ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the need for greater precision in the conceptualization and possible measurement of religious identity with the goal of offering a formative beginning for researchers and scholars with what has long been a relatively unknown aspect to religion. Erik Erikson's original emphasis on the ego's achievement of identity highlighted the importance for each individual to be able to make meaning of one's own self. Stemming from Erikson's psychosocial conceptualization of identity, James Marcia sought to demonstrate construct validity of Erikson's theory of identity achievement through an Identity Status Interview (ISI). Individuals characterized by a religious identity moratorium (RIM) status do not demonstrate a commitment to a religious tradition, and they may either feel some anxiety about their religious identity, or may simply be reflective and attentive to this identity domain. Religious identity integration (RII), word integration is used instead of Marcia's word achievement in order to remove implicit valuing of different theologies and traditions of religious identity formation.
