Youth movements as educational settings promoting personal development

Identity formation is a dominant aspect of adolescents’ development. Based on the Self-
Determination Theory, we hypothesized that supporting basic psychological needs will
explain identity formation mediated by motivational regulation and exploration. Previous
studies suggested that support of identity exploration should be included as an additional
essential psychological need. Two studies (N’s = 309, 410) investigated the effects of these
environmental attributes on identity formation within two education contexts: school and
youth movements. Both studies provided partial empirical support for the hypothesis,
demonstrating that: (a) identity exploration facilitation may be considered as an
additional aspect of basic needs; (b) basic needs support and identity exploration
facilitation explained identity formation across two measures of identity; (c) identity
development was explained better in the context of youth movements