Ego identity status, formal operations, and moral development

Twenty-six subjects (20 males and 6 females) were administered measures assessing ego identity status, level of moral reasoning, and stage of cognitive development. Expectations that formal operations would be a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the development of post-conventional moral thought and for Identity Achievement status were supported. Level of moral thought was also found to be positively related to achievement of identity. Individual descriptions of subjects with noteworthy patterns of the three variables under study were presented. Suggestions for future research included the necessity for replication of these findings with a largerN and exploration of the possibility that level of social role taking mediates between cognitive development and identity (psychosocial) development.