Development of identity: Gender makes a difference

Gender-based differences in the relation between Identity status and person ality configurations of 200 male and female college students were studied. For statuses based on commitment (the Achieved and Foreclosed identities), the personality configuration of males and females was more similar than th at of males and females in statuses lacking commitment (Moratorium and Diff used). Further, the importance of four personality dimensions that had been hypothesized (Grotevant, 1987) to promote identity development (ego-resili ence, openness to experience, self-esteem and self-monitoring) was found to vary as a function of gender, as did the self-descriptions of males and fe males in each identity status. (C) 2000 Academic Press.