Motivation and Learning Strategies for College Success : A Self-management Approach

 GI      $

94 CHAPTER 4

Crisis

Yes No

Achieved Foreclosed

Yes (crisis

resolved)

Moratorium Diffusion

No (crisis in

progress)

Commitment

FIG. 4.1. Criteria for Marcia’s identity status.

relationship and is not currently thinking about such commitments (no

crises, no commitment). As they develop and have greater interper-

sonal, work, and educational experiences, they may begin to reflect on

the kinds of long-term commitments that could be made. This status

is called identity moratorium—a situation in which alternative choices

are considered and different roles are experienced, but final decisions

are deferred during a period of uncertainty (crisis, no commitment).

Sometimes, the uncertainty of thinking about one’s future can pro-

duce a great deal of anxiety, especially when one doesn’t have the

answers to the questions from parents and friends about future careers

and educational options. For this reason, some young adults choose

to remain in a state of identity diffusion, during which they stop

thinking about choices and commitments, or opt for identity foreclo-

sure. In his status condition, the individual selects some convenient

set of beliefs or goals without carefully considering the alternatives.

The best example of this status is the high school student whose

mother is a doctor or lawyer and who answers the typical question,

“What do you want to study in college?” by stating, “Pre-law” or

“Pre-med” when he or she really hasn’t considered the implications

of the career in detail. Such a response gets people to stop asking fur-

ther questions about life goals and is satisfying to the individual (for

the time being), because he or she can stop worrying about what

course of study to pursue (no crisis or commitment).

Additional experiences help clarify attitudes, values, and self-

evaluations, so that the young adult resolves the identity crises and

settles on the relatively stable commitments that constitute identity

achievement.

These four identity statuses may be perceived as a developmental tran-

sition. But one stage is not a prerequisite for another. Only the morato-

rium status appears to be necessary for identity achievement, since one

can’t develop a mature identity without considering alternative options.

Waterman (1982) has identified possible patterns in identity formation.

For example, one model may be diffusion to moratorium or identity