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The present three-wave longitudinal study provides empirical evidence for the mechanisms of the bright and dark sides of identity development in the academic context. First, we investigated the patterns of stability and change in educational identity and academic achievement among adolescents. Second, we examined the reciprocal associations between identity processes (i.e., commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment) and academic achievement. The main results of the study highlighted that academic achievement predicts the manner in which adolescents deal with their identity issues in the academic context. Thus, high academic achievement leads to high levels of commitment (identity synthesis), while low academic achievement leads to high levels of reconsideration of commitment (identity confusion). This unidirectional pattern of effects applied equally to adolescent boys and girls, early-to-middle and middle-to-late adolescents, and to adolescents attending theoretical and vocational schools. Practical implications are discussed.

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This is the first study to show that academic achievement is a common factor in the development of perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns, whereas academic efficacy plays a role only in the development of perfectionistic strivings. Implications of the findings for the development of perfectionism are discussed.

Identity formation in adolescence is closely linked to searching for and acquiring meaning in one's life. To date little is known about the manner in which these 2 constructs may be related in this developmental stage. In order to shed more light on their longitudinal links, we conducted a 3-wave longitudinal study, investigating how identity processes and meaning in life dimensions are interconnected across time, testing the moderating effects of gender and age. Participants were 1,062 adolescents (59.4% female), who filled in measures of identity and meaning in life at 3 measurement waves during 1 school year. Cross-lagged models highlighted positive reciprocal associations between (a) commitment processes and presence of meaning and (b) exploration processes and search for meaning. These results were not moderated by adolescents' gender or age. Strong identification with present commitments and reduced ruminative exploration helped adolescents in having a clear sense of meaning in their lives. We also highlighted the dual nature of search for meaning. This dimension was sustained by exploration in breadth and ruminative exploration, and it positively predicted all exploration processes. We clarified the potential for a strong sense of meaning to support identity commitments and that the process of seeking life meaning sustains identity exploration across time. (PsycINFO Database Record