Identity status of adolescents in Tehran

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to explore the ideological and interpersonal identity statuses among adolescents in Tehran and to compare their identity styles and statuses. The study was a post-hoc descriptive cross-sectional. Four hundred sixty-seven adolescents [235 girls and 232 boys] were selected from four schooling regions in Tehran by cluster sampling. The subjects were doing third grade high school or pre-university courses. They were assessed using the questionnaires 'Ego Identity Process' and 'Identity Style'. Data were processed by the chi-square test and ANOVA. The findings of this study revealed that, regarding ideological and interpersonal identity status, Tehrani adolescents were mainly in the moratorium phase with smaller part of them being in the identity achievement phase. There was a significant difference in the identity statuses of boys and girls. There was also a significant relationship between the identity styles and identity statuses. The diffuse-avoidant style was highly associated to the undifferentiated status; the normative style was related to foreclosure; and the informational style was closely related to the identity achievement status. Tehrani adolescents were less at the identity achievement status or informational style