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Background and Aim: This study drew on a recent developmental model of established adulthood introduced by Mehta et al. (2020) that describes the consequences of postponing adult commitments in emerging adulthood. Reifman and Niehuis (2023) assume that established adulthood is a period of greater stability of life, solidifying identity, and closing possibilities in certain life domains, among other things. Life goals reflect very well the developmental tasks that are typical for a particular period of life. Therefore, I focused on developmentally adequate (i.e., establishing family, building career, work-family conflict) and inadequate (i.e., travelling, enjoying one’s life, exploring identity) life goals, strategies of their achievement and identity styles in established adults. Method: 980 participants aged 30 to 45 years (M = 35.36 years; 670 women) completed an anonymous online questionnaire. Life goals were collected through freely written expression, identity using the Identity Style Inventory 4 (ISI-4), and self-regulation strategies related to goal achievement using the Selection, Optimization, and Compensation questionnaire (SOC-12). Results: The most frequent life goals were related to family, work, oneself and partnership, with 78% of participants describing developmentally adequate life goals. The results of binary logistic regression showed that established adults with developmentally adequate goals had a higher level of normative identity and felt a greater identity commitment. However, they did not differ in the way they achieved their life goals compared to established adults with developmentally inadequate life goals. Discussion and Implication: The results suggest that the link between developmental adequacy of life goals, maturity of identity, and self-regulation strategies may be related not only to the developmental "adequacy" of developmental goals, but also to the specific life domains to which these life goals are related.
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