Psychosocial Development Factors Associated with Occupational and Vocational Identity Between Infancy and Adolescence
Adolescent Res Rev
Psychosocial Development Factors Associated with Occupational and Vocational Identity Between Infancy and Adolescence
Rau´ l Cha´ vez
The identification with an occupation is a challenge most adolescents face in their transition into adulthood. Psychosocial development theory suggests that adolescents' identification with an occupation develops across the lifespan, making youth work roles, choices, and behaviors products of their integrated psychosocial development experiences. This review examines the existing occupational and vocational identity literature to identify the associations with factors relevant to psychosocial development between infancy and adolescence, and integrates them to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how adolescents identify with an occupation. The review reveals that the factors important to healthy psychosocial development in each of Erikson's five preadult stages largely were predictive of occupational identity status in adolescence. Disagreement was present in the literature, with most of it centered on the role of complex outer and environmental factors. The review highlights gaps in the literature and prioritizes areas for future research based largely on a return to Erikson's intention of treating occupational identity as developmental. The review adds to the current debates and knowledge of youth development and of how adolescents identify with an occupation by providing an integration of the existing empirical evidence not just at the point of adolescence, but also across the entire pre-adult lifespan.
Adolescence; Occupational identity; Vocational identity; Psychosocial development; Erikson; Systematic review
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The notion of an occupational identity (or, interchangeably,
vocational identity) dates back to Erik Erikson’s work
(1950, 1968) on the stages of psychosocial development. In
his theory of psychosocial development, Erikson (1950,
1968) proposed that choosing an occupation is essential to
the achievement of an identity during adolescence.
Conversely, it is the inability to settle on an occupational
identity that most disturbs young people and prevents them
from achieving their adult identity. As technological
advances transform the labor market and extend the period
between school life and the world of work, Erikson argued,
the psychosocial development stage of adolescence has
become an even more critical and conscious period for
youth. The period of adolescence is thus marked by the
challenge that youth face in needing to mutually regulate
their sense of who they are and the capacities they have
acquired in infancy and childhood with the roles and skills
work and adulthood demand of them.
Occupational identity is not so much a concept as it is a
construct integral to the formation of an achieved identity
(Vondracek 1992). It is interwoven with all of the elements
of an achieved identity, and, as such, its development can
be traced back to birth. As Erikson postulated (1968), all
elements of identity, including the ones that are solidified
in later stages of life, are branches rooted to a greater whole
and to a single starting point. Occupational identity is not
static, but fluid, dynamic, and developmental (Vondracek
1992). It does not emerge haphazardly, but rather, it
develops across the lifespan. Its importance to an integrated
identity grows and reaches a critical point during
adolescence, when youth are expected to independently project
themselves imaginatively into the future via a possible
occupational path (Kroger and Marcia 2011). In short,
without an occupational identity, there is no achieved
overall identity, and without an achieved overall identity,
there is no psychosocial transition into adulthood.
Toward an Understanding of Occupational Identity
According to Meyer et al. (1993), ‘‘occupational identity
refers to an individual’s positive assessment of the
occupation he/she is engaged in, and it indicates the importance
of the occupational role to the individual’s self-identity’’
(p. 539). Occupations are not merely actions, but roles that
are extensions of people’s identity (Super 1957). In other
words, identity drives the reasons why individuals choose
to perform their occupational roles (Vondracek 1991).
Holland et al. (1993) defined vocational identity, on the
other hand, as ‘‘the possession of a clear and stable picture
of one’s goals, interests, and talents’’ (p. 1). This definition
relates to an overall identity in that attaining a vocational
identity requires a clear sense of self. One cannot exist
without the other. The literature uses the two terms
interchangeably in spite of the slight difference in definition
because both terms ultimately convey the isomorphic
relationship between identity and occupational roles and
behaviors.
A significant amount of research has found empirical
support for the correlation between high occupational
identity status and mature identity formation (Anderson
and Mounts 2012 (...truncated)