Development of Identity: Gender Makes a Difference

Abstract

Gender-based differences in the relation between Identity status and personality configurations of 200 male and female college students were studied. For statuses based on commitment (the Achieved and Foreclosed identities), the personality configuration of males and females was more similar than that of males and females in statuses lacking commitment (Moratorium and Diffused). Further, the importance of four personality dimensions that had been hypothesized (Grotevant, 1987) to promote identity development (ego-resilience, openness to experience, self-esteem, and self-monitoring) was found to vary as a function of gender, as did the self-descriptions of males and females in each identity status.