Shaping an Identity as the Main Developmental Task of Youth in the Contemporary Socio-Cultural Reality

The self-creation of modern youth in the world of permanent change is closely related to the existing socio-cultural conditions and the psychosocial condition resulting from the experienced developmental stage. The changeability and relativity of the reality in which young people exist affects the process of searching for their “I”, which becomes more and more undefined, requiring constant updating, and changing. Therefore, it becomes necessary to undertake analyses of identity formation as the main developmental task of the youth period, with particular emphasis on the current socio-cultural reality, which is not insignificant for this process. The article presents the results of scientific research on the subjective aspect of the sense of identity of contemporary high school youth (out of the general population the author selected a population of 439 students of secondary schools, aged 15-19, located in the territory of the Wielkopolskie [Greater Poland] Voivodeship in Poland, random selection) measured by the TST (Twenty Statements Test). The presented results of research on the subjective aspect of the sense of identity of secondary school youth reveal an image of this age group as one that is still searching for its own identity core, and undergoing the process of implementation of developmental tasks belonging to the stage of adolescence. The analyses of the research results show the specificity of the process of shaping identity by young people in modern conditions. This issue is the main goal of the research presented in the article.