title: The role of best friends in educational identity formation in adolescence.
abstract: This 4-year longitudinal study examined over-time associations between adolescents' educational identity, perceived best friends' balanced relatedness, and best friends' educational identity. Adolescents (N = 464, Mage = 14.0 years at baseline, 56.0% males, living in the Netherlands) and their self-nominated best friends reported on their educational commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration. Target adolescents also reported on the level of balanced relatedness provided by their best friend. Cross-lagged panel models showed that balanced relatedness significantly predicted adolescents' reconsideration, and was predicted by in-depth exploration and, in an inconsistent pattern, by commitment. Best friends' educational identity did not positively predict adolescents' educational identity. Perceiving a best friend as high on balanced relatedness seems to reduce adolescents' problematic educational reconsideration, while, in turn, adaptive educational identity processes might foster balanced relatedness.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre Adolescent Development, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80140, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Developmental Psychology, Tilburg University, P.O. Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands. Electronic address: C.vanDoeselaar@tilburguniversity.edu.
authors.forename: Lotte
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van Doeselaar
authors.affiliation: Research Centre Adolescent Development, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80140, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Developmental Psychology, Tilburg University, P.O. Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Meeus
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Psychology, VU University, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hans M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Koot
authors.affiliation: Research Centre Adolescent Development, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80140, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Branje
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Adolescence; Balanced relatedness; Educational identity; Friend; Longitudinal