Development of Adolescent Moral and Civic Identity Through Community Service: A Qualitative Study in Hong Kong

Abstract

This article draws on Marcia’s model that defines four statuses of adolescents’ identity formation to examine adolescent moral and civic identity formation. Interviews were conducted with 23 students at three Hong Kong senior secondary schools to address the following research question: How does community service help adolescents develop their moral and civic identities? Among the participants, most of them reported attaining moral identity development and just a few participants reported civic identity development; nonetheless, one of them did not report identity development in the moral and civic domains. Furthermore, five core elements of community service programs facilitating the participants’ identity formation emerged from the findings, namely, meaningful service activities, diversity, youth voice, reflection, and extended service duration. The influence of these service elements varied across the moral and civic domains of identity. By reporting the findings gained from an East Asian school setting, the article contributes to a fuller understanding of the role of community service in adolescent identity formation.

Keywords

adolescence identity statuses community service moral identity civic identity

Adolescence is the transition period between childhood and emerging adulthood (Arnett, 2000), during which young people come to realize their membership in a society and search for ideologies and images of the world (Erikson, 1968). Such psychological development is identity formation. Identity is defined as the self-identification of goals, values, and beliefs by social psychologists, and its formation is a key development issue for adolescence (Vignoles, Schwartz, & Luyckx, 2011). Although theoretical conceptualization and extensive empirical evidence have revealed that identity formation is a psychological process that interacts with various surrounding contexts (Côté & Levine, 1988), the research literature has yet to accumulate detailed knowledge about the interplay between identity formation and various contextual elements across cultures (Lannegrand-Willems & Barbot, 2015). The present study will enrich the field by exploring the community service narratives and experiences of 23 Hong Kong senior secondary school students, focusing on their moral and civic identity formation through the lens of Marcia’s (1966) identity status model.

Models on Identity Status

As one of the earlier empirical operationalizations of Erikson’s (1950, 1968) seminal work, Marcia’s (1966) identity status model has attracted much research effort in past decades (Schwartz, Zamboanga, Luyckx, Meca, & Ritchie, 2013). Marcia defines identity status in two dimensions, namely exploration and commitment. Exploration refers to individuals’ active search among various possibilities to determine which ones are personally meaningful, and commitment is personal investment in achieving certain purposes (Marcia, 1966). According to the extent to which adolescents explore or commit to certain values or social ideologies, four identity statuses are defined, namely achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, and diffusion.

Identity-achievement adolescents have undergone the stage of exploration and have committed themselves to certain values and beliefs. Moratorium individuals are actively seeking different alternatives but have yet to commit to any values or beliefs. Adolescents at foreclosure status have not experienced noticeable identity exploration, but have prematurely decided on a commitment, which is usually based on the expectations of parents or other authoritative figures. Diffusion individuals have yet to develop serious aims or beliefs and have rarely undergone meaningful exploration in any particular ideology (Kroger & Marcia, 2011; Marcia, 1966). Recently, researchers have revised the model by defining the subcategories of exploration and commitment, and adding new dimensions (Crocetti, Rubini, Luyckx, & Meeus, 2008; Crocetti, Schwartz, Fermani, & Meeus, 2010; Luyckx, Goossens, Soenens, Beyers, & Vansteenkiste, 2005; Luyckx et al., 2008). Nonetheless, these new models have been examined predominantly by quantitative methodologies. Drawing on Marcia’s two dimensions and four identity statuses, the present study employs validated existing interview protocols (Hauber, 2007) to provide compelling qualitative findings that capture adolescent moral and civic identities.

An individual may grapple with multiple identities in various domains, which are informed by familial and social interactions (Sheets, 1999). Marcia’s model has been used to investigate individuals’ overall sense of identity and domain-specific identities. Research has revealed that identity development in particular domains may be different from that of the overall sense of identity, as the outcome of an overall sense of identity is, empirically, a sum of several domain-specific identities while an individual may develop domain-specific identities differently (Solomontos-Kountouri & Hurry, 2007). Thus, identifying individuals’ domain-specific identity is important to unravel the developmental difference across identity domains and to provide cogent interventions for adolescent identity formation (Lannegrand-Willems & Barbot, 2015). Moral identity and civic identity, examined in the present study, are two important identity domains, which engage adolescents in exploring and examining possible values and ideologies that reflect social norms.

Moral Identity

Moral identity refers to the extent to which an individual identifies with a set of values and goals that define a moral person and commits to do what is moral (Bock & Samuelson, 2014; Hardy, Walker, Olsen, Woodbury, & Hickman, 2013). The empirical examination has operationalized moral identity as a list of moral traits (Aquino & Reed, 2002). Moral development emerges early in childhood. Although it is rather stable, moral identity is subject to construction and revision over time in particular situations (Hardy & Carlo, 2011). Community service, referring to services that improve the quality of life for community residents, particularly underprivileged individuals, has been regarded as one of the key contextual elements that foster adolescent moral development (Hart, Matsuba, & Atkins, 2008; Kroger, 2007; van Goethem et al., 2012).

Two facets of community service are important for adolescent moral identity development: (a) exposure to various moral schemes, moral schema being defined as a mental image of what it means to be a moral person; and (b) practicing moral action (Bock & Samuelson, 2014). To provide exposure to different moral schemes, adolescents can be immersed in service activities by attaching them to social organizations. Such organizations exhibit alternative moral schemas that are accessible to adolescents, which facilitate them to explore among alternative “possible selves” and to reflect upon the type of person they want to be (Hardy et al., 2013). Research has revealed that service participation through humanitarian organizations more strongly promotes the adoption of a pro-social value orientation than that through utilitarian organizations (Horn, 2012). The practice of moral action in the interpersonal context allows young people to obtain firsthand experience of being a moral person (J. N. Jones, Warnaar, Bench, & Stroup, 2014). Sense of satisfaction achieved by serving underprivileged people helps adolescents to confirm and internalize moral values (Hart, 2005).

Research has reported several key elements of service that matter in moral identity development. To start with, enduring service allows individuals to explore personal values and beliefs in depth (S. R. Jones & Abes, 2004). Furthermore, focused reflection on service behavior and dialogue with other service participants about the meaning of service experience facilitates critical thinking of moral issues (Bock & Samuelson, 2014; Lapsley & Narvaez, 2004). In addition, witnessing needy people’s distress triggers the empathic concerns (Warneken, 2015). Youth-led service activities may provide young people with opportunities to influence their own development (McNeil & Helwig, 2015). Finally, service that incorporates student voices is likely to promote the adoption of a pro-social value orientation (Ramey & Rose-Krasnor, 2011).

Civic Identity

Civic identity is defined as a sense of subjective identification with and an attachment to a society (Pakulski & Tranter, 2000). An individual with strong civic identity may present a sense of social agency, responsibility for society, and participation in a civic community (Youniss & Yates, 1997; Rubin, 2007). Civic identity develops in the context of addressing real social issues that tap into the structures of any given society (Knefelkamp, 2008). Such social issues may be revealed through public work, present justice orientation, and engage students with big questions that reveal the social, political, and economic structures of society (Knefelkamp, 2008). Civic identity can also be developed when involving participants in acting out the mission of sponsoring organizations that represent main stream ideologies within any given culture (Youniss, 2011). Through such experiences, young people are made aware of the inequitable systems that underlie community problems (Kinloch, Nemeth, & Patterson, 2015), to see how they are participating in the ongoing work of civic institutions (Youniss, 2011), and to integrate social ideologies into their personal values (Youniss, 2011). In addition, services that engage young people in enduring service can also promote positive community-oriented civic attitudes (Ballard, Caccavale, & Buchanan, 2014).

Nonetheless, there is emerging evidence that participation in service does not necessarily lead to the development in civic identity (Mann & Casebeer, 2016). When adolescents are engaged in social organizations with a strong professionalization culture, the individual development of civic identity may not be supported (Serek, 2016). Empirical research that adopted Marcia’s identity status model reported that an individual’s participation in service activities had a negative relationship with identity diffusion but a positive association with identity achievement (Hardy, Pratt, Pancer, Olsen, & Lawford, 2011). Crocetti, Jahromi, and Meeus’s (2012) study showed that achieved adolescents were more involved in volunteer activities and reported higher civic efficacy and stronger aspirations to contribute to their communities than their diffused counterparts.

The Hong Kong Context

The present study was situated in Hong Kong, East Asia. Community service is an essential learning experience for primary one to secondary three students (equivalent to Grades 1-9) since 2002 (Curriculum Development Council [CDC], 2002) and a compulsory learning experience for senior secondary students in Hong Kong starting from 2009 (equivalent to Grades 10-12; CDC, 2009). The new senior secondary curriculum guide stipulates that school provision of community service can help students to reflect on social issues/concerns and develop positive attitudes, such as respect and care for others (CDC, 2013). Despite the fast development of community service in Hong Kong, limited evidence exists regarding the influence of community service on students’ identity development in the local context. Given that Hong Kong has an examination-driven culture, where different stakeholders are inclined to prioritize academic achievement (Carless, 2011), findings from the present study may provide practical implications for schools’ implementation of community service.

Previous research has shed light on the relationship between community service and adolescent moral and civic identity development. The present study will further provide evidence on how community service influences young people’s moral and civic identity formation within a non-Western culture by exploring qualitative data from interviews with 23 senior secondary school students (16-17 years of age) from three schools in Hong Kong.

Method

A qualitative approach was employed in the present study because individuals’ interpretation of personal experiences plays a key role in the interplay of contextual elements of community service and perceived transition of identity statuses.

Participants

Three secondary schools in Hong Kong, varying across high, medium, and low levels of academic attainment, were purposefully selected based on the good reputation of their community service programs. The number of students recommended by their teachers from the three schools was six, eight, and nine, respectively. Student gender (13 females and 10 males) and ages (16 and 17) were considered. According to parents’ career and family economic levels reported by students during the interviews, students in School 1 were from families of high socioeconomic status (SES), and those in Schools 2 and 3 tended to be from families of low or middle SES.

The main criterion for recommending students was their considerable community service experiences. It is assumed that participants with substantial service experience may provide diverse and thick information on service elements. However, such a criterion implies a homogeneous sample, and thus students with little or no service experience were excluded from the study. Due to this limitation, the conclusion of the current study should be drawn cautiously. The participants all had rich service experiences. Their community service varied in duration (one-off event, short term or long term), types of service recipients, and their role in service activities as leaders or members. Participants reported a total of 60 service programs (see Table 1), which varied in the four elements of service. Specifically, the programs ranged from half-day to long-term community-based activities (duration), involving either direct contact (e.g., visiting the elderly) or indirect contact with service recipients (e.g., being a health ambassador at school) (meaningful service). Most programs included briefing (service planning and preparation) and debriefing (review of service implementation and students’ personal feelings or views) activities (reflection); and individuals engaged as service leaders or service participants (youth voice). This sample does not imply that the participants were representative of all senior school students in Hong Kong. However, their experiences may provide evidence that exemplifies the diversity of influential elements in service.

Table 1.

Community Service Programs Reported by Participants.

Community service programs		Service recipients	No. of programs
1.	Visiting elderly home	Elderly people	18
2.	Visiting elderly patients with chronic diseases (hospital volunteer service)	Elderly people	2
3.	Visiting and escorting the mentally or visually handicapped or taking care of children with dyslexia	Persons with disabilities	17
4.	Organizing English service camps in poor villages in Mainland China	Poor people	5
5.	Taking care of school pupils after school		5
6.	Organizing barbecue for low-income families		1
7.	Supporting villagers’ protests against relocation of their homes for urban construction	Social issues	1
8.	Helping newly arrived Mainland Chinese students or visitors	Minority groups	3
9.	Visiting organic farms		1
10.	Serving as eco-tour guide for Secondary 1-3 students in Wetlands Park		1
11.	Being a leader in Red Cross Services		1
12.	Flag selling to raise funds for charity groups	Others (indirect contact with service recipients)	3
13.	Fulfilling first-aid duties in sports meetings or serving as a Health Ambassador at school	Others (indirect contact with service recipients)	2

Procedure of Data Collection

Before the interviews, student participants completed a short questionnaire to provide their demographic information and identified two to four most memorable community service programs they had participated in. The interviews were conducted in Cantonese, transcribed verbatim, and then analyzed. Finally, selected quotations were translated into English at the stage of writing.

The moral traits proposed by Aquino and Reed (2002) served as sensitizing concepts to solicit possible moral traits developed from service experience. These traits included being honest, caring, fair, generous, humble, empathetic, and so on. The key points in the definition of civic identity, sense of belonging, sense of agency, social responsibility, and attitudes of civic participation, were used to capture participants’ civic aspects of identity. Additional moral traits and civic aspects of identity were followed up when mentioned by participants.

The protocol that facilitates the identification of moral and civic identity statuses was adapted from the Flensburg Identity Status Interview (Hauber, 2007). Main questions included the following:

What are your present views on the traits for a moral person/engaged citizen with reference to your service experience?

What other views have you ever had?

To what extent did your parents or other important persons in your life influence your views?

A further question was used to anchor the exploration and/or commitment dimensions of identity:

After having community service experience, have you ever changed, reinforced, or discovered your views on the traits of a moral person/your views on an engaged citizen?

The protocol for the quality service elements was developed from K-12 Service-Learning Standards for Quality Practice (K-12 SLSQP; National Youth Leadership Council, 2008), as the quality service elements reviewed in the present study fell within the scope of K-12 SLSQP, which provides detailed indicators of each element. A typical question was, “What important aspects of your service experience have helped you to change, reinforce, and/or discover moral traits or civic values and practice?”

Data Analysis

Miles and Huberman’s (1994) interactive model guided the qualitative data analysis in this article. To generate initial themes, two researchers coded three randomly selected transcripts by identifying the specific moral traits and/or civic values presented, figuring out the identity statuses exhibited, and capturing the influential factors reported by the participants. The two researchers then discussed the emerging themes. When discrepancy occurred, the researchers discussed the differences to make adjustments. Afterward, the first author coded the remaining transcripts, while the second author read the themes and quotations to confirm (or disconfirm) the analysis.

Coding was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, each student’s transcript was analyzed in three steps. First, moral traits and/or civic aspects of identity (e.g., pro-social attitude, social concern) related to each community service program reported by the student were identified. Second, the identity status for which the student showed development in relation to particular moral traits and civic aspects of identity was assigned (e.g., pro-social attitude–achieved; social concern–moratorium) according to the dimensions of exploration and commitment. When the expression of exploration presented regarding one moral trait or civic value, the participant was assigned a score “1” for the exploration in that moral trait or civic value. The same approach was applied to the dimension of commitment. Criteria for deciding on the four identity statuses are presented in Table 2. If the same trait or value was assigned to more than one status when examining a participant’s description of his or her service experience in various programs, then judgment on that participant’s identity status on that specific trait or value would be decided by choosing the lower level of status, according to the descending sequence of Achievement, Moratorium, Foreclosure, and Diffusion. Third, the influential service elements (e.g., pro-social attitude–achieved–direct contact; social concern–moratorium–addressing social issues) related to the student’s moral/civic identity status were determined.

Table 2.

Criteria for Various Identity Statuses.

Dimension	Identity statuses
Dimension	Achievement	Moratorium	Foreclosure	Diffusion
Exploration	Present	Present	Absent	Present or absent
Commitment	Present	Present but vague	Present	Absent

Source. Adapted from Marcia (1980).

In the second stage, comparative analysis was conducted across the participants in relation to their community service programs. Labels describing the same moral trait or civic aspects with the same identity status were grouped and counted. Finally, a logical chain of evidence was built to critically examine how and the extent to which the secondary school students developed their moral and civic identities with exposure to community service.

Findings

The current study identified adolescent moral and civic identity status among 23 secondary school students in Hong Kong and investigated service elements narrated by the participants as influential. Table 3 provides a summary of the participants’ moral and civic identity statuses. The table shows both the number of moral traits and civic aspects of identity and the number of participants identified in the achievement and moratorium statuses. The remainder of this section presents the participants’ narratives.

Table 3.

Student Participants’ Moral and Civic Identity Statuses.

Domains of identity	Identity statuses
	Achievement	Moratorium	Foreclosure	Diffusion
	(Person/time)	(Person/time)	Foreclosure	Diffusion
Moral identity
1. Pro-social attitudes and behaviors	10/13	14/20	—	—
2. Cherishing one’s material possessions and being thrifty	2/2	6/6	—	—
3. Perseverance and being humble	1/1	4/4	—	—
4. Respect	—	2/3	—	—
Civic identity
1. Being a social leader	1/1	—	—	—
2. Concern about social and community issues	1/1	2/2
3. Social values (fairness and justice) and social responsibility	4/4	5/5	—	—
Total	19/22	33/40	—	1

Note. With regard to each identity status, two numbers related to the moral traits and civic aspects of identity are presented. The number on the left indicates how many students are in each group and the number on the right reports how many times each of the moral traits or civic aspects are reported. “—”means null report.

Moral Identity and Influential Service Elements

In the domain of moral identity, the majority of participants displayed either achievement or moratorium status regarding certain moral traits. In this domain, a smaller number of participants were identified as achieved individuals. Participants reported four types of moral traits: pro-social attitudes and behaviors, perseverance and being humble, cherishing one’s material possessions and thrift, and respect. Participants who displayed achieved identity clearly valued certain moral traits or life goals. Most of them showed a willingness and determination to act out such traits or goals. By comparison, participants displaying moratorium status did not report a strong commitment to certain traits. Instead, they expressed the importance of service in helping them to search for and consider certain moral traits. Key service elements varied across individuals and across moral traits. Five elements are summarized in Table 4, in which the moral traits developed by participants are reported in relation to the key aspects of service experiences and service elements.

Table 4.

Developed Moral Traits and Influential Service Elements.

Developed moral traits	Influence of service experience
Developed moral traits	Key aspects of service experience	Service elements
Pro-social attitudes and behaviors	Serving service recipients in obvious status of need	Diversity
	Close relationship with service recipients	Meaningful service
	Sense of satisfaction	Meaningful service
Perseverance and being humble	Role model set by service recipientsTrust	DiversityLong-term service
Valuing one’s material possessions and frugality	Serving service recipients in obvious status of need	Diversity and reflection
Respect	Role model set by service recipients	Diversity

Pro-social attitudes and behaviors

Pro-sociality was reported by most participants. Pro-sociality comprises two distinct but complementary categories: pro-social behaviors and pro-social preferences (Zaki & Mitchell, 2013). Pro-social behaviors are acts to increase others’ well-being, such as cooperating and sharing resources with others, and helping others. These outward behaviors are supported by internal pro-social preferences—preferences for outcomes that benefit others or uphold pro-social norms. The identity-achieved participants confirmed the worth of helping people in need, and demonstrated willingness and behaviors of caring and helping others in community service. This can be illustrated by a student’s comment: “You have a strong urge to help these underprivileged people” (B-S5, L536-537)

Some participants attained the achievement status due to the fact that their service recipients had strikingly underprivileged conditions. Understanding their service recipients’ difficulties in mental and physical abilities and life conditions triggered empathetic concerns and induced participants’ passion for getting involved in community service. Referring to Mainland Chinese children in poor areas, one participant commented,

I went to visit them (the children and their families). Many of them wished to go to school but could not afford to. They did not even have enough food. Their houses were shabby and broken. You feel so sad when you see something like this. (B-S1, L93-108)

Some participants mentioned that they provided service because of their close relationships with service recipients and that they had a sense of satisfaction.

The real motivation was when I saw that the children were so happy. Every time I visited them, they had grown taller, they were happier, and wore nicer clothes. When we worked there, the children always stayed close to us. It was so touching. They really appreciated our help. This is what keeps me going. (B-S1, L163-171)

It may be inferred that the participants’ close relationships with service recipients as well as having a sense of satisfaction with service invoked positive emotions in some participants, affirming their belief in the worth of helping others. Indeed, all participants in the achieved status expressed willingness to engage in service in the future, implying a commitment to moral values, actions, and related life goals.

I have taken part in social services before. As I gained more experience, I feel I want to keep on doing it. Whenever similar projects arise, I will sign up for them. (B-S4, L288-290)

For moratorium individuals, service involvement made the participants reflective about how they were related with others. As an important aspect of young people’s lives, intergenerational relationships were reported by several participants. Johnson, who used to live with his grandparents, mentioned how service experiences made him value his relationship with his grandparents.

I started to reflect on how young people should get along with the elderly. Some young people would complain that their grandparents nag a lot. They should instead appreciate how precious it is to be close to their grandparents. (C-S2, L112-115)

Some participants reported finding out about the difficult situations of elderly people living alone, which strengthened their willingness to help the elderly.

We learned about issues, such as elderly people living alone, which were somehow difficult to understand. I was exposed to elderly people’s situations and difficulties and thus motivated to care and help them. (B-S7, L263-269)

Perseverance and being humble

Certain personal characteristics, such as perseverance and courage, which were exhibited by service recipients via their life stories, had made service recipients role models for a few participants, inspiring them to highly value such moral traits.

He used to be a successful real estate agent. After he was struck with blindness, he shut himself off at home for six months . . . I really admired how he eventually picked himself up . . . He started to play different kinds of sports and won a lot of medals. I think the medals were not awarded for his performance but for his perseverance and vitality in rebuilding himself. (A-S7, L69-83)

Susan, who shared the above experience, explained that it was the trusting relationship with service recipients established in long-term service that allowed her access to such life stories.

Valuing one’s material possessions and frugality

Achieved individuals reported how their attitudes to material possessions were confirmed when they realized the sharp contrast between underprivileged people’s deprived situations and their own material abundance. For example, Lina, who was raised in an ordinary family, mentioned that her service recipients’ situations reaffirmed her view that people varied in their material possessions because of various factors, and her own fortune was not a reason for her to feel a sense of prestige—rather it made her think of how to help others when she could.

I was born in a family that can satisfy my material needs, so I see nothing special in having material possessions that I get from my parents. As I interact more with these people, I start to realize that each person has his or her own experience and story. I don’t want to treat people of different social statuses differently just because of their material fortunes, but I want to do as much as possible to help them. (C-S5, L140-145)

Similar to achieved individuals, moratorium individuals, when exposed to the conditions of their service recipients were reminded of their own privileges such as having an intact family and good health, as mentioned by some participants.

I have a better life materially. I also enjoy good health and the love of my parents and little brother. I can feel that I am happier than the people I served. Such experiences have made me take a different attitude to life—I would not now compare myself with people who are better off than me, be it monetarily or academically. (A-S5, L114-115)

Other participants shared that before the service they were unaware of the resources they possessed. Their service recipients’ lack of such resources reminded them of their advantages in physical ability, material possessions, and family support. In turn, they began to have a sense of cherishing what they possessed.

They (the poor elderly) might not have any income, they just made a living by obtaining governmental financial aid, yet my parents have stable jobs. Their lunch was very simple, but I always have several dishes for one meal. Such contrasts informed me about how much I own in my life (that I should treasure). (B-S7, L270-275)

Respect

Appreciation of service recipients’ hard work had induced a few participants’ respect for service recipients. The following quote illustrates how a student in moratorium status became respectful for farmers he served.

I used to think that food was planted through mechanization and manufactured in factories. When I saw how the farmers planted the crops with their hands, I realized that I should respect them. (B-S3, L250-265)

To sum up, in the domain of moral identity, more participants were identified in the moratorium status than in the achieved status in conforming and committing to certain moral traits. The narratives cited above showed that diversity, meaningful service, long-term service, and reflection were key service elements influencing participants’ development of these moral traits.

Civic Identity and Influential Service Elements

Civic identity is the sense of being a part of society. The participants reported their civic identity in three aspects: becoming a social leader, being concerned about social and community issues, and having a sense of social responsibility. Compared with moral identity, fewer participants reported development in civic identity, although there was a balance in the numbers of participants reporting development in achieved and moratorium statuses. Achieved individuals in the civic domain explicitly expressed a concern for social issues and clear goals to become future leaders, and initiate change in society where possible. Participants who were found in the moratorium status started to show concern about social and community issues, and reflected on personal social responsibilities as a result of interacting with members of various social groups. However, their commitment to civic values with concrete action was not evident. The results showed that the four service elements—long-term continuous service experience, dealing with controversial social issues, youth voices, and reflection activities after service—afforded opportunities for some participants to attain achievement or moratorium status. Table 5 summarizes the civic aspects of identity developed by participants in relation to the key aspects of service experiences and service elements.

Table 5.

Developed Civic Aspects and Influential Service Elements.

Developed civic aspects of identity	Influence of service experience
Developed civic aspects of identity	Key aspects of service experience	Service elements
Being a social leader	Continuous service experienceLeadership in organizing service activitiesSense of achievement and satisfaction	Long-term serviceYouth voiceMeaningful service
Concern about social and community issues	Engaged in service that addressed social issues	Meaningful service
	Gaining sense of social agency	Meaningful service
	Prolonged contact with service recipients	Long-term and meaningful service
Social values (fairness and justice) and social responsibility	Detected social problems	Reflection

Being a social leader

Mary from School C explained how continuous service experiences stimulated her aspiration for leadership in current and future social services. Being encouraged by her parents, Mary had started to engage in service activities since Primary 3. After 8 years of service participation, she became a leader of service activities at her school and was convinced of the value of being involved in social affairs and fulfilling social responsibilities.

I told myself, I am now a Red Cross team leader. I can set a clearer goal for the work, not just doing it for its own sake or for my own interests. When you have a sense of social responsibility and play a more important leadership role, you will become more enthusiastic about the work. (C-S3, L719-723)

A sense of achievement and satisfaction gained from leadership actions further affirmed Mary’s choice to be a social leader.

When all the problems were solved and the event successfully managed, I thought to myself, “Wow! What a sense of achievement and gratification!” (C-S3, L841-846)

Gradually, my conviction has become stronger and more integrated into my being. That is why I will carry on organizing these activities. (C-S3, L744-747)

Mary’s experience demonstrated the features of identity-achieved individuals, manifesting clear self-definition and confidence, and behaviors directed toward the implementation of commitments. Successful experiences confirmed the value of Mary’s actions and stimulated her passion for future actions.

Concern about social and community issues

Jean (a student from School B) was another student who was identified in the achieved status in civic identity. She attained a sense of citizenship as a result of taking service actions in a controversial social event. In 2012, the Hong Kong government decided to demolish Choi Yuen Village to make way for the high-speed rail line. Villagers were asked to reallocate their homes. Although public opinions varied, the villagers were supported by many citizens in their struggle against the government’s decision. Jean joined a small support group to visit the evicted villagers and investigate their needs. The experience made her confirm her role as a member of Hong Kong society.

I started to think that . . . we are all living in this place. We are not passers-by . . . you can complain, “how can our society be like this?” and wonder how the government can do this and that. But you can also think about ways to make society a better place. Maybe that is what makes me feel like a Hongkonger. (B-S6, L347-354)

The service experience encouraged Jean to understand societal issues and connect her personal life to the public arena. This triggered a sense of social agency.

For moratorium individuals, the quote below shows that moratorium participants typically had become aware of the importance of caring for social affairs as members of Hong Kong society.

I started to think that I am a member of this community. Although I am not yet 18, I should play a part in community affairs. I should be more concerned. (C-S1, L299-300)

Regarding the reasons for promoting community change, a participant explained that prolonged contact with and service for elderly people who were obviously in need enabled her to understand social issues.

It was based on my continuous observation. At first, I thought this was only a small underprivileged group (the elderly living alone). But as I met more of them, I realized that many elderly people were living in similar situations. (B-S8, L302-304)

Social values and social responsibility

Service activities fostered students’ aspiration for promoting social values, such as equality, justice, and enhancement of social concerns.

I think that everyone should accept people from different social statuses. Whether they are rich or poor, mentally handicapped or elderly, they all deserve equal treatment. (A-S1, L185-187)

The participants also suggested that the government and society should offer sufficient support for the needy.

The government can provide them with more facilities, such as specially built playgrounds for mentally handicapped kids or those with other disabilities, so that they might feel that society cares about them. (A-S6, L624-628)

To sum up, in the domain of civic identity, the number of participants in achieved and moratorium statuses were balanced, although the number of participants reporting development in civic identity was smaller than the number of participants reporting moral identity development. Influential service elements reported by participants included meaningful service, long-term service, reflection, and youth voice.

Case of a Diffusion Student

Unlike most respondents who generally reported positive experiences and achievements, Bob, from School A, mentioned joining service activities merely to fulfill requirements of secondary school graduation and university admission.

I am really worried. Sometimes I don’t know why I am doing community service. If I don’t participate, my school results will be affected. The same is true with my chances of getting into university—if community service can increase my chances, then I will take part in it. (A-S9, L183-186)

When selecting service activities, Bob’s criterion was the ease of tasks. For example, he preferred flag-selling (i.e., raising funds for charity groups), since “it requires no significant effort.” Although Bob learned something new through service participation, his understanding about social issues was superficial.

Although I have gained a better understanding of these people (mentally handicapped individuals), I do not have any particular feelings about them. I am just trying to complete some work, that’s all. (A-S9, L49-52)

Bob is coded as diffused status, which revealed that he did not engage in the active exploration of moral and civic identity through community service, and he even did not care about his service experience. Bob can be seen as an example of those students who would only pay attention to their academic achievement but not their personal growth in community service. This case also implies that community service might not facilitate adolescent identity development if the service is perceived by participants merely as an add-on experience.

Discussion

Two main findings can be drawn from the qualitative data about participating students’ community service experience in relation to moral and civic identity formation. First, the experiences of taking part in community service programs stimulated most participants’ identity development more frequently in the moral domain than in the civic domain; nonetheless for those participants such as Bob who were not keen on service participation, the programs did not have positive influence on their moral and civic development. Second, five core elements of service that facilitated the participants’ moral and civic identity development into advanced statuses, achieved or moratorium status, were found from the study: (a) meaningful service directly addressing social issues or engaging participants in deep and prolonged interaction with service recipients; (b) diversity in service recipients’ backgrounds, in particular, underprivileged people in obvious state of need; (c) youth voices in leading and organizing service activities; (d) extended service duration; (e) reflection on participants’ personal lives and service recipients’ lives. The students’ demographic backgrounds, such as gender, age, SES, and school academic attainment, did not appear to be related to participants’ moral and civic identity formation in the present study.

Moral and Civic Identity Statuses in Community Service

Identity development among participants in the current study fell mainly into two statuses: achievement and moratorium. This pattern only reflects a small group of young people with considerable service experience, and they may be relatively advanced in their moral and civic identity development. A striking finding of the present study is the unbalanced development of moral and civic identity formation among the participants.

Most participants reported attaining moral development. In comparison, just a few participants reported a strong commitment to civic aspects such as social concerns and responsibilities, which can be explained by the primary focus of reflection on moral, rather than civic, values and experiences in the majority of service programs. As Erickson (2009) argued, the same service activities may be interpreted from moral and civic perspectives, depending on the guidance of teachers and practitioners. The curriculum guidelines in Hong Kong have not provided a concrete framework for implementing community service programs. Although the statements on the aims of community service stressed the importance of moral and civic identity development through community service, how community service was implemented and whether the moral aspect or the civic aspect of programs were more important were decided by schools. In such a situation, it was easier for teachers to focus on the moral aspect rather than the civic aspect of identity development. The participants’ narratives revealed that, at reflection and debriefing meetings, teachers often asked them questions such as how they felt when they were playing with mentally handicapped children and whether they experienced any changes in how they perceived service recipients after the service. Questions like these tended to focus students’ attention on moral traits and characteristics, which was more easily triggered by direct contact with service recipients. In contrast, teachers were less likely to explicitly discuss the social aspects of service, which required more complex thinking in terms of synthesizing experience from diverse sources of information and unraveling the underlying roots of social issues. Therefore, to support young people’s identity development, teachers need to guide them toward a balanced moral and civic identity development in service settings (Erickson, 2009) and pay attention to balancing students’ service contents and scaffolding their reflection (Grossman, 2008).

Furthermore, most service programs engaged students in interpersonal interaction with service recipients. Directly witnessing underprivileged people’s status is potent to trigger participants’ empathic concerns and enhance their willingness to help others (Warneken, 2015). Service that changed students’ civic aspects of identity had two features: (a) clear focus on social issues and problems, and (b) long-term engagement in service supporting accumulated understanding of social issues. It can be inferred that civic development needs intentional supervision that navigates students to the social facet of service.

As regards the case of student Bob, he was reported to be in diffused status because he did not appear to care about his moral and civic development through community service. This finding reveals that the compulsory nature of service participation may alienate certain students from community service, thus it may not always exert influence upon adolescent moral and civic identity formation. A possible reason is that in Hong Kong schools, an examination-driven culture is predominant (Carless, 2011), and stakeholders may not place emphasis on community service as it may compete with students’ time in preparing for public examinations for university entry. Given the small sample of the present study, quantitative studies with larger samples may be conducted to examine the variation in students’ perceptions and engagement in compulsory community service programs within an educationally competitive culture.

Core Elements of Service Promoting Adolescent Identity Development

Regarding service elements that trigger adolescent moral and civic identity development in achieved and moratorium statuses, the present study provided detailed depiction of the relationship between individual service elements and certain moral traits and civic aspects of identity. Such findings concur with the argument by Ferreira, Azevedo, and Menezes (2012) that community service participation alone may not ensure participants’ identity development, but rather, the incorporation of quality elements in service programs would be a necessary condition.

Several service elements found in the present study that influenced participants’ moral identity development echo the literature. This included gaining a sense of satisfaction by practicing moral action, which helped participants internalize certain moral traits (Hart, 2005); enhancing the sense of care and a helping orientation by observing needy people’s obvious state of need (Warneken, 2015); and developing perseverance through long-term service exposure (Horn, 2012). A major difference in the findings between the current study and past studies was the impact of social organizations. Several studies mentioned the importance of social organizations that exposed adolescents to a moral climate (Bock & Samuelson, 2014; Hardy & Carlo, 2011), providing alternative moral schemas for students (Hardy et al., 2013). Participants in the present study reported very few perceptions of the influence of social organizations. Rather, participants confirmed the importance of direct contact with service recipients. As suggested by the contact theory (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2008), the unequal statuses between service participants and recipients helped participants to reflect on their personal stereotypical views and privileged status in society.

Service elements that influenced participants’ civic identity development were found to be consistent with the literature in several aspects: service addressing social issues, which may cultivate adolescent civic identity (Knefelkamp, 2008); long-term service that helped students identify social problems (Ballard et al., 2014); and a sense of agency and contribution to community that reinforced students’ civic values obtained in service (Youniss & Yates, 1997). Nonetheless, the finding in the literature about practicing the organizations’ ideologies (Youniss, 2011) were rarely mentioned by the participants. Social organizations may have been less actively engaged in cultivating values and missions in students. It is also likely that school practitioners in Hong Kong were less aware of the impact of social organizations. In addition, justice-orientated service programs that reveal the inequitable social system (Kinloch et al., 2015) were seldom reported by the students. This implied that service programs in the three schools did not have an explicit focus on social justice. One possible reason was that these schools may be conservative in arranging community service that addresses political issues, which is regarded as important for civic development in Western literature (Porter, 2013).

Limitations and Conclusions

Through in-depth exploration of qualitative data, the current article has come to the conclusion that community service settings are an important avenue for adolescent identity development in moral and civic domains when adolescents are engaged in quality service experience. One significant contribution of the article is the critical examination of key elements of service experiences that support young people in realizing their full potential in identity development. The findings related to adolescent identity status change in an East Asian school context have enriched existing literature. One limitation of the present study was the relatively small sample size. Such a small sample coupled with the selection criterion that student participants should have considerable service experience may have possibly made the study concentrate on a group of adolescents who were advanced in their development of moral and civic identities. Therefore, the findings were not generalizable to young people in other Hong Kong schools or in other contexts. Further studies can employ quantitative methods to examine adolescent identity development in community service with larger samples of secondary school students.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the participating students for their kind support.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors acknowledge the Education University of Hong Kong for the support through the Internal Research Grant (IRG).

Author Biographies

Huixuan Xu is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the Education University of Hong Kong. She situates her previous studies in the domain of general education in higher education. She has particularly focused on pedagogy issues in general education. She has worked in the field of service learning recently and her research includes adolescent identity formation through service learning, emerging adult’s competence enhancement in service learning, intercultural competence development in international service learning, and quality elements in service learning programs.

Min Yang is an assistant professor at the Education University of Hong Kong. One of her primary research interests has to do with service learning and intercultural learning among students in school and higher education contexts. She has also published on pedagogical and assessment approaches to the enhancement of student learning.

References

Aquino

Reed

(2002). The self-importance of moral identity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 1423-1440. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.83.6.1423

Arnett

J. J.

(2000). Emerging adulthood. American Psychologist, 55, 469-480.

Ballard

P. J.

Caccavale

Buchanan

C. M.

(2014). Civic orientation in cultures of privilege: What role do schools play? Youth & Society, 47, 70-94. doi:10.1177/0044118X14538464

Bock

Samuelson

P. L.

(2014). Educating for moral identity: An analysis of three moral identity constructs with implications for moral education. Journal of Research in Character Education, 10, 155-173.

Carless

(2011). From testing to productive student learning: Implementing formative assessment in Confucian-heritage settings. New York, NY: Routledge.

Côté

J. E.

Levine

C. G.

(1988). A critical examination of the ego identity status paradigm. Developmental Review, 8, 147-184.

Crocetti

Jahromi

Meeus

(2012). Identity and civic engagement in adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 521-532. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.08.003

Crocetti

Rubini

Luyckx

Meeus

(2008). Identity formation in early and middle adolescents from various ethnic groups: From three dimensions to five statuses. Journal of Youth Adolescence, 37, 983-996. doi:10.1007/s10964-007-9222-2

Crocetti

Schwartz

Fermani

Meeus

(2010). The Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS): Italian validation and cross-national comparisons. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 26, 172-186. doi:10.1027/1015-5759/a000024

10.

Curriculum Development Council. (2002). Basic education curriculum guide: Building on strengths. Retrieved from http://cd1.edb.hkedcity.net/cd/EN/Content_2909/html/index.html

11.

Curriculum Development Council. (2009). Senior secondary curriculum guide—The future is now: From vision to realisation. Retrieved from http://cd1.edb.hkedcity.net/cd/cns/sscg_web/html/english/main00.html

12.

Curriculum Development Council. (2013). The new senior secondary learning journey: Moving forward to excel. Retrieved from http://334.edb.hkedcity.net/doc/eng/FullReport.pdf

13.

Erickson

J. A.

(2009). Service-learning’s impact on attitudes and behavior. In Strait

J. R.

Lima

(Eds.), The future of service-learning: New solutions for sustaining and improving practice (pp. 106-118). Sterling, VA: Stylus. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9647.2011.00773.x

14.

Erikson

(1950). Childhood and society. New York, NY: W. W. Norton.

15.

Erikson

(1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York, NY: W. W. Norton.

16.

Ferreira

P. D.

Azevedo

C. N.

Menezes

(2012). The developmental quality of participation experiences: Beyond the rhetoric that “participation is always good!” Journal of Adolescence, 35, 599-610. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.09.004

17.

Grossman

(2008). Structures for facilitating student reflection. College Teaching, 57, 15-22. doi:10.3200/CTCH.57.1.15-22

18.

Hardy

S. A.

Carlo

(2011). Moral identity. In Schwartz

S. J.

Luyckx

Vignoles

V. L.

(Eds.), Handbook of identity theory and research: Vol. 1. Structures and processes (pp. 495-513). Brighton, UK: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-7988-9

19.

Hardy

S. A.

Pratt

M. W.

Pancer

S. M.

Olsen

J. A.

Lawford

H. L.

(2011). Community and religious involvement as contexts of identity change across late adolescence and emerging adulthood. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 35, 125-135. doi:10.1177/0165025410375920

20.

Hardy

S. A.

Walker

L. J.

Olsen

J. A.

Woodbury

R. D.

Hickman

J. R.

(2013). Moral identity as moral ideal self: Links to adolescent outcomes. Developmental Psychology, 50, 45-57. doi:10.1037/a0033598

21.

Hart

(2005). The development of moral identity. In Carlo

Edwards

C. P.

(Eds.), Nebraska symposium on motivation: Moral development through the lifespan: Theory, research, and application (pp. 165-196). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

22.

Hart

Matsuba

M. K.

Atkins

(2008). The moral and civic effects of learning to serve. In Nucci

L. P.

Narvaez

(Eds.), Handbook of moral and character education (484-499). New York, NY: Routledge.

23.

Hauber

(2007). Assessing identity as the meaningfulness of meanings: The Flensburg Identity Status Interview (FISI). In Watzlawik

Born

(Eds.), Capturing identity: Quantitative and qualitative methods (pp. 15-22). Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

24.

Horn

A. S.

(2012). The cultivation of a prosocial value orientation through community service: An examination of organizational context, social facilitation, and duration. Journal of Youth Adolescence, 41, 948-968. doi:10.1007/s10964-011-9714-y

25.

Jones

J. N.

Warnaar

B. L.

Bench

J. H.

Stroup

(2014). Promoting the development of moral identity, behavior, and commitment in a social action program. Journal of Peace Education, 11, 225-245. doi:10.1080/17400201.2014.898626

26.

Jones

S. R.

Abes

E. S.

(2004). Enduring influences of service-learning on college students’ identity development. Journal of College Student Development, 45, 149-166.

27.

Kinloch

Nemeth

Patterson

(2015). Reframing service-learning as learning and participation with urban youth. Theory Into Practice, 54, 39-46. doi:10.1080/00405841.2015.977660

28.

Knefelkamp

L. L.

(2008). Civic identity: Locating self in community. Diversity & Democracy, 11(2), 1-3.

29.

Kroger

(2007). Identity development: Adolescence through adulthood (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

30.

Kroger

Marcia

J. E.

(2011). The identity statuses: Origins, meanings, and interpretations. In Schwartz

S. J.

Luyckx

Vignoles

V. L.

(Eds.), Handbook of identity theory and research: Vol. 1. Structures and processes (pp. 31-53). Brighton, UK: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-7988-9

31.

Lannegrand-Willems

Barbot

(2015). Challenges of adolescent psychology in the European identity context. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 147, 69-76.

32.

Lapsley

D. K.

Narvaez

(2004). A social-cognitive approach to the moral personality. In Lapsley

D. K.

Narvaez

(Eds.), Moral development, self and identity (pp. 189-212). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

33.

Luyckx

Goossens

Soenens

Beyers

Vansteenkiste

(2005). Identity statuses based on 4 rather than 2 identity dimensions: Extending and refining Marcia’s paradigm. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 34, 605-618. doi:10.1007/s10964-005-8949-x

34.

Luyckx

Schwartz

S. J.

Berzonsky

M. D.

Soenens

Vansteenkiste

Smits

Goossens

(2008). Capturing ruminative exploration: Extending the four-dimensional model of identity formation in late adolescence. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 58-82. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2007.04.004

35.

Mann

Casebeer

(2016). Mapping civic engagement: A case study of service-learning in Appalachia. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 11, 85-96. doi:10.1177/1746197915626089

36.

Marcia

J. E.

(1966). Development and validation of ego identity status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 3, 551-558.

37.

Marcia

J. E.

(1980). Identity in adolescence. In Adelson

(Ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 159-187). New York, NY: Wiley.

38.

McNeil

Helwig

C. C.

(2015). Balancing social responsibility and personal autonomy: Adolescents’ reasoning about community service programs. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 176, 349-368. doi:10.1080/00221325.2015.1077189

39.

Miles

M. B.

Huberman

A. M.

(1994). Qualitative data analysis (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

40.

National Youth Leadership Council. (2008). K-12 service-learning standards for quality practice. Retrieved from https://nylcweb.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/standards_document_mar2015update.pdf

41.

Pakulski

Tranter

(2000). Civic identity in Australia. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 35, 35-51.

42.

Pettigrew

T. F.

Tropp

L. R.

(2008). How does intergroup contact reduce prejudice? Meta-analytic tests of three mediators. European Journal of Social Psychology, 38, 922-934. doi:10.1002/ejsp.504

43.

Porter

T. J.

(2013). Moral and political identity and civic involvement in adolescents. Journal of Moral Education, 42, 239-255.

44.

Ramey

H. L.

Rose-Krasnor

(2011). Contexts of structured youth activities and positive youth development. Child Development Perspectives, 6, 85-91. doi:10.1111/j.1750-8606.2011.00219.x

45.

Rubin

B. C.

(2007). “There’s still not justice”: Youth civic identity development amid distinct school and community contexts. Teachers College Record, 109, 449-481.

46.

Schwartz

S. J.

Zamboanga

B. L.

Luyckx

Meca

Ritchie

R. A.

(2013). Identity in emerging adulthood: Reviewing the field and looking forward. Emerging Adulthood, 1, 96-113. doi:10.1177/2167696813479781

47.

Serek

(2016). What’s the matter with civil society? The declining effect of civic involvement on civic identity among Czech adolescents. Youth & Society. doi:10.1177/0044118X16637883

48.

Sheets

R. H.

(1999). Human development and ethnic identity. In Sheets

R. H.

Hollins

E. R.

(Eds.), Racial and ethnic identity in school practices: Aspects of human development (pp. 91-106). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

49.

Solomontos-Kountouri

Hurry

(2007). Political, religious and occupational identities in context: Placing identity status paradigm in context. Journal of Adolescence, 31, 241-258. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2007.11.006

50.

van Goethem

A. A. J.

van Hoof

van Aken

M. A. G.

Raaijmakers

Q. A. W.

Boom

Orobio de Castro

. (2012). The role of adolescents’ morality and identity in volunteering. Age and gender differences in a process model. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 509-520. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2011.08.012

51.

Vignoles

V. L.

Schwartz

S. J.

Luyckx

(2011). Introduction: Toward an integrative view of identity. In Schwartz

S. J.

Luyckx

Vignoles

V. L.

(Eds.), Handbook of identity theory and research: Vol. 1. Structures and processes (pp. 2-5). Brighton, UK: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-7988-9

52.

Warneken

(2015). Precocious prosociality: Why do young children help? Child Development Perspectives, 9, 1-6. doi:10.1111/cdep.12101

53.

Youniss

(2011). Civic education: What schools can do to encourage civic identity and action. Applied Developmental Science, 15, 98-103. doi:10.1080/10888691.2011.560814

54.

Youniss

Yates

(1997). Community service and social responsibility in youth. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.

55.

Zaki

Mitchell

(2013). Intuitive prosociality. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 22, 466-470. doi:10.1177/0963721413492764