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European Journal of Social Psychology
Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. (2009)
Published online in Wiley InterScience
(www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.669

Research article

Accommodating a new identity: Possible selves, identity change and

well-being across two life-transitions

CLAUDIA MANZI1*, VIVIAN L. VIGNOLES2 AND

CAMILLO REGALIA1
1
Catholic University of Milan, Italy
2
University of Sussex, UK

Abstract

We examined the role of desired, feared, and expected possible future identity structures in the restructuring of identity
after two life transitions. A longitudinal study was conducted on 86 young adults during the transition from school to
university and 143 adults during the transition to parenthood. In both samples, pre-transition desires and expectations
about the restructuring of identity predicted post-transition actual identity structures. Post-transition emotional well-
being was higher among those whose post-transition identity structures more closely matched their initial desires and less
closely matched their initial fears, and among those who reported a greater magnitude of identity change. We propose that
possible future identity structures play an important role in the identity accommodation process during life-transitions,
and that they have significant implications for well-being. Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Identity changes during the life span are fundamental aspects of human development and aging (Cross & Markus, 1991).
Existing studies suggest that long-term self-concept change takes place especially in response to major changes in role and
situational demands (Banaji & Prentice, 1994). Such changes are often associated with periods of life-transition
(Kerpelman & Lamke, 1997). These crucial periods are instigated by a variety of factors, which may be related to family
life (e.g., marriage, childbirth, bereavement) or to educational and socio-economic activities (e.g., finishing school,
retirement, starting a new job). During a transition period, a person has to reorganize his/her social roles, and to cope with
temporal and structural changes in daily life, which will often be associated with changes in identity structure (Cigoli &
Scabini, 2006).
In this paper, we describe a longitudinal study of identity change over two different life-transitions: The transition to
parenthood and the transition from school to university. Our particular focus was on the role of possible selves in guiding
the processes of identity change. Possible selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986) are the component of identity that reflects the
perceived prospects of the individual. They include those selves that individuals expect to become (expected selves),
would like to become (desired selves) or are afraid of becoming (feared selves). Like the actual self, they consist of
organized self-views derived in part from representations of the self in the past and in part from perceived expectations
from others (Stryker & Serpe, 1994), but they are conceptualized in the future. Because of this future context, possible
selves represent the potential for change in the self-concept.
Previous research into possible selves and long-term change has typically focused on change in particular, single
identity elements, such as acquiring or losing a new social role (e.g., Dunkel, Kelts, & Coon, 2006; King & Raspin, 2004).
Thus, studies have examined the assimilation of new elements into identity, without considering the restructuring of

*Correspondence to: Claudia Manzi, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, L.go Gemelli, 1, 20129 Milan, Italy.
E-mail: claudia.manzi@unicatt.it

Received 15 February 2007

Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Accepted 30 May 2009
Claudia Manzi et al.

existing identity content necessary to accommodate these new identity elements. In contrast, here we focused on the role of
possible selves in the restructuring of existing identity content when a new identity element is assimilated.

POSSIBLE SELVES AND ENDURING IDENTITY CHANGE

Based on Piaget’s (1936) theories of individuals’ cognitive development and adaptation, Breakwell (1986) describes
enduring change in identity as the result of cognitive processes of assimilation and accommodation. These terms describe
how the content and structure of an individual’s self-concept changes over time. Assimilation is the process by which
individuals incorporate new identity elements into the content and structure of their self-concept. Thus, a person who has
become a father absorbs this new identity content into his self-conception. Once assimilated, the presence of an important
new element of identity content is likely to change the overall structure of the self-concept to some degree.
Accommodation refers to the adjustment and reorganization of the existing identity content to ‘‘make space’’ for the new
information. When an individual assimilates a new identity element as a ‘‘father,’’ existing identity content will be re-
evaluated or reinterpreted in relation to the new identity element, and vice versa.
Existing studies into the role of possible selves in the process of identity change have focused mainly on their role in the
process of identity assimilation. In particular, researchers have identified two aspects of the assimilation process in which
possible selves are involved. First, a particular possible self is the potential new identity content that an individual desires/
fears/expects to assimilate into his/her identity. In this vein, the role of possible selves in the process of identity change has
been portrayed as a vital link between motivation and behavior. Possible selves are seen as the personalized, cognitive
manifestations of motives that drive individuals’ behavior (Markus & Nurius, 1987). Thus, a particular possible self gives
concrete form to abstract goals and both motivates and sustains behaviors in the direction of change. Second, once efforts
to change begin, in order to assimilate the new identity content, individuals seek evidence that the possible self is being
realized. In this process the most influential feedback comes from important others (Kerpelman & Pittman, 2001), and this
information may affect the stability of a particular possible self. In other words, without social validation of the ‘‘becoming
true’’ of a possible self, individuals more easily tend to change their choice of possible selves to pursue. On the other hand,
as validation continues over time, people increasingly think of themselves as actually being that which had been their
possible self. At this point, the possible self is assimilated into the identity structure, and becomes part of the actual self
(Wurf & Markus, 1991).
The vast majority of existing studies have analyzed this process by looking at possible selves as ‘‘goals’’ in the present
(i.e., studied at a single time point). For example, Yowell (2002) has shown that positive academic performance occurs
when a negative feared self acts in the present as a self-regulator. Recently, some studies have focused on the second part of
the process described: The validation of the possible self in the process of identity change. This literature has integrated
possible selves theory with self-verification theory (Swann, 1987) and identity control theory (Burke, 1991). Kerpelman
and Pittman (2001), for example, studied the possible self validation process during adolescence. This study shows that,
contrary to what happens with identity elements already set into the identity structure (cf. Swann, 1987), when possible
selves are important they tend to be unstable in the face of discrepant feedback.
These studies have begun to examine the role of possible selves in the assimilation process of a new element into the
identity structure. However, no previous research to our knowledge has considered the role of possible selves in the
accommodation process which accompanies the assimilation of a new identity element. Hence, we were interested to
examine whether possible selves might also play a role in the restructuring of existing identity content during significant
life changes.

POSSIBLE FUTURE IDENTITY STRUCTURES

In order to analyze identity accommodation here, we started from an holistic definition of identity as the subjective concept
of oneself as a person. Crucially, identity is composed of many aspects—or identity elements—on different levels of self-
representation (e.g., ‘‘shy,’’ ‘‘daughter,’’ ‘‘researcher’’), which vary considerably in their importance for self-definition

Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/ejsp
 Possible selves and well-being

(Deaux, 1992). The concept of subjective identity structure (Vignoles, Regalia, Manzi, Golledge, & Scabini, 2006)
captures this multiplicity, referring to the perceived importance of each identity element within the self-image as a whole.
Thus, identity is viewed as a phenomenological structure in which each single element is evaluated as more or less central
and important for self-definition (Rosenberg & Gara, 1985).
In this study, we analyzed identity change at this structural level, focusing on changes in the perceived centrality of
multiple elements of identity before and after a life-transition. For example, if a woman’s identity before the transition to
parenthood includes the role of ‘‘daughter,’’ this identity element could gain or lose importance relative to other elements
in her subjective identity structure, after she becomes a mother. Extending this concept of subjective identity structure, we
developed the concept of possible future identity structures (see also Vignoles, Manzi, Regalia, Jemmolo, & Scabini,
2008), referring to the importance an individual gives to each of his/her current identity elements in his/her expected,
desired, and feared future selves. For example, if a woman perceives herself as ‘‘emotional,’’ and fears that she may
become even more emotional after becoming mother, this identity element can be said to assume a central position in her
feared possible future identity structure.
Vignoles et al. (2008) have shown that people can report their desires and fears about how existing content will be
restructured following assimilation of a new identity element, and that desires and fears about identity restructuring reflect
core identity motives as do desired and feared possible future selves. Clearly, this raises interesting questions about the role
of these possible future identity structures in the identity accommodation process. First, we should investigate if the
restructuring of existing identity content is purely reactive to the assimilation of new identity elements, or whether it is
meaningfully related also to these pre-existing possible future identity structures: Do expectations, desires and fears about
identity restructuring predict what actually happens to identity after the assimilation of a new identity element? Second,
does achieving or avoiding one’s pre-existing possible identity structures during a life-transition carry implications for
well-being?
We theorized that the restructuring of identity which follows the assimilation of a new identity element during a life
transition is directed at least partly by the possible future identity structures an individual has before the transition. In other
words, we propose that expected, desired, and feared possible future selves are involved in guiding not only the
assimilation of new identities but also the accommodation process involving existing identity elements. Hence, we
anticipated that the desired, feared, and expected importance of a particular identity element before a life-transition would
predict the actual importance of this content within subjective identity structure after the transition. We develop our
predictions concerning the role of possible future identity structures in shaping post-transition well-being in the next
section.

IDENTITY CHANGE AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING

Changes in identity toward or away from a possible future self can be expected to affect psychological adjustment in
several ways. In particular, poor adjustment is likely to occur when the individual cannot achieve desired self-conceptions
or cannot avoid feared ones. According to self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987), actual-ideal discrepancies in the self
typically lead to dejection-related emotions, including symptoms of depression. Similarly, Markus and Nurius (1986)
proposed that affect is derived from conflicts or discrepancies within the self-concept: Individuals will feel either
positively or negatively about themselves depending on the extent to which they achieve particular desired self-
conceptions or avoid particular feared ones.
Although research into the effects of actual-ideal self-discrepancies in the current self is widespread, less attention has
been paid to these issues in the possible selves literature. Existing studies generally focus on the compatibility of desired
and expected future selves. A key factor in these studies is not the distance between current and desired future selves, but
the degree to which desired future selves are viewed as likely, or attainable. Knox, Funk, Elliott, and Bush (1998) found
that the perceived likelihood of attaining hoped-for possible selves was a positive predictor of self-esteem among
adolescents of both sexes, and that the perceived likelihood of feared possible selves was a negative predictor of self-
esteem among female adolescents. Similarly, optimism is correlated with the positive evaluation of expected future selves
(Carver, Reynolds, & Scheier, 1994), and depression is associated with a greater expected likelihood of negative possible
future selves and a lower expected likelihood of positive possible future selves (Penland, Masten, Zelhart, Fournet, &
Callahan, 2000).

Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/ejsp
Claudia Manzi et al.

Less attention has been paid to the implications of actually attaining or avoiding one’s desired, or feared possible future
selves. An exception is Granberg (2006), who has studied the experience of validating or failing to validate a possible self
related to weight loss, and how people attempt to reconcile unvalidated possible selves. This qualitative study suggests
how efforts to validate a possible self can significantly complicate the integration of the new element of identity. In
particular, when social feedback does not match outcomes, an ‘‘identity interruption’’ is created and individuals have to
reformulate their previous possible self (e.g., ‘‘being thin and popular’’) in order to assimilate the new identity element
they have gained (‘‘being thin but not popular’’) into their identity structures.
In this study, we propose that not only the successful assimilation of a possible self into the identity structure but also a
successful accommodation process may have implications for individual adjustment after a transition. Thus, we theorized
that success or failure in achieving desired possible identity structures and avoiding feared ones has implications for
individual well-being. We hypothesized that the closer an individual’s post-transition subjective identity structure would
be to his/her pre-transition desired future identity structure, and the further from his/her pre-transition feared future
identity structure, the more positive emotion and the less negative emotion he/she would report.

THE CURRENT RESEARCH CONTEXT

The role of possible selves in guiding the restructuring of existing elements of identity, and the consequences of these
processes for individual well-being have almost never been tested directly. In the present study, we collected longitudinal
data across the transition to parenthood and across the transition from school to university. Although not providing the
causal certainty of an experimental design, we were able to test our hypotheses in these two natural settings.
Although entering university is primarily an educational transition and becoming a parent is a family transition, both
have huge repercussions beyond their primary domain, radically changing the structure of daily life and reorganizing
existing patterns of family and peer relationships (Cigoli & Scabini, 2006). Hence, it is not surprising that each should lead
to a complete restructuring of identity, rather than just some micro-changes (Cassidy & Trew, 2004; Cowan & Cowan,
1992; Ethier, 1996; Ethier & Deaux, 1994).
Yet, given that these two transitions are focused on different life-domains and typically occur at different points in the
lifespan, we were interested to explore for similarities and differences between them. In studying the transition to
parenthood, we were also especially aware of the possibility of heterogeneity in the experiences and reactions of different
individuals. In particular, there is good reason to suppose that the transition to parenthood might be experienced very
differently by new mothers and new fathers (Cowan & Cowan, 1992), as well as by those who were planning the birth and
those for whom the pregnancy was unexpected. Hence, we were also concerned to explore for possible heterogeneity in
effects among these various groups making the transition to parenthood.

SUMMARY OF OUR PREDICTIONS

If the process of identity change, and in particular the identity accommodation process after a life transition, is influenced
by the elaboration of possible future identity structures, then it should follow that identity elements perceived as more
central to desired and expected possible future identity structures before the transition will come to be perceived as more
central after the transition; in contrast, identity elements perceived as more central to feared possible future identity
structures will come to be perceived on the whole as less central after the transition. Thus, we hypothesized that
participants’ pre-transition desired and expected possible future identity structures would be positive prospective
predictors, whereas their feared possible future identity structures would be a negative prospective predictor of post-
transition residual change in their subjective identity structures.
It seemed unlikely that all participants would be equally successful in achieving their desired and in avoiding their
feared identity structures. We predicted that the closeness of participants’ post-transition subjective identity structures to
their pre-transition desired identity structures, and their distance from pre-transition feared identity structures, would be
positively associated with post-transition residual change in their emotional well-being.

Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/ejsp
 Possible selves and well-being

METHOD

Participants and Procedure

Questionnaires were distributed to high-school seniors and to expecting first-time parents in Italy and the UK. Italian residents
responded in Italian, and UK residents in English. The questionnaire was translated by the members of the research team, all of
whom are fluent in both languages, using a ‘‘cultural decentering’’ approach (Werner & Campbell, 1973).
Regarding the transition from school to university, participants in the first wave were recruited through schools shortly
before taking their final school exams. We invited schools in the Lombardy region of Italy and in the southeast of England
to participate in the study. Schools were not sampled randomly but were selected to cover somewhat differing socio-
economic catchments. Pupils of three Italian schools and six UK schools participated. A member of the research team
explained the longitudinal design of the study and asked participants to leave their contact details on a separate sheet of
paper which was given the same code number as the anonymous questionnaire they completed. One hundred and ninety
two participants completed the questionnaire at the first wave. Three months after the beginning of their university courses
(eight months after the first wave of data collection), participants were contacted by phone or by email and were invited to
participate in the second wave of the study. They received the second questionnaire by mail or in organized meetings at
their new universities. Eighty six participants (44.9% of the first wave) completed the second wave questionnaire; the
attrition rate was quite high partly because many British participants could not be contacted as they were spending a year
abroad before starting university.
At time 1, students in the final sample were aged 17–20 years (mean: 18 years and 8 months; SD: 4 months); 64 were
resident in Italy and 22 in the UK; 42.2% of Italian participants and 77.3% of UK participants were female. As an index of
socio-economic background, parents of participants in both countries were educated on average to age 18 (Italy: Maturità;
UK: A-levels). In Italy, this was the mean, median, and modal level of education for both parents (40.7% of fathers and
38.3% of mothers). In the UK, there was greater diversity, with a larger proportion of parents educated to O-level/CSE (age
16: 25.3% of fathers and 33.0% of mothers) or to first-degree level (22.1% of fathers and 27.8% of mothers). Participants
who completed the second wave did not differ significantly from those who dropped out in age, gender ratio, or mother’s
and father’s education levels. Nor did they differ significantly in time 1 levels of anxiety, depressive symptoms, negative
affect, or positive affect.
Expecting first-time parents were recruited through health services and antenatal classes in the Lombardy region of
Italy and in England and Scotland. As with the preceding sample, we explained the longitudinal design of the study, asking
participants to provide their personal details on a separate sheet of paper, and we re-contacted them after the transition by
phone or email, to send their follow-up questionnaires. Participants responded on average in the 6th month of pregnancy
and 6 months after the birth. Two hundred and forty six future parents participated in the first wave, of whom 143 (58.3% of
the first wave; 73 in Italy and 70 in the UK) participated in the second wave. Ages ranged between 21 and 53 years (mean:
32 years and 6 months; SD: 4 years and 6 months). Of the Italian sample, 70.0% were female and 87.1% were married; of
the UK sample, 71.2% were female and 89.0% were married. At time 1, most reported being in full-time employment
(UK: 87.5%; Italy: 79.9%). The modal level of education was first university degree in both countries (UK: 36.0%; Italy:
35.8%). A majority of parents (78.6%) reported that the pregnancy was planned, but 21.4% reported that it was
unexpected. Participants who completed the second wave did not differ significantly in average age, gender ratio, marital
status, occupational status, or education level from those who dropped out. Nor did they differ significantly in time 1 levels
of anxiety, depressive symptoms, negative affect, or positive affect.

Measures

Measures were included in a larger questionnaire about identity motives, subjective well-being, family processes, and
perceptions of the two life-transitions.1 Only those parts directly relevant to this paper are described here.

1
Non-overlapping analyses of time 1 data only have been presented elsewhere, focusing on the motivational bases of subjective identity structures
(Vignoles et al., 2006: Study 2), and of possible future identity structures (Vignoles et al., 2008: Study 2), and on the role of family processes as
contemporaneous predictors of psychological well-being (Manzi, Vignoles, Regalia, & Scabini, 2006).

Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/ejsp
Claudia Manzi et al.

Subjective Identity Structure and Possible Future Identity Structures Before the Transition

At time 1, participants were asked to specify freely 12 elements of identity content using a shortened version of the Twenty
Statements Test (Kuhn & McPartland, 1954). This test has been used in the past as a measure of self-esteem, and in that
case its validity has been widely criticized (see Wylie, 1974). However, we used it here only to ask participants to specify
identity content relevant for themselves. This was located at the beginning of the questionnaire and printed on a page
which folded out from the main answer booklet so that participants could see their responses when making the quantitative
ratings described below. Consistent with our holistic definition of identity, responses included a wide variety of identity
content spanning multiple levels of self-representation (e.g., ‘‘creative,’’ ‘‘strong,’’ ‘‘good friend,’’ ‘‘son,’’ ‘‘wife to Alan,’’
‘‘musician,’’ ‘‘human being’’).
Participants then were asked to rate each of their identity elements in relation to four questions. The first question was a
measure of the perceived centrality of each identity element within self-definition, used to assess current subjective identity
structure: ‘‘How much do you see each of the answers you have written as central or marginal to your identity?’’ (perceived
centrality at time 1). After some intervening measures, participants were asked to rate the expected, desired and feared
centrality of each identity element after the transition, to assess their possible future identity structures. We used the following
three questions: ‘‘Thinking about yourself in this new phase of your life, how much do you expect you will see each answer you
wrote at the beginning as central or marginal to your identity at this time in the future?’’ (expected centrality at time 1); ‘‘Now,
please think about the person you would most like to become at this point in the future: Imagine your ideal future self! If all your
hopes were fulfilled, how much would you see each of the answers you have written as central or marginal to your identity?’’
(desired centrality at time 1); ‘‘Now, please think about the person you are most afraid of becoming at this point in the future:
Imagine your most dreaded future self! If all your fears were realized, how much would you see each of the answers you have
written as central or marginal to your identity?’’ (feared centrality at time 1). Each question was presented at the top of a new
page, with a block of 12 rating scales positioned underneath to refer to each identity element. We used 7-point scales with the
anchors: 1 ¼ very much marginal, 4 ¼ intermediate, 7 ¼ very much central.

Subjective Identity Structure After the Transition

At time 2, each participant received a personalized follow-up questionnaire including a copy of the list of identity elements he/
she had written before the transition. At the beginning of the questionnaire, participants were asked to indicate whether each of
their responses was still true, needed revising, or was no longer true in any way; they were asked to replace any responses which
were no longer true and to update any which needed revising. Participants were then asked to rate the current perceived
centrality of each identity element, using the same procedure described above. We excluded from the analysis those identity
elements that participants had described as no longer true in any way (405 responses: 15% of the original responses).
Because our primary focus was on the accommodation processes among elements of existing identity content after the
assimilation of a new identity element, we excluded from the analyses 34 (1%) of the original responses which referred
directly to the forthcoming new identity element (e.g., ‘‘I am a future mother’’). We also excluded 208 (8%) of the original
responses which referred to emotions or well-being, in order to avoid overlap with our outcome measures.
Emotional well-being was assessed at both time points using three different measures. Anxiety about the transition was
measured using a six-item measure of state anxiety (Marteau & Bekker, 1992), in which participants rated to what extent
six mood adjectives described their feelings about the transition, on a scale from 0 (not at all) to 3 (very much). Symptoms
of depression were assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977), in
which participants rate how often they have experienced each of 20 depressive symptoms during the past week, on a scale
from 0 (less than 1 day) to 3 (5–7 days)2. The Positive And Negative Affect Scale (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) was
used to assess both positive and negative affect. Participants rated a series of positive and negative mood adjectives
2
To calculate our index of depressive symptoms, we used the continuity approach instead of the discontinuity approach. In other words, we used the mean
score for the 20 items of the CES-D as a continuous variable, and not the recoded score in groups according to the traditional cut point of 16 (where only
scores of 16 and above are considered diagnostic evidence of depression; Radloff, 1977). We followed this approach because our intent was not to
diagnose depression in our participants but to assess changes in depressive symptoms. To assess the appropriateness of using continuous scores in the
current analyses, we compared the Fisher-transformed correlations of depressive symptoms with all other individual-level variables among groups of
participants scoring above () and below the clinical cut-point of 16 at each time point. Across 22 significance tests, just one comparison reached a .05
level of statistical significance, as would be expected based on chance variation between the groups. This gave us confidence to use the continuous
approach, as it suggested that these different regions of the CES-D scale were not behaving differently in their relationships with other variables.

Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/ejsp
 Possible selves and well-being

Table 1. Zero order correlations of perceived actual and possible centrality of identity elements (participant-mean centred) at time 1
and time 2, and descriptive statistics of perceived actual and possible centrality of identity elements (row ratings) at time 1 and time 2
Variable 1 2 3 4 5

1. Perceived centrality time 2 —

2. Perceived centrality time 1 .50 —
3. Expected centrality time 1 .53 .51 —
4. Desired centrality time 1 .47 .49 .65 —
5. Feared centrality time 1 ÿ.01 .00 ÿ.03 ÿ.16 —
Total sample means 5.26 5.39 5.14 5.36 3.18
Total sample standard deviations 1.55 1.54 1.75 1.91 2.20
Students means 5.24 5.37 5.11 5.17 3.33
Students standard deviations 1.59 1.54 1.80 2.10 2.24
Parents means 5.28 5.40 5.16 5.50 3.07
Parents standard deviations 1.53 1.54 1.72 1.75 2.16

Note: listwise n ¼ 2721. p < .001.

according to how they felt ‘‘on the average,’’ using a scale from 1 (very slightly or not at all) to 5 (extremely). Across the
two time points, reliability coefficients ranged from .75 to .89 in the young adults sample and from .72 to .84 in the new
parents sample.

RESULTS

Predicting Identity Change Within Participants

Table 1 shows descriptive statistics and zero-order correlations between all identity ratings. In relation to perceived centrality
at time 1, it is notable that both expected and desired centrality showed similar mean values—thus, participants did not
typically either desire or expect elements of their existing identities to become either more central or more marginal on average
across the two transitions; yet, the zero-order correlations of only around .5 indicate that they did expect and desire
considerable changes in the relative centrality of different elements within their identities after the transitions. In contrast,
feared centrality showed a much lower mean value, suggesting that participants tended to fear that elements of their existing
identities on average would be marginalized after the transitions, and a correlation of zero, suggesting that participants on
average feared that the existing structuring of their identity elements would be wiped-out by the transitions. In reality,
perceived centrality at time 2 showed a very similar mean value to time 1, indicating that no wholesale marginalization or
reinforcement of existing identity content had occurred during either transition. Yet the zero-order correlation of .50 between
perceived centrality at the two time points suggests that identity elements had shifted in their relative centrality quite
substantially over the course of the transition: Thus, very considerable identity restructuring had indeed taken place.
We now tested whether participants’ pre-transition expected, desired, and feared possible future identity structures
would be significant predictors of residual change in their subjective identity structures across the two transitions. Given
the nested data structure, with identity elements (level 1) clustered within participants (level 2), we used multilevel
regression analysis (Hox, 2002). Initially, we conducted analyses for the total sample and then we tested possible
interactions for type of transition. To avoid confounding between-participant covariance with the within-participant
relationships we were interested in here, we centered all predictors around participant means (cf. group mean centering:
Hofmann & Gavin, 1998; Kreft, de Leeuw & Aiken, 1995; Raudenbush, 1989).3
In a first step, we entered perceived centrality at time 1 as a predictor of perceived centrality at time 2. Not surprisingly,
participants rated as significantly more central after the transition those elements of identity which they perceived as more
3
We used HLM 5.04 to conduct restricted maximum likelihood estimation with convergence criterion of 0.000001 (Raudenbush, Bryk, Cheong &
Congdon, 2001). Models estimated using full maximum likelihood showed no substantive differences from those reported here. Since we were interested
to predict within-participant variance and not between-participant variance in perceived centrality, we estimated modeled variance within participants as
R2W , based on comparison with a null model (Kreft & de Leeuw, 1998). Note that many authors are critical of the use of R2 estimates in multilevel
modeling warning that they should be treated with caution, or even avoided altogether. While recognizing these caveats, we include these estimates here
as we consider them to provide useful information about effect size, even if they are only approximations.

Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/ejsp
Claudia Manzi et al.

central before the transition (b ¼ .48, SE ¼ .02, p < .001). Time 1 perceived centrality accounted for an estimated 22.6% of
within-participants variance in time 2 perceived centrality.
In a second step, we added expected, desired, and feared possible future identity structures to the model. Time 1
perceived centrality remained a significant predictor (b ¼ .26, SE ¼ .02, p < .001), but both expected (b ¼ .26, SE ¼ .02,
p < .001) and desired (b ¼ .10, SE ¼ .02, p < .001) possible future identity structures made significant additional
contributions to the model. This model accounted for an estimated further 11.0% of within-participants variance in time
2 perceived centrality, compared to the preceding model. Thus, it appeared that pre-transition possible identity structures
were accounting for identity change among these participants: Individuals tended to approach their pre-existing expected
and desired possible identity structures. In contrast, the contribution of feared possible identity structure was close to zero
(b ¼ .01, SE ¼ .012, p ¼ .60), and thus did not support our prediction that individuals would tend to move away from their
feared possible identity structures.
To test for heterogeneity in these findings between and within our two samples, we computed various models including
dummy variables for subgroups as level 2 predictors and as cross-level interaction terms. A significant cross-level
interaction would mean that the weight of time 2 perceived centrality on one of the predictors in our model differed
significantly across the two samples, or across two subgroups within a sample. Specifically, we tested for interaction
effects of type of transition across the entire dataset, for effects of country and gender within each sample, and for
differences between those who had planned the baby and those reporting unplanned pregnancies in the transition to
parenthood sample. None of these effects was significant. Thus, the results appeared to be consistent across the two
different life-transitions, and among these various subgroups within our samples.

Predicting Individual Differences in Emotional Well-being

Our second set of analyses was designed to test whether post-transition emotional well-being would be predicted by
individual differences in the extent to which participants’ post-transition identity structures matched their pre-transition
desires and expectations and diverged from their pre-transition fears. To do this, for each participant we computed distance
scores to represent the divergence of their post-transition subjective identity structures from their pre-transition desired,
feared, and expected future identity structures, and from their actual pre-transition subjective identity structures. These
scores were calculated, respectively, as the average absolute difference of the time 2 perceived centrality of a participant’s
identity elements from their time 1 desired, feared, and expected possible future centrality and from their time 1 perceived
centrality. Theoretically, these scores could range from 0 (if the time 1 ratings of every identity element named by that
participant exactly matched their time 2 perceived centrality ratings) to 6 (if every single identity element had moved from
one end-point of the perceived centrality scale to the other when comparing the two measures). Hence, to measure
achievement of expected, desired and feared identity structures, we reversed the relevant distance scores by subtracting
them from 6, so that a score of 6 would mean that that participant’s time 2 subjective identity structure exactly matched
their pre-transition expectations, desires or fears. We used the distance score from time 1 perceived centrality as a measure
of the overall magnitude of identity change.4
Note that, because these measures rely on absolute differences calculated at the level of each identity element, they
provide a more comprehensive operational definition of identity change and of convergence between actual and possible
identity structures than was possible in the preceding analyses. For example, the measure of identity change is affected not
only by differences in the rank ordering of identity elements for perceived centrality at time 1 and time 2, but also by any
change—upward or downward—in the perceived centrality of an identity element across the transition.
Table 2 shows means and zero-order correlations of these measures and of our measures of emotional well-being at
each time point. Participants undergoing both transitions on average came slightly closer to their expected (M ¼ 4.88) than
4
We estimated the reliabilities of these aggregate scores using HLM. Note that these measures were derived from each participant’s ratings of identity
aspects referring to a wide range of different content domains, levels of self-representation and social contexts, and so there was no a-priori reason to
expect internal consistency—to assume that people’s desires, fears, expectations or actual change processes would be similar across these many different
aspects of identity. Nevertheless, the reliability estimates ranged from .53 to .83. In theory, we might have increased these values by basing them on a
larger number of identity aspects listed by each participant. Yet, previous studies using the Twenty Statements Test methodology have suggested that the
meaningfulness of responses tends to tail off when more than around 10 responses are requested (e.g. Bochner, 1994). Hence, using a larger number of
identity aspects might have increased the statistical reliability of these scores, but at the likely cost of reducing their conceptual validity as indicators of
what was happening on average across the main aspects of identity which were meaningful to our participants (see Cronbach, 1990, for an interesting
discussion of trade-offs between reliability and validity in psychometric measures).

Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/ejsp
 Possible selves and well-being

Table 2. Zero order correlations, means and standard deviations of individual-level variables
Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
1. Anxiety t2 —
2. Depressive symptoms t2 .63 —
3. Positive affect t2 ÿ.23 ÿ.34 —
4. Negative affect t2 .60 .55 ÿ.18 —

5. Anxiety t1 .41 .36 ÿ.20  .34 —
6. Depressive symptoms t1 .44 .64 ÿ.28 .51 .59 —
7. Positive affect t1 ÿ.15 ÿ.24 .60 ÿ.18 ÿ.37 ÿ.34 —
8. Negative affect t1 .36 .39 ÿ.17 .60 .49 .65 ÿ.30 —
9. Expected achievement ÿ.10 ÿ.07 .22 ÿ.07 ÿ.09 ÿ.08 .09 ÿ.07 —
10. Desired achievement ÿ.11 ÿ.31 .27 ÿ.08 ÿ.03 ÿ.12 
.16 ÿ.09 .42 —
11. Feared achievement .10 .12 .02 .18 .01 .07 .05 .06 ÿ.04 ÿ.08 —
12. Identity change .01 .12 ÿ.01 .08 .06 .09 ÿ.07 .08 ÿ.26 ÿ.39 ÿ.04 —
13. Country .17 .18 .00 .12 .19 .13 .15 .13 .03 .03 .21 ÿ.06 —
14. Gender .02 .08 .05 .02 .00 .12 .03 .02 .10 .09 ÿ.05 .03 ÿ.14 —
15. Type of transition ÿ.25 ÿ.31 .04 ÿ.29 ÿ.36 ÿ.38 .16 ÿ.24 .07 .19 ÿ.05 ÿ.12 ÿ.23 ÿ.19
Total sample’s mean .93 .77 3.40 1.87 1.09 .79 3.48 2.03 4.88 4.71 3.25 1.05
Total sample’s SD .53 .27 .62 .59 .63 .25 .52 .69 .55 .59 1.27 .53
Adolescents’ mean 1.10 0.84 3.37 2.09 1.38 0.90 3.37 2.24 4.82 4.56 3.32 1.13
Adolescents’ SD .55 0.44 0.65 0.64 0.65 0.48 0.58 0.66 .48 .57 1.19 .48
Parents’ mean 0.83 0.56 3.42 1.74 0.91 0.56 3.55 1.91 4.91 4.80 3.20 .99
Parents’ SD .49 .39 .60 .52 .55 .31 .48 .67 .59 .59 1.31 .56
 
p < .05; p < .001.

to their desired (M ¼ 4.71) identity structures (t ¼ 4.13, df ¼ 226, p < .001). More strikingly, participants on average came
substantially closer to both expected and desired identity structures than to their feared identity structures (M ¼ 3.25; both
t  15.24, df ¼ 224, p < .001). This probably reflects the fact, noted in the previous section, that participants generally
seemed to fear a wholesale marginalization of their existing identity content—which did not happen. It is also notable that
new parents on average came significantly closer to their desired identity structures (M ¼ 4.80) than did new university
students (M ¼ 4.56; t ¼ 2.97, df ¼ 225, p < .01).
Among our well-being measures, in the students sample we observed a significant average decrease over time in anxiety
(t ¼ 3.60, df ¼ 85, p < .001; time 1 M ¼ 1.38, time 2 M ¼ 1.10) and in negative affect (t ¼ 2.37, df ¼ 85, p < .05; time 1
M ¼ 2.24, time 2 M ¼ 2.09). In the parents sample we found a significant decrease in both positive affect (t ¼ 3.05,
df ¼ 140, p < .01; time 1 M ¼ 3.55, time 2 M ¼ 3.42) and negative affect (t ¼ 3.33, df ¼ 140, p < .01; time 1 M ¼ 1.91,
time 2 M ¼ 1.74).
We now conducted a path analysis using the EQS software package, to test the role of our measures of the achievement
of expected, desired, and feared identity structures as predictors of our four measures of emotional well-being at time 2,
controlling for time 1 values of emotional well-being and for individual differences in the overall magnitude of identity
change. First, we screened the data for univariate and multivariate outlying cases and to check the variable distributions for
normality. Two variables, depressive symptoms at time 1 and depressive symptoms at time 2, showed mild positive skew.
This was corrected using square root transformation. We found no other problems of skew or kurtosis, and normalized
estimates of Mardia’s coefficient for multivariate kurtosis were acceptable.
As a first step, we analyzed a model in which each of the four measures of emotional well-being at time 2 was predicted
by the same emotional well-being measure at time 1 and by the four distance scores. The model showed optimal goodness
of fit indices: x2(28, N ¼ 229) ¼ 41.751, p ¼ .05; NFI ¼ .96; CFI ¼ .98; RMSEA ¼ .05 (90% confidence interval: .00–.08).
In this model, achievement of desired identity structure and achievement of expected identity structure were significant
predictors of positive affect (for achievement of desired identity structure b ¼ .13, p < .01; for achievement of expected
identity structure b ¼ .13, p < .01), whereas achievement of feared identity structure was a significant predictor of negative
affect (b ¼ .14, p < .01).
As a second step, we performed three sets of multisample path analyses to test the equivalence of relationships among
variables, first in the different types of transition, then in the different countries, and finally between males and females. We
started by computing a fully constrained model, fixing all structural paths between the variables to be equal for the parents
and the students samples. This model showed a significant lack of fit in the chi square index: x2(76, N ¼ 229) ¼ 101.098,

Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/ejsp
Claudia Manzi et al.

p < .01; NFI ¼ .90; CFI ¼ .97; RMSEA ¼ .04 (90% confidence interval: .01–.06), suggesting the presence of significant
differences in the model between the two transitions. Modification indices revealed that there was just one significant
difference between the parents and the students samples: The path from identity change to anxiety at time 2 was negative
and significant in the students sample (b ¼ ÿ.30, p < .01) but non-significant for the parents. The constraint on this path
was relaxed and the model was re-estimated. All fit indices were now acceptable: x2(75, N ¼ 229) ¼ 90.152, p > .10;
NFI ¼ .91; CFI ¼ .98; RMSEA ¼ .03 (90% confidence interval: .00–.05). Then we performed a fully constrained model,
fixing all structural paths between the variables to be equal for the UK and Italian samples. This model showed optimal fit
indices: x2(76, N ¼ 229) ¼ 80.824, p > .05; NFI ¼ .92; CFI ¼ .99; RMSEA ¼ .02 (90% confidence interval: .00–.04),
indicating that a single identical model fit the two samples. Finally we performed a fully constrained model to assess
differences between males and females. This model showed poor fit indices: x2(75, N ¼ 229) ¼ 116.324, p < .01;
NFI ¼ .86; CFI ¼ .94; RMSEA ¼ .06 (90% confidence interval: .04–.08). Surprisingly, the modification indices did not
reveal any significant difference between the two samples, but the Lagrange Multiplier Test for adding parameters showed
the presence in the male sample of three new paths. Two of these were cross-over effects between well-being measures
over time: Time 1 negative affect predicted time 2 depressive symptoms and time 1 anxiety predicted time 2 positive
affect. The third was a significant path from time 1 depressive symptoms to identity change: Men who experienced greater
depressive symptoms at time 1 reported less identity change. These three paths were added in the model that now showed
optimal fit indices: x2(72, N ¼ 229) ¼ 92.517, p ¼ .05; NFI ¼ .89; CFI ¼ .97; RMSEA ¼ .04 (90% confidence interval:
.00–.08).
Finally, only within the parents sample we explored for differences between those who had planned pregnancies and
those who had unplanned pregnancies. The fully constrained multisample path analysis revealed poor fit indices: x2(76,
N ¼ 143) ¼ 127.917, p < .01; NFI ¼ .80; CFI ¼ .90; RMSEA ¼ .07 (90% confidence interval: .05–.09). Modification
indices revealed three significant differences between the samples: The path between the depressive symptoms at time 1
and depressive symptoms at time 2, the path between achievement of desired identity structure and depressive symptoms
at time 2, and the path between positive affect at time 1 and positive affect at time 2. Constraints on these paths were
relaxed and the model was re-estimated. All fit indices were now acceptable: x2(73, N ¼ 143) ¼ 101.627, p > .01;
NFI ¼ .84; CFI ¼ .94; RMSEA ¼ .05 (90% confidence interval: .02–.07). This final model showed that the path between
achievement of desired identity structure and depressive symptoms was significant only for parents with unplanned
pregnancies. For the same participants the impact of positive affect and depression before the transition on positive affect
and depression after the transition was higher. We further investigated these results, analyzing whether there were
significant gender differences in the unplanned pregnancy parents. We used regression analysis because the number of
participants did not allow us to proceed with multisample path analyses. A significant 3-way interaction was found
between gender, planned pregnancy, and achievement of desired identity structure predicting depressive symptoms
(b ¼ .16, p < .05). A split file post hoc regression revealed that the path between achievement of desired identity structure
and depressive symptoms was significant only for mothers who did not plan their pregnancy.
Figure 1 synthesizes the results of these path analyses. To simplify, only significant predictive paths are represented. In
all models, covariances between predictor variables were all significant except those with achievement of feared identity
structures, covariances between well-being variables at time 1 were all significant, covariances between well-being
variables at time 2 were all significant.

DISCUSSION

In this study, we sought to map out the relations between possible selves, identity change, and well-being in the context of
two naturally occurring life-transitions. In particular we aimed to analyze the role of possible selves in the restructuring of
existing identity content when a new identity element is assimilated. To our knowledge no previous studies have focused
on the role of possible selves in the accommodation which accompanies the assimilation of a new identity element. To
reach this purpose we developed the concept of possible future identity structure, i.e., the individual’s expectations, desires
and fears about the possible restructuring of his/her identity content will have after an important life transition.
Participants’ initial desired and expected possible future identity structures were reliable prospective predictors of residual
change in their subjective identity structures across both transitions. Individual differences in the extent to which

Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/ejsp
 Possible selves and well-being


Figure 1. Results of the path analyses. Numbers are standardized regression weights. p < .01

participants achieved their desired and feared possible identity structures after the transition were significant predictions of
well-being.

Possible Selves and Identity Change

Our first aim was to investigate whether the restructuring of existing identity content is related to pre-existing possible
future identity structures. Consistent with the proposed role of expected and desired possible future identity structures in
guiding long-term identity change, those aspects of identity which participants initially expected would be more central
after the transition did indeed on average come to be perceived as more central at time 2; similarly, those aspects of identity
which participants initially desired would be more central after the transition on average came to be perceived as more
central at time 2.
Of course, a plausible and simple alternative explanation of the former result is that participants may have tended to
forecast accurately the changes which would occur in their identities as a result of each transition. To the extent that people
make accurate forecasts, expected possible identity structures by definition will be correlated with post-transition identity
structures. Yet, this commonsense account is not necessarily the full story, despite its intuitive appeal. Previous studies
have suggested that expected possible future selves are more than just neutral ‘‘predictions’’ of the future—that they have
a motivational function as goals for behavior, not unlike desired selves (e.g., Oyserman & Markus, 1990). Moreover,
expected selves may influence identity change through self-verification processes, by which people structure their social
interactions and their cognitive processing in such as way as to bring social reality in line with their expectations (Swann,
1987; see also Kerpelman & Pittman, 2001). Nevertheless, a strong test of the causal role of expected possible future
identity structures in identity change would require the use of controlled experimentation, where expectations were
manipulated rather than measured, as opposed to the naturalistic approach used here.
In contrast, it is harder to conceive of an alternative interpretation of the prospective effect of desired possible identity
structures on post-transition subjective identity structures. The results indicate that participants, in restructuring their

Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/ejsp
Claudia Manzi et al.

identities, typically approached their desired possible identity structures during both transitions. Although one can
imagine that participants may have moderated their desires to some extent to reflect what they believed would be likely or
possible after the forthcoming transitions, the significant effect of desired possible identity structures cannot reasonably be
explained in terms of accurate forecasting given that this effect was found whilst controlling for expectations. In contrast, it
seems more plausible to assume that it is because these structures were desired that they were approached—that they
functioned as goals for identity change.
We found no significant effects of feared future identity structures on the direction of identity change. Against our
prediction, those identity elements accorded greater centrality in participants’ initial feared future identity structures did
not come to be perceived as significantly less central in post-transition subjective identity structures. We should
acknowledge several potential interpretations of this null finding. One possibility is that participants, on average, did not
succeed in avoiding their feared selves to the same extent that they succeeded in achieving desired and expected selves.
Another possibility is that the null finding does represent at least partial success in avoiding the feared self—in the sense
that at least post-transition subjective identity structures bore no relation to participants’ initial fears. A further possibility,
discussed in more detail subsequently, is that our measurement of feared possible future selves may have suffered from the
focus on current identity content.

Achievement of Possible Future Selves and Well-being

Our second aim was to examine whether variation in the extent to which participants had approached their desired and
expected possible future identity structures and avoided their feared ones would be associated meaningfully with
emotional well-being after each transition. Results showed that the closeness of participants’ post-transition identity
structures to their initial possible future selves did predict residual change in emotional well-being, quite consistently
across the two transitions.
In particular, we found that individuals whose achieved subjective identity structures—after the identity
accommodation process following a significant life transition—were closer to their initial desires and expectations
and further from their initial fears tended to report lower negative affect and higher positive affect after the transition.
These results were invariant across gender and countries considered. However, more detailed analyses showed important
variation within the new parents sample in the magnitude of these effects. We found that the negative path from
achievement of desired identity structures to depressive symptoms was significant only following unplanned
pregnancies—a situation which arguably could be expected to put people in a relatively self-protective frame of mind.
Further analysis showed that the effect on depressive symptoms was significant only among mothers who had not
planned to have children. A post-hoc comparison showed that mothers with unplanned pregnancy reported the highest
levels of these symptoms among the new parents. A 2 (country)  2 (gender)  2 (planning) ANCOVA of parents’ post-
transition depressive symptoms, controlling for pre-transition levels, showed a significant gender  planning interaction,
F(1, 134) ¼ 4.87, p < .05. Following unplanned pregnancies, new mothers showed a mean CES-D score of 18.4 (rescaled
to fit the 0–60 scoring used in clinical settings), which exceeded the conventional cut-off of 16 for diagnosing mild to
moderate depression; scores were lower among new mothers following planned pregnancies (M ¼ 10.5) and among new
fathers (unplanned M ¼ 10.2; planned M ¼ 9.5). Presumably, mothers with unplanned pregnancies would be especially
likely to experience a loss of control over their lives—a known antecedent of depression (Seligman, 1975); however,
participants in this group who managed to approach their desired possible selves during the transition did not appear to
show poorer emotional well-being than did mothers who had planned their pregnancies. Hence, in contrast with the
prevailing medical model of this condition, these findings are consistent with social psychological arguments that identity
changes associated with motherhood are an important antecedent of postpartum depression (e.g., Mauthner, 1999). This
suggests the possibility, albeit speculative, that incidence of postpartum depression might be reduced by helping expecting
mothers with unplanned pregnancies to formulate achievable desired possible future identity structures.

Magnitude of Identity Change

Banaji and Prentice (1994) argued that enduring identity change occurs especially—perhaps even only—during
significant life-transitions. Here, we found that subjective identity structures at time 1 were a relatively weak predictor of
subjective identity structures at time 2, suggesting that substantial change had occurred between times of measurement.

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DOI: 10.1002/ejsp
 Possible selves and well-being

Vignoles et al. (2006, Study 4) reported somewhat greater stability of subjective identity structures over a 2-month time
period without intervening life-transitions. Hence, the extent of discrepancy here between times 1 and 2 subjective identity
structures cannot be explained by short-term contextual fluctuation, which also would have affected their results.
Nevertheless, future research should compare the extent of change across life-transitions with that experienced by people
without a life-transition over a similar length of time.
It is interesting to note that the magnitude of identity change appears to have been experienced slightly differently by
different groups, as evidenced by different relationships with our measures of post-transition well-being. Irrespective of its
relation to specific desires, fears or expectations, identity change was negatively related with anxiety only after the transi-
tion from school to university. It may be that the experience of identity change is interpreted as indicating for these participants
that one has achieved a new status—as young adult—irrespective of the specific changes which are made.

Limitations and Future Directions

In this study, data were collected at two time points only. A design including several time points both before and after each
transition, would have allowed us to investigate in greater detail the unfolding processes by which possible future selves
are formed and revised both in anticipation of, and following, the moment of the transition itself. Additionally, such a
design would have allowed us to highlight changes in subjective identity structure at the point of transition against the
background of more gradual changes which may be occurring normally. Nevertheless, we reiterate that this is the first
study ever to have examined the role of possible future identity structures in the restructuring of identity following a long-
term identity change; moreover, no previous study has examined longitudinally the emotional correlates of actually
achieving or avoiding one’s expectations, desires, and fears related to the identity accommodation process after a
significant life transition.
This study is unusual in the possible selves literature in focusing on the possible and actual futures of aspects of current
identity content. Thus, our study captures important forms of possible and actual identity change not typically accessed by
traditional approaches to possible selves (see Packard & Conway, 2006), but does not capture changes relating to the
possible or actual attainment of new identity content. This may especially have limited our measurement of feared future
identity structures. Perhaps, the defining feature of feared selves is the possibility of attaining new, feared identity
elements, rather than any particular reconfiguration of existing identity content. Indeed, the main feature of participants
ratings of feared possible identity structures appeared to be a wholesale marginalization of aspects of existing identity,
rather than any particular reconfiguration or reordering. Hence, it is perhaps unsurprising that our measure of feared
possible identity structures did not predict subjective identity structures after the transition. Nevertheless, it is interesting
to note that we did find some effects of feared self-distance on emotional well-being. This suggests that our measurement
of feared selves was not entirely invalid.
Caution must be exercised in drawing causal inferences from these data. We have already noted an alternative
interpretation of the path from pre-transition expected possible identity structures to post-transition actual identity
structures. Similarly, we cannot be certain about the causal processes underlying paths from identity measures to post-
transition well-being. Controlling for pre-transition levels of well-being rules out some alternative interpretations—in
particular, our results cannot be attributed to the influence of pre-existing levels of anxiety, depressive symptoms, or
positive and negative affectivity on the trajectories of identity change toward or away from desires, fears, or expectations.
Nevertheless, the possibility remains that some further unmeasured variable(s) could have influenced trajectories of both
identity and emotional well-being during these transitions.
Caution is also necessary in generalizing from these results, given that our samples were not representative of people
making the transition to university or the transition to parenthood. We explored for gender and national differences in our
analyses, suggesting that our findings were not biased by differences between the samples in these effects. Nevertheless, in
the absence of truly random sampling, we cannot rule out the possibility that our participants differed systematically in
some unknown way from the wider population of adolescents starting university and adults becoming parents.
Additionally, it would be valuable to examine these processes across a wider range of cultures.
Nevertheless, the current study provides an important step forward in the study of possible selves and long-term identity
change. In the real-world context of two significant life-transitions, we have shown not only that possible selves are
meaningfully related to enduring change in subjective identity structures but also that individual differences in these
relationships are significantly associated with emotional adjustment after transition. Of course, we have been treading new

Copyright # 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/ejsp
Claudia Manzi et al.

theoretical and methodological ground in this study, and so the current findings provide just a ‘‘first look’’ at these
previously uncharted phenomena. The current study provides an overview of the domain, which should pave the way for
more fine-grained research—including controlled experimentation as well as further longitudinal studies in naturalistic
settings—to provide a more detailed picture of the causal influences and mediating social psychological processes
underlying the general pattern of findings we have observed here. In this way, we hope that subsequent research will build
on these findings and will shed further light on the causes and the consequences of enduring identity change.

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