ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews theories of psychosocial development in college. Building upon E. K. Erikson's theory of psychosocial development, J. E. Marcia formulated and validated a conceptual framework in which he identified four ego-identity statuses. Perhaps nowhere have issues of diversity in American higher education been more contentious than within the realm of race and ethnicity. W. E. Cross formulated a widely cited theory of African-American racial identity development, in which he used the term "nigrescence" to describe the transformation that occurs as an African-American's perspective shifts from one that is Eurocentric to one that is distinctively Black. J. S. Phinney put forth a model of ethnic identity development that is applicable either to members of racial groups or to more narrowly defined ethnic groups within races. In 2003, the society for the study of emerging adulthood was founded as an international association devoted specifically to scholarship on emerging adulthood.
