Q-sort definition of ego identity status.

Four Q-sort profiles of the ego identity statuses were developed to provide empirical definition and analysis of the statuses and Q-sort templates for status assignment by correlation with individual personality profiles. Ten expert judges used the California Q-set (Block, [1978];The Q-Sort Method in Personality Assessment and Psychiatric Research, Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto, CA [originally published 1961]) to describe the prototypical individual in each ego identity status. The judgments were combined to form consensual composites (the Q Ego Identity Status templates [Q-EIS]) with reliabilities ranging from .87 to .97. Template descriptions of males in each status were quite similar to those for females; gender-specific Q-EIS templates correlated .92 for Identity Achievement, .86 for Foreclosure, .81 for Moratorium, and .84 for Identity Diffusion. The Q-EIS templates are analyzed for gender differences within status, intercorrelation among the statuses in comparison with theoretical predictions of the course of identity development, and empirical distinction of the characteristics salient to the dimensions of crisis and commitment.