Identity Development, Age, and College Experience in Women

Abstract

Abstract Identity status was assessed for 86 undergraduate college women 18 to 23 years old in the areas of occupation, political and religious ideology, and sexual values. Overall identity status showed a significant association with the women's ages and college experience. Achievement women were older and had been in college longer than women in the other statuses, whereas foreclosure women were younger and had been in college fewer years than the other women. Occupational and political identity status were each significantly associated with college experience. No association was found for religious or sexual identity status. The results supported Erikson's (1968) notion that identity achievement is the most mature outcome of the identity crisis and extended his theory to women.