Theo A Klimstra

Biographic Data

ID767139
NAMETheo A Klimstra
GIVEN NAMESTheo A
FAMILY NAMEKlimstra
SIGNATUREKLIMSTRA T A
AFFILIATIONSTilburg University
ORCID0000-0002-9235-3748
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS56
TOTAL CITATIONS423
AUTHOR COUNT56
EDITOR COUNT0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR2009
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2026
H-INDEX13

  • Age Patterns in Dual‐Cycle Identity Processes and Their Associations With Life Satisfaction

    Open AccessJoshua A Weller, Elisabeth L De Moor et al.ARTICLEJournal of Personality2026

    OBJECTIVE: Identity development research often applies the identity status approach, which distinguishes different dimensions of identity-relevant commitment levels and exploration behavior. However, age differences in these dimensions have mostly been examined in adolescence and young adulthood, leaving questions about their variation across the adult lifespan. Additionally, associations between identity and life satisfaction have been equally u…

  • Going Out of the Comfort Zone: A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Analysis of Adolescents’ Identity Development Around Study Abroad Experiences

    Open AccessFrancesca De Lise, Theo A Klimstra et al.ARTICLEIdentity2026

    Identity development is an important task during adolescence that is shaped by events and transitions such as study abroad experiences. This longitudinal study addresses how these experiences are associated with adolescents’ identity development in the educational and interpersonal domains. Using a circumspective mixed-methods design, we analyzed quantitative survey responses (collected pre and post the experience abroad) and qualitative intervie…

  • Development and Validation of the Identity Negotiation Experiences and Strategies Scale

    R V Galliher, Joshua G Parmenter et al.ARTICLEIdentity2025References: 45

    A rich theoretical and empirical literature captures experiences of identity conflict and tension at the nexus of identity domains that feel incompatible. The Identity Negotiation Experiences and Strategies (INES) scale was developed to provide a quantitative tool for capturing experiences of identity strain or conflict, and strategies for responding to or managing strain. Focus groups with college students from the United States, the Netherlands…

  • Exploring the self, others, and the world: The interplay between experiences abroad in adolescence, identity processes, and ethnic prejudice

    Beatrice Bobba, Francesca De Lise et al.ARTICLEApplied Developmental Science2024

    Study abroad experiences can be an important asset for individuals’ personal development and well-being. However, their impact on social identity domains and prejudice is still unexplored. The current research examined whether the ways in which youth retrospectively narrate their abroad experiences in adolescence were intertwined with their national and European identity processes and ethnic prejudice. A total of 117 Italian youth (Mage = 22.71, …

  • The Relations between Narrative Identity and Personality Pathology among Clinical Adolescents: Findings from a Multi-Ethnic Asian Sample

    Amy Y See, Theo A Klimstra et al.ARTICLEJournal of Personality Assessment2023

    Adolescence is a period where personality difficulties can start emerging. At the same time, a great deal of development in narrative identity takes place. Given that identity impairments are a key feature in personality pathology, it is useful to understand how pathological traits and narrative identity features are related. The current study addressed this by linking pathological personality trait domains to narrative identity features in clini…

  • There Goes My Hero: The Role of Exemplars in Identity Formation

    Open AccessTheo A Klimstra, Alex Archer et al.ARTICLEHuman Development2023

    In this paper, we argue that who one is and wants to become is closely related to whom one admires. Although the links between identity formation and exemplars have been largely neglected, we claim that integrating both literature studies provides interesting new insights. First, exemplars can play an important role in and constitute a powerful tool for people’s identity construction. Second, insights into identity formation processes can help be…

  • Who am I? Studying Autobiographical Reasoning, Identity Commitment and Exploration Processes, and Narrative Content in Unison

    Open AccessElisabeth L De Moor, Theo A Klimstra et al.ARTICLEThe Journal of Early Adolescence2023Cited by: 2References: 11

    Identity research focuses on multiple processes capturing how adolescents form and maintain a sense of self. However, identity content (the “what” of identity) might impact associations between identity and the association with well-being. We examined this potential role of content (i.e., valence and life domain) in two studies, focusing on autobiographical reasoning in written narratives (i.e., self-event connections), educational identity commi…

  • Do experiences during the transition to working life Matter? the role of mastery and psychological commitment in personality trait change

    Open AccessLiselotte Den Boer, Theo A Klimstra et al.ARTICLEJournal of Research in Personality2023References: 58

    Differences in transition experiences might explain individual differences in personality trait change. In the present six-wave study, we investigated personality trait change during the transition to work in a sample of students who were in their last two years of their study program (N =311). We tested whether the transition (i.e., participation in an internship), psychological commitment (i.e., educational identity), and mastery of the transit…

  • Longitudinal Relations among Identity Distinctiveness, Continuity, and Integration among Dutch Adolescents

    Open AccessYerin Park, Theo A Klimstra et al.ARTICLEJournal of Youth and Adolescence2023Cited by: 1References: 24

  • Identity trajectories and narratives during the transition out of undergraduate education among Georgian emerging adults

    Nino Skhirtladze, Nino Javakhishvili et al.ARTICLEDevelopmental Psychology2022

    The transition out of university education and into the workforce represents a turning point in terms of the evolution of one's goals, roles, responsibilities, relationships, and lifestyle. For this reason, this transition might create important challenges and opportunities for identity formation. The present mixed-method longitudinal study examined identity formation processes in a sample of Georgian final-year undergraduate students over an 11-…

  • Associations between the identity domains of future plans and education, and the role of a major curricular internship on identity formation processes

    Open AccessLiselotte Den Boer, Theo A Klimstra et al.ARTICLEJournal of Adolescence2021

    INTRODUCTION: Experiences during the last years of college could stimulate identity formation processes within and across the domains of future plans and education. In the present study, the first research question addressed how identity formation dimensions for education and future plans were associated with each other during the last years in education. The second research question addressed whether identity processes (i.e., identity levels, ch…

  • Time and Identity: An Evaluation of Existing Empirical Research, Conceptual Challenges, and Methodological Opportunities

    Theo A Klimstra, Joseph R SchwabARTICLEIdentity2021

    Since the early 2000s, researchers have been taking advantage of the increasing availability of internet-based technology to gather intensive longitudinal data over short-term (e.g., hours, days) time intervals. However, phenomena that are relevant at long-term (e.g., months, years) time intervals may manifest themselves differently at different time scales. Much like climate change cannot be observed by evaluating the weather on a particular day…

  • The Material Context of Adolescent Identity Formation: A Family Economic Stress Approach

    Rimantas Vosylis, Rasa Erentaite et al.ARTICLEIdentity2021

    Grounded in the family stress model and recent studies on cognitive effects of poverty, the current study examines how family material conditions relate to identity-relevant information processing among adolescents via family economic strain, family financial conflicts, and parenting behaviors. Data for the study come from the first wave of a longitudinal study on the development of adolescent goals in the context of socio-economic inequalities. …

  • The role of coping strategies in interpersonal identity development of war‐affected immigrant adolescents

    Open AccessGülendam Akgül, Theo Klimstra et al.ARTICLENew Directions for Child and…2021

    Increasing immigration around the world has affected the lives of children and adolescents. The ability to cope with the stress of migration and adaptation to a new culture likely is an important protective factor for optimal identity development under these conditions. The present study examined the role of coping strategies in interpersonal identity development among immigrant adolescents. The sample consisted of 93 (43% females) first-generati…

  • With a little help from my friends? Perceived friendship quality and narrative identity in adolescence

    Open AccessElisabeth L De Moor, Jolien Van Der Graaff et al.ARTICLEJournal of Research on Adolescence2021Cited by: 2References: 13

    Stressful events are associated with various outcomes, but there is variability in these associations suggesting that the interpretation of these events is important. This interpretation is reflected in the narratives adolescents tell of events, which are largely constructed in social interactions. We examined the associations of perceived friendship quality with self-event connections and redemption in turning point narratives, in a sample of Du…

  • How Does Financial Life Shape Emerging Adulthood? Short-Term Longitudinal Associations Between Perceived Features of Emerging Adulthood, Financial Behaviors, and Financial Well-Being

    Open AccessRimantas Vosylis, Theo Klimstra et al.ARTICLEEmerging Adulthood2020

    Becoming independent from parental financial support and developing financial capabilities are important life tasks in emerging adulthood (EA). However, research on how the accomplishment of these tasks contributes to perceptions of EA features is rare. This study investigates how functioning in the financial domain shapes perceptions of EA features during the early years of EA. Participants in this short-term longitudinal study were 533 emerging…

  • Longitudinal links between identity and substance use in adolescence

    Open AccessElisabeth L De Moor, Jelle J Sijtsema et al.ARTICLESelf and Identity2020

    Identity development has been linked to substance use, but the directionality of this relationship remains unclear. We examined the longitudinal associations of educational and relational identity with substance use across three annual waves in 360 Dutch adolescents (M age = 13.7 years). We found three latent profiles using the identity dimensions of commitment, exploration, and reconsideration as indicators. Using classification probabilities to…

  • The unfolding dark side: Age trends in dark personality features

    Open AccessTheo A Klimstra, Bertus F Jeronimus et al.ARTICLEJournal of Research in Personality2020Cited by: 3References: 77

    Age and gender differences across the lifespan in dark personality features could provide hints regarding these features’ functions. We measured manipulation, callous affect, and egocentricity using the Dirty Dozen and their links with agreeableness in a pooled cross-sectional dataset (N = 4292) and a longitudinal dataset (N = 325). Age trends for all dark personality features were progressive through adolescence, but negative through adulthood. …

  • Adolescents’ Identity Formation: Linking the Narrative and the Dual-Cycle Approach

    Open AccessLotte Van Doeselaar, Kate C Mclean et al.ARTICLEJournal of Youth and Adolescence2020Cited by: 6References: 53

    The narrative and dual-cycle approach conceptualize and operationalize adolescents' identity formation in different ways. While the narrative approach focuses on the construction of an autobiographical life story, the dual-cycle approach focuses on the formation of identity commitments. Although these approaches have different emphases, they are conceptually complementary. Yet, their empirical links and distinctions have only scarcely been invest…

  • Distinctiveness as a marker of identity formation

    Open AccessLotte Van Doeselaar, Theo A Klimstra et al.ARTICLEJournal of Research in Personality2019Cited by: 2References: 43

  • Exploring Individual Differences in the Relationship Between Cultural Identity Processes and Well-Being

    Open AccessAlan Meca, Cory L Cobb et al.ARTICLEEmerging Adulthood2018

    Although studies have explored how cultural identity impacts young people’s daily lives, these studies have exclusively focused on daily variability in cultural identity salience, overlooking daily variability in the underlying developmental processes. In the present study, we used a 12-day daily assessment conducted with 873 Hispanic college students to address these gaps by examining daily variability in ethnic and U.S. belonging, exploring bet…

  • The role of identity commitments in depressive symptoms and stressful life events in adolescence and young adulthood

    Lotte Van Doeselaar, Theo A Klimstra et al.ARTICLEDevelopmental Psychology2018Cited by: 6References: 8

    The formation of a stable identity, consisting of a strong set of commitments, is a key developmental task in adolescence and young adulthood. Not resolving this task and lacking strong identity commitments is related to difficulties like depressive symptoms and stressful life events. However, the exact role of identity commitments in these negative experiences has remained unclear. In two longitudinal studies in the Netherlands spanning 8 and 6 …

  • Personality development and adjustment in college: A multifaceted, cross-national view

    Theo A Klimstra, Erik E Noftle et al.ARTICLEJournal of Personality and Social…2018Cited by: 3

    The current study is among the first to examine rank-order stability and mean-level change across college in both broad Big Five personality trait domains (e.g., Neuroticism) and the narrower facets underlying these domains (i.e., self-reproach, anxiety, and depression). In addition, the current study tests longitudinal associations between Big Five domains and facets and 3 aspects of adjustment: self-esteem, academic adjustment, and social adjus…

  • Which came first, personality traits or identity processes during early and middle adolescence

    Open AccessKai Hatano, Kazumi Sugimura et al.ARTICLEJournal of Research in Personality2017Cited by: 2References: 47

  • On the Development of Harmony, Turbulence, and Independence in Parent–Adolescent Relationships: A Five-Wave Longitudinal Study

    Open AccessHana Hadiwijaya, Theo A Klimstra et al.ARTICLEJournal of Youth and Adolescence2017Cited by: 9References: 37

    The separation-individuation, evolutionary, maturational, and expectancy violation-realignment perspectives propose that the relationship between parents and adolescents deteriorate as adolescents become independent. This study examines the extent to which the development of adolescents' perceived relationship with their parents is consistent with the four perspectives. A latent transition analysis was performed in a two-cohort five-wave longitud…