Identity status in high school females

One hundred grade 12 high school females were classified as either Moratorium, Foreclosure, or Diffusion status based on their openness to alternatives and degree of commitment in the areas of future plans, religion, and politics. Measures of social class, intelligence, tolerance of ambiguity, cognitive complexity, ego identity, and anxiety were administered to examine aspects of these differing manners of dealing with adolescent issues. Performance on a behavioral measure of information search was also examined. Results indicated generality of identity status placement across the content areas. Moratorium status females scored significantly higher than Foreclosure and Diffusion status females for social class, intelligence, cognitive complexity, and tolerance of ambiguity: Moratorium status females also scored significantly higher than Diffusion status females for information search and recall. Foreclosure status females scored significantly higher than Diffusion status females for ego identity. Intelligence contributed to many observed status differences. It was suggested that identity status placement, reflective of manner of dealing with adolescent issues, was indicative of a general mode of dealing with developmental tasks.