Identity Capital Model in Italian university students: Evaluation of the Italian versions of the Multi-Measure Agentic Personality Scale and Identity Stage Resolution Index

Abstract

The current study assessed the applicability to the Italian context of the Identity Capital Model, which postulates that in late-modern societies personal agency is positively associated with two senses of adulthood: adult identity and acceptance in an adult community. The participants comprised 332 Italian university students. Three self-report measures were used: The Multi-Measure Agentic Personality Scale (MAPS20); the Identity Stage Resolution Index (ISRI); the Dimensions of Identity Development Scale (DIDS). Confirmatory factor analyses of the Italian version of MAPS20 replicated the four-factor structure of the English version of this scale, with one second-order latent factor (personal agency). These analyses also replicated the two-factor structure of Italian version of the ISRI. Convergent validity was demonstrated through theoretically consistent associations between the MAPS and ISRI dimensions and measures of identity processes (DIDS). Overall, findings suggest that the Italian version of both the MAPS and the ISRI are a promising tool for assessing identity capital.