Afterword

Abstract

This Afterword comments on the theoretical meaning of each of the identity statuses in relation to the personality variables examined through the meta-analyses of this Special Issue. Where appropriate, the Afterword also furnishes a critique of the studies’ parameters. It points, in particular, to the importance of social-cultural as well as gender issues in interpreting the meanings of meta-analytic findings, and to the potential need for finer discriminations within the identity statuses themselves. Implications for future research are discussed for each personality variable, and a suggestion is proposed for a major study on a hypothesized developmental sequence of factors contributing to individuals’ eventual manner of identity formation.