Contributions of Cognitive-Motivational Factors to the Sense of Identity

This study addressed the relationship between sense of personal identity and thinking dispositions such as need for cognition, reflection, and integrative self-knowledge as well as modes of coping with self-related discrepancies through either excessive assimilation or accommodation. Participants were 544 young adults. The correlation and path analyses revealed, as expected, that need for cognition and integrative self-knowledge positively influenced one’s sense of identity, while over-responsiveness to discrepant information about the self influenced it negatively. The effects of reflection and imperviousness to discrepancies appeared more complicated and varied. Together, the findings confirm the importance of cognitive-motivational variables in the development and maintenance of a sense of identity, and suggest that gender differences in their relative significance may deserve additional research attention.