Motywacja epistemiczna a poczucie tożsamości u kobiet w okresie wkraczania w dorosłość oraz średniej i późnej dorosłości.

The article presents the results of a study carried out in a group of 80 women in early adulthood and 72 women in later adulthood. The primary goals were to examine the relationships of need for cognition and two forms of cognitive processing of self-related information (reflective self-focus and integrative self-knowledge) to multiple dimensions of sense of identity, and to test for life stage differences in the magnitude of these relationships. Significant differences were observed in the reflective self-focus levels and strength of sense of identity between the two groups of women. The obtained results also indicated that -- regardless of the stage of life -- a tendency to engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive tasks as well as a tendency to integrate past, present, and desired future self-experience into a meaningful whole favored the maintenance of sense of identity. The effects of reflection turned out to be more complicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]