How do the life stories of young people exposed to adversity (e.g., young refugees) differ from those of others? To understand the effects of adversity on specific features of young refugee’s narratives, we need to disentangle the effects of cultural uprooting and refugee experience from normative developmental effects. We will, therefore, (1) examine if young refugees show different features in the way they tell their stories in comparison to third-culture-kids, and a community sample; (2) test narrative features as drivers of well-being; and (3) identify differential effects of the writing exercises for young individuals from refugee, third-culture, and community backgrounds.

• prof. dr. Jaap Denissen
• prof. dr. Sander Thomaes
• Sasha Gukovskaia
• dr. Hend Eltanamly

Major negative life events such as unemployment and widowhood are associated with increased psychopathology and loneliness and reduced self-esteem. However, our measurement designs and statistical methods to detect and describe complex changes are still crude. Furthermore, it is unclear (1) what drives these developmental trajectories, (2) what factors predict heterogeneous developmental trajectories, and (3) how these developmental trajectories generalize across cultures, especially to non-Western ones. The proposed research aims to unravel the effects of negative life events on psychological functioning by improved description, explanation, and generalization. 

• Thao Kieu
• Lisa Levelt
• dr. Nikki Lee
• prof. dr. Jaap Denissen

One of the key functions of an adaptive identity is that it provides a sense of continuity across time. Even though young people experience many changes, they can maintain a feeling of personal continuity by integrating childhood experiences and identifications into their current identity. Yet, we still know little about how one’s view of the self is related to the process of creating and pursuing meaningful goals that give direction and purpose to life.

In the current project, we explore how different aspects of identity, such as exploration and commitment processes, identity content, and life narratives, are related to Life Projects and how this relates to well-being in young people in both the Netherlands and South Africa. We are particularly interested in how young adults navigate uncertainty, such as social change, economic challenges, and cultural transitions, while trying to build lives of purpose and meaning.

The project combines innovative quantitative and qualitative methods, drawing on expertise from multiple disciplines, including Developmental Psychology, Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Methodology and Statistics, and Information and Computing Sciences. By comparing findings across cultural contexts, we aim to identify both shared patterns and unique differences in how life projects develop and how they are shaped by one’s identity. Ultimately, our goal is to advance scientific understanding while informing interventions and policies that support young people in creating hopeful and sustainable futures.

• Vinicius Coscioni