclusion of Transcendence dimension is unrelated to both of them. This suggests that, although there is no intrinsic relationship between religiosity and morality, the way people process religious contents is predictive of the way they deal with moral issues. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

This study examined the relationships between three identity styles (i.e. the information style, the normative style, and the diffuse/avoidant style) and a number of social-cognitive and attitudinal variables (including empathy, prejudice, and conservatism). Discriminant analysis on a sample of late adolescents (N=393) led to the conclusion that two classes of variables differentiate between the three identity styles. Maladaptive coping strategies and, to a lesser extent, low empathy distinguished mainly between the information style and the normative style on the one hand and the diffuse/avoidant style on the other hand. Need for closure and measures of prejudice and conservatism differentiated primarily between the normative style and the two other styles. These two classes of variables can be related to two basic dimensions in current theory on adolescents' identity styles, that is, active vs. superficial processing of information and adherence to traditional opinions vs. openmindedness.

This study examines associations between parental religiosity and parenting in a sample of 482 mother--child and 453 father--child dyads. Parents complete a religiosity measure that allows disentangling the effects of being religious from the effects of the way in which people process religious contents (i.e., literal vs. symbolic). In addition, parent and adolescent reports of two parenting style (i.e., need support and regulation) and parental goal promotion dimensions (i.e., intrinsic vs. extrinsic and conservation vs. openness to change goal promotion) are gathered. Whereas parental religiosity is positively related to a tendency to promote conservation rather than openness to change goals, a symbolic religious cognitive style relates positively to need support and the promotion of intrinsic rather than extrinsic goals. Hence, whereas relations between parental religiosity as such and parenting are limited and not unequivocally positive, a symbolic religious cognitive style systematically relates to adaptive parenting styles and goals. Implications are discussed. Keywords: religiosity; cognitive style; parenting; parenting style; parental goal promotion

The fulfillment of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness as postulated within self-determination theory was hypothesized to play an energizing role in identity formation, conceptualized as multiple dimensions of exploration and commitment. Two studies among high school and college students (N = 714) were conducted to investigate (a) the cross-sectional relationships between need satisfaction and the identity dimensions and (b) the direction of effects using cross-lagged analyses. Three competing longitudinal models were tested: a need satisfaction main-effects model, an identity main-effects model, and a reciprocal effects model. All 3 needs had meaningful relationships with the identity dimensions, and, although there was a predominance of paths from the needs to the identity dimensions, the reciprocal effects model received most support. Further, identity statuses (representing multivariate combinations of the identity dimensions) were meaningfully related to satisfaction of the 3 needs, with identity achievement scoring highest on all 3 indices of need satisfaction. Suggestions for future research and counseling implications are discussed. Keywords: identity, need satisfaction, commitment, exploration, self-determination theory

Although it is widely assumed that religiosity plays an important role in individuals' attitudes about death, research to date has failed to reveal consistent associations between religiosity and death attitudes. Drawing from D. M. Wulff's (1991) multidimensional model of religiosity, the authors examined associations between religious attitudes as measured by the Post-Critical Belief Scale and death attitudes as assessed by the Death Attitude Profile--Revised. In total, 471 Dutch-speaking Belgian adults completed both questionnaires. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to asses the unique contribution of the religious attitudes in the prediction of the death attitudes. First, results show that religious people are more likely to endorse an approach acceptance attitude toward death, indicating that religiosity as such is related to belief in an afterlife. Second, people holding a literal attitude toward religion report more death anxiety, indicating that the processing of religious contents is related to defensiveness toward death. Finally, the specific combination of the two dimensions seems important in the prediction of a neutral acceptance attitude. The relevance of our findings for future research on religiosity and death attitudes is discussed.

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2007.00456.x Byline: Bart Duriez (1), Maarten Vansteenkiste (2), Bart Soenens (2), Hans De Witte (3) Abstract: ABSTRACT Self-determination theory's distinction between extrinsic and intrinsic goal pursuits offers a possible explanation for ethnic and racial prejudice. Because extrinsic relative to intrinsic goal pursuits (E/I) stimulate interpersonal competition, they were expected to predict social dominance orientation (SDO), which, in turn, would predict racial and ethnic prejudice. Results of a first cross-sectional study showed that E/I goal pursuits are positively associated with prejudice and that SDO partially mediates this association. In a second longitudinal study, we replicated these results. In addition, however, we found evidence for a reciprocal relationship between E/I goal pursuit and SDO. Moreover, both E/I goal pursuit and SDO had an independent effect on increases in prejudice. Implications of these findings are discussed. Author Affiliation: (1)Department of Psychology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium (2)Department of Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium (3)Department of Psychology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium Article note: Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Bart Duriez or to Maarten Vansteenkiste. Bart Duriez, Department of Psychology, Tiensestraat 102, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. E-mail: Bart.Duriez@psy.kuleuven.be. Maarten Vansteenkiste, Department of Psychology, Tiensestraat 102, 3000 Leuven. E-mail: Maarten.Vansteenkiste@ugent.be.

This study proposed and tested an integrated model of the intergenerational transmission of empathy-related responding in adolescence. This model included maternal support as a mediator of the intergenerational transmission of empathy and examined friendship quality as an outcome of adolescent empathy. In a sample of middle adolescents and their mothers (N = 177), maternal support significantly predicted the empathy dimensions perspective taking and sympathy and mediated the mother-child concordance of perspective taking but not sympathy. Adolescent empathy (and perspective taking in particular) predicted adolescent friendship quality and served as an intervening variable in the relation between maternal support and friendship quality. Implications of the present study for research on the socialization of empathy-related responding and social adjustment in general are outlined. Keywords: parenting; empathy; intergenerational transmission; friendship quality

According to an environmental-match perspective regarding the content of values (Sagiv & Schwartz, 2000), extrinsic or materialistic values should positively predict well-being in populations in which extrinsic values match the environmentally promoted values (e.g., among business students). However, other value researchers (Kasser & Ahuvia, 2002) disagree with these claims. Although the present study shows that business students ascribe higher importance to extrinsic values than do education students, the negative relation of extrinsic values with well-being and the positive relation with internal distress and substance use was not moderated by the department to which students belonged. Finally, mediational analyses revealed that value orientations could account for the fact that business students report lower well-being and higher substance use in comparison to education students.

The present study explores the influence of need for closure as well as authoritarian submission (Right-Wing Authoritarianism [RWA]) and authoritarian dominance (Social Dominance Orientation [SDO]) on the genesis of conservative beliefs and racism. For this purpose, two structural equation models were compared. In Model 1, RWA and SDO were entered as independent variables and the need for closure facets Decisiveness and Need for Simple Structure acted as mediator variables. In Model 2, the need for closure facets served as independent variables and RWA and SDO acted as mediators. In two student samples (Sample 1, N = 399, Sample 2, N = 330) and one adult sample (Sample 3, N = 379), Model 2 showed superior fit to the data. These results corroborate the hypothesis that authoritarianism should be interpreted in terms of generalized beliefs rather than in terms of personality characteristics. In addition, analyses show that the effects of Need for Simple Structure on conservative beliefs and racism are fully mediated by R WA but only partly by SDO. These results suggest a differential genesis of RWA and SDO. Keywords: authoritarianism; social dominance orientation; cognitive conseroatism; need for closure; conservatism; prejudice; racism

The relation between the two religiosity dimensions which Wulff (1997) described (Exclusion vs Inclusion of Transcendence and Literal vs Symbolic) and two conservative political ideologies (Cultural and Economic Conservatism) was investigated in a sample of 714 students, a heterogeneous sample of 262 adults, and a sample of 301 religiously affiliated adults gathered in Flanders (Belgium). Both Exclusion vs Inclusion of Transcendence and Literal vs Symbolic were expected to relate only to Cultural Conservatism. Analysis supported these hypotheses, providing further evidence for the close association between religiosity and Cultural Conservatism and the validity of the Post-Critical Belief scale as a measure of Wulff's dimensions of religiosity.