A longitudinal study of ego identity development at a liberal arts college

Abstract

Ego identity development in the areas of occupational choice, religion, and political ideology was studied using Marcia's categorization system. The results indicated a significant increase in the frequency of the identity achiever status for occupational choice and corresponding decreases in the frequency of the moratorium and identity diffusion statuses. A significant decrease in the frequency of foreclosures on religion was also found. In those instances where students underwent an identity crisis, the probability of resolving it successfully was very high. High scores on the Cultural Sophistication scale of the College Student Questionnaire-Part 1 were found to be associated with presence in the identity achievement status. For students not in the achiever status as freshmen, an interest in various literary and art forms was predictive of becoming an achiever while in college.

On the Progression and Stability of Adolescent Identity Formation: A Five‐Wave Longitudinal Study in Early‐to‐Middle and Middle‐to‐Late Adolescence

“…A limited number of longitudinal studies (Adams & Fitch, 1982;Dellas & Jernigan, 1987;Kroger, 1988;Meeus, Iedema, Helsen, & Vollebergh, 1999;Waterman, Geary, & Waterman, 1974;Waterman & Goldman, 1976;Waterman & Waterman, 1971) have tested whether transitions out of some statuses (e.g., diffusion) are more prevalent than transitions into those statuses. The available findings suggest that in cases where adolescents do change statuses, more adolescents move out of diffusion than into it (in about 30% of the studies), more into than out of achievement (in about 50% of the studies), more out of than into foreclosure (in about 22% of the studies), and more out of than into moratorium (in about 29% of the studies).…”

Identity Styles, Mental Health and Socio-economic Status of Iranian Late Adolescents

“…These findings are consistent with the results presented by (Berzonsky, 2000;Farsinejad, 2004). Adams and Fitch (1982) Waterman et al (1974 as well as Waterman and Goldman (1976) showed over time sense of personal identity increases (Waterman, 1974;Adams, 1982;Waterman, 1999). Akhavan (2004) also found that there was no relationship between the individual characteristics (age, sex, and years of education), physical structure of the family (number of children, sex of the children, and order of birth and social position of the parents) and the formation of adolescent identity.…”

Identity Development in the Learning Sphere Among Japanese First-Year University Students

“…Although a previous study found that the pattern of identity development for the liberal arts and engineering students is generally similar (Waterman and Goldman 1976), future studies should include samples with a more balanced composition.…”