Identity Closure: A Fifth Identity Status

This study examined identity status and self-actualization of young adults (N = 41), who were administered a revised identity interview (based on Marcia's interview) and a measure of self-actualization (the Personal Orientation Inventory). A fifth status, identity closure, was added to account for status regression and re-foreclosure, found in previous studies. This addition prompted a revision of the operational definition of identity achievement to include three criteria: exploration, tentative commitment, and openness to alternatives. Open achieved individuals scored higher than closed individuals on the measure of self-actualization, suggesting some validity for the revised operational definition of identity achievement and providing support for Eriksonian theory. Theoretical implications and the development of a revised paradigm are discussed.     

Identity, the Identity Statuses, and Identity Status Development: A Contemporary Statement

The Utrecht Study of Adolescent Development (Meeus et al., this issue) provides new data pertinent to issues of identity formation addressed in earlier reviews of the literature, specifically, (a) the direction and timing of identity status development, (b) the relative stability of the identity statuses, and (c) gender differences in identity formation. Despite numerous differences from earlier studies in the samples studied, the instruments used, and the methodologies employed, the findings of the Utrecht study are generally quite consistent with theoretical expectations and previous research outcomes. Because of the size and scope of the Utrecht study, data on possible age differences in the frequency of specific patterns of intraindividual identity status change could be analyzed. This aspect of identity formation had not been previously investigated. Equivocal results were obtained. Possible explanations for the partial failure to confirm this aspect of developmental theory are discussed.     

From Social to Political Identity: A Critical Examination of Social Identity Theory

Interest in the concept of identity has grown exponentially within both the humanities and social sciences, but the discussion of identity has had less impact than might be expected on the quantitative study of political behavior in general and on political psychology more specifically. One of the approaches that holds the most promise for political psychologists is social identity theory, as reflected in the thinking of Henri Tajfel, John Turner, and colleagues. Although the theory addresses the kinds of problems of interest to political psychologists, it has had limited impact on political psychology because of social identity theorists' disinclination to examine the sources of social identity in a real world complicated by history and culture. In this review, four key issues are examined that hinder the successful application of social identity theory to political phenomena. These key issues are the existence of identity choice, the subjective meaning of identities, gradations in identity strength, and the considerable stability of many social and political identities.     

同一性与青年期同一性地位的研究 --同一性地位的构成及其自我测定

本文就自我同一性的诸问题进行了探讨,主要涉及自我同一性概念、同一性扩散、心理的延缓期几个方面;并介绍了中外有关自我同一性地位的研究的几项成果,包括马西亚(J.E Marcia,1964,1965)的研究、加藤厚(1993,1997)的研究和张日昇(1993,1994)对中国青年自我同一性地位的实证研究;此外,还介绍了自我同一性形成度的自我测定量表及测定方法.     

A Dual Aspect Account of Moral Language

It is often observed in metaethics that moral language displays a certain duality in as much as it seems to concern both objective facts in the world and subjective attitudes that move to action. In this paper, I defend The Dual Aspect Account which is intended to capture this duality: A person’s utterance of a sentence according to which φing has a moral characteristic, such as “φing is wrong,” conveys two things: The sentence expresses, in virtue of its conventional meaning, the belief that φing has a moral property, and the utterance of the sentence carries a generalized conversational implicature to the effect that the person in question has an action‐guiding attitude in relation to φing. This account has significant advantages over competing views: ( i ) As it is purely cognitivist, it does not have the difficulties of expressivism and various ecumenical positions. ( ii ) Yet, in spite of this, it can explain the close, “meaning‐like,” connection between moral language and attitudes. ( iii ) In contrast to other pragmatic accounts, it is compatible with any relevant cognitivist view. ( iv ) It does not rest on a contentious pragmatic notion, such as conventional implicature. ( v ) It does not imply that utterances of complex moral sentences, such as conditionals, convey attitudes. In addition, the generalized implicature in question is fully calculable and cancellable.     

Daydreaming, Consciousness, and Self-Representations: Empirical Approaches to Theories of William James and Sigmund Freud

In honor of Saul Rosenzweig's lifelong efforts to provide empirical tests of psychoanalytic theories, this paper has focused on a series of research approaches to examining the concepts of William James and Sigmund Freud relating to waking fantasy, ongoing thought, and beliefs about the self. Studies involving projective methods, psychometric analyses of self-report questionnaires, laboratory tests of daydreaming during signal-detection tasks, thought-sampling during natural daily activities and psychological correlates of actual-self and ideal-self discrepancies are described. Clinical applications of these methods are also presented. The findings in general point to the value of James's conception of conscious thought as an important basis along with cognitive unconscious processes for studying clinical phenomena, personality, and even the metaphors of dreams. Rosenzweig's emphasis on formal research testing of psychoanalytic processes is supported.     

Understanding Party Identification: A Social Identity Approach

Social identity theory holds that individuals derive their self-concept from knowledge of their membership in a group (or groups) and that they place value and emotional significance on that group membership, with resulting perceptual and attitudinal biases. Individuals favor the in-group to which they belong which they define against a relevant out-group. In this study, a partisan social identity scale was used to reinterpret perceptual features of partisanship through the lens of social identity theory. The social identity of political independents was also examined in an effort to explain the anomalous behavior and identity of partisan leaners. Social identity theory provided a viable alternative framework for understanding the common bipolarity of perceptions regarding the two major U.S. political parties. In addition, an independent social identification may, in part, explain the identity of partisan leaners.     

Identity and athletic retirement: A prospective study

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to reexamine the relationship between identity and athletic retirement using a longitudinal, prospective design.MethodOne-on-one, in-depth interviews were conducted with three male and three female university student athletes at three times: at the outset of their last season of competition, approximately 1 month after their retirement, and approximately 1 year later. The unstructured raw data was analyzed inductively following procedures established in the literature [Côté, Salmela, Baria, & Russell (1993). Organizing and interpreting unstructured qualitative data. The Sport Psychologist, 7, 127–137; Côté, Salmela, & Russell (1995). The knowledge of high-performance gymnastic coaches: Methodological framework. The Sport Psychologist, 9, 65–75; Miller & Kerr (2002a). The athletic, academic, and social experiences of intercollegiate student-athletes. Journal of Sport Behavior, 25, 346–367].ResultsThe findings revealed the participants committed themselves strongly to their athletic goals and anticipated disrupted identities upon retirement. As a result, they employed several coping strategies including the proactive diminishment of their athletic identities prior to retirement. Decreasing the prominence of their athletic identities precluded a major identity crisis or confusion upon and following athletic retirement.ConclusionsThe study concludes that the redefinition of self long before sport career termination may protect one's identity during this transition process.     

Counting by Identity: A Reply to Liebesman

David Liebesman (AJP, 2015) argues that we never count by identity. He generalizes from an argument that we don't do so with sentences indicating fractions, or with measurement sentences on their supposed count readings. In response, I argue that measurement sentences aren't covered by the thesis that we count by identity, in part because they don't have count readings. Then I use the data to which Liebesman appeals, in his argument that we don't count by identity using measurement sentences, in order to rebut his argument that we don't count by identity using sentences indicating fractions.     

Identity Development in Adulthood: A Longitudinal Study

Identity status interviews involving five domains of life (religious beliefs, political ideology, occupational career, intimate relationships, and lifestyle) were conducted with 249 women and men at ages 27 and 36. The results on overall identity and domain-specific identities confirmed our general hypothesis as to the strengthening of the commitment process: (1) stability was higher in the identity statuses involving commitment (identity achievement and foreclosure) than in the statuses not involving commitment (identity diffusion and moratorium); (2) an increase in the salience of identity domains could be attributed to an increase in the commitment process; (3) transitions into identity statuses involving commitment were more frequent than transitions into statuses not involving commitment; indicating that both identity achievement and foreclosure might be end points of identity development. It was concluded that the results pointed to identity development in adulthood rather than to a random fluctuation in identity statuses over time.     

Get Over It! A Multilevel Threshold Autoregressive Model for State-Dependent Affect Regulation

Intensive longitudinal data provide rich information, which is best captured when specialized models are used in the analysis. One of these models is the multilevel autoregressive model, which psychologists have applied successfully to study affect regulation as well as alcohol use. A limitation of this model is that the autoregressive parameter is treated as a fixed, trait-like property of a person. We argue that the autoregressive parameter may be state-dependent, for example, if the strength of affect regulation depends on the intensity of affect experienced. To allow such intra-individual variation, we propose a multilevel threshold autoregressive model. Using simulations, we show that this model can be used to detect state-dependent regulation with adequate power and Type I error. The potential of the new modeling approach is illustrated with two empirical applications that extend the basic model to address additional substantive research questions.     

Age-Related Differences in Identity Style: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

The Identity Style Inventory–Revised for a Sixth-Grade Reading Level (ISI-6G) was administered to samples of community college students (N = 99) and middle school and high school students (N = 320). Tests of between-groups differences indicated that the college sample had a significantly lower mean diffuse-avoidant score on the ISI-6G than the middle and high school sample. In terms of actual assignment to identity styles, college students were significantly more likely to be classified as informational or normative, while the younger students were more likely to be diffuse-avoidant. The mean ages of participants for each of the three identity styles were compared, and it was found that diffuse-avoidant participants had the lowest mean age (15.54 years), while individuals with an informational orientation had the highest mean age (17.20 years). Results suggest that, in general, identity style evolves with age and maturity and the general trajectory or progression involves movement away from a diffuse-avoidant orientation. Findings are discussed in terms of current knowledge of neurocognitive development during adolescence and early adulthood.     

The Misunderstood Gender: A Model of Modern Femme Identity

Femme identity remains a highly controversial topic. It has been maligned in both heterosexual and queer contexts, and is rarely represented in empirical literature. In this study we examined how femme women experience their own gender identity. Interviews were conducted with femme-identified lesbians; the focus was upon 4 content areas: identity development, experiences in the lesbian community, heterosexual society, and romantic relationships. The interviews were analyzed using Grounded Theory (B. J. Glaser & A. Strauss, 1967), an empirical method of generating models of subjective phenomena. The core category in this model Maintaining integrity: Upholding beliefs about sexual desire and gender representation reflects the need to uphold their sense of integrity across a variety of contexts by confronting stereotypes about both women and lesbians.     

The Biracial Identity Development Model: A Needed Addition

The author presents demographic information about biracial persons, reviews previous models of racial identity development, discusses their shortcomings when applied to biracial persons, and then presents a new model of racial identity development focusing on the unique aspects of the experience of biracial individuals in the United States. In addition, the author presents several important counseling implications suggested by the model and discusses areas of future research and theory building.