The main idea presented in the influential works of Erikson suggests that the well-being of adolescents can be better understood by considering their developmental tasks, rather than just viewing it as a specific age. This concept has greatly impacted contemporary studies on the transition into adulthood. The study explains that psychosocial developmental tasks involve changes in an individual's previous psychological state and social relationships, which can unsettle their previous equilibrium.
As emphasized by several authors, the formation of personal identity and the establishment of a healthy sense of independence, particularly in relation to tasks surrounding identity and autonomy, are significant factors for adolescents and can be used to analyze aspects of their well-being.
In line with this, the study focuses on the concurrent and predictive relationship between the identity process of commitment, emotional autonomy, and psychological well-being among adolescents. The findings revealed that both emotional autonomy and identity commitment predicted psychological well-being but in different ways.
Emotional autonomy had a negative impact on psychological well-being, whereas identity commitment had a positive impact. Additionally, the researchers conducted a conditional process analysis to examine whether identity commitment moderated the relationship between emotional autonomy and psychological well-being among Filipino middle and late adolescents. The results indicated that identity commitment played a moderating role in this relationship, suggesting that the impact of emotional autonomy on psychological well-being varied depending on the level of identity commitment.
Specifically, high emotional autonomy and low identity commitment were associated with lower psychological well-being, while high emotional autonomy and high identity commitment were linked to higher psychological well-being. The results suggest that having a strong sense of identity commitment, along with emotional autonomy, is associated with higher levels of psychological well-being. On the other hand, low levels of identity commitment combined with high emotional autonomy may lead to lower levels of psychological well-being.
