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Vol. 2 No. 4 (2025): October

Copyright (c) 2025 Abdul Khabir Abed, Mohammad Jawad Mirzaee

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Exploring Identity Styles and their Impact on Mental Health among Law and Political Sciences Students

https://doi.org/10.62810/jssh.v2i4.165
Abdul Khabir Abed
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Kabul, Afghanistan
Mohammad Jawad Mirzaee
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Kabul, Afghanistan

Corresponding Author(s) : Abdul Khabir Abed

khabirabed1@gmail.com

Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol. 2 No. 4 (2025): October

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between identity styles and mental health among students of the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences at Kabul University. A total of 196 participants were selected using stratified random sampling. Data were collected through the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and Berzonsky’s Identity Styles Questionnaire, and analyzed using Pearson correlation to examine the associations between variables. Findings reveal a statistically significant negative correlation between informational identity style and GHQ-28 scores (r = -0.203, p = 0.004) and between normative identity style and GHQ-28 scores (r = -0.196, p = 0.006). Since higher GHQ-28 scores indicate greater psychological distress, these negative correlations suggest that students with higher informational or normative identity style scores tend to experience better mental health. Commitment identity style also showed a significant negative relationship with GHQ-28 scores (r = -0.268, p < 0.001), while the diffused/avoidant style had no significant association (r = 0.076, p = 0.29). implying that this style may lack a stable influence on psychological outcomes. These results indicate that adopting an informational or normative identity style may contribute to improved mental health among university students. The results suggest that promoting informational and normative identity styles could be a valuable strategy for enhancing mental health support programs for university students in Afghanistan.

Keywords

Avoidant Style Commitment Identity Styles Informational Style Mental Health Normative Style
Abed, A. K., & Mirzaee, M. J. (2025). Exploring Identity Styles and their Impact on Mental Health among Law and Political Sciences Students. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2(4), 155–169. https://doi.org/10.62810/jssh.v2i4.165
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Author biographies is not available.
Received 2025-08-31
Accepted 2025-10-25
Published 2025-10-31
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