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Social-Cognitive Aspects of Identity Style

Need for Cognition, Experiential Openness, and Introspection

Colleen Sullivan

State University of New York at Cortland

This investigation examined the relationship between identity style and various social-cognitive dispositions: need for cognition, openness to experience, and introspection. Identity style refers to the manner in which individuals characteristically process self-relevant information, solve personal problems, and negotiate identity issues. A maximum likelihood factor analysis indicated that self-reported use of a cogitative information-oriented style loaded on two factors. One was marked by information-seeking variables, the other by self-reflective tendencies. A normative style loaded negatively on a bipolarfactor defined by openness to values and actions, suggesting that norm-oriented itndividuals tend to protect themselves from potentially dissonant experience and information. Reported use of a diffuse/avoidant style was associated with a heightened emphasis on a social identity, indicating a reliance on immediate social reinforcements. Results are discussed in terms of a process model of identity formation.

Journal of Adolescent Research, Vol. 7, No. 2, 140-155 (1992)
DOI: 10.1177/074355489272002


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