Youth &Society, Ahead of Print.
The Circumplex of Identity Formation Modes (CIFM) is the latest approach designed to integrate the various concepts describing identity formation in the Erikson–Marcia tradition. The CIFM assumes the relationships between identity modes and personality traits. The process of identity formation emerges as a result of the interaction between dispositional traits and social demands. Presumably, it involves internal dialogs understood as juxtaposing different visions of oneself and evaluating matters from different perspectives. This paper aims to test whether internal dialogs mediate the relationships between traits and identity modes. Participants (aged 14–18; 217 men, 205 women) completed: International Personality Item Pool-Big Five Markers-50, Internal Dialogical Activity Scale-Revised, and Circumplex Identity Modes Questionnaire. It was established that self-reflective dialogs mediate the positive relationship between Intellect and Consolidation; additionally, self-reflective and defensive dialogs mediate the positive relationship between Intellect and Exploration. Moreover, defensive and disruptive dialogs mediate the negative relationships between Emotional Stability and Moratorivity, Defiance, and Diffusion.