THE YOUNG ADULT'S LIFE AND HIS EXISTENTIAL CRISIS

Aim of the study is to investigate the identity issues faced by the young adults in the contemporary society. The crisis that has invested the job market has also caused important delays in reaching the life-markers characterizing the adulthood. For this reason, young adulthood represents a phase of life with clinically relevant outcomes. The four questionnaires were administered to 297 young adults aged between 22 and 35 years (M = 29.94, DS = 2.30). Multi-Measure Agentic Personality Scale is a measure of agency and consists of 4 scales, Identity Stage Resolution Index measures two dimensions of identity: the sense of being an adult and the sense societal integration, UNIPA Emotional Autonomy Inventory is a measure of emotional autonomy and consist of 4 scales and The Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being is a measure of wellbeing. Path analysis was conducted to test a model with Adult Identity and Social Identity as predictor variables, Emotional Autonomy and Agency as mediators and wellbeing as outcome. Estimation of the saturated model, and therefore no fit indices were reported, showed a significant path from self-recognition (b = .13; p < .05), willingness to dialogue (b = .29; p < .05) and self-esteem (b = .14; p < .05) to wellbeing. The Adult Identity Resolution Scale was related to self-recognition (b = .33; p < .05), willingness to dialogue (b = .31; p < .05), self-esteem (b = .26; p < .05), locus of control (b = .33; p < .05), and ego-strenght (b = .50; p < .05). The Social Identity Resolution Scale was not relate with any variable. Results clearly showed that Adult and Social Identity have a role in the prediction of wellbeing through the effect of emotional autonomy an agency. These results provide relevant indication for the understanding of the underlying mechanism between identity and wellbeing and contribute to report some relevant clinical indication for young adult's adjustment promotion.