Abstract

Identity styles (Berzonsky, 1989) represent social-cognitive strategies that adolescents can use to evaluate identity-relevant information in order to find their own set of values, attitudes and committments. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between perception of social support from significant others (i.e., father, mother, brother/sister, best friend, teacher), identity styles (i.e., informational, normative, diffuse/avoidant), and commitment in adolescence. Participants were 726 high school students (46% males), aged between 13 and 20 years. The results showed that the support received from the brother/sister, the best friend and the teacher is positively associated with the informational style; the support received from the father, the mother and the teacher is positively related to the normative style; and the support received from the mother is negatively linked to the diffuse/avoidant style. Furthermore, the informational and normative styles are positively associated with commitment, whereas the diffuse/avoidant style is negatively linked to it.