A total of 80 females were drawn randomly from a larger pool of subjects who had been identified as having either diffusion, iforeclosure, moratorium, or identityachievement statuses. Each subject completed a personality measure and engaged in a social-influence experiment with a same-sex or opposite-sex peer confederate. Theoretically appropriate differences between the four identity statuses were observed on the personality measure, and different social-influence behavioral styles were noted between the lower and advanced identity statuses. Some, differences were observed due to the sex composition of the dyadic social-influence setting. Since Marcia's (1966) operationalization of Erikson's (1968) notions on the identity-formation process, numerous longitudinal studies (e.g., Adams & Fitch, 1982;Waterman, Geary, & Waterman, 1974;Waterman & Goldman, 1976) have documented the progressive developmental shifts in identity during late adolescence. These data indicate over time that youths with diffusion or foreclosure statuses are likely to move into moratorium or identityachievement statuses. The four identity statuses, based on experience with crisis and selfdefined commitment, are specified accordingly: (a) Diffusion status involves persons who have not had a reported crisis period and who cannot define specific, meaningful commitments; (b) foreclosure status refers to individuals who have made a commitment without an exploration or crisis period; (c) moratorium status involves a period of crisis; and (d) identity achievement refers to the establishment of commitment after an experience with exploration or crisis. Whereas sex differences may be anticipated in the developmental formation of identity, Waterman (1982) has concluded that "comparisons of the patterns of identity formation shown by males and females yield far more evidence of similarities than differences" (p. 355). Thus, intraindividual change Requests for reprints should be sent to
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