Contribution of Social Bonds to the Development of Scientific Research Identity in Adolescent Participants of a Science Enrichment Program

An abundance of research on self-determination theory has shown that satisfaction of basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness among adolescents promotes the experience of optimal career-related outcomes such as academic motivation and engagement. However, few studies have explored how satisfaction of these needs promotes identification with particular careers, and less attention has been paid to the role of relatedness satisfaction in these developmental processes compared to autonomy and competence. We addressed these issues in the current study by examining the relationship between relatedness and identification as a research scientist. Five latent classes of scientific research identity development were identified using growth mixture modeling: (a) strong positive growth, (b) moderate positive growth, (c) weak positive growth, (d) no growth, and (e) strong negative growth. Results of logistic regression analyses indicated that need for relatedness was a significant positive predictor of membership in the strong positive growth class relative to the no growth class. Implications for identity development as a research scientist and the social and motivational influences undergirding this process are discussed.