The Role of Best Friends’ Autonomy Support and Identity in Adolescents’ Educational Identity Formation

Abstract

This 5-year longitudinal study examined over time associations between adolescents’ educational identity, perceived best friends’ autonomy support, and best friends’ educational identity. Dutch adolescents (N = 464, Mage = 14.0 years at T1, 56.0% males) and their self-nominated best friends reported on their educational commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration. Adolescents also reported on their best friend’s autonomy support. Cross-lagged panel models showed that autonomy support predicted adolescents’ reconsideration, and was inconsistently predicted by commitment and in-depth exploration. Best friends’ educational identity did not affect adolescents’ educational identity, and this effect was not moderated by autonomy support. Perceiving a best friend as autonomy supportive reduces adolescents’ problematic educational reconsideration, while adaptive processes of educational identity formation might foster friends’ autonomy support.