Identity Status: The Impact on Academic Performance

Abstract

Identity Status: The Impact on Academic Performance by Milan Jelenic Dr. Lori Olafson, Committee Chair Professor Department of Educational Psychology and Higher Education University of Nevada, Las Vegas The purpose of this mixed methods study was to understand how environmental factors contributed to identity achievement with potentially positive effects on academic performance for fifth grade students. Early adolescents have not been studied partly because of the predominant acceptance of Erikson’s (1968) theory of identity development. Four questions guiding the study were (a) whether adolescents acquired an Achieved identity status earlier than previous research has suggested, (b) if environmental issues such as familial obligations expedited identity achievement, (c) if identity status impacted academic performance, and (d) what was the impact of an Achieved identity on academic performance. Participants were 78 fifth-grade students (39 girls and 39 boys) ages 10-13 from two schools in the southwestern United States. Their ethnicities included Latino (51%), Black (18%), White (10%), Other (9%), Biracial/Multiracial (8%), and Asian/ South Pacific Islander (4%). The organizing theory for the study was Marcia’s (1966) development of identity statuses and its constructs of exploration and commitment as determinants of identity status (Diffused, Foreclosed, Moratorium, and Achieved). Participants completed two quantitative measures of ego identity—the Ego Identity Process Questionnaire (EIPQ) by