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The current study focused on three aspects of identity development relevant to the adolescent years: being an authentic person, perceiving control over and consistency in one's environment, and having consistent expectations from close others. In a two-wave study of adolescents (n = 750), we examined how these aspects change over the course of a year, as well as whether these aspects correspond to the Big Five personality traits. Results indicated three important findings. First, all three aspects evidenced the capacity for change over a year, and appeared more malleable than personality traits. Second, youth higher on all aspects reported a more adaptive personality profile. Third, changes on these aspects coincide with those on personality traits over the year. Findings are discussed with respect to future directions for studying the interplay of identity and personality development.

This chapter focuses on parents and their influence on children. Four types of family influence on the centrality and different dimensions of religion for children are examined (individual influence by mother and father, influences of parents religious agreement, religious family climate(R-F-C) and transgenerational transmission of religion (T-T-R)). The data set is based on a Swiss survey of 393 families of which both parents and one child completed a paper and pencil questionnaire. Results show substantial effects of all the family variables on childrens religiosity. The individual influence of mother and father seems of paramount importance, but the actual and perceived spousal agreement concerning religion, the religious family climate and influences from the mothers and fathers families of origin also show a significant effect on childrens religiosity. The theoretical implications of these effects are discussed, both as they contribute to research on religious socialisation and empirical research in theology.Keywords: childrens religiosity; empirical research; family variables; parents religious agreement; perceived spousal agreement; religious family climate(R-F-C); religious socialisation; Swiss survey; transgenerational transmission of religion(T-T-R)