Miriam Webster defines identity as "the distinguishing character or personality of an individual" (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). Cskiszentmihaly (1997) defines flow as a psychological state of optimal experience. 

Question break: what does identity mean to you? Do you feel it's an important part of your current journey?

A hallmark feature of the adolescent years concerns developing a coherent sense of identity (Branje, 2022, p.1). A defining task of adolescence is to answer the question: who am I? (Koni et al., 2019). Identity development consists of four main themes: 

• Daily experiences 

• Life transitions 

• Relationships 

• Life events. 

More specifically, the Dual-Cycle Model of Identity demonstrates how adolescents are in one of two “identity cycles” at any given time: 

• Identity formation 

  • ask questions

  • explore 

  • make commitments

• Identity maintenance 

  • work on tasks that strength your sense of who you are

  • conduct more in-depth exploration into current and future commitments (Branje, 2022)

A three-factor model of personal identity development consists of:

• commitment 

• in-depth exploration

• re-consideration of commitment (Koni et al., 2019). 

Social identity is equally as complex--these theorists highlight group membership as an important feature of identity development. According to Eric Erickson, identity confusion marks the thrust of identity development in adolescence and when left unresolved can lead to anxiety, depression, and decreased levels of self-esteem (Miller, 2016). Thus parents, teachers, and professionals could foster opportunities for adolescents to answer the question—who am I? —through exposing them to diverse individuals (e.g. other cultures, other age groups, other socioeconomic status) and opportunities (e.g. mentoring) outside their specific area of interest (Schwartz & Petrova, 2018). These opportunities help adolescents explore new interests in real-world conversations, for instance, through sports camps, in the local community, and through internship opportunities.

Question break: what activity could you take part in today that would strengthen your existing sense of identity? 

The importance of group cohesion and group identity is rife in adolescence. The Social Identity Approach posits that membership with a certain group provides us with a sense of meaning and belonging; these in-group relationships have a positive impact on health and wellbeing (Koni et a., 2019). A study emphasizing resilience took partcipants on a 10-day sailing trip around New Zealand. Adolescents were put into small working groups that would last the duration of the trip and encourage teamwork. The researcher found the strongest relationships to exist between resilience and social identity for those deemed low in resilience at time one. To further their analysis of resilience and social identity in a new group, they took a second group of adolescents on a 7-day sail, providing youth with an opportunity to get to know one another at the start of the voyage. In this second study, even those high in resilience at time one benefitted significantly from the opportunity to strengthen resilience and social identity. This latter study illuminates “room for growth” even in high-resilient youth (Koni et al., 2019). 

Task break: Crew Check!

Imagine your life is a sailboat voyage. Who’s in your crew?

Write down 3–5 people you feel most “yourself” around. These could be friends, siblings, teammates, classmates, online friends—anyone you feel safe and supported with.

Next to each name, write:

• What shared identity connects you? (e.g., “we’re in drama club,” “we’re both into comedy movies,” “we’ve been through hard stuff together”)

• One time they helped you feel stronger—or you helped them.

👀 Optional Bonus: Reach out to one of them and say thanks.

As Csikszentmihalyi reports in Finding Flow, everyday life provides rare opportunities for contents of experience to work in synchrony. Too often adults are caught up with responsibilities that require intense thinking on tasks of less personal importance. Their boss asks them to complete a series of administrative tasks. Family demands mean that a leisure activity is missed. Thus, thoughts for children, family, future, and finances create “entropy in consciousness” making it particularly hard to work in synchrony all the time (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997, p.28). Childhood in particular, less so in adolescence, is a time where individuals have less responsibility and more time to pursue intrinsic desires. Free time fosters curiosity and exploration; and mind-wandering provides opportunities for meaning-making (Irving, 2015), yet rarely do we make space for mind-wandering. Interestingly, Preiss & Cosmelli (2017) hypothesize that those who engage in creative writing develop a sense of identity that is grounded on their awareness of the mind wandering process. Creative writers often become mindful mind wanders and recognize the creative act of writing in the development of identity. Contrary to everyday life and witnessed in the interviews with adolescents, flow experiences occur when our thoughts, feelings, and actions in are harmony. Action becomes effortless. Thoughts dissipate. In harmony, “life finally comes into its own”. In this sense, flow becomes a tool for learning (Csikszentmihaly, 1997, p.33).