Events associated with identity status change

This study examines events associated with identity status change between late adolescence and mid-adulthood. One hundred adults, aged 40-63 years, participated in a retrospective study of identity development. An adaptation of Marcia's (1966) Identity Status Interview was used to examine identity status movements within five identity domains. For each identity transition, the event judged to be primarily responsible for precipitating change was coded as follows: "age-graded," "history-graded," "critical," "family life cycle stage," "different milieu," "internal change," "influence of significant other," and "lack of opportunity". "Internal change" was associated with the greatest frequency of changes into achievement, moratorium, and diffusion statuses across most domains; "influence of a significant other" was most commonly associated with the transition to foreclosure in most domains. Few significant associations were found among identity status, event type, and demographic variables within each identity domain. Implications of these findings for our understanding of identity formation are briefly discussed.