The mediating role of well-being orientations in the relationships between identity development processes and well-being outcomes amongst young adults

Abstract

Work in identity theory is well established and has been used extensively to investigate the importance of identity formation towards both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being outcomes. However, the mechanisms that drive these differences in well-being are scant in the main literature. The present study focused on one such mechanism - well-being orientations, which is postulated to mediate the effects of identity development processes enroute to well-being outcomes. The study was conducted on a sample of Singaporean young adults (N = 237) between the ages of 21 to 35. Using a path analysis approach, the study found that well-being orientations partially mediated the effects of identity processes on well-being outcomes. The results showed that eudaimonic orientation mediated the pathways from commitment making, ruminative exploration, and exploration-in-depth toward positive affect, life satisfaction, sense of purpose, purposeful personal expressiveness, and effortful engagement. Additionally, eudaimonic orientation also mediated the pathway from exploration-in-depth to positive affect. Hedonic orientation on the other hand did not mediate any relationships between identity development processes and well-being outcomes. The results provided evidence that eudaimonic orientation serve as the key mechanism towards improving both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being outcomes in identity resolution. Providing support for and having increased opportunities to express this eudaimonic orientation can lead to better well-being in individuals.