Clickering's theory describes how students develop socially and intellectually in a college environment with particular emphasis on how the increased social, intellectual and economic independence fostered by college life helps them to establish a sense of identity. It also gives academic authorities a better theoretical and practical understanding of student development and enables professors and university administrators to apply what they have learned from the theory to students' advantage. Colleges might, for example, be more of aware of the need to ensure that academic and social activities promote self-confidence and encourage independent thought.
Clickering's theory is made up of seven components: developing competence, managing emotions, moving through autonomy toward interdependence, developing mature interpersonal relationships, establishing identity, developing purpose and developing integrity.
The theory explains how the challenges and conditions of college life are particularly relevant to young people's psychological and social development. As they make the transition from autonomy to interdependence (dependence on one's self), for example, students learn how to organize activities and solve problems on their own. The typical college student living away from home must think for himself because he can no longer rely exclusively on his parents and is distanced from the support network of peers and teachers he had in high school. Meeting people from diverse backgrounds at college helps him to become more tolerant and appreciative of the differences between people.
In 1993, Clickering made some revisions to his original theory. These include modifications to the managing emotions vector, which originally focused on aggression and sexual desire but was modified to include ways in which students learn to control emotions such as depression, guilt, shame and anxiety. The developing identity stage was modified to take account of gender, sexual orientation and ethnic background, while his exploration of the importance of tolerance in developing mature relationships placed increased emphasis on the multicultural aspects of tolerance.