Navigating the ups and downs: Peer and family autonomy support during personal goals and crises on identity development

ABSTRACT Forming an identity is a critical developmental task that is affected by important people in an individual’s social environment, such as friends and family members. This investigation compared whether autonomy support from different sources (family/peer) given in distinct contexts (personal goals/crises) was associated with identity exploration and commitment in university students over an 8-month academic year. The study used a five-wave prospective longitudinal design with identity measured at baseline and termination. Participants were asked to name two individuals who supported them during personal goal pursuits and two who supported them during times of crisis. Supporters were sorted into convoys of family and peers. Results showed that perceiving autonomy support during crises from both sources was associated with an increase in identity exploration, suggesting that family members and peers may play an important role during crises and in promoting identity exploration. By contrast, only family autonomy support for goals was related to greater identity commitment, suggesting that perceiving autonomy support from family in distinct circumstances may encourage different aspects of identity development. Basic need satisfaction mediated the relation between family autonomy support for goals and identity commitment and between family (but not peer) autonomy support during crises and identity exploration.