Abstract: This article reports on a qualitative strategy designed to study the intersection of sexual, ethnoracial, and gender identities, and how people who hold those identities interact with social contexts. Researchers often study identities as isolated constructs (e.g., “Latino,” “gay”) and by using separate measures to characterize each construct. This approach may be helpful depending on the questions asked, but it can also miss important elements of a self-system, such as those that stem from the intersection of identities or from people's interactions with social contexts. The strategy suggested in this article can help researchers overcome these limitations. It allows researchers to study how people craft their identities over time, through recurring and sometimes conflicted negotiations with institutional settings such as those of the church, family, and work.

Abstract: Sexual identity has been substantially underinvestigated relative to other aspects of identity. The purpose of this study was to document the relationship between sexual psychosocial maturity, positive sexual self-concepts, and effective sexual decision-making/coping styles with the identity processes that college students choose to use in defining their sexual self. Participants in the study were 275 undergraduate male and female students between the ages of 18 and 24 who were attending a liberal arts college in New Jersey. A sexual domain of the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (EOM-EIS) recently developed was used in this study to investigate sexual self-definitional processes. It was found that sexual identity achievement was most strongly endorsed and sexual identity diffusion was least endorsed, across age and gender, suggesting that this is an important domain of self-definition for college students. As hypothesized, sexual identity achievement had the strongest, positive relations...

Abstract: This study examined the relationship between identity status, rebelliousness, and risk-taking behavior. A hundred and thirty nine young adults responded to (a) the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status, (b) a multi-faceted rebelliousness measure and (c) a measure of risk-taking behavior. The rebelliousness measure consisted of scales for current levels of telic, hedonistic, fantastic, anarchistic, and defiant rebellion, as well as for level of past rebelliousness. Results indicated that a link exists between identity status, rebelliousness, and risk taking among this sample. The moratorium identity status was positively associated with all levels of current rebelliousness except for anarchistic rebellion. Moratorium was additionally positively associated with risk-taking behavior. The identity achievement status was positively linked to the level of past rebelliousness, but was not associated with any of the current rebelliousness measures except for a negative relation with anarchistic rebell...

Abstract: This article explores the meaning of spirituality in adult identity development based on the published and unpublished writings of Erik Erikson. Erikson's unpublished Harvard University and related papers are the nucleus of this article, and his 120+ publications buttress that material. I situate Erikson as the trans-Freudian originator of the psychosocial identity construct who imported philosophical thought, poetic and ancient writings, and scripture into his theorizing. Explored is the trajectory that Erikson framed, that of the development of morality → ideology → aesthetics → mature ethics. Erikson framed the best of maturity in the ego identity of what he called the moral-ethical, spiritual human. This human is one with a horizontal, earthly identity and a vertical, transcendent identity.

Abstract: Identity theorists have often assessed spiritual identity as one of many components of a person's ego identity under the assumption that spirituality structures the self and promotes outcomes consonant with other domains of identity. In this article, we analyze presuppositions implicit in this assumption. Drawing from a qualitative study of spiritually devout women and men, we probe whether existing operationalizations of Erikson's theory accurately conceptualize the narratives of spiritually devout women and men. In places where existing operationalizations seem inadequate, we offer several directives for future theoretical construction.

Abstract: Though exploration of religion has been considered an important part of identity since Erikson's original work, little research has explored the connection explicitly. This study investigated the relationship between identity and faith development in undergraduates (N = 153) from a private, Catholic university and a public college. Participants completed measures of identity style, identity distress, spiritual exploration (willingness to question beliefs, valuing doubts, openness to change), and strength of faith. Higher informational identity style scores related to stronger faith and higher scores on all measures of spiritual exploration. Higher normative style scores related to stronger faith and less value placed on religious doubts. Identity distress was related to greater questioning of beliefs and expecting future change in those beliefs.

Abstract: We examined the concept of “ethnolinguistic identity” in a national sample of 333 minority Canadian Francophone youth. Youth were categorized into one of four ethnolinguistic categories (integration, separation, assimilation, marginalization) based on commitment/affiliation and self-identification with Francophone and Anglophone cultures. Differences among categories were observed for activity-related identity performance, psychological engagement, and perceived impact of involvement. Youth in the separation category were most likely to use French in their activities and participate in a Francophone-sponsored activity. Integration and separation categories were characterized by the highest levels of psychological engagement in, and perceived impact on, personal well-being. Youth in the integration category reported the most positive impact on prosocial bonding. Implications and applicability of the concept of ethnolinguistic identity are considered.

Abstract: This study was designed to explore the potential effect of social desirability bias on two commonly used measures of identity. Participants (N = 80) completed the Ego Identity Process Questionnaire (EIPQ); the Identity Style Inventory, Revised (ISI3); and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale 2(10), a brief measure of social desirability. Results suggest that social desirability bias does not appear to pose a serious threat to the validity of identity research employing either the EIPQ or ISI3. There were no significant correlations between social desirability scores and scores on either of the identity measures. Concurrently, between-groups analyses revealed no significant differences in social desirability bias score by identity status or identity style.

Abstract: The past 10 years has seen an explosion of interest by psychologists in the scientific study of personal religiousness, spirituality, faith development, and religious maturity. For example, the Jou...

Abstract: Drawing on the work of Michel Foucault this article explores the ways in which the self has been limited by theories of social construction in philosophy and innateness in cognitive science and proposes an understanding of self-identity that places autonomy and freedom at the heart of ethical practice. I suggest that restrictions on the rational self place practices of freedom at the center of autonomous action. Improvisation is explored as a way of transcending the obstacles of innate endowment and social organization to create new meanings through communicative practice. Finally, the metaphors of construction inherent to the study of identity are questioned, and an open-ended language is proposed in their place. …the self is the new strategic possibility. Paul Veyne, 1997

Abstract: The current study is the first to report on the relationship between identity status and various facets of religiousness: faith development, religious commitment, and negative aspects of religiousness. In addition, multiple measures of religious commitment and faith development were used to allow for the generalization of findings beyond the limitations inherent in specific individual scales. Using a college sample (N = 228), the achieved identity status was positively associated with religious commitment; however, it was not related to faith development. As expected, individuals in the moratorium status were higher in faith development than diffused or foreclosed participants. The pattern of results suggests that the identity development statuses of achieved and moratorium relate significantly but differentially to alternative conceptions of religious development and maturity (i.e., sincere religious commitment and faith development).

Abstract: In moderate religious communities, adolescents and young adults are increasingly exposed to modern ideas and lifestyles and thus may face a potential tension between religion and modernity. The current study investigated the exploration processes of one hundred and four Jewish Modern Orthodox higher education students in Israel. The participants responded to semi-open-ended questionnaires regarding their way of coping with religious issues. A thematic analysis identified three different religious exploration styles and one non-exploration style. The findings concerning the character of the different exploration styles raise questions concerning long-held assumptions about the nature of exploration. The findings further point to the need for new conceptualizations in the domains of exploration and identity formation, particularly, but not only, in the domain of religion.

Abstract: This study was designed to investigate whether individual differences in young adults' identity processing styles predict aspects of personal wisdom (self-actualization and self-transcendence) and related outcomes (meaning in life and subjective happiness). Fifty-three men and 105 women completed self-report questionnaires measuring: identity commitment; identity processing styles (informational, normative, diffuse-avoidant); self-actualization (via autonomy, adaptation, and psychological functioning); self-transcendence (decreasing reliance on externals for self-definition, increasing interiority, and spirituality); meaning in life; and subjective happiness. Both identity commitment and an informational identity style were positively correlated with self-actualization and self-transcendence. When levels of identity commitment were controlled via hierarchical regression, self-actualization and self-transcendence were positively predicted by the informational identity style. Structural equation modeling fu...

Abstract: In this article, a grounded theory approach is used to explore notions of national and local identity held by two groups of Glaswegians: those residing in Glasgow and those living in England (sample size = 17). The data suggest that both groups have a strong sense of Glaswegian as well as Scottish identity, but there appear to be some differences between participants. Some Glasgow participants seem to identify more strongly with the negative prestige of Glasgow. For those living in England, a sense of being Scottish is more important than being Glaswegian as it allows a clear differentiation from being English. Neither group felt that a sense of Britishness forms a strong part of their identity as this has English connotations.

Abstract: This study examined the concurrent and predictive relationships between identity-related processes of commitment and exploration, emotional autonomy quality-related constructs of separation and detachment, and subjective well-being, measured through life satisfaction. Four hundred and sixty-one middle-adolescents (227 boys, 234 girls) completed measures of identity, emotional autonomy quality, and satisfaction within different domains. Results showed concurrent and predictive positive relations between commitment, separation and satisfaction with self, and negative relations between exploration, detachment, and satisfaction with self. Results also showed that the relation between satisfaction with self and detachment was different for adolescents who had high levels of commitment and low levels of exploration. Findings suggest a moderator role of high commitment and low exploration in the relation between detachment and self-satisfaction.

Abstract: Three studies were designed to investigate the strategic nature of a diffuse-avoidant identity style. In Study 1, individuals with a diffuse-avoidant identity style were differentiated from their informational and normative counterparts primarily by a reliance on strategies that enabled them to avoid self-relevant conflicts and problems and by the use of self-handicapping attributions that enabled them to excuse and rationalize negative self-relevant feedback. Study 2 revealed that diffuse-avoiders strategically attempted to circumvent self-diagnostic information by engaging in behaviors beforehand (i.e., listening to noise) that later could be used to obscure the causal bases of their performance on an evaluative task. Study 3 indicated that diffuse-avoiders looked to others for information about how to act and present themselves in social situations and they endorsed Machiavellian tactics such as using flattery and deceit to advance their self-interest. Results are discussed in terms of the strategic na...

Abstract: This study examined the effect of an adventure recreation program on adolescent identity development. Participants included 43 males and 45 females, ages 11 to 15 (M = 13.33, SD = .86). Twenty-two males and 23 females participated in the program, and the remaining youth served as members of a comparison group. Participants completed a two-week adventure program that included such activities as backpacking, mountain biking, white-water rafting, environmental education, and leadership training. The Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory was used to measure levels of identity, intimacy, and generativity, and the Identity Styles Inventory was used to assess informational, normative, and diffuse/avoidant approaches to identity formation. Results indicated that program participants experienced significant identity development when contrasted with the comparison group.