Identity

An International Journal of Theory and Research

ISSN: 1528-3488 (Print) 1532-706X (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hidn20

Ego Identity Status and Psychological Well-Being

Among Turkish Emerging Adults

S. Gulfem Cakir

To cite this article: S. Gulfem Cakir (2014) Ego Identity Status and Psychological Well-Being
Among Turkish Emerging Adults, Identity, 14:3, 230-239, DOI: 10.1080/15283488.2014.921169

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Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 14:230–239, 2014
Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1528-3488 print=1532-706X online
DOI: 10.1080/15283488.2014.921169

Ego Identity Status and Psychological Well-Being

Among Turkish Emerging Adults

S. Gulfem Cakir
Akdeniz University

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of gender and ego identity status (identity
achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, and identity diffusion) in predicting psychological well-
being among Turkish emerging adults. The study sample comprised 301 emerging adults aged
19–25 years (mean age: 22.03; SD ¼ 1.46) who were attending a university. Self-reporting scales
were used to assess ego identity status (Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status) and
psychological well-being (Multi-Dimensional Psychological Well-Being Scale). Hierarchical
regression analysis showed identity achievement to be a positive predictor of all psychological
well-being dimensions whereas moratorium, foreclosure, and identity diffusion were found to be
negative predictors of several well-being dimensions. These results suggest that identity commitment
following exploration of possible alternatives is an important factor in the psychological well-being
of emerging adults in a non-Western cultural context.

Identity formation is one of the most important developmental tasks in life span development.
Marcia (1966, 1987) developed a comprehensive view of Erikson’s (1968) stage-related concept
of identity versus role confusion associated with adolescence. Marcia described four ego statuses
representing the development of identity during adolescence: identity achievement, moratorium,
foreclosure, and identity diffusion. Marcia’s approach is based on the rationale that in domains such
as occupation, religion, politics, lifestyle, and sex roles, individuals may exhibit different patterns of
identity development. The identity statuses are defined in terms of the dimensions of exploration
and commitment. Exploration refers to seeking out and experimenting with alternatives that exist
within an individual’s social context. Commitment refers to the strength of investment that indivi-
duals show in their choices regarding occupation, religion, ideology, and interpersonal issues.
Identity achievement is characterized by high degrees of past exploration and current commit-
ment, moratorium by a high degree of current exploration and a low degree of commitment, fore-
closure by a low degree of exploration and a high degree of commitment, and identity diffusion by
low degrees of exploration and commitment. Berzonsky and Neimeyer (1994) reported relation-
ships between the identity statuses and social-cognitive processing orientations. The strongest
correlations were found for the foreclosure with a normative processing style, identity diffusion
with diffuse-avoidant processing, and identity achievement with informational processing.

Address correspondence to S. Gulfem Cakir, Akdeniz University, Department of Educational Sciences, Psychological
Counseling and Guidance Program, Egitim Bilimleri Bolumu, Dumlupinar Bulvari, 07058 Antalya, Turkey. E-mail:
glfmcakir@gmail.com
 IDENTITY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING 231

Identity in Emerging Adulthood

In contemporary, technologically advanced cultures, identity exploration starts in adolescence

(Erikson, 1968; Kroger, 1996), and the identity formation process continues during late ado-
lescence and young adulthood (Kroger, Martinussen, & Marcia, 2010). In recent decades, the
prolonged developmental period between late adolescence and adulthood has been recognized
and referred to as ‘‘emerging adulthood’’ (Arnett, 2000). The years that correspond to emerging
adulthood (ages 18 to 25 years) are a period of transition characterized by extensive explorations
in love, work, and worldviews. As noted by Arnett, such identity explorations are considered to
be an important part of psychosocial development regarding one’s identity and are essential for
further development and effective functioning. The ways in which individuals handle identity
issues during emerging adulthood determine how they will balance the development of auto-
nomy and interdependence and, thus, the extent to which they will attain mature interpersonal
mutuality in adulthood (Marcia, 2002).

Identity Formation and Psychological Well-Being

A relationship between identity formation and psychological well-being has long been suggested
and the literature that examines this potential association has increased extensively in recent
years (e.g., Vleioras & Bosma, 2005; Waterman, 2007). In this study, I used the multidimen-
sional conceptualization of well-being developed by Ryff and Keyes (1995). It captures different
facets of psychological well-being, including having positive evaluations of oneself and one’s
past life, a sense of continued growth and development as a person, the belief that one’s life
is purposeful and meaningful, quality relationships with others, the capacity to effectively
manage one’s life and surrounding environment, and a sense of self-determination.
Among the four identity statuses, identity achievement appears to be the most adaptive status
and is robustly associated with a wide range of positive features, including better cognitive
capacities, ego development, moral reasoning, and family and intimate relationships (see Kroger,
2007, for a review). Higher levels of psychological well-being among identity achievers have
been found for adolescents (Abu-Rayya, 2006) and university students (Waterman, 2007). Ident-
ity diffusion has a robust negative association with psychological well-being (Abu-Rayya, 2006;
Waterman, 2007). Inconsistent findings have been reported for the moratorium status with
higher levels of psychological well-being reported among mixed ethnic adolescents (Abu-
Rayya, 2006), and lower levels of psychological well-being reported in a study with college
students (Waterman, 2007). Some studies have reported an apparent negative relationship
between foreclosure status and psychological well-being (Abu-Rayya, 2006; Waterman, 2007).
Despite the connection between identity development and psychological well-being suggested
in a number of studies carried out in Western contexts where the process of individualization
among young people is prominent (Schwartz, Zamboanga, Weisskirch, & Wang, 2010), the rela-
tionships of the four ego identity statuses to psychological well-being among emerging adults from
non-Western cultures has yet to be fully explored. In general, Turkey can still be situated close to
the collectivist end of the collectivism-individualism continuum (Kagitcibasi, 1996)—a position
that is characterized by loyalty and commitment to entities that transcend the self. This assumption
was supported by an earlier study that found parents placed greater value on ‘‘obedience to
232 CAKIR

parents’’ than on ‘‘being independent and self-reliant’’ (Kagitcibasi, as cited in Kagitcibasi, 1996).
However, more recent studies suggest that changes from a rural to an urban lifestyle have brought
about marked changes in family and society, including changes in intergenerational relations and
the emergence of autonomous child-rearing orientations (Kagitcibasi & Ataca, 2005). Late adoles-
cents and emerging adults have been found to acknowledge their need for autonomy and related-
ness; that is, an autonomous-related self (Kagitcibasi, 2005). Particularly in urban areas, the value
of individualization has also been noted, as individuals postpone adult roles such as marriage and
child raising until they have completed their higher education (Atak & Çok, 2010). In such a con-
text, the relationship between identity status and psychological well-being could also be expected
to manifest itself in patterns similar to those observed in Western contexts.
The period of emerging adulthood varies from country to country, with ages 19 to 26 years
identified as the period of emerging adulthood in Turkey (Atak & Çok, 2007). Although this
developmental period has attracted the attention of researchers, relatively few empirical studies
have been conducted to explore the relationship between identity formation and psychological
well-being in Turkey. Previous studies on identity development and psychological outcomes
have reported the relations between identity confusion and psychopathology (Kaynak-Demir,
Dereboy, & Dereboy, 2009); the relations of identity achievement and foreclosure to subjective
well-being (Eryılmaz & Aypay, 2011); the relations between identity achievement and
self-monitoring (Kumru & Thompson, 2003); and the relations of identity status to loneliness
(Arslan, Hamarta, Özyeşil, & Saygın, 2011). Although these findings are not directly related
to the link between identity status and Ryff and Keyes’s (1995) concept of psychological
well-being, they do suggest a positive relationship between identity achievement and the quality
of psychological functioning and a negative relationship between the moratorium, foreclosure,
and identity diffusion statuses and such functioning among Turkish late adolescents and emerg-
ing adults. Therefore, in this study, I hypothesized that identity achievement would be a positive
predictor of psychological well-being scores and moratorium, foreclosure, and diffusion statuses
would be negative predictors of scores on well-being scales.

METHOD

Participants

The sample in this study was comprised of 301 emerging adults (mean age ¼ 22.03 years,
SD ¼ 1.46, age range 19 to 25 years; 55.5% female). Participants were recruited from various
departments of one of the largest universities in Ankara, Turkey’s capital city. They were all
considered to have middle-class socioeconomic status.

Measures

Ego Identity Status

The Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status-II (EOM-EIS-II), adapted to Turkish
culture by Oskay (1998), is a 64-item self-report questionnaire that measures ideological and
interpersonal identity using a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 6 (strongly agree) to 1 (strongly
 IDENTITY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING 233

disagree). Ideological identity encompasses items pertaining to occupation, religion, politics,

and lifestyle whereas interpersonal identity encompasses items for friendship, dating, gender
roles, and recreational activities. Within the ideological and interpersonal identity domains, there
are scales corresponding to each of the four identity statuses (identity achievement, foreclosure,
moratorium, identity diffusion), each consisting of eight items. Total EOM-EIS-II scores are
calculated as the sum of the identity status scales and range from 16 to 96. Cronbach’s alpha
coefficients for identity achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, and identity diffusion statuses
were .74, .75, .87, and .66, respectively (generally quite similar to those obtained in previous
studies in Western cultures; Bennion & Adams, 1986).

Psychological Well-Being

In this study, I used an 18-item version of the Multi-Dimensional Psychological Well-Being

Scale that included 3 of the original 20 items for each of the six components of psychological
well-being (autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others,
purpose in life, and self-acceptance). (The correlations between the shortened subscales and
the original subscales ranged from .70 to .89, indicating that the shortened version of the scale
has acceptable psychometric properties; Ryff & Keyes, 1995). The scale was adapted to Turkish
culture by Imamoğlu (2004). The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the study was .80, again simi-
lar to that obtained with Western samples (Ryff & Keyes, 1995).

Data Collection Procedures

I visited classrooms, provided students with information related to the study, and obtained their
written consent for participation in the study. Survey instruments were administered in the class-
room setting during regular class time. No inducement or reward was given for participation.

RESULTS

Preliminary Analysis

I used t-test analyses to compare male and female participants with respect to each of the four
identity status scales and the six scales of psychological well-being. Means and standard devia-
tions and t-test results are shown in Table 1. I found significant gender differences for three
identity statuses, with female participants scoring higher on the identity achievement scale
and lower on the foreclosure and identity diffusion scales. I also found significant gender differ-
ences for three of the scales for psychological well-being (growth, positive relationships with
others, and purpose in life) and overall psychological well-being, with female participants
scoring higher on each of these scales.
With respect to the association of age with identity status and psychological well-being, separ-
ate correlational analyses for male and female participants revealed significant relations of age with
foreclosure, positive relationships with others, and the composite psychological well-being score
among male participants but no statistically significant effects for female participants (see Table 2).
234 CAKIR

TABLE 1
Identity Status and Psychological Well-Being Means for Male and Female Participants

Gender

Male (n ¼ 134) Female (n ¼ 167) t

Identity achievement 63.74 (10.12) 67.89 (11.37) "3.31##

Moratorium 45.66 (10.95) 47.40 (10.62) "1.39
Foreclosure 35.38 (12.58) 32.01 (11.84) 2.39#
Identity diffusion 45.78 (10.02) 43.13 (9.44) 2.35#
Growth 11.87 (2.09) 12.83 (1.72) "4.31##
Autonomy 11.41 (2.13) 11.34 (1.87) 0.32
Self-acceptance 11.34 (2.17) 11.68 (1.93) 1.44
Positive relationships with others 11.37 (2.44) 12.51 (1.89) "4.46##
Purpose in life 10.38 (2.40) 11.45 (1.82) "4.27##
Environmental mastery 10.75 (2.17) 10.95 (2.20) "0.79
Psychological well-being 67.11 (9.59) 70.75 (7.29) "3.63##

Note. Standard deviations appear in parentheses next to the means.

#
p < .05. ## p $ .01.

Correlational Analyses of Identity Status and Psychological Well-Being

Due to the extent of gender differences with respect to the mean scores for identity status and
psychological well-being, correlational analyses were conducted separately for male and
female participants. The correlations among study variables, including age, by gender are pro-
vided in Table 2. As predicted, among male participants, identity achievement status scores were

TABLE 2
Correlations Among Variables for Female and Male Participants

Age IA M F ID GR AU SA PRO PIL EM PWB

Age — ".09 ".07 ".10 ".03 .08 .11 .11 ".03 ".07 .10 .08
IA .16 — .04 ".05 ".13 .33## .29## .35## .20# .19# .39## .46##
M ".08 ".16 — .29## .29## .08 ".16# ".20## ".22## ".05 ".27## ".23##
F ".27# ".19# .42## — .41## ".32## ".22## ".28## ".18# ".10 ".18# ".33##
ID ".15 ".29## .55## .49## — ".28## ".14 ".30## ".30## ".07 ".19# ".34##
GR .07 .23## ".21# ".41## ".30## — .29## 41## .22## .32## .33## .65##
AU .09 .24## ".35## ".40## ".32## .53## — .30## .12 .07 .39## .57##
SA .17 .33## ".35## ".33## ".27## .54## .54## — .31## .17# .53## .72##
PRO .35## .35## ".40## ".37## ".39## .53## .39## .55## — .25## .29## .57##
PIL .11 .29## ".27## ".25## ".32## .26## .24## .19# .43## — .26## .53##
EM .06 .29## ".28## ".21# ".27## .40## .52## .59## .34## .26## — . 76##
PWB .21# .40## ".44## ".46## ".44## .75## .74## .78## .76## .57## .71## —

Note. Correlations for female participants are shown above the diagonal; correlations for male participants are shown
below the diagonal. IA ¼ identity achievement; M ¼ moratorium; F ¼ foreclosure; ID ¼ identity diffusion; GR ¼ growth;
AU ¼ autonomy; SA ¼ self-acceptance; PRO ¼ positive relationships with others; PIL ¼ purpose in life; EM ¼
environmental mastery; PWB ¼ psychological well-being.
#
p < .05. ## p $ .01.
 IDENTITY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING 235

positively and significantly correlated with the composite psychological well-being score, and
with all six psychological well-being scales, the correlations ranging from .23 to .40. Similarly,
among female participants, identity achievement was positively and significantly correlated with
the composite psychological well-being score and with all six psychological well-being scales;
correlations ranged from .19 to .46.
Further, among male participants, moratorium scores were negatively and significantly
correlated with the composite psychological well-being score and with all six psychological
well-being scales correlations ranged from ".21 to ".44. Among female participants, mora-
torium scores were negatively and significantly correlated with the composite psychological
well-being score and with the autonomy, self-acceptance, positive relationships with others,
and environmental mastery scales;, correlations ranged from ".16 to ".27.
With respect to the association between foreclosure and psychological well-being among
male participants, foreclosure scores were negatively and significantly correlated with the
composite psychological well-being score and with all six psychological well-being scale;,
correlations ranged from ".21 to ".46. Among female participants, foreclosure scores were
negatively and significantly correlated with the composite psychological well-being score, and
with all six psychological well-being scales except the purpose in life scale; correlations ranged
from ".18 to ".33.
Finally, among male participants, identity diffusion scores were negatively and significantly
correlated with the composite psychological well-being score, and with all six psychological
well-being scales, the correlations ranging from ".27 to ".44. Among female participants,
identity diffusion was negatively and significantly correlated with the composite psychological
well-being score and growth, self-acceptance, positive relationships with others, and environ-
mental mastery scales; the correlations ranged from ".19 to ".34.

Gender Comparisons for the Strength of the Relationship Between

Identity Status and Psychological Well-Being

To test for potential differences in the strength of the corresponding correlations between ident-
ity status and psychological well-being scores for male and female participants, correlations
were transformed into z scores using Fisher’s r to z transformation. The z-test comparisons
revealed that for only 2 of the 24 analyses conducted were significant differences in the strength
of correlations observed, a ratio close to what would be expected on the basis of chance. For this
reason it appears that, overall, the relationship of the identity statuses to the components of
psychological well-being is similar for male and female participants.

Hierarchical Regression Analyses

The findings from hierarchical regression analyses using the four identity status scales as predic-
tors of each of the six psychological well-being scales are shown in Table 3. To control for the
effects of gender, data on gender (male=female) were entered in Step 1, and data on ego identity
status (achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, diffusion) were entered in Step 2. Gender and all
four ego identity statuses were found to be significant predictors of growth: gender, F(2, 299) ¼
19.397, p < .001; ego identity status, F(4, 295) ¼ 19.991, p < .001. Identity achievement,
236 CAKIR

TABLE 3
Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analysis for Psychological Well-Being Scales (n ¼ 301)

B b t R2 DR2

Growth
Gender (0 ¼ male; 1 ¼ female) 0.97 0.25 4.40## .061 .061##
Ego Identity Status .261 .249##
Identity achievement 0.04 0.22 4.16##
Moratorium 0.02 0.12 2.08#
Foreclosure "0.05 "0.31 "5.30##
Identity diffusion "0.03 "0.15 "2.55#
Autonomy
Ego Identity Status .173 .172##
Identity achievement 0.04 0.24 4.27##
Moratorium "0.03 "0.16 "2.61#
Foreclosure "0.04 "0.22 "3.63##
Self-acceptance
Ego Identity Status .227 .220##
Identity achievement 0.06 0.30 5.63##
Moratorium "0.03 "0.17 "2.86#
Foreclosure "0.03 "0.18 "3.03##
Positive relationships with others
Gender 1.14 0.26 4.58## .066 .066##
Ego Identity Status .259 .194##
Identity achievement 0.04 0.21 4.02##
Moratorium "0.04 "0.19 "3.31#
Identity diffusion "0.04 "0.17 "2.80#
Purpose in life
Gender 1.06 0.25 4.39## .061 .061##
Ego Identity Status .149 .088##
Identity achievement 0.04 0.20 3.62##
Environmental mastery
Ego Identity Status .195 193##
Identity achievement 0.07 0.33 5.99##
Moratorium "0.05 "0.22 "3.77#
# ##
p < .05. p < .01.

moratorium, and foreclosure scores were found to be significant predictors of autonomy, F(4,
295) ¼ 15.351, p < .001, and self-acceptance, F(4, 295) ¼ 20.993, p < .001. Gender and identity
achievement, moratorium, and diffusion were significant predictors of positive relationships with
others: gender, F(2, 299) ¼ 20.986, p < .001; ego identity status, F(4, 295) ¼ 19.297, p < .001.
Gender and identity achievement were significant predictors of purpose in life: gender, F(2,
299) ¼ 19.301, p < .001; ego identity status, F(4, 295) ¼ 7.651, p < .001. Identity achievement
and moratorium were significant predictors of environmental mastery, F(4, 295) ¼ 17.638,
p < .001. Overall, 24.9% of variance in growth, 17.2% in autonomy, 22% in self-acceptance,
19.4% in positive relationships with others, 8.8% in purpose in life, and 19.3% in environmental
mastery were explained by gender and a combination of the four identity statuses in each
model.
 IDENTITY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING 237

DISCUSSION

My aim in this study was to examine the relationship between ego identity status and psycho-
logical well-being among Turkish emerging adults. Preliminary analysis showed gender differ-
ences in identity status, with the patterns identified similar to those observed in previous studies
with Turkish adolescents (Cakir & Aydin, 2005) and US college students (Waterman, 2007). I
found identity achievement to be more prevalent in female participants, and foreclosure and dif-
fusion to be more prevalent in male participants. Regarding gender differences in psychological
well-being, in accordance with previous findings (Vleioras & Bosma, 2005), female emerging
adults scored significantly higher than male emerging adults in the growth, positive relationships
with others, and purpose in life scales.
As hypothesized, the results of correlational analyses suggested identity achievement to be
positively correlated with all six subscales of psychological well-being, implying identity
achievement to be an important factor in the psychological well-being of Turkish emerging
adults. These findings supported the findings of Waterman’s study conducted with US college
students (Waterman, 2007). Schwartz, Côté, and Arnett (2005) suggested that agency is an
important component of individualized identity development. Agency is required for the active
exploration before commitment that is characteristic of identity achievement, which would
explain the ability of identity achieved emerging adults to deal more effectively with life’s
demands and develop a more mature self-understanding, and, thus, to exhibit more genuine
and reliable self-presentation in social contexts (Kumru & Thompson, 2003).
The results of this study suggest the moratorium status is a positive predictor of growth, but a
negative predictor of autonomy, self-acceptance, positive relationships with others, and environ-
mental mastery scales. These results give some support to Waterman’s (2007) findings that
moratorium is positively correlated with growth, but negatively correlated with autonomy,
and suggest that searching for alternatives may encourage growth during emerging adulthood.
This study also found foreclosure, which is characterized by commitment without explo-
ration, to be negatively correlated with all well-being scales, consistent with Waterman’s
(2005) findings. These results may exemplify the changes in family and society in Turkey that
have been highlighted in previous research (e.g., Kagitcibasi & Ataca, 2005), although collecti-
vistic cultural values were still valued (Kagitcibasi, 1996). In a competitive world with numerous
alternative life pathways, emerging adults in Turkey, like emerging adults in Western contexts,
need to work out their own choices and develop an understanding of themselves and their dis-
tinct characteristics. In addition, this result could also be due to the characteristics of the sample.
Participants in this study were emerging adults who were attending a university and, thus, they
might have been more exposed to individualistic values within a collectivist culture (Crocetti &
Shokri, 2010). Therefore, to see subculture differences, this issue needs to be investigated in
future studies by involving emerging adults who are not attending a university.
As expected, the lack of direction in one’s life that characterizes identity diffusion was
negatively associated with all dimensions of psychological well-being and was a negative pre-
dictor of the growth and positive relationships with others scales in the hierarchical regression
analyses. This provides partial confirmation to the previously reported robust negative relation-
ships between identity status and psychological well-being documented in other studies (e.g.,
Waterman, 2007). The findings of this study particularly highlight the importance of identity
commitment in developing positive relationships during emerging adulthood, which requires
238 CAKIR

development of intimate relationships with others (Erikson, 1968) and also decision making
without the support of parents.
Since the strength of the correlations of the identity statuses with the components of psycho-
logical well-being were generally comparable for male and female participants, it would appear
that the associations observed do generalize across gender for Turkish emerging adults.
Some of the limitations of this study should be mentioned. The use of nonrandom sampling,
with emerging adults attending a university, as described above, represents one such limitation.
Another limitation is related to the satisfactory, but rather low, internal reliability of the scales.
Other limitations deserving mention include the use of self-reports as the sole method of data
collection and the correlational study design such that directional relationships among the study
variables cannot be established. To overcome the latter limitation, future studies should adopt a
longitudinal methodology.
Despite these limitations, the findings of this study make a valuable contribution to the litera-
ture by shedding additional light on the association between identity status and psychological
well-being among non-Western emerging adults. The results confirm previous findings on the
relationship between identity status and psychological well-being gathered in Western samples
that show identity status to be a significant predictor of psychological well-being. Thus, this
study contributes to the understanding of the relationship between identity development and
psychological well-being, and provides supportive evidence for the external validity and gener-
alizability of the relationship between identity and well-being scales across diverse cultures.

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