Identify the four identity statuses that researchers use to evaluate progress in identity development. Describe the cognitive style typically used by adolescents in each of these statuses. How does cognitive style affect the process of identity development?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The four identity statuses are identity achievement, identity moratorium, identity foreclosure, and identity diffusion. Both identity achievement (a commitment to values, beliefs, and goals following a period of exploration) and moratorium (exploration without having reached commitment) are considered psychologically healthy routes to a mature self-definition.
Young people in moratorium, like those who are identity-achieved, use an active, information-gathering cognitive style to make personal decisions and solve problems: They seek out relevant information, evaluate it carefully, and critically reflect on their views. These young people tend to have higher self-esteem, are more open to alternative ideas and values, feel more in control of their lives, are more likely to view school and work as feasible avenues for realizing their aspirations, and are more advanced in moral reasoning and more concerned with social justice. Only when exploration becomes ruminative is it associated with poor adjustment.
By contrast, both long-term identity foreclosure (commitment in the absence of exploration) and diffusion (a lack of both exploration and commitment) are maladaptive approaches to identity development. Foreclosed individuals display a dogmatic, inflexible cognitive style, internalizing the values and beliefs of parents and others without deliberate evaluation and resisting information that threatens their position. Long-term diffused individuals typically use a diffuse-avoidant cognitive style in which they avoid dealing with personal decisions and problems and, instead, allow current situational pressures to dictate their reactions. As a result, they are low in self-esteem, prone to depression, and, of all young people, the most likely to commit antisocial acts and to use and abuse drugs.