Occasional SEMINAR
“Identity – Research Trajectories”

 Monday, June 24 to Tuesday June 25, 2024
Campus Belval, Luxembourg

PLAN AND MORE INFORMATION 

ORGANISATION & INFORMATION
Elke MURDOCK & Isabelle ALBERT, University of Luxembourg
elke.murdock@uni.lu & isabelle.albert@uni.lu

A systematic review of identity development research:
Insights into fieldtrajectories, methodology and priorities

(Dieter Ferring Memorial Lecture)

June 24, 2024, | 14:00-17:00 pm
University of Luxembourg, Campus Belval, Maison des Sciences Humaines (MSH)

Remote Webex Session & Black Box

INVITATION

Identity, according to Erik Erikson (1950), refers to “the perception of the selfsameness and continuity of one’s existence in time and space and the perception of the fact that others recognize one’s sameness and continuity (p. 50)”. The foundation of identity development research is rooted in the seminal work of Erik Erikson (1950; 1968) and James Marcia (1966), particularly through Marcia’s influential “Identity Status” paradigm. This approach, characterized by two key dimensions—exploration (searching one’s identity) and commitment (the

binding nature of a decision)—has shaped the field for over 60 years, laying the groundwork for subsequent conceptual frameworks. The systematic literature review

offers a comprehensive overview of a vast corpus of studies (N studies = 900) on identity development research. The review traces the historical trajectory, providing insights into the evolving landscape and explores the foci, methodologies, and conceptual frameworks employed in identity development research. Factors such as publication growth, study design, sample characteristics (size, gender,

age, and country) and domains studied are examined. Finally, the relationship between identity development and psychosocial functioning, as portrayed in the literature, is summarized.

Speaker
PS Dr. Débora B. Maehler is a senior researcher and head of the Research Data Centre PIAAC at GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences in Mannheim, Germany. Furthermore, she teaches developmental psychology at the J. W. Goethe University Frankfurt. She earned her doctorate in psychology from the University of Cologne and habilitated at the J. W. Goethe University. Her research focuses, among other things, on identity and identity development in adulthood, socialization and acculturation processes, cognitive abilities and competence development across the entire lifespan, and survey methodology. She is currently editor-in-chief of the Journal of Open Psychology Data (JOPD) and a member of the editorial board of the journal Personality and Social Psychology Review (PSPR).