Landman, Sarah (2025) The Interplay of Cognitive Flexibility, Identity Integration, and Psychosocial Well-Being in Young Adults. Master thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Young adulthood is marked by significant life transitions that often challenge maintaining a coherent identity. Integrating multiple, and sometimes conflicting, social identities is essential for psychosocial well-being. The mechanism through which this relationship operates is unclear. Cognitive flexibility might enhance identity integration by allowing individuals to think flexibly. This study examined the interplay between cognitive flexibility, identity integration, and psychosocial well-being using a cross-sectional cohort design including 125 young adults (aged 18-32). Participants completed questionnaires and cognitive tasks assessing psychosocial well-being, subjective and objective cognitive flexibility, and identity integration. Mediation and moderation analyses were conducted to explore the role of cognitive flexibility and identity integration in relation to psychosocial well-being. A mediation analysis examined whether cognitive flexibility contributes to psychosocial well-being indirectly through identity integration. A moderation analysis examined whether cognitive flexibility influences the strength of the relationship between identity integration and psychosocial well-being. Results indicated that objective measures of cognitive flexibility were unrelated to identity integration and psychosocial well-being. By contrast, subjective cognitive flexibility was significantly positively associated with identity integration, which in turn predicted higher levels of psychosocial well-being. The direct effect of subjective cognitive flexibility on psychosocial well-being was non-significant, which is consistent with the absence of a significant association between the two variables, suggesting indirect-only mediation through identity integration. No support was found for subjective cognitive flexibility moderating the relationship between identity integration and psychosocial well-being. These findings underscore the role of identity integration in psychosocial well-being and the potential role of cognitive flexibility in this relationship.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Meer, E.M. van der |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | Clinical Neuropsychology (CN) [Master Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Oct 2025 12:52 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Oct 2025 12:52 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/5958 |
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