ABSTRACT
This chapter presents two activities for furthering students’ understanding of the concept of identity. The first activity illustrates an objective assessment of identity statuses, and the second an assessment of information processing styles related to different identity resolutions. It reviews Erik Erikson’s initial formulation of identity, then turns to J. E. Marcia’s reformulation of this concept in terms of identity statuses. Erikson often chose to define the constructs he introduced in ways that a journal editor, concerned with space limitations, would most likely find objectionable. Michael Berzonsky has proposed an alternative approach to the identity statuses. Identity formation continues into early adulthood and, even when “achieved,” identity is not fixed. Diffuse-oriented individuals, rather than accepting or rejecting information, procrastinate when faced with decisions until the demands of the situation dictate some action. Berzonsky’s Identity Style Inventory assesses several styles of processing identity-relevant information.
