THE EGO-VIRTUE OF FIDELITY - A CASE FOR THE STUDY OF RELIGION AND IDENTITY FORMATION IN ADOLESCENCE

Extrapolation from Erik Erikson's theory of human development suggests the ego-virtue of fidelity provides a conceptual link between religio n and identity formation. It is argued here that fidelity, within iden tity statuses, is characterized by commitment (ie., foreclosure and ac hievement). Further, due to the connection between fidelity and ideolo gy, greater evidence of fidelity and identity commitment should be obs erved among religious minority adolescents and among adolescents who m ore frequently attend church. Partial support was shown for these pred ictions. Mormon adolescents, who were minorities in the broader societ al context, but majorities in their local community context, were foun d to score higher in identity foreclosure in comparison to Catholic an d Protestant adolescents who were religious minorities in their local community context. It was suggested that premature foreclosure among M ormon adolescents may be due to the importance of exhibiting indicator s of fidelity as efforts to strengthen one's minority identity and one 's minority group in respect to the broader society. More frequent chu rch attendance was related to higher scores in commitment identity sta tuses (ie., foreclosure and achievement). Apparently, consistent churc h attendance is not required for heightened scores in the exploration status of moratorium.