The investigation of relations between emerging adults' perceived parenting behaviors, identity statuses and well-being

This study aims to investigate the mediating role of identity statuses on the relation between the emerging adults' perceived parenting behaviors and well-being. Furthermore, the study puts forward certain descriptive findings on the emerging adulthood. For this purpose, Personal Information Form, Views of Life Survey, Leuven Adolescent Perceived Parenting Scale, Extended Objective Measure of Ego-Identity Status, Scales of Psychological Well-Being, Satisfaction with Life Scale, and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were applied to 347 university students (193 females and 154 males) between the ages of 19 and 26. The examinations made in order to determine whether the Views of Life Survey scores differentiated by the gender show that only significant difference occurs in the identity exploration/feeling in-between feature, and females experience this feature more deeply than males. Moreover, the study examines whether the features of emerging adulthood differentiate in accordance with living with or without parents, showing that the emerging adults living without their parents experience the identity exploration/feeling in-between and experimentation/self-focused more deeply. 57.1% of the participants gave the answer "In some ways, yes; in some ways, no." to the question "Do you think you've reached adulthood?". In additon, descriptive findings about the relationship between emerging adults and their parents were obtained. The study presents evidence that identity statuses (achieved, moratorium, diffusion, foreclosure) has mediating role between emerging adults' perceived parenting behaviors (responsiveness, autonomy support, psychological control) and well-being (psychological well-being, life satisfaction, self-esteem). The findings presented in the study are discussed within the context of the literature review.