Identity motives and subjective well-being: Disentangling their longitudinal associations

Identity processes are thought to be guided by motives for belonging, self-esteem, distinctiveness, continuity, efficacy, and meaning. Satisfaction of identity motives is therefore expected to foster higher well-being. Across two studies among adolescents, we examined day-to-day (Study 1: N = 527; M-age = 16.20; seven assessments over one week), and medium-term (Study 2: N = 1395; M-age = 15.72; four waves over one year) associations between identity motives satisfaction and subjective well-being (life-satisfaction, positive, and negative emotions). We hypothesized that within-person changes in satisfaction of identity motives would be associated with both concurrent and subsequent changes in subjective well-being at both time scales. In Study 1, Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models showed that day-to-day changes in identity motives satisfaction were associated with concurrent changes in subjective well-being, but did not predict changes in well-being on the next day. In Study 2, we replicated the concurrent associations between identity motives satisfaction and subjective well-being over a one-year time-span; moreover, fluctuations in satisfaction of three motives (belonging, self-esteem, and continuity) significantly predicted changes in aspects of subjective well-being several months later. Our findings highlight the potential utility of supporting individuals to fulfill their identity motives to foster well-being.