Identity Styles and Wisdom During Emerging Adulthood: Relationships with Mindfulness and Savoring

Abstract

Erikson's (1968) supposition about the importance of mature identity for wisdom was examined by testing the hypothesis that informational identity processing is uniquely associated with wisdom and with related positive subjective experiences (mindfulness and savoring). Emerging adults (N = 320; 68.5% women; age range = 18–29 years) completed self-report measures of: identity styles (informational, normative, diffuse), identity commitment, wisdom (cognitive, reflective, affective), mindfulness, savoring beliefs, and savoring behaviors. The informational style was positively related to wisdom, mindfulness, and savoring beliefs as well as to several savoring behaviors (e.g., absorption and counting blessings). The highest levels of informational identity processing, identity commitment, mindfulness, and savoring beliefs were found for individuals who scored in the top quartile on wisdom. Finally, structural equation modeling was used to examine linear relationships among these variables and revealed that the informational style positively predicted wisdom, which positively predicted mindfulness and savoring beliefs.