Brief report: the Ego Identity Process Questionnaire: factor structure, reliability, and convergent validity in Dutch-speaking late adolescents

The reliability and validity of a Dutch version of the Ego Identity Process Questionnaire (EIPQ) were evaluated. In Study 1, the instrument was found to exhibit a clear factor structure and acceptable reliability. Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis, both a model with two process factors (Commitment, Exploration) and a model with four content factors (Ideological Commitment, Ideological Exploration, Interpersonal Commitment, Interpersonal Exploration) evidenced a good fit once direction of wording was taken into account. In Study 2, moderate convergence was observed between Commitment and Exploration, and continuous measures of identity statuses and identity styles. The results of both studies combined indicated that the Dutch version of the EIPQ may be recommended as a research tool with college students.     

Brief report: The Identity Style Inventory (ISI-3) and the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS): factor structure, reliability, and convergent validity in French-speaking university students

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the factor structure and the reliability of the French versions of the Identity Style Inventory (ISI-3) and the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS) in a sample of college students (N?=?457, 18-25 years old). Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the hypothesized three-factor solution of the ISI-3 identity styles (i.e. informational, normative, and diffuse-avoidant styles), the one-factor solution of the ISI-3 identity commitment, and the three-factor structure of the U-MICS (i.e. commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment). Additionally, theoretically consistent and meaningful associations among the ISI-3, U-MICS, and Ego Identity Process Questionnaire (EIPQ) confirmed convergent validity. Overall, the results of the present study indicate that the French versions of the ISI-3 and UMICS are useful instruments for assessing identity styles and processes, and provide additional support to the cross-cultural validity of these tools.     

Global versus domain-specific statuses in identity research: a comparison of two self-report measures

The present study explored the potential usefulness of global identity statuses (ideological identity) as opposed to domain-specific statuses (occupation, religion, politics) using self-report measures rather than identity interviews. A total of 339 college students from two colleges in Belgium (Europe) completed both the Extended Objective Measure of Ego-Identity Status (EOM-EIS) and the Dellas Identity Status Inventory - Occupation, Religious Beliefs, Political Ideology (DISI-ORP). Four types of evidence argued in favour of domain-specific statuses (i.e. low convergence in identity status across domains, moderate convergence between global and domain-specific identity statuses, significant gender differences in domain-specific but not in global identity statuses, and significant associations between identity process and identity content in congruent but not in incongruent domains). In line with earlier research using identity status interviews, it was concluded that adolescent identity is not to be considered a unitary construct and the use of domain-specific identity statuses is recommended whenever possible. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed in terms of adolescents' temporal spacing of identity concerns. Finally, the limitations of identity questionnaires (additive approach to global identity statuses) are pointed out. Identity interviews (indicative approach to global statuses) can yield a very different picture of identity.     

Adaptive regression and ego identity

An inventory of adaptively regressive experiences (Taft Ego Permissiveness Inventory) and the Identity Status Interview were administered to 71 college students (35 female, 36 male). As hypothesized, Moratorium status individuals (actively engaged in identity formation) showed a greater disposition to adaptive regression than did individuals in other statuses. This supports the view that adaptive regression may serve an important function in the identity formation process. Contrary to hypothesis, Achievement status individuals did not show greater disposition to adaptive regression than those in Foresclosure status. Females showed substantially greater disposition to adaptive regression than did males.     

Predicting identity consolidation from self-construction, eudaimonistic self-discovery, and agentic personality

The present study was conducted to ascertain the extent to which three alternative perspectives on identity development (self-construction, eudaimonistic self-discovery, and agentic personality) relate to various indices of identity consolidation drawn from Erikson, identity status, and identity capital. A total of 183 participants (21% males; 78% ethnic minorities) completed measures drawn from Eriksonian, identity status, self-construction, eudaimonistic self-discovery, and identity capital perspectives. Self-construction, eudaimonistic self-discovery, and agentic personality (as operationalized within the identity capital model) each showed differential patterns of relationships to measures of identity consolidation, suggesting that all three strategies can be used to develop a sense of identity.     

Assessment of identity development and identity diffusion in adolescence - Theoretical basis and psychometric properties of the self-report questionnaire AIDA

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: In the continuing revision of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V) "identity" is integrated as a central diagnostic criterion for personality disorders (self-related personality functioning). According to Kernberg, identity diffusion is one of the core elements of borderline personality organization. As there is no elaborated self-rating inventory to assess identity development in healthy and disturbed adolescents, we developed the AIDA (Assessment of Identity Development in Adolescence) questionnaire to assess this complex dimension, varying from "Identity Integration" to "Identity Diffusion", in a broad and substructured way and evaluated its psychometric properties in a mixed school and clinical sample. METHODS: Test construction was deductive, referring to psychodynamic as well as social-cognitive theories, and led to a special item pool, with consideration for clarity and ease of comprehension. Participants were 305 students aged 12-18 attending a public school and 52 adolescent psychiatric inpatients and outpatients with diagnoses of personality disorders (N = 20) or other mental disorders (N = 32). Convergent validity was evaluated by covariations with personality development (JTCI 12-18 R scales), criterion validity by differences in identity development (AIDA scales) between patients and controls. RESULTS: AIDA showed excellent total score (Diffusion: alpha = .94), scale (Discontinuity: alpha = .86; Incoherence: alpha = .92) and subscale (alpha = .73-.86) reliabilities. High levels of Discontinuity and Incoherence were associated with low levels in Self Directedness, an indicator of maladaptive personality functioning. Both AIDA scales were significantly different between PD-patients and controls with remarkable effect sizes (d) of 2.17 and 1.94 standard deviations. CONCLUSION: AIDA is a reliable and valid instrument to assess normal and disturbed identity in adolescents. Studies for further validation and for obtaining population norms are in progress and may provide insight in the relevant aspects of identity development in differentiating specific psychopathology and therapeutic focus and outcome.     

Political, religious and occupational identities in context: placing identity status paradigm in context

This study critically contrasts global identity with domain-specific identities (political, religious and occupational) and considers context and gender as integral parts of identity. In a cross-sectional survey, 1038 Greek Cypriot adolescents (449 boys and 589 girls, mean age 16.8) from the three different types of secondary schools (state, state technical and private) and from different SES completed part of the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status-2 (EOMEIS-2). The macro-context of Greek Cypriot society is used to understand the role of context in adolescents' identities. Results showed that Greek Cypriot young people were not in the same statuses across their global, political, religious and occupational identities. This heterogeneity in the status of global identity and of each identity domain is partially explained by differences in gender, type of school and SES (socio-economic status). The fact that identity status is found to be reactive to context suggests that developmental stage models of identity status should place greater emphasis on context.     

A multi-dimensional measure of vocational identity status

Establishing a worker identity is among the most central aspects of the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Despite its importance, few measures with acceptable psychometric and conceptual characteristics exist to assess vocational identity statuses. This study reports the development and evaluation of the Vocational Identity Status Assessment (VISA), which is derived from established conceptual models and includes career exploration, commitment, and reconsideration dimensions. Results show that the VISA exhibited metric invariance across a high school and university sample. Cluster analyses demonstrated that the VISA consistently resolved six identity statuses across the two samples, supporting the previously established achieved, moratorium, foreclosed, and diffused statuses along with two additional statuses termed searching moratorium and undifferentiated. The identity statuses predicted differences in participants’ work valences and well-being with the achieved and diffused statuses respectively exhibiting the most and least favorable characteristics. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research based upon these findings are offered.     

Development and validation of the occupational identity scale

Ego-identity research utilizing Marcia's (1966) identity statuses has been prolific during the past 15 years. The four types of statuses--achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, diffusion--have become part of the ego-identity development theory. The development of a research tool to study further one of the dimensions of ego-identity development (occupational dimension) was perceived as a need. Therefore, items were created utilizing the criteria established by previous research and content validated by a group of experts. These statements were validated by 417 students from six high schools and colleges. Responses were analyzed and measures of construct and concurrent validity were obtained. Also indexes of internal consistency and item discrimination were estimated. Through factor analysis techniques, four factors were identified for the occupational identity statuses. They accounted for 49 per cent of the total variance. Reliability coefficients ranged between 0.70 and 0.87. Concurrent validity coefficients ranged between 0.38 and 0.79, when correlated with a similar instrument. After deletion of those items that did not contribute significantly to the validity of the instrument, a 28-item Occupational Identity Scale was established.     

The relative importance of identity status interview components: replication and extension

The present study partially replicates and extends the work of Rogow et al. (1983) in probing the relative importance of Ego Identity Status Interview components for both sexes. Eighty female and sixty male students attending a New Zealand university were given the Ego Identity Status Interview with identity components of occupation, religion, politics, and sex role beliefs presented in counterbalanced order. Subjects were then asked to rank components in order of importance to their sense of identity and additional identity contents were explored through open-ended questions. This investigation revealed few sex differences in terms of number of content areas having a common rating, hit rates between single or paired content areas and overall identity ratings, rank order for importance of identity contents, or reported areas of additional identity concerns. In support of Rogow findings, this study suggests that identity not be viewed as a unitary structure and encourages the reporting of both component and overall identity status ratings to allow a more comprehensive means of researching the identity formation process. In general, the identity status approach provides a useful model for clinical research of ego synthesis in late adolescence.     

The Prevalence and Incremental Validity of Identity Problem Symptoms in a High School Sample

This paper examines the expression, prevalence, and incremental validity of identity problem symptoms in adolescence. A sample of high school students (N = 140) aged 15–18 completed measures of identity problem symptoms, identity status, and psychological symptom severity. Findings suggested that 14.3% would meet DSM IV criteria for identity problem. Identity problem symptoms predicted psychological symptom scores beyond identity status, and identity status accounted for substantially less variance in psychological symptom severity when controlling for identity problem symptoms. Additional research on the relationship between identity problems and psychological adjustment is needed and greater attention to the role of identity issues in clinical practice is warranted.     

Comparing psychological and sociological approaches to identity: identity status,identity capital,and the individualization process

Psychologists have been studying identity processes at the intrapsychic level that resemble what sociologists have noted at the macro-societal level. Specifically, using the identity capital model introduced in previous issues of this journal (C?té, Journal of Adolescence, 19, 419-430; 20, 421-437), we explore a link between the psychologically oriented identity status paradigm, and the sociologically oriented individualization theory. The primary link between these two disciplinary approaches appears to be that the individualization process can be operationalized in terms of agency in identity formation. The relationship between agency and identity formation has been recognized by identity status researchers for some time, but primarily in terminology referring to the intrapsychic level; hence, in some respects, identity status researchers anticipated individualization theory. This link was empirically investigated in three studies of ethnically diverse samples. It was concluded, with a high degree of replication, that the identity statuses representing identity confusion (Diffusion) and identity synthesis (Achievement) appear to represent forms of default and developmental individualization, respectively. This comparison of similar elements between psychological and sociological perspectives may yield a richer understanding of identity formation processes, and help to pave the way for future interdisciplinary research..     

Moratorium-achievement (MAMA) cycles in lifespan identity development: value orientations and reasoning system correlates.

Three important questions emerging in identity research are: Why do only some persons with Foreclosed identities move on to Identity Achievement? Why do some Identity Achievement persons move "back" to Foreclosure? How can life-span identity re-formulation be accounted for? This study proposes that individual's positions on two variables, "instrumental vs. experiential orientation" and formistic vs. dialectrical thinking, may be important in answering these questions. Among 60 university students, 23 males and 37 females, those in an identity status characterized by formation and maintenance of structure (Foreclosure) were instrumentally-oriented while those characterized by openness to change and revision (Moratorium) were experientially-oriented. Similarly, more Moratoriums than other statuses were high in dialectic thinking. These results are discussed in terms of their theoretical implications for life-span identity development.     

Prayer in the lives of late adolescents

Prayer is a behavior that is performed by most people at least at some time, and yet social scientists appear to have neglected this topic. College students were interviewed, given the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status, and asked to keep 7-day diaries about their prayer activities, whether spontaneous or formal. Correlational analyses revealed a relationship between identity status and frequency of praying, as well as between identity status and commitment to religion. A qualitative analysis of the diary data suggested that prayer may be a revealing approach to the psychosocial lives of late adolescents, including their central concerns, temporal orientation, and the social bounds of their definition of self.     

Ego-identity differences among Anglo-American and Mexican-American adolescents

This study investigated potential differences in Ideological/Occupational and Interpersonal ego-identity among Anglo-American and Mexican-American adolescents. Subjects were 841 9th-12th graders attending high school in a southwestern state. All students were administered the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status to determine their level of identity diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and identity achievement. Multivariate analyses of co-variance with discriminant analysis were conducted separately for the two types of identity. Mothers' and fathers' education were included as covariates. Results indicated that Mexican-American youth are more foreclosed than Anglo-American youth in Ideological/Occupational identity, and may therefore be more inclined to adopt their parents' commitments to religious and political beliefs, occupational preferences, and philosophical lifestyles. Results also indicated that Mexican-American youth differ from Anglo-American youth in Interpersonal Identity as a function of grade. Discussion focused on interpretation of these results from both cultural and minority status perspectives.     

Negative response bias and the validity of personality profiles in neuropsychiatric assessment

Although symptom validity tests have become available to German test users during the last few years, there is very little research into measures of negative response bias in personality assessment. The present study investigates the effects of negative response bias as measured by the Word Memory Test (WMT) and the Structured Inventory of Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS) on self-report personality scales. A retrospective analysis was performed on data from 93 patients who had undergone neuropsychiatric assessment in the context of independent medical examination. Complete data sets were available for the WMT, the SIMS, and the Freiburg Personality Inventory-Revised (FPI-R). Significant differences were found for a number of personality scales, depending on WMT and SIMS classification. The FPI-R validity scale (Openness) was linked to neither WMT nor SIMS, whereas the results in the latter two instruments showed a significant overlap of classification results (phi=0.44). A principal axis analysis yielded corresponding results. It is concluded that self-report personality measures may be considerably distorted by negative response bias. FPI-R Openness scale scores do not allow any interpretation in terms of negative response bias. More effort should be directed in German-speaking countries towards the development and validation of appropriate validity scales.     

Agentic personality as mediator of social capital on developmental outcomes in the transition to adulthood: Evidence from Shanghai,China

Drawing upon a sample of 1153 young people in Shanghai, China, this study investigates how agentic personality mediates between social capital embedded in a range of social contexts (family, friendship, association, and linking connection) and developmental outcomes during the transition to adulthood. The results of a structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis provide a good fit for the sample as a whole. The overall findings support the hypotheses that a higher level of agentic personality, including resilience, self-efficacy, and self-esteem, is associated with higher levels of developmental outcomes. Agentic personality also mediates the effects of family, friendship, associational, and linking social capital on developmental outcomes. Family social capital is predictive of university students' identity achievement and academic achievement, but not of their mental health. Linking social capital is only predictive of identity achievement. Unexpectedly, friendship social capital and associational social capital are predictive of a lower level of academic achievement and mental health, respectively, despite their positive influences on all three developmental outcomes through their significant effects on agentic personality. The study provides empirical support for the importance of social capital in promoting young people's transition to adulthood. Implications for theory, practice, and policy are also discussed.     

Identity statuses and psychosocial functioning in Turkish youth: A person-centered approach

In the present study, we tested whether the five identity statuses of the original Meeus–Crocetti model could be extracted in a Turkish sample. Their three-factor model of identity was used to examine identity formation. Participants were 1201 (59.6% females) youth aged between 12 and 24 years (M_age = 17.53 years, SD_age = 3.25). Findings revealed that the five identity statuses extracted in previous studies (Crocetti, Rubini, Luyckx, & Meeus, 2008; Crocetti, Schwartz, Fermani, Klimstra, & Meeus, 2012) also emerged in a sample of Turkish adolescents and emerging adults. Findings indicated that gender and age affected the distribution of the individuals among the five identity statuses. Furthermore, individuals in the five identity statuses represented distinct profiles according to personality and self characteristics, problem behaviors and well-being, and interpersonal and group relationships. Finally, the status × age interactions indicated that the searching moratorium status became more problematic with age. Implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed.     

Vocational identity and psychological adjustment: A study in French adolescents and emerging adults

The aim of the present research was to study vocational identity in French adolescent and emerging adult students by using a French adaptation of the Vocational Identity Status Assessment (VISA), and to analyze the links between vocational identity formation and negative and positive psychological adjustment. Participants were 1077 French students who completed self-report scales about vocational identity, depression and satisfaction with life. The French version of the VISA showed good psychometric properties and six identity statuses were derived by means of cluster analysis: achievement, foreclosure, moratorium, searching moratorium, diffused diffusion and carefree diffusion. The main findings show that diffused diffusion and moratorium represent the dark sides of identity because of their negative psychological adjustment, and that the two processes of reconsideration of commitment were differently associated with psychological adjustment. These findings demonstrate that clinical interventions should be adapted to the individual's identity profile.