Abstract
The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Dutch and Italian versions of
the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS) in large community samples of
adolescents from Italy (
N
= 1,975) and The Netherlands (
N
=
1,521). Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the three-factor model, consisting of
commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment, provided a better fit to
the data than alternative one- and two-factor models. The three-factor model fit equivalently
across sex and across age groups (early and middle adolescents). Furthermore, we demonstrated
cross-national equivalence of the factor structure of the U-MICS. Additionally, results
indicated that the latent means for commitment were higher in the Dutch sample, while latent
means for both in-depth exploration and reconsideration of commitment were substantially higher
in the Italian sample. The three identity processes were found to be meaningfully related to
measures of self-concept, psychosocial problems, and parent-adolescent relations in both
countries. These findings suggest that the U-MICS is a reliable tool for assessing identity
processes in Italian and Dutch adolescents.
