Identity Formation in Indian Adolescents: A Qualitative Inquiry

Description

Page: 1843-1848

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17829948

Hiya Gupta¹ and Ramya Srivastava² (Manav Sthali School, Delhi¹ and Department of Psychology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh²)

The age of social media impacts adolescents’ decision-making and self-perception, and with the difference in the cultural context in India, where there is dependence on parents during adolescence, parental expectations, and strict parenting, there lies an urgent need to explore the identity formation of Indian adolescents. The aim of this study was threefold: (1) to understand how Indian adolescents perceive and understand their personal identity, (2) to understand the impact of social media on their identity development, and (3) to understand how parents and peers impact their identity development. The present study is based upon a qualitative research design grounded in the phenomenological approach. The researchers used a semi-structured interview schedule and interviewed 12 adolescents (five males & seven females; age range: 15-18 years). After receiving consent from each participant, the interview was audio recorded and manually transcribed by researchers. Data was analysed using thematic analysis based on the conceptualisation given by Braun and Clarke. The results were analysed from a social constructivist approach. Five major themes were developed and suggested that the identity development in Indian adolescents is a work in progress wherein they are still exploring themselves. It suggested the significant role of social media and parents while highlighting the mixed role of culture and self-exploration. It also revealed friendship as a support system for adolescents.