Effect of similarity of ego identity status on interpersonal attraction

Similarity of ego identity status, assessed by Marcia's four-category classification system, was related to interpersonal attraction. Using male and female college students as subjects, this study found that (1) while all judges preferred targets who had or who are undergoing a crisis to those who have not had a crisis, (2) diffuse judges preferred targets with no commitments to those with commitments, and (3) judges with commitments preferred a foreclosure target more than judges without commitments. Differential evaluations of the targets' intelligence, knowledge of current events, adjustment, and morality were also found. Results are discussed both in terms of previous research positively relating personality similarity to attraction and Erikson's theory of the relationship between ego identity development and intimacy in interpersonal relations.