Ego Development and Conformity: A Construct Validity Study of the Washington University Sentence Completion Test

Abstract

Summary: Loevinger's conception of ego development predicts a curvilinear relation between it and conformity. Using 107 private-school boys in grades 8, 9, and 11, self-report, peer-nomination, and experimental (Willis) measures of conformity were given. An archival measure, number of demerits, was also obtained. As predicted, the self-report and archival measures show maximum conformity between the Self-Protective and Conscientious Stages as measured by the sentence completion test. These results are not artifacts of age or IQ. The Willis test does not correlates significantly any other variable, and the peer ratings were methodologically suspect. Thus one aspect of the conception of ego development is partially confirmed. Conformity. as measured by these typical tests, is shown not to be a unitary variable.