A quantitative cross-sectional study on the effects of background differences and personal character attributes in the formation of dual identities in Egyptian boarding high school students.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58445/rars.4186Keywords:
Dual Identity Formation, Self-Concept Differentiation, Adolescent Identity Development, Boarding School EducationAbstract
Leaving your house as a kid to join a boarding school might significantly affect your future decisions, but in the context of adolescence, this can leave you with double personalities. Dual identity formation remains one of the most complex and challenging experiences to navigate. When moralities and character traits shift, especially as an adolescent student away from your familiar community, it can be challenging to understand oneself. This study aimed to examine the self-identification concept for students in Egyptian boarding schools to clarify this confusion and assist educational institutes in understanding adolescent changes to provide meaningful psychological support. The study was done to compensate for the research gap in identity studies in non-Western contexts, especially in boarding schools that require high intellectual demand and a specific age range, which is in the adolescent stage. The framework mainly used is the Social Identity Theory, as it explains the derivation of self-concepts through in- and out-group categorization. The Self-Concept Differentiation questionnaire and the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status were used as the main methodologies in the study. The findings of the research highlighted a low level of self-concept differentiation; nevertheless, it also highlighted trends in certain characteristics, which suggested the presence of a second self-concept. This study created a comprehensive understanding of the outcomes of an individual leaving their known environment on their identity.
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