How emotion regulation and openness to sadness through music listening relate to identity development in adolescence: an exploratory study / <i>La relación entre regulación emocional, apertura a la tristeza por medio de la música y desarrollo de la identidad en la adolescencia: un estudio exploratorio</i>

The present study aims to explore the relationships between self-perceived emotional regulation skills, openness to sadness through music listening, and identity formation processes. Participants were 463 adolescents between 12 and 19 years. The results showed that these adolescents were primarily engaged in identity processes involving in-depth exploration and commitment, and to a lesser extent in commitment reconsideration. Differences were found according to gender, age group and domain (study, friendship), showing unique paths of identity construction for boys and girls in educational and social areas. Self-perceived emotional attention skills were related to in-depth exploration. In the study domain, the use of emotional repair skills corresponded with commitment, but from the age of 14 with both commitment and in-depth exploration. Openness to sadness through music listening emerged as a mediator between emotion and identity reflection, showing an interesting path for new research on the connection between emotional regulation and identity development.