Age differences in and correlates of identity status from college through middle adulthood

Adults ranging from 20 to 42 years of age were compared on the Extended Objective Measure of Identity Statuses, a questionnaire measure of identity statuses in the domains of ideological and interpersonal development. As hypothesized, compared to current college students, men and women over 30 years of age showed patterns of more mature identity development in both domains with the exception of foreclosure scores in the interpersonal domain that remained stable. Relationships between life commitments and identity statuses were analyzed separately for adults in their 30s compared to those in their 40s, revealing complex interactions with gender and normative cohort expectations. As hypothesized, relationships between identity statuses and adult commitments were more generally observed for the younger adult cohort, for whom individual differences in psychosocial development rather than age-related expectations might be expected to serve as determinants of early life choices.