Jane Kroger

Identity status change during adolescence and young adulthood: A meta-analysis

The present study was designed to examine developmental patterns of identity status change during adolescence and young adulthood through meta-analysis. Some 124 studies appearing in PsycINFO, ERIC, Sociological Abstracts, and Dissertation Abstracts International between 1966 and 2005 provided data. All calculations were performed using the software program, Comprehensive Meta-analysis. Results from longitudinal studies showed the mean proportion of adolescents making progressive identity status changes was .36, compared with .15 who made regressive changes and .49 who remained stable. Cross-sectional studies showed the mean proportion of moratoriums rising steadily to age 19 years and declining thereafter, while the mean proportion of the identity achieved rose over late adolescence and young adulthood; foreclosure and diffusion statuses declined over the high school years, but fluctuated throughout late adolescence and young adulthood. Meta-analyses showed that large mean proportions of samples were not identity achieved by young adulthood. Possible reasons for this phenomenon are explored.

The Identity Statuses: Origins, Meanings, and Interpretations

This chapter describes the origins and development of the identity statuses and provides a brief overview of studies into antecedent, concurrent, and consequent implications of the construct. In so doing, it reviews selected personality, relational, behavioral, and developmental variables that have been examined in relation to the identity statuses over the past 45 years. Additionally, the chapter addresses some of the many implications that the identity statuses hold for intervention as well as the relationship of the identity status paradigm to other models of identity. The rootedness of the identity statuses in Erikson’s concept of identity versus identity diffusion (confusion) is discussed, and meta-analyses of the identity statuses in relation to selected variables are presented. Therapeutic and educational interventions for individuals in each identity status are also discussed.

Gender and identity : The intersection of structure, content, and context

The purpose of the present study was twofold: (1) to review empirical studies published between 1966-1995 utilizing J. E. Marcias [(1966) “Development and Validation of Ego Identity Status,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 3, pp. 551–558] identity status paradigm for the purpose of observing any patterns of gender difference on issues related to identity structure, content, and context; (2) to present results of a single empirical study that examined the question of possible gender differences in how relationships are used in the identity formation process. Results of the review indicated few gender differences in identity structure, content, developmental process, and context; only the domains of sexuality and family roles may hold greater salience for women than men. Results from the single empirical investigation found identity status, rather than gender, to be associated with how relationships were used in the identity formation process. A discussion of possible future research directions on gender and identity status is presented.

Ego identity status research in the new millennium

The present brief report overviews developments in the field of ego identity status research over the past 35 years and suggests directions for identity status research as we enter the new millenium. In the mid 1960s, James Marcia (1966, 1967) expanded Erik Erikson’s (1968) concept of ego identity to suggest four qualitatively different styles by which late adolescents undertake identity-deifning psychosocial commitments. Over the ensuing decades, identity status research focused primarily on validating the identity statuses and finding associated personality correlates, examining patterns of change over time, and investigating familial communication patterns associated with each of the identity positions. Research in the new millennium might fruitfully address the course and contents of identity beyond late adolescence as well as predictors of developmental arrest. A greater range of developmental contexts in which identity formation occurs is also in need of examination. Ultimately, an individual’s interpretation of context and further mediating events that may be associated with identity status resolutions are critical to a more complete understanding of the identity formation process.

Parental bonding and separation-individuation difficulties among late adolescent eating disordered women

This study is an exploration of both interpersonal and intrapsychic factors associated with eating disorders in late adolescent women. It examines perceived parental bonding characteristics and resolution of the second separation-individuation process for both eating and non-eating disordered subjects. Subjects were 20 late adolescent eating disordered women and 20 symptom-free late adolescent female university students. All subjects received the Eating Disorder Inventory, the Parental Bonding Inventory, and the Separation-Individuation Test of Adolescence. Late adolescent eating disordered women reported significantly higher levels of maternal over-protectiveness during childhood and had significantly higher levels of separation anxiety and lower healthy separation scores than non-eating disordered students.

Meta-Analytic Studies of Identity Status and the Relational Issues of Attachment and Intimacy

Marcias ego identity status model has been a popular means of examining various dimensions of the adolescent identity formation process over the past 40 years. The purpose of this investigation was to undertake a meta-analysis of studies addressing the relationship between Marcias identity statuses and attachment (Study 1) and intimacy (Study 2). The following databases were used to identify relevant studies reported between 1966 and 2005: PsycINFO, ERIC, Sociological Abstracts, and Dissertation Abstracts International. Some 14 investigations served as the data for Study 1 and 21 investigations for Study 2. Results from Study 1 found weak to moderate correlations between attachment styles and the identity statuses; however, certain predicted patterns in the relationships were found. Furthermore, the mean proportion of secure attachment was far higher among the identity achieved compared to foreclosures and diffusions. Study 2 showed a positive association between identity and intimacy status, although the relationship was stronger for men than women.

Separation-individuation and ego identity status in late adolescence: A two-year longitudinal study

This study was undertaken to clarify developmental relationships between intrapsychic object relations structure and ego identity status during late adolescence; one purpose was to examine the possible predictive relationship between initial attachment style and later identity status. A total of 76 subjects (41 females and 35 males) who had been given the Marcia Ego Identity Status Interview and the Hansburg Separation Anxiety Test (SAT) as first-year university students in 1984 were reassessed two years later. Fitted log linear models indicated strong links between attachment style and identity status in 1986, and between identity status in 1984 and 1986; only an indirect connection existed between attachment style in 1984 and 1986 as measured by the SAT. When 1984 and 1986 identity status were known, it was possible to predict 1986 attachment style without knowing 1984 attachment style; 1984 attachment style alone was unable to predict later identity status accurately.

Separation-individuation and ego identity status in New Zealand university students

This study explores intrapsychic structures underlying Marcias ego identity statuses in terms of separation-individuation patterns. It was hypothesized that achievement and moratorium adolescents would give greater evidence of intrapsychic differentiation on a projective measure of separation anxiety than would foreclosure or diffusion youths. Marcias Ego Identity Status Interview and Hansburgs Separation Anxiety Test were administered to 80 female and 60 male volunteers at a New Zealand university. All were under 23 years of age. As predicted, high statuses showed less anxiety than secure attachment or detachment. Contrary to expectation, no differences among attachment styles appeared for low statuses. Difficulties in adapting the identity status interview to the New Zealand context may partially explain these results. A measure of intrapsychic differentiation provides a useful supplement to the identity status interview.

Why Is Identity Achievement So Elusive

Sizeable percentages of youths leaving tertiary educational settings appear not to have constructed a sense of their own identity. Both longitudinal and cross-sectional studies have commonly produced samples with fewer than half of individuals in Marcias achieved identity status upon entering young adulthood. At the same time, many investigations have also pointed to the adaptive features associated with identity achievement as well as the fact that many do attain identity achievement during and beyond late adolescence. This article will review theoretical issues involved in the transition to identity achievement and personality and contextual features associated with this transition. It will conclude by proposing potential reasons for the elusiveness of identity achievement and directions for further research into this perplexing phenomenon.

What Transits in an Identity Status Transition

This article examines the question of what transits in an ego identity status transition. It is argued that Marcias (1966, 1967) ego identity statuses have different underlying structural organizations in the tradition of neo-Piagetian structural stage models (Snarey, Kohlberg, & Noam, 1983). It is also argued that it is necessary to differentiate structure underlying the ego identity statuses from identity content to understand the meaning of ego identity status transitions during adolescent and adult life. Processes of change for both identity structure as well as identity content are proposed on the basis of qualitative case studies. Means of best assessing structural organizations underlying the ego identity statuses are proposed. Defining the actual organizational structures underlying the ego identity statuses presents a challenging and fruitful direction for future identity research.