Identity in Childhood and Adolescence

J.Eastward. Marcia , in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2001

3 Empirical Work: The Identity Statuses

The four identity statuses (Marcia et al. 1993 ) are ways in which a late adolescent might exist found to be dealing with the identity issue. They are intended to reflect, on a behavioral level, the nature of the identity construction described past Erikson. Criteria for determining the identity statuses are the presence or absence of exploration and commitment in the areas of occupation, ideology, and interpersonal values. Identity condition is typically assessed by means of a structured interview scored with a standardized manual, although sometimes a questionnaire is used. 'Identity achievement' persons have undergone a period of exploration and accept made ideological, occupational, and interpersonal value commitments. 'Moratorium' individuals are currently in the exploration period, actively searching amid alternatives. When this exploration process becomes emotionally fraught, these kinds of moratoriums are described as being in an 'identity crisis.' 'Foreclosure' persons are those who are committed in the interview content areas, but who came to those commitments with little or no exploration; commonly, they have adopted directions laid down for them past parents or other early on authority figures. 'Identity diffusions' persons are uncommitted in important life directions and are not currently engaged in a process leading to commitment (every bit are the moratoriums).

Over 35 years of research has established empirically some of the following characteristics of the four identity statuses. Identity accomplishment individuals accept been found to be resistant to experimental attempts to raise or lower their self-esteem, to be nonconforming to group pressure, to think effectively nether stressful weather condition, to apply the college levels of moral reasoning, to exist advanced in intimacy evolution, to be circuitous in thought processes, and to come from families where differences among members are acknowledged and accepted. In addition, they appear to accept a strong and autonomous sense of self, are capable of secure attachment relationships, and are realistically high in self-esteem and relatively unimpeded by rigid superego strictures.

Moratorium persons, like identity achievements, are relatively stable in self-esteem and not easily moved to adjust. Sometimes their level of cognitive performance exceeds that of achievements and they tend to function at the highest levels of moral thought. Occasionally, they vacillate between harsh self-judgment and lax self-permission. They are the lowest among the statuses in their endorsement of authoritarian values, probably reflective of their attempts to differentiate themselves from their parents. Their relationships with their families are ambivalent, and they tend to be somewhat insecure in their zipper, at least for the duration of their moratorium period.

Foreclosure individuals are the to the lowest degree cognitively flexible of the statuses and the most highly endorsing of authoritarian values, suggesting a relatively unmodified ego platonic. They employ conventional reasoning most moral problems and either acquiesce superficially to, or stubbornly resist, positions discrepant from their own. In relationships, they give the appearance, but non the substance, of intimacy. They describe their families in unrealistically ideal terms. In terms of zipper, they are about evenly divided betwixt secure and insecure attachment patterns.

Identity improvidence persons are vulnerable to self-esteem manipulation and get disorganized in their thinking when under stress. They are at the lower levels of both moral reasoning and capacity for intimacy. Diffusions experience a marked distance betwixt themselves and their parents, particularly the parent of the same sex activity, whom they feel that they can neither emulate nor delight. It is not surprising, then, that they are the most insecure in attachment among the statuses.

It should be kept in listen that most of the studies that have furnished the above findings have involved the apply of the identity condition interview, have been done in Western, technologically advanced countries, and nearly of them have involved college students. Withal, there have recently been a adequately big number of studies being conducted in developing countries and with other social classes and indigenous group, especially by Jean Phinney and her colleagues (see Roberts et al. 1999). Whether or non the foregoing descriptions of the identity statuses will obtain with these noncollege groups remains to be seen. 1 might look, for example, a foreclosure individual to appear differently in a civilisation that prizes foreclosure than in one valuing exploration and change. In any instance, the interview method would provide more than flexibility in such investigations than the more static questionnaire measure.

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Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Evolution

Li-fang Zhang , in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition), 2015

Enquiry on Identity Statuses

Much more than concerted endeavor has been devoted to studying identity statuses than to research on the Eriksonian stages. Since the mid-1960s, an all-encompassing body of research validating the construct of identity statuses has emerged. To appointment, several insightful reviews of empirical work on identity statuses take been published. This literature indicates that results from the existing work can indeed offer answers to some of the major theoretical questions centered on the nature of the construct of psychosocial development in general and on the nature of the development of identity statuses in particular. Such issues concern the process, domain, timing, pattern/direction, and stability of identity development, as well as the identification of correlates of identity statuses. In all the studies concerning the aforementioned bug, gender differences in identity development remain predominant.

The process of identity development refers to the particular identity condition typical of an individual'due south approach to arriving at one's cocky-definition. The key business here is whether or not one is disposed toward exercising sophisticated decision making, every bit in the example of a moratorium identity status individual or an identity achiever. The domain of identity development refers to the detail content areas in which one's self-definition is formed, including family unit, ethnicity, ideology, sex-role orientation, religious beliefs, and vocation. The timing of identity development concerns the specific time in one's life when identity activities are taking place in different domains. The primal question regarding timing is, exercise unlike domains become more salient for unlike genders every bit a function of dissimilar points within varying contexts? The pattern/management of identity evolution concerns the trajectory of each of the four identity statuses. The basic developmental assumption is that all individuals go through identity diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and identity achievement – in that society. Finally, a related issue is the stability (or changeability) of identity statuses. The chief question here is, is it possible for individuals to regress from a more avant-garde identity condition to an identity status that is indicative of lack of identity maturity?

Several contained reviews of the literature (e.one thousand., Archer, 1989a; Cramer, 2000) have all concluded that adolescents and immature adults generally demonstrate increasingly more sophisticated identity activities with increasing age. They have further concluded that research strongly supports Marcia's (1980) hypothesis that identity is mainly formed between the ages of 18 and 22 years. Moreover, few gender differences be in the procedure, timing, and pattern/direction of identity development. The domains in which gender differences tend to be found are those of sexuality and family unit roles, which are likely to agree greater salience for women than for men. Further with respect to developmental patterns, the fundamental developmental hypothesis of the identity status model assumes a decrease in diffusion and foreclosure and an increment in achievement during the course of development. However, comprehensive reviews of the literature (Archer, 1989a; Kroger et al., 2010) have consistently pointed out that, although developmental shifts are largely progressive, regressions practice occur.

Kroger et al. (2010) examined the stability (or change) of developmental patterns of identity status during adolescence and young machismo through meta-analysis of 124 studies published betwixt 1966 and 2005. Results from 11 longitudinal studies showed that the mean proportion of adolescents making progressive identity condition changes was 36%, compared with 15% who made regressive changes and 49% who remained stable. Cross-exclusive studies indicated that the mean proportion of moratorium individuals rose steadily to historic period 19 years and declined thereafter, while the mean proportion of identity achievers rose between belatedly adolescence and young adulthood; foreclosure and diffusion statuses declined over the loftier schoolhouse years, but fluctuated throughout late adolescence and young adulthood.

Together, these reviews suggest that, although at that place is a general tendency for individuals' identity statuses to progress from diffusion to foreclosure, to moratorium, and finally to achieved identity, the trajectory of identity development is nonlinear. The exploration-delivery processes underlying the identity statuses are lifelong.

Finally, identifying the correlates of the choice of developmental pathways has been a research interest of scholars for a long time. As early on as 1958, Hartmann conjectured that those who accomplish more adaptive identity statuses would tend to function better in educational, personal, and social domains. Such an insightful supposition has long been empirically supported. More than three decades ago, Marcia's (1980) extensive review of the identity literature showed that identity achievement (and moratorium to a bottom extent) tended to be associated with psychological variables commonly perceived to be desirable, whereas identity diffusion (and foreclosure to a bottom degree) tended to be associated with psychological variables commonly deemed to be undesirable. Throughout the years, reviews of a similar nature focusing on different variables have reached the same conclusion – that identity accomplishment carries the most adaptive value, whereas identity diffusion is the about detrimental to related aspects of psychological functioning, learning, and development, with moratorium being the second most beneficial and foreclosure being the second most dissentious (eastward.1000., Hoegh and Conservative, 2002).

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Identity in Childhood and Boyhood

Jane Kroger , in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition), 2015

Empirical Studies of the Identity Formation Procedure

Erikson'south (1963, 1968) writings on identity have generated much research in the social sciences over the past v decades. 1 general stream of studies from the 1960s through 1980s focused on the role that 'Identity versus Role Confusion' plays in Erikson's eight-stage epigenetic scheme. A further stream of piece of work has focused on the 'Identity versus Role defoliation' job in relation to other variables (e.g., Berman, 2009 on identity distress and problem behaviors), while a third approach addresses other dimensions of identity that Erikson describes in his writings (eastward.g., Van Hoof and Raaijmakers, 2003; on structural integration). For purposes here, information technology is perhaps the expansions that James Marcia (1966, 1967; Marcia et al., 1993) fabricated to Erikson's model of identity development that take generated the greatest volume of inquiry over the past decades.

Rather than conceptualizing the task of Identity versus Role Confusion in terms of a continuum, with identity being an entity that one has 'more or less of,' Marcia instead proposed qualitatively different pathways by which belatedly adolescents approach the identity formation job. Marcia (1966, 1967) used the variables of exploration and commitment that Erikson had viewed equally central to identity evolution in adolescence to propose two ways by which one might establish identity-defining commitments, and two ways by which one might not do and so. Selecting the domains of vocation, ideology, and subsequently sexual roles and values that Erikson (1968) had described as the chief identity concerns of adolescence, Marcia developed the Identity Status Interview to place which identity arroyo (or identity condition) was well-nigh descriptive of the adolescent'south mode of approach in identity-defining decisions.

The identity-achieved individual has gone through a time of exploration, based on careful consideration of his or her own interests, talents, capacities, and values to form identity-defining commitments that fix one's directions in early adult life. Like the identity achieved, the foreclosed individual has equally strong identity commitments, simply they take been attained without identity exploration. Most commonly, late adolescent foreclosures will merely assume the values of significant others around them and adopt a type of conferred identity. Moratorium and diffuse individuals both lack firm identity commitments, only the moratorium is in the process of trying to find personally meaningful identity-defining directions, while the diffusion is not. There may have previously been a little identity exploration for the identity improvidence, or none at all. The identity diffuse individual may be unable to adopt meaningful identity commitments for a variety of reasons, ranging from severe psychopathology to a carefree, uninvolved approach to life, just 'going where the air current blows.'

Personality Characteristics

A number of personality characteristics have been associated with those in the diverse identity statuses (run across Kroger and Marcia, 2011, for a review). The identity-achieved individuals accept demonstrated resistance to experimental attempts to raise or lower their self-esteem, and they think effectively under stressful weather. They besides demonstrate high levels of ego development and moral reasoning, are non authoritarian in their values, and use an internal locus of control in decision-making. Moratoriums share many of these characteristics with the identity achieved, although that they may be more prone to using an external locus of control than the identity achieved. In addition, they take by and large high levels of anxiety relative to the other identity statuses. Foreclosures take demonstrated very high levels of authoritarian values, and they use an external locus of control. They also have very low levels of anxiety relative to the other identity statuses. At the aforementioned time, they accept shown rather high levels of self-esteem. The diffusions have generally scored high on external locus of command measures and low on measures of self-esteem, moral reasoning, and ego development.

Familial Antecedents

Much enquiry has focused on antecedents to identity development, including dissimilar resolutions to the 2nd separation-individuation procedure, styles of attachment, and styles of family communication. Relatively anticipated relationships betwixt the identity statuses and dimensions of the adolescent separation-individuation process have appeared, with the foreclosure status strongly linked to an enmeshed intrapsychic relationship to the internalized parent, while the moratorium and accomplishment statuses take not shown this loftier nurturance seeking need (Kroger, 1995). A recent meta-analysis of the relationship between attachment styles and the identity statuses found weak to moderate correlations betwixt attachment styles and the identity statuses, equally predicted patterns in the relationships appeared. Secure attachment was far higher amidst the identity accomplished compared to foreclosures and diffusions (Årseth et al., 2009). Many studies have examined family unit styles of communication in relation identity exploration and commitment variables also equally to the identity statuses themselves. Observational investigations of adolescents and their parents accept shown adolescent identity exploration to be positively linked with family communication processes of encouragement for cocky-exclamation, appreciation of separateness, permeability, and mutuality (Grotevant and Cooper, 1985). More recently, positive parenting during tardily adolescence has been linked with identity achievement and a more positive narrative resolution for a difficult life experience (Dumas et al., 2009). Additionally, accomplishment and moratorium identity statuses take been positively linked with clearer cribbing of parental voice in adolescent narratives (Mackey et al., 2001). Optimal identity development in boyhood thus points to resolution of the second separation-individuation procedure, a secure style of attachment, and authoritative advice styles used by parents.

Developmental Patterns of Change

Identity evolution certainly occurs over the course of boyish and adult life, and 1 might question the likelihood of dissimilar patterns of change and stability over time. Waterman (1999) has proposed a series of hypotheses central to an understanding of identity status change processes, and a number of Waterman's hypotheses have recently been tested through techniques of meta-assay ( Kroger et al., 2010). Waterman suggested that identity development from adolescence to adulthood involves a preponderance of progressive identity status changes (i.due east., diffusion to foreclosure, moratorium, or achievement; foreclosure to moratorium or achievement; and moratorium to achievement). Indeed, meta-analysis of longitudinal identity status investigations conducted between 1966 and 2005 revealed that a hateful proportion of 36% of identity status changes would be progressive in nature. Surprising was the mean proportion of 49% for stability in identity status over approximately 3   years during late adolescence.

Waterman (1999) besides proposed that over time the moratorium status would be the to the lowest degree stable; results of meta-analyses showed that it was, although the improvidence status was almost equally unstable. From cross-sectional studies, Kroger et al. (2010) also predicted from Waterman'southward (1999) hypotheses that there would be a subtract in the hateful proportion of diffuse and foreclosed individuals and a concomitant increase in the moratorium and accomplishment identity statuses from mid to late adolescence; nevertheless, from tardily adolescence to young adulthood, nosotros too anticipated an initial drop in accomplishment and moratorium statuses as youths entered college or adult piece of work roles, with a subsequent increment in these statuses over fourth dimension. Meta-analyses found full general evidence of these patterns. Possibly of greatest interest was the fact that only near 50% of samples were rated as moratorium or identity achieved in the 23- to 29-year historic period-group and only 68% were moratorium or achieved in the 30- to 36-twelvemonth historic period span. Information technology appears that past immature adulthood, many have not established a sense of their own identity – a task that Erikson considers fundamental to adolescence.

Epigenetic Consequences

Identity resolutions accept consequences for the remaining Eriksonian stages of developed life: Intimacy versus Isolation, Generativity versus Stagnation, and Integrity verses Despair. Research to date has primarily focused on the relationship between identity and intimacy. A further meta-analytic study by Årseth et al. (2009) examines the relationship between identity and intimacy during young adulthood, statistically combining results from previous studies of this human relationship. Erikson's epigenetic theory was generally supported for men. High identity condition (moratorium and achievement) was positively associated with high intimacy status (intimate and preintimate), and low identity condition (foreclosure and diffusion) was as well associated with low intimacy status (pseudo-intimate, stereotypic, and isolate). However, the findings for women were more than complicated. Approximately 65% of women who were high in identity status were as well high in intimacy status. At the same time, however, women who were low in identity condition were most equally distributed between high and low intimacy status groups. Furthermore, the relationship between identity and intimacy status was much stronger for men than women ( p  <   0.001). For scale measures of intimacy, loftier identity status participants scored higher on measures of intimacy than low identity groups, with small to moderate effect sizes whether the sample was examined in total, for men just, or for women only. In full general, information technology appears that a foreclosed or diffuse identity resolution during late boyhood restricts the type of intimacy evolution that is possible during early on adult life for men and at least some women. Differing contextual opportunities for the two genders may serve as a moderator for the relationship betwixt identity and intimacy and further research is needed on this issue.

While research on identity and generativity status has been more limited, there now accept been investigations supporting Erikson's epigenetic principle on the human relationship between identity and integrity status during late adulthood. Perhaps the near recent and comprehensive investigation is that past Hearn et al. (2012). Hearn and his colleagues examined the identity statuses in relation to integrity statuses through the newly developed Self-Examination Interview. Results showed that some 86% of late life adults who were integrated were likewise identity achieved, while no despairing individuals were identity achieved. Those who were nonexploring (had non examined questions of personal significant), pseudo-integrated (fit the globe into simplistic frames and clichéd meanings), and despairing in integrity status were primarily foreclosed in identity status. Thus, those experiencing nonoptimal resolutions to Identity versus Role Defoliation announced limited in their resolutions to Integrity versus Despair in tardily adulthood.

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Gender Role Conflict and Intersecting Identities in the Assessment and Treatment of Culturally Diverse Populations

Genevieve Canales , Sofia A. Lopez , in Handbook of Multicultural Mental Health (Second Edition), 2013

III Summary of Recommendations for Assessment and Handling of GRC with Culturally Diverse Populations

In therapy with African American men, mental health professionals must, at minimum, assess racial identity. In general, Pre-See, Encounter, and Immersion-Emersion racial identity statuses are associated with GRC in African American, Asian American, and Latino men but there is no clan with Internalization. With Asian American and Latino men, racial identity appears to be less salient; therefore, with these clients, measuring ethnic identity, acculturation, and/or cultural values may be more informative. Therapy with Mexican American women and, probably, other women of color would benefit from the integration of female person cultural icons.

Additional data that is essential for a therapist to collect when working with all people of colour is identity prominence. Innovative, "right-brain" methods, such equally the diagramming exercise in Narváez et al. (2009), seem promising for obtaining such data. Returning to native cultures for healing concepts and practices is valuable; for example, Afrocentric concepts (Aymer, 2010), powerful female icons (Arredondo, 2002), and retraditionalization (Napholz, 2000). Gender role conflict occurs in many contexts. Thus, therapists not only must address the issue in therapy with individual clients in the function, merely must also become out into the community to meet African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinas/bone, and Native Americans; explicate therapy; and stimulate discussions about traditional versus expanded gender part definitions.

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The Assessment, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Mental Disorders among Muslims

Farah A. Ibrahim , Jianna R. Heuer , in Handbook of Multicultural Mental Health (Second Edition), 2013

C Acculturation Cess

Immigrant acculturation has been described by sociologists as multidimensional and multidirectional, and essentially disrupting the accepted developmental process (Berger, 2007; Phinney et al., 2006). The issue of acculturation is closely linked to identity development in the host culture. This makes understanding acculturation every bit a singular concept difficult considering nosotros accept to identify how the client's identity developed in the host civilization. Because traditional Muslim socialization from the Middle Due east, Africa, Asia, and Europe, it is clear that migration tin can disrupt several aspects of the developmental path. Established relationships get disrupted. Outset, there is the issue of zipper (Bowlby, 1980), and how this process tin go disrupted, past either arriving in the host culture as a child without family unit as a refugee, or losing parental support by trying to arrange and adjust to U.s.a. peer civilisation, and encountering disharmonize with family members. Second, during adolescence when there is then much stress and strain to develop an identity, we find Muslim immigrant parents fear American culture because they consider it toxic to adolescents because of racial prejudice, tearing gangs, addictive drugs, sexy clothes, materialistic values, and boundless selfishness (Berger, 2007). The process of developing an identity and acculturation tin can take several paths as a effect of these pressures. To add to this, the host civilization in the West may see the boyish as a threat and create weather condition that may pb to depression, feet, or fantasizing virtually seeking revenge.

To assess acculturation status, we need to also consider the specific identity status of the client. Marcia (1966) based his theory of boyish identity development on Erikson's (1950/1980) theory of psychosocial identity development and identified four identity statuses: identity diffusion, identity foreclosure, identity moratorium, and identity achievement. To combine these with acculturation, let us consider Drupe and Sam'south (1997) bidirectional model of acculturation. They propose that immigrants need to address the following questions as they adapt to the new civilisation: Do I want to have and work with the new civilisation (accommodation)? Or practise I want to stay with the cultural assumptions I take brought with me (separation)? (Van de Vijver & Phalet, 2004). The outset approach leads to bicultural acculturation, the second to separation from host civilisation. Two other outcomes are possible, assimilation, where 1 chooses to surrender original civilisation and adopts the civilisation of host culture, and marginalization, where the person no longer remains connected to the culture of origin or parents' civilization, and is unable to constitute strong ties with the host culture. We contend that the combinations in Tabular array 19.one are based on identity status in the host civilisation.

Tabular array 19.one. Identity Status and Acculturation

Identity Status Acculturation Status
Diffusion Marginalization
Foreclosure Separation
Moratorium Undecided
Accomplishment Bicultural

The human relationship between acculturation status and identity formation relates to the developmental procedure occurring in immigrants equally they try to make sense of their new culture. Identity diffusion would lead to marginalization, since the person would end up not connecting with the culture of origin or the host culture, due to indecision. Identity foreclosure would lead to marginalization because after trying to employ one'due south ain civilization and so the host culture equally a guide but not succeeding with either would atomic number 82 to beingness marginal to both cultures. Moratorium is the status where the person is still trying to ascertain what would be meaningful, due to conflict of values betwixt the host culture and the culture of origin. This status could lead to bicultural acculturation with identity achievement, or marginalization. Staying too long in diffusion can create confusion for the person and frustration for others, because the behavior is seen as unpredictable and erratic and would isolate the person. Bicultural acculturation and identity accomplishment are the healthiest outcome, since elements of the civilization of origin that are important to the person are retained, and elements of the host culture that are meaningful and useful for success are adopted. This would pb to a useful and meaningful identity and acculturation effect. Van de Vijver and Phalet (2004) note that in some countries, generally, 2d and third generation youth will show marginalization because they cannot connect with their parents' culture and values, and they are not able or immune to plant their ain identity.

Van de Vijver and Phalet (2004) recommend that measures for specific cultural groups need to be developed to assess acculturation based on the recommendations of the American Psychological Clan'due south Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (2011). In reviewing the literature on acculturation instruments for Muslims from Asia, Africa, the Heart E, or Europe, none were found (Taras, 2008). This procedure would involve clinical judgment based on immigrant identity development and acculturation processes, as identified in Table 19.1. Some other attribute that can impede or facilitate acculturation is cultural or racial identity. Immigrants with a cultural or racial identity that is at the Achieved Identity condition could adapt actually well to the host culture as they move toward bicultural identity and acculturation status. This perspective is based on the assumption that Achieved Identity status would parallel the last stage of racial identity development (Cross, 1995; Helms, 1990). In this phase, a person has come to terms with their race/civilisation and can appreciate the positive aspects of their own culture and can make conscious decisions about what aspects and values to adopt to be functional in the host or dominant civilisation. Other identity statuses may impede this level of development given the confusion in identity statuses associated with Identity Diffusion and Identity Moratorium. Identity Foreclosure is already express past an inability to move by parental or civilization of origin behavior, values, and assumptions.

Olds (2009) has proposed that religiousness and acculturation may be related; if a person is very committed to her or his religion, and migrates to another state where the immigrant's religion may not exist valued, this will lead to significant acculturative stress, and the person may cull to acculturate by separation from the host culture. Positive acculturation occurs only if the immigrant feels welcome and valued, increasing chances of an integrative acculturation or bicultural acculturation

Olds (2009) modified a version of the Bicultural Identity Integration Scale (BIIS; Benet-Martanez & Haritatos, 2005) for use with Muslims, called Religious-Cultural Identity Integration Scale (Olds, RCIIS, 2009). The BIIS examines the way in which individuals deal with the claiming of reconciling disparate cultural identities. Some may deal with this challenge by keeping these two cultures distant and distinct. Others may perceive a disharmonize and experience torn between these cultural identities. A positive aspect of the BIIS (Benet-Martinez & Haritatos, 2005) is that it examines identity integration from a nonhierarchical perspective. This approach is conducive to examining forms of identity integration that fall outside of the traditional ethnic immigrant-focused investigations of acculturation. Although these are promising developments, both scales demand further research for reliability and validity, and should be used with caution.

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Self and Identity Development during Boyhood across Cultures

Juan José Zacarés , Alejandro Iborra , in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition), 2015

Evolution of Personal Identity in Adolescence

Erik Erikson initiated a tradition in the study of the concept of personal identity. His involvement in this topic was clearly stated in his early work on World State of war II veterans, men who "did non know whatever more than who they were" and therefore provided evidence of a "distinct loss of ego identity." As Erikson (1968: p. 67) observed clinically, "the sense of sameness and continuity and the belief in i's social office were gone." This was the beginning time in his career that he formulated the assumption of the importance of a sense of identity for a healthy person. For Erikson, adolescence was simply completed when the individual could subordinate his childhood identifications to the choices and decisions he had to transform into meaningful commitments, which besides needed confirmation by a significant social community. Although it was during adolescence that the task of creating a sense of identity attained its greatest ascendancy, according to Erikson every crisis showed elements of this identity formation.

The work of James Marcia marked the kickoff of numerous critiques of the identity status paradigm, all with their origin in attempts to falsify Erikson'southward propositions in Ego Psychoanalytic Theory ( Kroger and Marcia, 2011). Marcia's primary task was to decide what appreciable referents were available that might point to the presence of an identity structure. Every bit no 1 can detect an identity, these appreciable referents were important if any empirical research was to be possible.

Marcia chose two dimensions, exploration (originally called crunch) and a delivery to empirically document the identity process. Exploration referred to some menses of rethinking and trying out various roles and life plans. Delivery referred to making a choice to adhere to 1'due south values, goals or beliefs in a given life domain and the ability to brand hereafter projections with regard to this pick. The four identity statuses based on the criteria of exploration and commitment were as follows: Identity accomplishment – when a person has undergone exploration and is currently committed; Moratorium – when a person is in an exploratory period and therefore bereft of commitments; Foreclosure – when the person has not explored merely is committed to i or more than choices; and Identity diffusion – when the person is characterized by a lack of both exploration and commitment.

Early research with identity status focused primarily on individual personality and cerebral and relational differences across the 4 different condition positions. Although the initial method for obtaining show of these statuses was the Identity Condition Interview, whose focus was deliberately qualitative and developmental, the most subsequent research has used questionnaires. Past means of questionnaires such as the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Condition, the iv statuses have been correlated extensively with dissimilar personality variables such as self-esteem, feet, moral reasoning, and ego development (Kroger and Marcia, 2011) with a view to finding differences betwixt the statuses that would imply changes in the underlying identity construction.

Achievement has been associated with balanced thinking, mature interpersonal relationships, and thoughtful consideration of potential life options. Individuals with foreclosure status are inflexible and defensive. They accept been associated with high self-worth merely also with rigidity, closed-mindedness, and authoritarianism. Moratorium is the identity status with the lowest level of well-existence and characterizes young people in an identity crisis. In many ways, they resemble achievement individuals in their cognitive complication and college levels of moral reasoning, even so they also demonstrate greater openness to feel. But this condition has a dual trait so that an individual in moratorium may be an explorer but likewise suffer paralysis. Improvidence is less homogeneous as a group, only individuals with this status share an inability to make definite commitments and pass up to explore options. Some diffusion individuals may go through life in a carefree, uninvolved way, while others manifest a severe psychopathology and swell loneliness.

It has been recognized that the main drawback of this quantitative arroyo based on the use of questionnaires was the creation of a 'static' sociological conception of identity, which was more interested in classifying individuals into categories (the statuses) than in examining the complex psychodynamic that Erikson had initially described. In view of this major drawback, at the beginning of the last decade, instead of answering calls to abandon identity status theory, some models were developed in order to extend or expand its original formulation. What emerged from these extensions of the theory were such original contributions as the works of Luyckx et al. (2011) and of Crocetti et al. (2008).

Luyckx and colleagues model subdivided exploration and commitment into 2 different processes. Exploration included exploration in breadth and exploration in depth. In the aforementioned way, commitment differentiated between commitment making and identification with delivery. Both exploration in breadth and delivery making are equivalent to Marcia's original dimensions. Exploration in latitude refers to the gathering of information about several identity alternatives (values, roles, careers, relationships, ideologies, etc.), while commitment making refers to establishing strong choices in different identity domains equally a consequence of prior exploration in breadth. What is new is the evaluation of those commitments, which were enacted previously. This delivery evaluation phase begins with exploration in depth, that is to say, a closer exam of those commitments after choosing them. Identification with delivery follows afterwards a period of exploration in depth in guild to integrate one's commitments into i's sense of self; in other words, identification with commitment is a measure of the degree of fit or understanding betwixt those commitments and i's own wishes and personal standards. The interaction of the 4 processes is far from being simply linear. Not only may exploration in depth influence identification with commitment, but also a lack of identification with delivery may influence the need for a prolonged exploration in depth of those commitments or a renewed exploration in breadth of alternatives (Luyckx et al., 2011).

Crocetti et al. (2008) provide a second new extended model of identity. In their studies, identity is operationalized every bit a three-cistron model with interplay among delivery, in-depth exploration (the extent to which individuals reflect on their commitments), and reconsideration of commitment (comparison of present commitments with alternative ones when the previous ones are no longer satisfactory enough). Individuals brainstorm the process in early boyhood with a gear up of commitments in at least the ideological and interpersonal domains. These commitments are explored through reconsideration of commitments and through in-depth exploration. Reconsideration compares present commitments to alternative ones and includes decisions nearly whether to change them or non. In-depth exploration is a continuous monitoring of present commitments with the function of making them more than consciously and maintaining them. In this model, delivery is non differentiated.

These newer distinctions of exploration and commitment offering interesting insights into the procedure of exploration. Luyckx et al. (2011) introduced the concept of 'ruminative exploration' to explain the paradoxical notwithstanding common association of exploration with both distress and openness to new experiences. Ruminative exploration refers to an obsessive business well-nigh making the 'correct' selection, with the result that the person remains 'stuck' in the exploration procedure. This recurrent finding was in fact due to the merging of multiple exploration processes, which had not been distinguished in the original identity status theory. According to said authors, exploration in breadth and exploration in depth are associated with the positive side of exploring new alternatives, ruminative exploration with the negative side of distress.

The introduction of new distinctions in the processes of exploration and commitment has understandably provided some additional variants in the original statuses (see Table 1). From the combination of the 3 factors proposed by Crocetti et al. (2008), five identity statuses emerge: accomplishment, early closure, moratorium, searching moratorium, and improvidence. From the combination of exploration in breadth, exploration in depth, commitment making, and identification with commitment, cluster assay identified the following statuses (Luyckx et al., 2011): an accomplishment cluster, some other of foreclosure, two variants of moratorium (adaptive and arrested), and ii of improvidence (carefree and diffused).

Table 1. Identity status classification equally per Crocetti–Meeus (shaded) and Luyckx models

Statuses Processes
Exploration in breadth Commitment making Reconsideration of commitment Exploration in depth Identification with commitment Ruminative process
Achievement High Depression High
Achievement Loftier High High Loftier Low
Early closure Moderate Depression Low
Foreclosure Low Loftier Low Moderate Low
Searching moratorium High High High
Moratorium Low Loftier Depression
Moratorium (adaptive) High Low High Low Low
Moratorium (arrested) High Low High Low High
Carefree improvidence Depression Low Depression Low Low
Diffused diffusion Low Low Low Low High
Diffusion Low Depression Depression

Some other recent contribution of these 2 extended models has been to answer the age-sometime question of whether any developmental sequence underlies the identity statuses. Recent meta-assay studies have tried to detect out whether identity develops progressively and whether identity statuses tin can be ordered on a developmental continuum. Kroger and Marcia (2011) discussed a review of 124 longitudinal or cross-sectional studies performed before 2005, with adolescents (xiii–xix   years of age) and young adults (20–36   years of age). Their determination was that the data by and large supports a developmental process of identity formation. This means that there are more than progressive than regressive developmental movements over time (D   →   F, D   →   M, D   →   A, F   →   Grand, F   →   A, Chiliad   →   A). Meeus (2011) concluded with respect to progression and stability that studies by and large show a developmental progress in personal identity during boyhood. But, in improver to progress, many cases of stability have also been reported since many adolescents and adults do not change their identity status, such stability being more common in machismo than in adolescence. Stabilities were more frequent in the high commitment statuses than in the diffusion and moratorium statuses. Information technology tin can therefore exist concluded that adolescents may follow two distinct paths on the identity status continuum: D   →   F   →   A or D   →   1000   →   C   →   A.

Recently, Meeus et al. (2012) have confirmed that information technology is meliorate to conceptualize accomplishment, moratorium, early closure, and diffusion equally trajectories rather than statuses. On this account, every status would be an instance of an "over time solution of the identity puzzle" (p. 1017). By combining the three dimensions of delivery, exploration in depth and afterthought of delivery they found the following trajectories: xv.8% of the respondents were classified within a trajectory of achievement, 39.6% inside an early closure trajectory. A smaller number of respondents, mostly early-to-middle adolescents, were classified in the trajectory of searching moratorium. xx.5% of the respondents were in the moratorium trajectory. In contrast to searching moratorium, the moratorium trajectory describes participants without strong commitments, which have not been processed actively. In addition, they manifest a high level of depressive symptoms. Finally, twenty.7% of respondents were in the diffusion trajectory. These trajectories are evidence of the richness and usefulness of Marcia's original work on status. Only in this instance, statuses are understood as long and stable trajectories instead of a path of statuses that must be crossed.

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Inventiveness and Identity

Stephen J. Dollinger , Stephanie Clancy Dollinger , in The Creative Self, 2017

Empirical Show

Until recently, few studies addressed the identity–inventiveness question. First, studying loftier school and college samples, Waterman and colleagues found that poetry writing—but not periodical writing—was significantly related to identity accomplishment (Waterman & Archer, 1979; Waterman, Kohutis, & Pulone, 1977). Moreover, in longitudinal research, the dimension of "cultural sophistication" (including artistic interests) predicted afterward identity achievement (Waterman & Goldman, 1976; Waterman & Waterman, 1971). Likewise conducting a longitudinal study, Helson and Pals (2000) studied graduates of a liberal arts college for women when participants were in their early on 20s and again in their early on 40s. These authors correlated California Q-sort personality descriptions with a prototype of the identity-achieved person (Mallory, 1989); each participant's similarity to this image was the mensurate of identity achievement. Helson, Roberts, and Agronick (1995) then used this measure to predict occupational creativity at historic period 52, based on the creativity implied by career choices and accomplishments. Controlling for age 21 artistic potential, identity achievement at age 43 indeed predicted creativity. Even so, an age 21 identity accomplishment measure and an historic period 27 "identity consolidation" mensurate did non predict historic period 52 creativity. Helson and Pals ended that creative achievement is associated with both intrapsychic and psychosocial personality development. The impressive Helson and Pals (2000) study focused longitudinally on real-earth creativity with follow-upward well into the participants' adult lives. However, the different results for the two measures of identity achievement raise questions, as does the lack of reported correlation between them. It would also be interesting to know whether whatever participants were in moratorium status in their early 20s and whether they became artistic in the process equally a consequence of their identity explorations. Nevertheless, the study does indicate the value of this research question.

As noted earlier, more recent scholars of identity have placed a greater focus on identity process rather than identity status ( Adams & Marshall, 1996; Berzonsky & Adams, 1999). Co-ordinate to Berzonsky (1989, 1992, 1994), identity development can exist conceptualized in terms of three social-cerebral styles of decision making, particularly decisions about the self. Self-explorers use an information orientation; before making identity-relevant decisions, they actively seek out and process information. These individuals are expected to internalize new possibilities for themselves and thus to enhance their creativity. The earlier status group of foreclosure is reflected in a normative orientation, consisting of a concern with the standards and prescriptions held past family unit and friends. Finally, uncommitted or diffuse individuals operate with a lengthened orientation involving abstention and procrastination. Thus, the latter style translates to letting circumstances dictate one's life paths. The latter ii orientations should yield less inventiveness than the more active advisory style. Berzonsky uncoupled the commitment and exploration components by including an identity commitment scale to his styles inventory, since commitment and exploration were confounded in past objective measures of identity status. Research on Berzonsky's Identity Styles Scale indicates that the dimensions have theoretically meaningful relations to identity status groupings, coping styles, need for knowledge, and openness to experience (Berzonsky, 1989, 1992, 1994; Berzonsky & Sullivan, 1992).

Dollinger and Dollinger (1997) constitute indirect support for the identity–creativity connection by examining the association of college students' identity statuses and styles with the richness of autophotographic essays (Ziller, 2000), a creative product adult to the question "who are you?" Specifically, university students' photograph-essays were rated by judges on a dimension of richness or individuality (i.east., more creative, aesthetically oriented, complex, cocky-cogitating, multidimensional, "1-of-a-kind" vs. repetitive, conventional, dull, and unimaginative). In categorical analyses, students in the achieved and moratorium statuses were judged to have richer photo-essays than those in the foreclosed and diffuse statuses. In a conceptual replication written report, participants scoring highest on Berzonsky'south informational style had the richest photograph-essays, followed by the lengthened and then the normative-preferring participants. In other words, the richness of cocky-descriptive photo-essays related to both identity status and identity way. Thus, individuals who engage in greater identity exploration depict themselves with greater individuality or richness in photo-essays, [for other relevant work, see Barbot (2008) and Barbot and Heuser (this book)].

The photo-essay process was also used in connection with Sampson'due south concept of the "location" of identity and Cheek's (1989) AIQ measure. Using multiple regression, Dollinger, Preston, O'Brien, and DiLalla (1996) institute that the individuality of photo-essays was predicted by the iii AIQ scales in simultaneous regression, with significant negative betas for Social and Collective Identity, and a significant positive one for Personal Identity. In short, those who depicted the greatest richness and individuality felt that internal or Personal aspects were most self-defining, whereas those devising stereotypic and less creative self-portraits focused on their external (Social and Collective) identity aspects as important.

Given that photograph-essay instructions prompt thoughts about who one is, the photo-essay in fact falls at the intersection of identity and creativity—because individuality/richness is measured with the consensual assessment technique. Thus, information technology represents a kind of creativity applied to the self. In this regard, in cross-sectional analyses, it is noteworthy that the individuality/richness of photograph-essays seems to increase with historic period, equally indeed does the inclusion of creative products every bit a category within photo-essays (Dollinger & Dollinger, 2003).

Using a variety of different creativity measures, Dollinger, Clancy Dollinger, and Centeno (2005) built on the previous studies by considering both Berzonsky's Identity Styles and Cheek'southward AIQ. Creativity was operationalized by judge-rated creative products (stories and drawings), self-reported creative accomplishments from the Artistic Behavior Inventory (Hocevar, 1979), ratings of an open-ended creativity dossier, and, finally, a measure of creative potential, the empirically derived Creative Personality Scale (Gough, 1979). We hypothesized that the informational orientation and personal identity scales would predict artistic potential, past creative accomplishments, and nowadays creative products over and higher up variance explained past gender and exact intelligence; we likewise expected that the normative and diffuse-avoidant styles, likewise as social and collective identity scales would relate negatively to creativity. Note that, unlike Helson and Pals (2000), our prediction was that information seeking rather than the achievement of an identity would be critical for adolescent and young adult inventiveness. We did not expect identity commitment to predict creativity considering, for this age group, a high level of delivery making might be viewed as "premature closure" and thus something that creative students would avoid. The five inventiveness measures were standardized and averaged for use as a creativity composite. In a hierarchical multiple regression, the outset step (gender and vocabulary) accounted for 11% of the inventiveness variance, primarily attributable to verbal ability. The second step consisted of either Identity Style Inventory (ISI) or AIQ Questionnaire scales. For the ISI analysis, an additional 10% of variance was accounted for, primarily due to information seeking and normative styles. Once more, data seeking led to greater inventiveness, whereas the normative style led to lower overall creativity. For the AIQ analysis, all three measures contributed to explaining an additional 13% of the creativity variance. As in Dollinger et al. (1996), Personal Identity contributed positively to creativity, whereas Social and Collective Identities contributed negatively. Thus, it seems clear that individuals who define themselves in terms of their social identities and group memberships score lower in creativity, whereas their counterparts with a stronger Personal Identity orientation depict on their less visible inner qualities as inspiration for their creative contributions.

Subsequent work with the autophotographic essay has produced a number of insights into the individualistic personality, specially in terms of their inquiring intellect and verbal abilities, general and political values, reading interests, and other kinds of creativity and linguistic processes in their written essay. This research is summarized in Dollinger (2017) so nosotros will note merely one finding here. Dollinger (2006) conducted a follow-up survey of students who devised photo-essays 5–9 years before. The follow-upward survey asked about creative activities and accomplishments, as well as awards and honors received. Five judges with varying creative backgrounds rated the typed responses. As an instance, one depression-rated response stated: "I have not had enough free time to pursue creative endeavors. My life since 1995 has been spent in pursuit of degrees, jobs, and licensure as a Clinical Professional Counselor." One high-rated response was: "I have taken oil painting classes and hand coloring black and white photos. I start an acrylic painting class this week." Considering Openness is consistently the best personality predictor of creativity (Feist, 1998), a regression model predicted postcollege creativity from individuality/richness ratings and this trait, both measured on average 7 years earlier. Whereas Openness did non make a significant contribution, individuality indeed predicted later creativity.

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Erik Erikson

Frederick Walborn , in Religion in Personality Theory, 2014

Marcia'south Four Identity Statuses

In 1966, Marcia published his first article on identity development. He classified people's identity formation into one of four categories based on whether a person had gone through a crisis and whether the person had made a delivery in an important surface area of life. One of these important areas of life concerns religious bug. The 4 identity statuses are achieved, moratorium, foreclosed, and diffused.

I prefer the term questioning rather than crunch, because many people question their religious/spiritual behavior, simply do not have to get through a major crisis similar to Luther's fit in the choir. Still, I utilize the term crisis because this is the term used in the literature.

The achieved and foreclosed statuses have made a commitment. The difference is that achieved people have gone through a crisis, or time of questioning their organized religion or spirituality. Foreclosed people, yet, have stiff beliefs and have made a commitment, but they have not gone through a crunch. That is, they just continue with whatever organized religion they were raised with and do not question that faith. Research does support that religiously committed people are more likely to exist of the identity achievement and foreclosure statuses, compared to the less religiously inclined (Markstrom-Adams, Hofstra, & Dougher, 1994; Hunsberger, Pratt, & Pancer, 2001; Tzuriel, 1984).

Fulton (1997) found identity achievement (crisis and commitment) people are more likely to accept an intrinsic religious orientation. That is, their practices of their faith are based on internal reasons and they are genuinely committed to their faith (Allport, 1950). Whereas foreclosed identities (no crisis, simply makes a commitment) are more likely to exhibit an extrinsic religious orientation. That is, extrinsically motivated people are more than motivated by external reasons, such every bit appearing to exist a good person; going to church or the temple is what they should exercise. With Mormon and Jewish participants, identity improvidence (no crisis and no commitment) are also more probable to be associated with an extrinsic religious orientation (Markstrom-Adams & Smith, 1996).

The moratorium identity condition (crisis but no commitment) is frequently considered to be the status of many adolescents and young adults in various areas of life. For example, it is common for college students not to accept made a delivery to a career; yet they are questioning or struggling, as apparent by the number of times that they change their majors. Inquiry does support that people with moratorium identities (crisis, but no commitment) are more than religiously doubting or questioning (Hunsberger, Pratt, and Pancer, 2001).

When religious people are in a crisis, or a time of doubting, do they seek people and literature that would back up their beliefs (belief-confirming consultation), or exercise they seek a residual and seek friends with no religious preference or fifty-fifty literature that is confronting their beliefs (belief-threatening consultation)? People who scored higher on identity achievement (crunch and delivery) tend to seek out belief-confirming and belief-threatening consultations (Hunsberger, Pratt, & Pancer, 2001). The identity foreclosed group (no crisis, but commitment) significantly sought less threatening consultation. They did not want to hear information that challenged their beliefs. The diffused group (no crisis and no commitment) did not seek out consultation.

Marcia's nomenclature of the 4 identity categories is promising for futurity inquiry. Even though identity accomplishment and identity foreclosed have strong beliefs, their cognitive rationales for their faith are substantially different. The identity achievement, afterwards going through a time of questioning and crisis, has affirmed their behavior. Whereas the identity foreclosed, likewise testifying to stiff commitment, accept never questioned their religion. It will be exciting to see what develops from future research.

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Early on evolution

Paula Thomson , Due south. Victoria Jaque , in Inventiveness and the Performing Artist, 2017

Individual identity versus identity confusion

The terminal stage of early development discussed in this chapter, individual identity versus identity confusion, takes place during late adolescence (18–24 years). Based on substantial encephalon research, it is believed that early machismo does non begin until after the brain is fully matured, a time period occurring afterward the age of 24–25 years (Casey et al., 2008; Spear, 2000). This late adolescent time catamenia is marked past greater individual determination to realize goals augmented by increased legal rights and privileges. It is also a time menses when career paths are explored, although oftentimes not fully acknowledged or solidified. Greater autonomy and self-sufficiency is attained and a deeper understanding regarding cultural norms and values are examined and either accustomed or rejected in accordance to a burgeoning sense of an adult identity (Newman & Newman, 2015 ). The earlier demand to identify with peer groups shifts to identifying with individual values and desires. These are weighted more than than group norms. This process can prove challenging if individual identity status runs counter to family or cultural beliefs. For example, this is a period when sexual orientation is fully best-selling; many struggle with concerns about acceptance or rejection from family, church, and/or community. Others may struggle with career choices that contradict family beliefs. Many performing artists struggle with a want to embrace a career in the performing arts, despite financial instability and disapproval from family members. During this phase of evolution, increased ability to manage stress is axiomatic, particularly when balancing educational, financial, and personal needs. If these challenges are not met, the late adolescent enters adulthood without a clearly defined sense of individual identity. Consequently, early adulthood becomes substantially more disruptive, in particular, at that place is greater difficulty in defining social roles, establishing intimate relationships, and engaging in meaningful careers ( Newman & Newman, 2015). If successfully navigated, Erikson'due south sixth psychosocial stage of development clearly prepares the individual to enter adulthood.

Along with private identity consolidation, the impulse to seek a mate potentially enhances creative productivity, although gender differences exist. Men tend to work more creatively regardless if the romantic human relationship is potentially long- or short-term; whereas, women tend to display greater artistic productivity when they are in safety long-term relationships (Griskevicius, Cialdini, & Kenrick, 2006). This gender human relationship pattern is developmentally normal during tardily adolescence, although it often persists into machismo. Clearly, establishing intimate relationships influences career stability merely also career stress for many performing artists. This topic will be addressed in later capacity that discuss attachment germination and career development (Fig. 9.2).

Figure ix.2. "Constraint or freedom." Performers: Sahara Ahal, Ashley Campbell, Tiffany Davis, Rene Garcia, Kelsi McRee. Photographer: Lee Choo.

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Creativity and Identity Formation in Boyhood: A Developmental Perspective

Baptiste Barbot , Brianna Heuser , in The Creative Cocky, 2017

Creativity and Identity Development in Adolescence

Boyhood is marked by intense biological, cognitive, and psychosocial changes, which take a profound impact on the development of both identity and creativity. Triggered by the onset of puberty, the asynchronous development of socioemotional and the cerebral control neurobiological system are the well-nigh characteristic features of the adolescent's brain context (Steinberg, 2008, 2009). As well acquired by new ecology demands (Kroger, Martinussen, & Marcia, 2010), these neurobiological changes (and associated cerebral development) underline the developmental task of identity formation, leading to the reorganization of cocky-representations (eastward.g., Harter, 1992) and personality maturation (Barbot, 2011; Branje, Van Lieshout, & Gerris, 2007; Klimstra, Hale, Raaijmakers, Branje, & Meeus, 2009). Indeed, this new identity "quest" also results from the emergence of developing cognitive abilities of formal operations, permitting abstraction, exploration of possible, and metareflection.

In Western societies, an adolescent's identity formation is often qualified as a time of "crisis" (Erikson, 1968), every bit information technology involves a pregnant amount of conflict and exploration engaged in the resolution of contradictions within the self. According to Marcia's (1966) identity statuses paradigm, a primal to forming a mature identity in adolescence is to formulate well-defined commitments, which refer to decisions, choices, or oppositions of the adolescent in relevant ideological and interpersonal domains of life (e.g., leisure, time to come profession, political opinions). In a time of uncertainties about one's cocky—identity formation being best described past the question "who am I?"—commitments can indeed provide the adolescent with well-divers self-concepts. For example, an adolescent who has firmly committed to athletics, such as being a soccer player, can ascertain herself or himself every bit a soccer player. As such, commitments reflect one'south sense of identity.

Still, Marcia points out that the relative "quality" of commitments depends ultimately on the extent to which an boyish has explored alternative commitments. Identity exploration entails the search for, discovery, and identification of possible commitments and sense of selves, specifically "who and what 1 might be" (Berman, Schwartz, Kurtines, & Berman, 2001, p. 513). Commitments that effect from an exploration phase are more articulated, and denote a more "mature" identity structure, referred to as Identity Accomplishment (Marcia, 1966). On the path to Identity Achievement, adolescents frequently experience a stage of "Moratorium" illustrating the adolescent'south "crisis" or "storm and stress." According to Marcia (1966) , this identity status is marked by a quest for delivery (i.e., intense exploration of possible) with an impossibility to crystalize any stable commitment. Equally pointed out in the subsequent text, this status has been unsurprisingly associated with divergent thinking (DT; e.g., Barbot, 2008), a key thinking process in creativity. Two other typical identity configurations are described by Marcia (1966), both marked by a lack of exploration: Identity Diffusion (adolescents have non explored meaningful alternatives and are not seeking to formulate commitments) and Foreclosed identity (commitments are firmly held, simply they do not outcome from a thorough, in-depth exploration). As outlined elsewhere (Barbot, 2008; Barbot & Lubart, 2012a), these configurations have an important relationship with the development of creativity considering each identity configuration is associated with a gear up of cerebral and conative features that are differentially related to creativity.

Given the typical turmoil experienced past adolescents, and the many reorganizations in the structure of identity throughout adolescence (at that place is no linear progression from Identity Diffusion to Accomplishment), it is not surprising that the development of creativity in adolescence is characterized past "peaks, slumps, and bumps" (Barbot, Lubart, & Besançon, 2016, p. 34). Triggered by neurodevelopmental changes (east.g., Barbot & Tinio, 2015), boyhood is indeed marked by the drastic development of higher cognitive functioning including DT. Although DT starts developing very early on (east.g., Bijvoet-van den Berg & Hoicka, 2014), boyhood represents a new turn in the development of this critical component of the creative potential, characterized past a discontinuous, multifaceted, and task-specific development (e.g., Kleibeuker, De Dreu, & Crone, 2016) often punctuated past "slumps" (Barbot et al., 2016). This tendency coincides with a relative increase of "divergent feelings" (Claxton, Pannells, & Rhoads, 2005), including factors such every bit curiosity, complexity, or risk-taking, which seems to logically marshal with the adolescent's identity germination context.

In sum, adolescence is a critical developmental time for the evolution of both identity and creativity. Although both creativity and identity seem to develop interactively, and, therefore, contribute to the development of each other, just petty piece of work has focused on the potential contribution of creativity in the formation of identity. We now plough our attention to this specific line of work with a focus on creative thinking, creative commitment, and creative expression and their specific contribution at various levels of the development of an adolescent'due south identity.

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