“I Worked Really Hard to Know Who I Am”: A Qualitative Study of Identity Development in Latter-Day Saint Women in Midlife

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

“I Worked Really Hard to Know Who I Am”: A Qualitative 2 Study of Identity Development in Latter-Day Saint Women

 

The title appears somewhat misleading at first glance; however, upon reading the abstract, the focus of the article becomes clearer. It may be worth reconsidering the inclusion of the first part of the title, as it could potentially create confusion for readers. A more precise and directly aligned title would better reflect the core argument of the paper.

The literature review section is comprehensive, but it contributes significantly to the overall length of the article. I recommend condensing this section by focusing on the most relevant sources and streamlining the discussion to maintain clarity and conciseness.

Regarding the Study Aims/Current Study section, lines 242–257 can be removed, as the remaining content sufficiently articulates the purpose and direction of the study. Eliminating this portion will enhance readability without compromising the integrity of the argument.

Overall, the article is well written and demonstrates strong scholarly engagement. However, it would benefit from some tightening of arguments to improve focus and readability. While the findings are clearly presented and appropriate, a more concise presentation of earlier sections will strengthen the overall impact of the paper.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Summary: The authors revised the manuscript to improve clarity and conciseness by aligning the title more clearly with the abstract and introduction, streamlining the literature review by removing over 300 words, and deleting redundant material in the Study Aims section, resulting in a more focused and readable paper. 

REVIEWER 1:  

R1 Comment 1: The title appears somewhat misleading at first glance; however, upon reading the abstract, the focus of the article becomes clearer. It may be worth reconsidering the inclusion of the first part of the title, as it could potentially create confusion for readers. A more precise and directly aligned title would better reflect the core argument of the paper. 

R1 Response 1: Thank you for this thoughtful feedback regarding the title. We appreciate the concern that the opening phrase may initially seem somewhat ambiguous. Our intention in retaining the phrase “I worked really hard to know who I am” is to foreground participants’ lived experiences and to signal that identity development in midlife is an active, effortful, and ongoing process rather than a static outcome. 

Because the manuscript is grounded in qualitative data, we aimed for the title to reflect participants’ voices alongside the scholarly framing. This opening quote captures a central theme that emerged across interviews that identity development among Latter-day Saint women in midlife involves intentional reflection, negotiation, and personal work overtime. In this way, the phrase is not meant to obscure the focus of the paper, but rather invite readers into the core phenomenon being examined. 

To address the concern about clarity and alignment, we have reviewed the abstract and introduction to ensure that the focus on midlife identity development is immediately clear and directly connected to the title. We hope this preserves both the interpretive richness of participants’ voices and the conceptual precision of the manuscript. 

Thank you again for this helpful suggestion. 

R1 Comment 2: The literature review section is comprehensive, but it contributes significantly to the overall length of the article. I recommend condensing this section by focusing on the most relevant sources and streamlining the discussion to maintain clarity and conciseness. 

R1 Response 2: Thank you for this suggestion. In response, we have revised the literature review to make it more concise and focused. As part of this process, we have removed over 300 words to improve clarity and reduce overall length while preserving the conceptual foundation of the study. We appreciate this recommendation, as it has strengthened the readability and focus of the manuscript. 

R1 Comment 3: Regarding the Study Aims/Current Study section, lines 242–257 can be removed, as the remaining content sufficiently articulates the purpose and direction of the study. Eliminating this portion will enhance readability without compromising the integrity of the argument. Overall, the article is well written and demonstrates strong scholarly engagement. However, it would benefit from some tightening of arguments to improve focus and readability. While the findings are clearly presented and appropriate, a more concise presentation of earlier sections will strengthen the overall impact of the paper. 

R1 Response 3: Thank you for this helpful suggestion. We agree that removing lines 242–257 improves the conciseness and clarity of the Study Aims section. This revision results in a more streamlined presentation of the study’s purpose and direction without compromising the overall argument. 

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

A well-researched, well-structured paper which explores the theme with sensitivity.  The selection of the sample from among women within a single faith context is an interesting approach, showing clearly that there is significant diversity within the sample. The result is a well-written and very readable paper.

The limitations noted adequately identified the degree to which the findings were generalizable, or not, with preceptive suggestions for future work. It would indeed be interesting to repeat this research among women of other religions, both Christian-based and not, as well as women who have do not affiliate with any specific faith. Indeed, this would add dimensions to the topic that may well show that the core identities are rather more complex and less related to the faith than one might assume from this paper.  It is likely that the faith forms a scaffolding for the core identities rather than the core itself.  Core diversity within a faith (transitions etc) of huge interest. Intersectionality also vital.

The sample is very small (30 people).  The consequence is that the broad groupings of ethnicities is about the best possible (including the rather unhelpful “White” which to a large extent is ameliorated by the use of nationality/citizenship as a surrogate). The sample is too small to draw any meaningful conclusions about the ethnic or cultural diversity on the basis of ethnicity.  The “American” context is ultimately presumably = Utah. Of the European elements 6 are in Italy and 7 in the off-shore islands of UK.  It would be very interesting to have a sample in other Mormon strong-holds across the Pacific or among the outlying pockets in other places such as across the Asian continent.  This is of course noted in the limitations. 

The sample is also too small to get a good understanding of the relationship between biological aging and socio-psychological midlife transitions (including transitions in faith, which the sample selection would not enable here). This may be worth thinking a little more about - both from the viewpoint of the theory of aging.

One question might arise from the view that men have fewer or less complex transitions (around lines 1012-1016).  This may be true, or it may be that for men they are the same but differently handled or at different ages (more information on family structures/histories, age gaps, partnerings and repartnerings etc would be needed to look at this aspect and way beyond the intent or purpose of this paper) but if we remember the basic premise here is the centrality of a family based faith, the question of agency is more fundamental that seems to emerge. If agency is equal then should be parallels by gender. Agency is recognised in the paper, but I wonder about the extent to which women in this sample may define themselves in terms of husbands.

This is an overtly emic approach and, justifiably and appropriately, translators used for the Italian speaking women were "of the same faith" - this is at once a 'culturally safe' environment and a constraining one.  Just a thought to ponder might be how this might contrast with etic approaches where the responses of the women may have been articulated and contextualized quite differently.

A couple of wee cosmetic pieces of formatting: for example line 946 "Implications" should be a heading for the following section? Similarly line 998 "Conclusion"

Author Response

Summary: In response to the reviewers helpful and thoughtful feedback, we have made several revisions to strengthen the clarity, scope, and methodological transparency of the manuscript. We expanded the limitations and future directions sections to more explicitly address issues of sample size, demographic and cultural diversity, and the implications of studying identity development within a single faith context. We also added discussion of how faith may function not only as a core identity component but also as a form of scaffolding, and we included additional emphasis on the value of comparative, interfaith, non-religious, and intersectional approaches in future research. 

In response to comments regarding biological aging, we clarified the scope of the study and explicitly noted that examining the relationship between biological aging processes and midlife identity transitions lies beyond the current design, while highlighting this as an important direction for future longitudinal research.  

Finally, we added an explicit acknowledgment of the study’s emic orientation, including the use of faith-aligned translators, and reflected on how an etic approach might yield different interpretations. Minor formatting issues were also corrected. Collectively, these revisions improve transparency, strengthen theoretical framing, and clarify the boundaries and contributions of the study. 

REVIEWER 2:  

R2 Comment 1: A well-researched, well-structured paper which explores the theme with sensitivity.  The selection of the sample from among women within a single faith context is an interesting approach, showing clearly that there is significant diversity within the sample. The result is a well-written and very readable paper. 

R2 Response 1: Thank you for your thoughtful and encouraging feedback. We appreciate your recognition of the care taken in structuring the paper and in approaching this topic with sensitivity. We are also grateful for your observation regarding the diversity within the sample, as highlighting variation within a shared faith context was an important goal of this study. Your comments affirm the clarity and readability we aimed to achieve in presenting this work. 

R2 Comment 2: The limitations noted adequately identified the degree to which the findings were generalizable, or not, with preceptive suggestions for future work. It would indeed be interesting to repeat this research among women of other religions, both Christian-based and not, as well as women who have do not affiliate with any specific faith. Indeed, this would add dimensions to the topic that may well show that the core identities are rather more complex and less related to the faith than one might assume from this paper.  It is likely that the faith forms a scaffolding for the core identities rather than the core itself.  Core diversity within a faith (transitions etc) of huge interest. Intersectionality also vital. 

R2 Response 2: We appreciate your insight into how examining women across diverse religious and non-religious contexts could further illuminate the complexity of identity development in midlife. Your suggestion that faith may function as a form of scaffolding for identity, rather than its core, is particularly compelling and offers a valuable direction for future research. 

We also agree that attending to diversity within faith traditions, as well as incorporating an intersectional lens, would deepen understanding of the processes highlighted in this study. In light of your comments, we have further emphasized these important considerations in the limitations and future directions sections. Like this addition to the second paragraph “As such, faith may function not only as a core component of identity for some women, but also as a scaffolding through which identity is interpreted and organized”. We also added “Comparative designs across denominations, religious traditions, and non-religious populations could test whether the recursive identity model holds across theological frameworks or whether different spiritual narratives shape identity revision.” in the future research section. Thank you again for highlighting these meaningful avenues for continued inquiry. 

R2 Comment 3: The sample is very small (30 people).  The consequence is that the broad groupings of ethnicities is about the best possible (including the rather unhelpful “White” which to a large extent is ameliorated by the use of nationality/citizenship as a surrogate). The sample is too small to draw any meaningful conclusions about the ethnic or cultural diversity on the basis of ethnicity.  The “American” context is ultimately presumably = Utah. Of the European elements 6 are in Italy and 7 in the off-shore islands of UK.  It would be very interesting to have a sample in other Mormon strong-holds across the Pacific or among the outlying pockets in other places such as across the Asian continent.  This is of course noted in the limitations.  

R2 Response 3: Thank you for this careful and detailed reflection on the composition of the sample. We appreciate your close reading of the demographic structure and your thoughtful attention to how ethnic and national contexts are represented within the dataset. We agree that the relatively small sample size limits the extent to which meaningful conclusions can be drawn regarding ethnic and cultural variation, and that the broad categorical groupings necessarily provide only a partial account of diversity within the sample. 

We also appreciate your observation regarding the geographic clustering of participants, particularly the concentration within the United States context and specific European locations, as well as your suggestion that future research would benefit from including women from additional global Latter-day Saint contexts, including those in the Pacific region and other international populations. These points align closely with the limitations already noted in the manuscript, and we have ensured that this constraint is clearly articulated to guide appropriate interpretation of the findings. 

Thank you again for highlighting these important considerations for future research. 

R2 Comment 4: The sample is also too small to get a good understanding of the relationship between biological aging and socio-psychological midlife transitions (including transitions in faith, which the sample selection would not enable here). This may be worth thinking a little more about - both from the viewpoint of the theory of aging. 

R2 Response 4: Thank you for this observation. We agree that the size and composition of the sample do not allow for a robust examination of the relationship between biological aging processes and socio-psychological midlife transitions, including changes in faith. Our study was designed to explore women’s subjective experiences of identity development in midlife rather than to systematically analyze aging-related processes across biological, psychological, and social domains. 

We appreciate your suggestion to more explicitly consider perspectives from theories of aging. In response, we have clarified the scope of the study and expanded the limitations and future directions sections to acknowledge this distinction and to suggest that future research could more directly examine the interplay between biological aging and identity processes, potentially using larger and more diverse samples or longitudinal designs. Thank you for highlighting this important avenue for further inquiry. 

R2 Comment 5: One question might arise from the view that men have fewer or less complex transitions (around lines 1012-1016).  This may be true, or it may be that for men they are the same but differently handled or at different ages (more information on family structures/histories, age gaps, partnerings and repartnerings etc would be needed to look at this aspect and way beyond the intent or purpose of this paper) but if we remember the basic premise here is the centrality of a family based faith, the question of agency is more fundamental that seems to emerge. If agency is equal then should be parallels by gender. Agency is recognised in the paper, but I wonder about the extent to which women in this sample may define themselves in terms of husbands. 

R2 Response 5: We appreciate your point that men’s transitions may not necessarily be fewer or less complex, but may instead differ in timing, expression, or social context. The literature cited in this study suggests that women’s midlife transitions are often shaped by gendered role expectations and life course patterns, which may result in both a greater number and qualitatively different types of transitions compared to men. At the same time, we agree that a fuller examination of gender parallels in agency, family structure, and life course timing would require more detailed comparative data and extends beyond the scope of the present study. 

Thank you again for raising these important considerations. 

R2 Comment 6: This is an overtly emic approach and, justifiably and appropriately, translators used for the Italian speaking women were "of the same faith" - this is at once a 'culturally safe' environment and a constraining one.  Just a thought to ponder might be how this might contrast with etic approaches where the responses of the women may have been articulated and contextualized quite differently. 

R2 Response 6: Thank you for your observation regarding the emic orientation of the study and the use of translators who shared participants’ faith tradition. We agree that this likely contributed to a culturally safe and contextually grounded research environment, which was important for supporting openness and trust in participants’ narratives. 

We also appreciate your thoughtful point regarding how an etic approach might have shaped the data differently, potentially influencing how participants’ experiences were elicited, interpreted, or contextualized. This is a valuable consideration and highlights important methodological trade-offs between cultural insider status and external analytic distance in qualitative research. We have added brief acknowledgment of this issue in the limitations section to further clarify the interpretive positioning of the study. 

The following was added to the limitations section: “Fifth, the study also reflects an explicitly emic approach, including the use of translators who shared participants’ faith tradition. While this contributed to cultural safety, trust, and contextual sensitivity in participants’ narratives, it may also have shaped how experiences were elicited and interpreted. An etic approach may have produced different forms of articulation or contextualization of participants’ identity experiences.” 

R2 Comment 7: A couple of wee cosmetic pieces of formatting: for example line 946 "Implications" should be a heading for the following section? Similarly line 998 "Conclusion" 

R2 Response 7: Thank you for noting these formatting issues. We have corrected the manuscript so that “Implications” and “Conclusion” now function as section headings in the appropriate locations. We appreciate your careful attention to these details, which has helped improve the overall clarity and structure of the paper.