Abstract
Marcia's operationalization of Erikson's identity construct, the four identity statuses, was used in a study on late adolescent males in an African cultural context. Identity statuses were determined for 110 first-year university students in relation to global identity, as well as occupation, religion and politics, the content areas of Marcia's original Identity Status Interview. Personality dimensions were measured by the High School Personality Questionnaire and the IPAT Anxiety Scale. Contrary to findings obtained in Western settings, adolescents in the foreclosure status (global identity) displayed lower intelligence and concrete thinking patterns. Identity statuses relating to the individual content areas were both supportive and in conflict with findings obtained in Western studies, indicating possibly qualitative differences in an African situation.
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Alberts, C., Meyer, J.C. The relationship between Marcia's ego identity statuses and selected personality variables in an African context. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling 20, 277–288 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005373108406
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005373108406