Identity Status in Late Adolescents: Scoring Criteria

Abstract

The scoring criteria presented in this chapter are intended for use with late adolescents, aged 18 to 22.¹ The dual processes of exploration and commitment are the primary scoring considerations. The criteria are somewhat more stringently applied for this age than for early and middle adolescence. The reasons for this difference are directly related to the developmental theory of identity formation. Early adolescence may be seen as a period of destructuring, wherein previous cognitive, psychosexual, and physiological accomplishments undergo transition to a more pre-adult form. Middle adolescence can be construed as a restructuring phase in which new organizations of old and new skills are formed. Late adolescence, in contrast to the two earlier periods, is seen as a period of consolidation, of discernible identity composition, and of testing in the world the newly constructed identity. Hence, late adolescence is the period in the life cycle when for most persons identity “gets done” for the first time.