If I Know Myself, I Can Welcome You: Identity Roots of Intergroup Solidarity

INTRODUCTION: While implementing integration policies is crucial for countries to foster cohesion and well-being, it is equally important to understand how individuals, especially youth, endorse such policies and the factors that influence this form of intergroup solidarity. Adolescents' identity statuses can influence various individual and interpersonal outcomes, but little is known about their relation with societal outcomes. Schools are crucial contexts where adolescents develop their educational identity, which is influenced by characteristics such as their ethnic background and, in turn, can influence how youth perceive the diversity around them. This study examined whether youth intergroup solidarity (i.e., positive attitudes toward migrant integration policies) differed over time based on their educational identity statuses (i.e., achievement, early closure, moratorium, searching moratorium, and diffusion) and if these differences are replicated among native Italian and migrant adolescents. METHODS: = 1.22, 52.96% male, 79.94% native Italians) participated in a 3-year longitudinal study with seven assessments. RESULTS: Adolescents in the achievement status of their educational identity exhibited the highest level of intergroup solidarity; adolescents in the early closure, moratorium, and searching moratorium statuses reported intermediate levels; and adolescents in the diffusion status reported the lowest level of intergroup solidarity. These results were confirmed among native Italian and migrant adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlighted that youth intergroup solidarity is associated with adolescents' educational identity. Promoting a stable identity in this domain could foster greater support for integration policies, ultimately facilitating their implementation and enhancing their benefits for social cohesion and well-being.