Journal of Research on Adolescence
Call for Papers
Special Issue Announcement
Journal of Research on Adolescence
New Directions in Conceptualizing and Measuring Identity among Young People
Journal Editor: Su Yeong Kim, Ph.D.
Special Issue Guest Editors: Alan Meca, Ph.D.; Kaylin Ratner, Ph.D.; Lisanne de Moor, Ph.D.
Wiley Page for the Special Issue: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.
Important Dates:
- Call for Special Issue: July 27, 2026
- Abstract submission: December 31, 2026
- Special Issue editors invite selected teams to submit full manuscript: January 31, 2027
- Full manuscript submission: June 30, 2027
- Initial manuscript decisions (after peer review): September 30, 2027
- Revised manuscript submission: December 31, 2027
- Final decision on manuscript: March 31, 2028
- Special Issue published: May 31, 2028
Names of Special Issue Editors
- Alan Meca, Ph.D.
- Kaylin Ratner, Ph.D.
- Lisanne de Moor, Ph.D.
Background
The establishment of a positive sense of self and identity represents a central developmental task of adolescence and emerging adulthood (Meca et al., 2023). Broadly, identity represents an individual’s response to the question “Who am I?” (Vignoles et al., 2011). A positive sense of identity has been tied to greater well-being and fewer internalizing symptoms (for review, see Crocetti, 2026). Although there have been substantive advances in recent decades, several pervasive limitations rooted in the conceptualization and operationalization of identity development remain.
To begin with, several scholars have highlighted potential issues in the alignment between theory and measures of identity exploration and commitment (e.g., Waterman, 2015; De Moor & Johnson, 2026). Despite this, bidirectionality between theory and measurement has been limited. In one prominent example, the Dimensions of Identity Development Scale (Luyckx et al., 2008) was developed with a proposed five-factor structure, yet recent analyses have suggested a six-factor structure may be more appropriate (e.g., Skhirtladze et al., 2016). We hold that empirical findings should be used to inform revisions of existing theory, which in turn should be used to refine existing tools. Successful examples of this are readily observed in the racial identity literature (e.g., the development of the Cross Racial Identity Scale [Vandiver et al., 2002] following a revision to Cross’s nigrescence theory [Cross & Vandiver, 2001]).
Second, research on identity development is fragmented and there are several competing theoretical models, with limited attempts at theoretical or empirical synthesis. For example, the Dual-Cycle Model (Luyckx et al., 2008) and the three-factor model (Crocetti et al., 2008) represent overlapping yet distinct conceptualizations of identity development. There is a need for empirical synthesis, which can be offered through psychometrics and examination of construct differentiation and overlap. Across identity domains, the story is similar: a history of siloing has also introduced several conceptual shortfalls. For example, as noted by Meca and colleagues (2026), whereas exploration is conceptualized multidimensionally in the personal identity literature, the ethnic-racial identity literature does so unidimensionally. This highlights the need for cross-domain pollination to ensure advances in one identity domain are examined for utility in another.
Third, although attempts have been made to quantify identity integration (e.g., Benet-Martínez & Haritatos, 2005), there remains a critical need for the development of new measures that examine how identities intersect and are integrated. Such work could pave the way for a fuller understanding of intersectional identity development or provide a window into how people integrate social and personal identities into a higher-order sense of ego identity that is consistent and stable across time and situations.
Finally, there have been few advancements in recent years to develop new measures focused on identity domains that are salient to today’s young people. Many advancements in this regard appear in the social identity literature (e.g., disability identity; Forber-Pratt et al., 2020), but such advancements would be missed by traditional tools used to track identity development given their focus on ideological (e.g., education, values) and interpersonal (e.g., relational, dating) exploration and commitment, with little critical examination of whether these areas figure much into contemporary young people’s understanding of who they are. As such, existing domains are perhaps necessary but insufficient for fully understanding how identity forms in the second and third decades of life. Moreover, the field continues to lack individualized, bottom-up approaches that allow youth to express what domains of identity are important for them. The relative disconnect between social and personal identity literatures, coupled with a failure to advance our understanding of significant identity “ingredients” in recent years, stymies the refinement of identity development theories for the 21st century.
Aims of the Special Issue
Addressing these gaps, the current special issue invites papers that leverage measurement to advance conceptualization, and theory to advance operationalization, of identity development. We are especially interested in this work as it relates to identity development across domains: papers that explicitly target identity integration, or examine how identity domains relate to and intersect with one another, will receive priority consideration.
Topics of interest for this call for papers include but are not restricted to:
- Leveraging psychometrics to revise and revisit existing conceptualizations of identity across identity domains.
- Revising, updating, and refining existing identity measures based on prior findings, theorizing, and/or qualitative work, highlighting the bidirectional nature between theory and measurement.
- Development and validation of new measures that conceptually advance our understanding of identity in contemporary adolescence and emerging adulthood. Papers using existing measures in a new domain are unlikely to be invited for full submission.
- Use of advanced research designs (e.g., daily diary) to understand how identity dynamics across domains relate to one another and potentially contribute to higher-level integration.
- Efforts to understand how identity integrates across different levels of one’s ecological context to influence coherence and stability in their sense of who they are.
Keywords: Identity domains, identity synthesis, theory, measurement
Details for Submission
All abstract materials must be submitted through the Google Form below: https://docs.google.com/forms/
- Title
- Authors’ names, email addresses, affiliations
- An abstract that includes a brief description of the introduction, methods, results, and discussion and implications of findings (up to 1 single-spaced page of main text, up to 1 page of references, 1-2 tables or figures). Abstracts reporting preliminary findings/results will be considered, though author(s) should highlight the feasibility of adhering to the special issue timeline.
- Provide a one-paragraph argument that explains how your study fits with the Special Issue Call
All inquiries can be emailed to jra2026specialissueidentity@