Modern societal changes and their impacts on students’ identity: results in light of social cognitive theory

Although modern societal changes (MSCs) are reshaping youth development, limited research has examined how these shifts—particularly those associated with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030—affect university students’ identities (USIs). To address this gap, this study investigated students’ perceptions of the impacts of Vision 2030–driven MSCs on their moral, cultural, and vocational identities. Data were gathered through a self-report survey as part of a cross-sectional design involving a simple random sample of 350 students pursuing bachelor’s degrees in a university in the western region of Saudi Arabia. The study applied social cognitive theory (SCT) as a framework to examine how MSCs shape and interact with USIs. The results revealed low to moderate perceived impacts of MSCs on USIs (M = 2.19–2.93, SD = ± 0.59 to ± 0.69), with greater effect on vocational identity than on moral identity. Significant reciprocal relationships emerged among moral, cultural, and vocational identities, accounting for 16.5% to 39.5% of the variance. MSCs showed stronger effects on the cultural identities of female students and the vocational identities of younger participants. The SCT framework revealed a reciprocal determinism process in which Vision 2030’s environmental context shaped students’ identities, which guided behaviors that, in turn, reinforced the surrounding environment. This study demonstrates that SCT is an effective conceptual framework for elucidating the foundations of reciprocal determinism among influential environmental factors, reinforcing personal determinants and the resulting behavioral patterns. By examining the effects of MSCs on USIs, it provides an applied example that highlights the dynamic nature of these processes and illustrates their ongoing interactions within their appropriate trajectory and associated determinants.