The Status of the Statuses: Research Review

Abstract

Identity status research has spanned more than twenty-five years and more than 300 studies. Although not all are reviewed in this chapter, the ones that are covered give a fairly coherent picture of what has been determined with some certainty and what is questionable. The issues raised in the four extensive reviews of identity status research (Bourne, 1978a,b; Marcia, 1980; Matteson, 1975; and Waterman, 1982) suggest the structure for this chapter, which is divided into four sections: (a) Personality characteristics of the different identity statuses, emphasizing “the internalization of self-regulatory processes”; (b) Developmental aspects; (c) Gender differences and sex roles; and (d) Cross-cultural studies.