Abstract
Eighty college males were given an expanded identity status interview which included two new interpersonal-sexual areas, “attitudes towards sexual expression” and “sex-role beliefs.” The relative contribution of the new content areas as well as of the standard three areas (occupation, religion, and politics) to overall identity status was assessed by noting the extent of correspondence. Identity status in each content area was also compared with performance on the dependent variable of cognitive complexity. Ideology contributed more than occupation both to overall status rating, as well as to discrimination on the dependent variable. Results on the two new areas supported the view that interpersonal-sexual concerns are important for men's identity development as well as for women's. The finding that all interview areas corresponded well with overall identity status and discriminated significantly on the dependent measure leads to the suggestion that the process variables of crisis and commitment may so overshadow a particular content area that any content of personal relevance for the late adolescent might be used in investigating ego identity development.
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Received her M.A. from the University of Chicago in 1979. Research interest is ego identity in adolescence.
Received his Ph.D. from the Ohio State University in 1964. Research interest is construct validation of ego psychoanalytic theory.
Received his M.A. from Simon Fraser University in 1981. Research interests are personality factors in strategic interaction, speech-act theory, and cognitive complexity in religious and political rhetoric.
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Rogow, A.M., Marcia, J.E. & Slugoski, B.R. The relative importance of identity status interview components. J Youth Adolescence 12, 387–400 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02088722
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02088722