Journal of Counseling Psychology 1990, Vol. 37, No. 2, 160-168 Copyright 1990 by the American Psychological Association, Inc. 0022-0167/90/S00.75 Relation Between Ego Identity Statuses and Decision-Making Styles David L. Blustein and Susan D. Phillips Department of Counseling Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York We examined the proposition that individual variations in career decision making are related conceptually to the identity formation process of late adolescence. To investigate this proposition 2 studies were conducted to identify the relations between ego identity statuses and decision- making styles. The findings suggested that persons who have achieved a stable identity tend to use rational and systematic decision-making strategies. Those whose identity status is foreclosed tend to rely on dependent strategies and do not endorse systematic and internal strategies. Persons in the diffusion status tend to rely on intuitive and dependent styles or exhibit an absence of systematic and internal styles. The moratorium status was not consistently associated with variations in decision-making styles. We relate the results to previous theory and to implications for practice and research. Career development theorists and researchers have ob- served that persons tend to approach important educational and vocational decisions in a characteristic fashion that affects the process of decision making as well as selected outcomes (e.g., Blustein, 1987; Harren, 1979; Johnson, 1978; Osipow & Reed, 1985; Phillips, Pazienza, & Walsh, 1984). Aside from viewing decision-making styles as inherent individual differ- ences, little is known about why such stylistic differences might be manifested in the first place. However, there has been some discussion by investigators in both the adolescent development literature (Cella, DeWolfe, & Fitzgibbon, 1987; A. S. Waterman, 1985; C. K. Waterman & Waterman, 1974) and the career development literature (Harmon & Farmer, 1983; Kroll, Dinklage, Lee, Morley, & Wilson, 1970; Miller- Tiedeman, 1980) to suggest that variations in decision making may be a manifestation of the manner in which persons resolve various developmental tasks of late adolescence and early adulthood. In this investigation we adopted the identity formation perspective, which has been closely tied to numer- ous aspects of the career development process (e.g., Blustein, Devenis, & Kidney, 1989; Munley, 1975; Raskin, 1985), to provide a means of exploring how variations in decision making may be associated with relevant developmental pro- cesses in late adolescence. Individual differences in decision making generally encom- pass a number of common themes across the various taxon- A portion of the research reported herein was presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, New Orleans, August 1989. This research was supported in part by a grant from the Campus Incentive Funds of the University at Albany, State University of New York. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Howard Axelrod, Kathleen Brennock, Luanna Devenis, Debra Felsman, Janet Gorsky, Barbara Kidney, Kathleen Kniskern, Susan Stavin, and David Weller in collecting and scoring the data. We also express our gratitude to Richard F. Haase for his expert assistance with the data analysis. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to David L. Blustein, Department of Counseling Psychology, ED-220, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, New York 12222. omies that have been developed (Phillips & Pazienza, 1988). One such theme revolves around the degree to which the decider uses logical or planful strategies, generally known as the rational (Harren, 1979) or systematic style (Johnson, 1978). In contrast to the rational or systematic style are those decision-making strategies that are intuitive (Harren, 1979) or spontaneous (Johnson, 1978). Another major theme captures the extent to which the decider projects responsibility for decisions to others, which is referred to as the dependent style (Harren, 1979). A related dimension, which has been sug- gested by Johnson, assesses the degree to which the decider relies upon an internal versus external means of analyzing information. As recent research in career development has suggested, variations in these decision-making styles have been predict- ably associated with a host of career-related outcomes. The most consistent finding has been that the dependent style is maladaptive. For example, research has revealed that depend- ent decision making is inversely related to progress in the resolution of various career development tasks, such as the formation of a vocational self-concept (Lunneborg, 1978) and progress in career decision making (Phillips et al., 1984). In addition, whereas the rational style has been modestly asso- ciated with such outcomes as career decidedness and voca- tional self-concept crystallization (Lunneborg, 1978), this style seems to be particularly important for persons who do not have access to those social, educational, and vocational re- sources that foster progress in career development (Blustein, 1987). Despite the prevalence of research on decision-making styles as mediating factors in career development, the putative etiology of such differences has received only scant attention from investigators. Without a framework to suggest the de- velopmental context or etiology of stylistic variations, inter- ventions designed to modify such differences may be overly circumscribed and thus less than effective. One means of expanding our understanding of the nature of decision-making styles may be found in the identity for- mation literature. Research and theory on the identity for- mation process has focused on explicating Erikson's (1968) identity versus identity diffusion psychosocial-developmental task. During late adolescence the major developmental tasks 160
Transcript
Journal of Counseling Psychology1990, Vol. 37, No. 2, 160-168
Copyright 1990 by the American Psychological Association, Inc.0022-0167/90/S00.75
Relation Between Ego Identity Statuses and Decision-Making Styles
David L. Blustein and Susan D. PhillipsDepartment of Counseling Psychology, University at Albany, State University of New York
We examined the proposition that individual variations in career decision making are relatedconceptually to the identity formation process of late adolescence. To investigate this proposition2 studies were conducted to identify the relations between ego identity statuses and decision-making styles. The findings suggested that persons who have achieved a stable identity tend touse rational and systematic decision-making strategies. Those whose identity status is foreclosedtend to rely on dependent strategies and do not endorse systematic and internal strategies. Personsin the diffusion status tend to rely on intuitive and dependent styles or exhibit an absence ofsystematic and internal styles. The moratorium status was not consistently associated withvariations in decision-making styles. We relate the results to previous theory and to implicationsfor practice and research.
Career development theorists and researchers have ob-served that persons tend to approach important educationaland vocational decisions in a characteristic fashion that affectsthe process of decision making as well as selected outcomes(e.g., Blustein, 1987; Harren, 1979; Johnson, 1978; Osipow& Reed, 1985; Phillips, Pazienza, & Walsh, 1984). Aside fromviewing decision-making styles as inherent individual differ-ences, little is known about why such stylistic differencesmight be manifested in the first place. However, there hasbeen some discussion by investigators in both the adolescentdevelopment literature (Cella, DeWolfe, & Fitzgibbon, 1987;A. S. Waterman, 1985; C. K. Waterman & Waterman, 1974)and the career development literature (Harmon & Farmer,1983; Kroll, Dinklage, Lee, Morley, & Wilson, 1970; Miller-Tiedeman, 1980) to suggest that variations in decision makingmay be a manifestation of the manner in which personsresolve various developmental tasks of late adolescence andearly adulthood. In this investigation we adopted the identityformation perspective, which has been closely tied to numer-ous aspects of the career development process (e.g., Blustein,Devenis, & Kidney, 1989; Munley, 1975; Raskin, 1985), toprovide a means of exploring how variations in decisionmaking may be associated with relevant developmental pro-cesses in late adolescence.
Individual differences in decision making generally encom-pass a number of common themes across the various taxon-
A portion of the research reported herein was presented at theannual meeting of the American Psychological Association, NewOrleans, August 1989. This research was supported in part by a grantfrom the Campus Incentive Funds of the University at Albany, StateUniversity of New York.
We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Howard Axelrod,Kathleen Brennock, Luanna Devenis, Debra Felsman, Janet Gorsky,Barbara Kidney, Kathleen Kniskern, Susan Stavin, and David Wellerin collecting and scoring the data. We also express our gratitude toRichard F. Haase for his expert assistance with the data analysis.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed toDavid L. Blustein, Department of Counseling Psychology, ED-220,University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NewYork 12222.
omies that have been developed (Phillips & Pazienza, 1988).One such theme revolves around the degree to which thedecider uses logical or planful strategies, generally known asthe rational (Harren, 1979) or systematic style (Johnson,1978). In contrast to the rational or systematic style are thosedecision-making strategies that are intuitive (Harren, 1979) orspontaneous (Johnson, 1978). Another major theme capturesthe extent to which the decider projects responsibility fordecisions to others, which is referred to as the dependent style(Harren, 1979). A related dimension, which has been sug-gested by Johnson, assesses the degree to which the deciderrelies upon an internal versus external means of analyzinginformation.
As recent research in career development has suggested,variations in these decision-making styles have been predict-ably associated with a host of career-related outcomes. Themost consistent finding has been that the dependent style ismaladaptive. For example, research has revealed that depend-ent decision making is inversely related to progress in theresolution of various career development tasks, such as theformation of a vocational self-concept (Lunneborg, 1978) andprogress in career decision making (Phillips et al., 1984). Inaddition, whereas the rational style has been modestly asso-ciated with such outcomes as career decidedness and voca-tional self-concept crystallization (Lunneborg, 1978), this styleseems to be particularly important for persons who do nothave access to those social, educational, and vocational re-sources that foster progress in career development (Blustein,1987). Despite the prevalence of research on decision-makingstyles as mediating factors in career development, the putativeetiology of such differences has received only scant attentionfrom investigators. Without a framework to suggest the de-velopmental context or etiology of stylistic variations, inter-ventions designed to modify such differences may be overlycircumscribed and thus less than effective.
One means of expanding our understanding of the natureof decision-making styles may be found in the identity for-mation literature. Research and theory on the identity for-mation process has focused on explicating Erikson's (1968)identity versus identity diffusion psychosocial-developmentaltask. During late adolescence the major developmental tasks
160
EGO IDENTITY AND DECISION MAKING 161
are thought to involve the exploration of the various dimen-sions of identity and to culminate in a commitment to aninner sense of stability or consistency, which is referred to asan ego identity (Marcia, 1966). From the ego identity per-spective, exploration is defined by the active consideration ofalternatives that encompass ideological issues (e.g., politicaland vocational domains) and interpersonal issues (e.g., friend-ship and dating domains). Commitment refers to the attain-ment of a stable sense of self-definition or ego identity, whichis characterized by clearly delineated values, beliefs, and goals(Marcia, 1980; A. S. Waterman, 1985).
Marcia (1966) also proposed that persons resolve the iden-tity versus identity diffusion task in four distinct ways, eachof which is defined by a different ego identity status. Themoratorium status describes persons who are currently ex-ploring but have not yet committed themselves to the variousdimensions of identity. The identity-achievement status refersto persons who have gone through a period of exploration (asin the moratorium status) and have emerged with a clearcommitment to their ego identity. The foreclosure status refersto persons who have attained a firm level of commitment byadopting the attitudes of their parents without deliberation orexploration. The diffusion status is characterized by an ab-sence of both exploration and commitment. Empirical re-search has indicated that there are both individual and devel-opmental differences in ego identity statuses (Marcia, 1980)and that these differences are not generally influenced bygender (see A. S. Waterman, 1985).
As suggested by developmental theory and research, personsat various stages of development tend to approach decisionsin rather different yet predictable fashions (e.g., Marcia, 1980;Miller-Tiedeman, 1980; A. S. Waterman, 1985). In the caseof the identity formation process, each of the ego identitystatuses is characterized by certain decisional qualities thatare conceptually analogous to the stylistic differences thathave been described by career development theorists (e.g.,Barren, 1979; Johnson, 1978). Persons in the identity-achievement status are generally reflective and planful andtend to rely on themselves as opposed to projecting responsi-bility toward others (Cella et al., 1987;A.S. Waterman, 1985;C. K. Waterman & Waterman, 1974). Similarly, persons inthe moratorium status typically use planful strategies that arealso derived from an internal locus of responsibility (Cella etal., 1987; Marcia, 1980). In contrast, persons who are in theforeclosure status tend to depend on others in resolving deci-sions related to identity concerns and likely seek out rapid,nondeliberate solutions to decision-making tasks (Marcia,1980; A. S. Waterman, 1985). The overriding decisionalcharacteristic of the diffusion status is the inclination to avoiddecision-making situations (Marcia, 1980). Thus, persons inthe diffusion status are not likely to use systematic or rationalapproaches. Moreover, these persons may rely on intuitiveand spontaneous strategies or may seek answers from others(as in the dependent style) to reduce the deliberation andconsequent anxiety that they experience in the decisions thatconfront them in late adolescence (cf. Marcia, 1980; C. K.Waterman & Waterman, 1974).
As suggested by the adolescent development and careerdevelopment literatures (e.g., Cella et al., 1987; Kroll et al.,
1970; Marcia, 1980; C. K. Waterman & Waterman, 1974),we propose that decision-making styles may be related to thecharacteristic manner that persons use to attain their egoidentity. Accordingly, we initiated this investigation to ascer-tain the extent and nature of relations between empiricalmeasures of decision-making styles and ego identity statuses.In order to provide a more comprehensive assessment of ourpropositions, we conducted two studies, each of which useddifferent samples and different means of operationalizingstylistic differences in career decision making.
Study 1
We initially used Harren's (1979) taxonomy of individualdifferences in decision making, which is composed of threedistinct decision-making styles. The first two, rational andintuitive, each involve an internal locus of responsibility. Therational style is characterized by systematic and planful strat-egies with a clear future orientation, whereas the intuitivestyle is defined by the reliance on inner experience, fantasy,and a propensity to decide rapidly without much deliberationor information gathering. The third style, known as the de-pendent decision-making style, involves those strategies inwhich the person projects responsibility toward others, gen-erally friends, family, and authority figures.
A close examination of the rational, intuitive, and depend-ent decision-making styles in light of the identity formationliterature suggests a number of predictable relations. Giventhat persons in the moratorium and identity-achievementstatuses tend to engage in planful decision making that isderived from an internal sense of purpose (Cella et al., 1987;C. K. Waterman & Waterman, 1974), we expected to observea relation between these two statuses and the rational style.Furthermore, persons in the moratorium and identity-achievement statuses typically rely on their internal fund ofself-knowledge, including affective information (Marcia,1980); thus, we anticipated that these two statuses would beassociated with the intuitive style. In contrast, persons in theforeclosure status, who generally are dependent in their overallapproaches to the identity formation tasks, were expected toendorse the dependent decision-making style. As indicatedpreviously, persons in the diffusion status tend to avoid havingto make important decisions. Therefore, we expected that thediffusion status would be inversely associated with the rationalstyle and positively related to the intuitive and dependentstyles.
Method
Subjects
Ninety-nine college students, who were also used in the Blusteinet al. (1989) study, formed the sample for this study. These subjectswere solicited by flyers posted at a large northeastern state universityand were paid $4.00 to complete various questionnaires about careerdecision making. The sample included 31% freshmen, 28% sopho-mores, 24% juniors, 16% seniors, and 3% graduate students. Themean age of the subjects was 19.75 (SD = 1.96). The sample consistedof 52% women and 48% men and had an ethnic composition of 76%Whites, 11 % Blacks, 6% Hispanics, and 6% from other ethnic groups.
162 DAVID L. BLUSTEIN AND SUSAN D. PHILLIPS
Procedure and Instruments
The subjects completed randomly distributed measures of egoidentity status and decision-making styles and a demographic form(for age and gender information). Other measures to assess variousaspects of personality (e.g., need for order and need for achievement),career exploration, goal instability, adjustment to college, and prog-ress in the career decision making and commitment to career choicesprocesses were included in the data packet but were not used in thisstudy.
Measurement of ego identity status. We used the revised versionof the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (EOM-EIS;Bennion & Adams, 1986) to provide a continuously measured indexof variations in the manner by which adolescents and young adultsresolve the identity versus identity diffusion psychosocial task. This64-item measure uses a 6-point Likert response format to assess therelative degree of prevalence of each of the four ego-identity statuses.Because we were interested in an overall measure of ego identitystatus, we combined the ideological and interpersonal subscales toyield 16 items for each of the four ego identity statuses (cf. Grotevant& Adams, 1984). The scales have adequate to excellent internalconsistency (Diffusion, a = .68; Foreclosure, a — .90; Moratorium,a = .73; and Identity Achievement, a = .66; Blustein et al, 1989)and excellent stability (with correlation coefficients that range from.82 to .90) across a 2-week interval (G. R. Adams, personal commu-nication, June 13, 1988). With regard to content validity, the EOM-EISitems were explicitly derived from identity formation theory andresearch. Evidence for the construct and concurrent validity of theEOM-EIS can be inferred from a factor structure that is relativelyconsistent with theoretical predictions, discriminant validity withsocial desirability, and the expected relations between EOM-EIS scoresand related measures of personality and identity (Bennion & Adams,1986).
Measurement of decision-making styles. We used the Decision-Making Styles (DMS) section of the Assessment of Career DecisionMaking (Harren, 1984) to assess characteristic differences in theapproaches that persons use to consider important choices and deci-sions. The 30 items of the DMS are equally distributed among thethree decision-making styles and yield separate scores for the rational,intuitive, and dependent styles. For college student samples internalconsistency coefficients have been found to range from .60 to .84;stability coefficients were reported to range from .76 to .85 across a2-week interval (Buck & Daniels, 1985). Evidence for the content,construct, and criterion validity of the DMS is based on the closerelation between item content and existing decision-making-styletaxonomies (Buck & Daniels, 1985; Harren, 1979), a factor structurethat is generally consistent with theoretical predictions (Phillips,Friedlander, Pazienza, & Kost, 1985), discriminant validity withgender (Buck & Daniels, 1985), and the expected relations betweenscores on the DMS and various outcome criteria in both vocationaland nonvocational domains (see Buck & Daniels, 1985).
Results
Previous research has suggested that age and gender maybe related to the measures under investigation (e.g., Bennion& Adams, 1986; Blustein, 1987). Therefore, age and genderwere included in the statistical analyses to control for anyvariance that may be accounted for by these demographicvariables. Means, standard deviations, and scale intercorrela-tions for the sample are presented in Table 1.
Because the hypotheses were based on an examination ofthe simultaneous relations between decision-making stylesand ego identity statuses, a canonical analysis was indicated.
Canonical analysis provides a means of assessing the natureand extent of relations between two sets of variables. Specifi-cally, two differentially weighted linear composites of the twosets of variables are calculated and thereby yield the maximumdegree of association that is referred to as the canonicalcorrelation. In addition, a canonical analysis produces a lim-ited number of canonical roots, which facilitate the interpre-tation of the findings. Also derived from each canonical root,canonical weights and structure coefficients provide a meansof interpreting the nature of the relations among the variables.By examining the relative weight of each individual variablewithin a given canonical root, one can infer important infor-mation about the nature of the interrelations between specificvariables on each side of the model (Pedhazur, 1982). In thisstudy the four ego identity statuses with age and genderformed one set of linear composites, and the three decision-making styles measures formed the other set of linear com-posites.
With the intention of determining the unique contributionof a set of variables, above and beyond the influence ofanother set of variables, we conducted a series of multivariatesemipartial analyses (Cohen, 1982). Initially, the full canoni-cal model was examined. This analysis assessed the relationamong age, gender, and the four ego identity statuses on oneside of the model and the three decision-making styles on theother side. This model accounted for 20% of the nonredun-dant aggregate variance in decision-making styles (Pillai's V= .61), F(18, 276) = 3.92, p < .001. Next, we controlled fordifferences in ego identity status by determining the uniquecontribution of age and gender to the prediction of decision-making styles. This model indicated that age and genderaccount for 5% of the nonredundant aggregate variance indecision-making styles (Pillai's V = .05), F(6, 182) = 1.55, p= .17. Finally, we controlled for differences in age and genderby determining the unique increment of variance contributedby the four ego identity statuses. This model revealed that theego identity statuses account for 19% of the nonredundantaggregate variance in decision-making styles (Pillai's V = .57),F(\2, 276) = 5.35, p < .001. Thus, the linear composites ofthe four ego identity statuses provide a substantive and sig-nificant means of predicting variability in decision-makingstyles, with only a minimal and insignificant effect by age andgender.
The full model yielded three canonical roots. A dimensionreduction analysis of this model revealed that the combinationof the three roots was significant (X = .50), F(18,255) = 3.98,p < .001. In addition, the combination of the second andthird roots was significant (X = .71), F(10, 182) = 3.33, p <.001, as was the third root in of itself (X = .90), F(4, 92) =2.56, p < .05. Thus, as suggested by many research metho-dologists (e.g., Pedhazur, 1982), one can reasonably assumefrom the preceding dimension reduction analysis that each ofthree canonical roots provided a statistically significant con-tribution to the full model.
In univariate analysis a procedure has been developed thatallows for the determination of the proportion of an overalleffect for a given variable within the context of the fullprediction model (see Darlington, 1968). In this study weused an analogous procedure to determine the relative con-
EGO IDENTITY AND DECISION MAKING 163
Table 1Means, Standard Deviations, and Intercorrelations for Age, Gender, Ego Identity Statuses,and Decision-Making Styles in Study 1
Note. Ego identity statuses were assessed by the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status; high scores reflect a greater degree ofprevalence of a given ego identity status. Gender was coded 1 for men and 2 for women. Decision-making styles were assessed by the Decision-Making Styles section of the Assessment of Career Decision Making; high scores on this measure reflect an endorsement of a given decision-making style.
tribution of a canonical root within the context of the multi-variate effect. As in the univariate case, an importance indexwas calculated to provide a means of comparing the propor-tion of variance accounted for by each canonical root to theoverall proportion of nonredundant aggregate variance pre-dicted by the full model. In the multivariate case the impor-tance index is determined by calculating the percentage ofvariance accounted for by a given canonical root in relationto the overall variance accounted for by all canonical rootsand by then multiplying that proportion by the overall mul-tivariate effect size for the full model (Haase & Blustein,1989).
The structure coefficients, which represent the correlationsbetween the canonical variates and the original variables, arepresented in Table 2. The first canonical root, which repre-sented 49.2% of the overall variance and therefore accountedfor 9.8% of the nonredundant aggregate variance (Rc
2 = .31),was characterized by a heavy negative loading of the identity-achievement status on the ego identity side of the model, aheavy positive loading of the dependent decision-making styleand moderate negative loadings of the rational and intuitivedecision-making styles on the other side of the model. Con-sistent with our expectations, persons who have explored andcommitted to their ego identity tend not to endorse dependentdecision making and rely to some extent upon rational andintuitive decision-making styles.
The second canonical root, which represented 33.6% of theoverall variance and therefore accounted for 6.7% of thenonredundant aggregate variance (Rc
2 = .21), was character-ized by a heavy negative loading of the foreclosure status andmoderate negative loadings of the diffusion and moratoriumstatuses. The decision-making styles side of the model wascharacterized by a heavy negative loading of the dependentdecision-making style and a moderate negative loading of theintuitive style. The loadings of this root are consistent withthe assumption that dependent decision making is concep-tually tied to the foreclosure status. In addition, persons whoare uncommitted with respect to their ego identity, as reflectedby the diffusion and moratorium statuses, tend to use de-
pendent and, to a somewhat lesser extent, intuitive decision-making styles.
The third canonical root, which represented 17.4% of theoverall variance and therefore accounted for 3.5% of thenonredundant aggregate variance (.R,.2 = . 10), was defined bya heavy negative loading of the diffusion status along with amoderate positive loading of identity achievement and amoderate negative loading of gender. The decision-makingstyles side of the model was characterized by a heavy positiveloading of the rational style and a heavy negative loading ofthe intuitive style. This root suggests that persons who are inthe diffusion status tend to endorse the intuitive style yet donot endorse the rational decision-making style. Furthermore,this root supports the view that the identity-achievementstatus is associated with rational decision making. Moreover,this root offers some suggestion, albeit modest because of therelatively moderate loading for gender, that the men in thesample tend to endorse rational decision-making styles butdo not endorse intuitive styles.
Discussion
The results of this study provide some empirical supportfor the proposition that variations in decision-making stylesare associated in meaningful ways with differences in egoidentity status. In accordance with our predictions, personsin the identity-achievement status tend to rely on rationaldecision making, as reflected by the loadings of the first andthird canonical roots. This finding supports the propositionthat rational decision making may be understood as a reflec-tion of the autonomous exploration and commitment that isassociated with the adaptive formation of an ego identity. Thecanonical analysis also suggests that the foreclosure status isassociated with the dependent decision-making style. Conse-quently, a reliance upon dependent decision making may beconstrued as a manifestation of an overall tendency to adoptone's parental values and attitudes, which is characteristic offoreclosed persons.
164 DAVID L. BLUSTEIN AND SUSAN D. PHILLIPS
Table 2Structure Coefficients for Significant CanonicalRoots in Study 1
Note. Higher scores on each of the ego identity status measuresreflect a greater degree of prevalence of a given ego identity status.Gender was coded 1 for men and 2 for women. Higher scores oneach of the decision-making styles measures reflect an endorsementof a given decision-making style.
On the basis of the loadings from the second and thirdcanonical roots, the diffusion status seems to be associatedwith the intuitive and dependent styles and to be inverselyrelated to the rational style. It may be that persons in thediffusion status use dependent or intuitive decisional strategiesin order to reduce the ambiguity that characterizes an openperiod of exploration and commitment (cf. Grotevant, 1987).In contrast to our expectations, the moratorium status wasnot associated with rational decision making. As suggested bythe loadings of the second canonical root, the moratoriumstatus was modestly associated with intuitive and dependentdecisional strategies. This finding suggests that persons whoare in the midst of identity exploration may seek out relativelyrapid solutions to decisional tasks in order to reduce theanxiety of the uncommitted phase of the identity formationprocess (cf. Marcia, 1980). When considered collectively, thefindings from this study support our overall contention thatat least some of the variability in decision-making styles maybe related to the characteristic ways in which late adolescentsexplore and commit to their ego identity.
Study 2
In addition to Harren's (1979) taxonomy, other means ofconceptualizing decision-making styles have been developedin recent years (see Phillips & Pazienza, 1988). By using adifferent measure of decision-making style with a separatesample of students, we hoped to replicate the relations foundin Study 1 and thereby to extend the generalizability of ourfindings.
Although Harren's (1979) work has generated the mostabundant research on decision-making styles, Johnson's(1978) taxonomy offers a somewhat different perspective thathas recently gathered the attention of scholars and practition-ers (see, for example, Gordon, Coscarelli, & Sears, 1986;Osipow & Reed, 1985). Johnson proposed that the gatheringof information and the processing of information each varyalong two bipolar dimensions. In Johnson's taxonomy thegathering of information ranges across a continuum from
systematic to spontaneous. Persons who are systematic tendto use deliberate, planful, and logical decisional strategies,whereas those who are spontaneous generally are global, af-fectively oriented, and nondeliberate in their decision making(Coscarelli, 1983a; Johnson, 1978). Johnson also observedthat persons exhibit differences in the means by which theyprocess information in the decision-making process; at oneend of the continuum, they tend to use internal or privatemeans of analyzing information, whereas those at the otherend of the continuum prefer to "think out loud" in an externalfashion.
Given the findings for ego identity statuses and decision-making styles that were observed in Study 1 and the sugges-tions from theory, a number of predictable relations can bederived with regard to Johnson's taxonomy. We expected thatthose persons who are in the identity-achievement statuswould gather information in a systematic rather than in aspontaneous fashion; furthermore, these persons, who tend tobe self-reflective in their decision making (cf. A. S. Waterman,1985), were expected to process information in an internalrather than an external fashion. Because persons in the fore-closure status tend to avoid any sort of planful exploration,we anticipated that they would use spontaneous rather thansystematic information-gathering strategies. Similarly, be-cause those in the foreclosure status tend to seek out theadvice of their parents, we anticipated that they may rely onexternal rather than internal information-processing strategiesin order to obtain more immediate feedback. As reflected inthe findings from Study 1, persons in the moratorium statustend to use intuitive and dependent decision-making strate-gies, perhaps as a means of reducing the tension and uncer-tainty that characterizes identity exploration. Similarly, thediffusion status is characterized by an avoidance of decisionmaking (cf. C. K. Waterman & Waterman, 1974). As such,we expected that those in the moratorium and diffusionstatuses would tend to rely on spontaneous rather than sys-tematic information-gathering strategies and would use exter-nal rather than internal information-processing strategies.
Method
Subjects
A total of 64 students from the same university as in Study 1composed the sample for this investigation. The students who partic-ipated in this study were drawn from an undergraduate class incounseling psychology; these students were asked to volunteer in astudy that entailed the completion of questionnaires in class. Thesample included 20% freshmen, 31 % sophomores, 11 % juniors, and38% seniors. The mean age of the sample was 19.91 (SD = 2.72).The sample consisted of 51% women and 49% men and had anethnic composition of 77% Whites, 11% Blacks, 6.3% Hispanics, and6.3% from other ethnic groups.
Procedure and Instruments
The subjects completed randomly ordered measures of ego identitystatus and decision-making styles and a demographic form (for ageand gender information). These subjects also completed measures of
EGO IDENTITY AND DECISION MAKING 165
vocational self-concept crystallization, motivational orientations, andprogress in the commitment to career choices process that were notused in this investigation.
Measurement of ego-identity status. We used the same measureof ego identity status that was described in Study 1.
Measurement of decision-making styles. The Decision-MakingInventory (DMI; Coscarelli, 1983a) was used to assess the variationsin decision-making style that have been described in Johnson's (1978)taxonomy. The DMI consists of 20 items in which subjects respondon a 7-point Likert scale, wherein higher scores reflect a greaterendorsement of a given decision-making style. Twelve of the itemsare scored, with three items each on the Internal, External, Systematic,and Spontaneous scales. Previous research with the DMI has indicatedthat the scales have marginal to modest internal consistency coeffi-cients (Internal, a = .68; External, a = .69; Systematic, a = .62; andSpontaneous, a = .40; Coscarelli, 1983a, 1983b). The stability coef-ficients of the DMI range from .41 to .71 across a 1-week interval(Coscarelli, 1983b). Evidence for the construct and content validityof the DMI can be inferred from the strong linkage between Johnson's(1978) taxonomy and the development of the items (see Coscarelli,1983a, 1983b). The DMI also has demonstrated a factor structurethat is consistent with theoretical expectations and stable acrossvarious samples (Coscarelli, 1983b) and therefore provides furthersupport for the construct validity of the measure. Inferences aboutthe concurrent and criterion validity of the DMI are supported bystudies in which the four subscales have been associated in predictableways with other measures of decision-making styles (e.g., Gordon etal., 1986; Phillips & Blustein, 1988) and with a measure of careerindecision (Osipow & Reed, 1985).
Results
As in Study 1, we included age and gender in the analysesto ascertain their contribution to the variables under investi-gation. Means, standard deviations, and intercorrelations forthe sample are presented in Table 3. Following the procedurein Study 1, we conducted a series of multivariate semipartialanalyses to determine the unique contribution of the egoidentity statuses to the prediction of decision-making styles,above and beyond the influence of age and gender. The fullcanonical model was initially examined; this model assessedthe relation among age, gender, and the four ego identity
statuses on one side of the model and the four decision-making styles on the other side. This model accounted for18% of the nonredundant aggregate variance in decision-making styles (Pillai's V= .72), F(24, 228) = 2.07, p < .005.Next, we controlled for differences in ego identity status bydetermining the unique contribution of age and gender to theprediction of decision-making styles. This model indicatedthat age and gender account for 5% of the nonredundantaggregate variance in decision-making styles (Pillai's V—. 11),F(8,110) = 0.78, p = ,62. Finally, we controlled for differencesin age and gender by determining the unique increment ofvariance contributed by the four ego identity statuses. Thismodel indicated that differences in ego identity status share17% of the nonredundant aggregate variance with decision-making styles (Pillai's V= .50), F(12, 177) = 2.95, p < .002.As in Study 1, the linear composites of the four ego identitystatuses provided a significant prediction of differences indecision-making styles, with an insignificant contribution byage and gender.
The full model in this study produced four canonical roots.The dimension reduction analysis of the canonical roots fromthis model revealed that the combination of the first to thefourth roots was significant (X = .56), F(12, 151) = 3.04, p <.001. However, the combination of the second to the fourthroots was not significant, which suggests that only the firstroot provided a statistically significant contribution to the fullmodel (Pedhazur, 1982). The first canonical root represented52.2% of the overall variance and therefore accounted for9.4% of the nonredundant aggregate variance (Rc
2 = .37). Asreflected in Table 4, this root was characterized by a heavynegative loading of the identity-achievement status, moderatepositive loadings of the foreclosure and diffusion statuses, anda moderate negative loading of age. The other side of thismodel was characterized primarily by heavy negative loadingsof the internal and systematic decision-making styles. Themost prominent feature of this canonical root, which is con-sistent with our propositions and previous findings, is thatpersons who are in the identity-achievement status tend touse systematic and internal decision-making styles. In addi-
Table 3Means, Standard Deviations, and Intercorrelations for Age, Gender, Ego Identity Statuses,and Decision-Making Styles in Study 2
Note. Ego identity statuses were assessed by the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status; high scores reflect a greater degree ofprevalence of a given ego identity status. Gender was coded 1 for men and 2 for women. Decision-making styles were assessed by the DecisionMaking Inventory; high scores on this measure reflect an endorsement of a given decision-making style.
166 DAVID L. BLUSTEIN AND SUSAN D. PHILLIPS
Table 4Structure Coefficients for Significant CanonicalRoot in Study 2
Variable Root 1
Ego identity status and demographic measureDiffusion .40Moratorium .21Foreclosure .60Identity Achievement -.79Age -.53Gender -.09
Note. Higher scores on each of the ego identity status measuresreflect a greater degree of prevalence of a given ego identity status.Gender was coded 1 for men and 2 for women. Higher scores oneach of the decision-making styles measures reflect an endorsementof a given decision-making style.
tion, this root suggests that persons in the diffusion andforeclosure statuses and those who are younger seem to avoidthe systematic and internal styles. No appreciable relationsbetween the moratorium status and decision-making stylesemerged in the canonical analysis. The spontaneous andexternal styles also failed to load substantively in the canonicalanalysis.
Discussion
The findings from this study provide an important sourceof corroborating validation for the propositions detailed inthis investigation. As in Study 1, the canonical root extractedin this investigation identified a strong relation between theidentity-achievement status and the more planful and logicaldecision-making strategies that are characterized by the sys-tematic style in Johnson's (1978) taxonomy. Similarly, theforeclosure and diffusion statuses were related to an absenceof systematic information-gathering activities, which is con-sistent with theory (cf. Marcia, 1980) and with our previousfindings. In relation to the information-processing aspect ofJohnson's taxonomy, the findings suggest that persons in theidentity-achievement status are comfortable with an internalmeans of assessing their decisional data. The canonical rootalso suggests that persons in the diffusion and foreclosurestatuses tend not to engage in internal information-processingstrategies.
The influence of age, although not significant in the semi-partial analysis or very substantive in the canonical root,suggests that the older the student, the more he or she is likelyto use systematic and internal decision-making styles. Thefailure of the spontaneous and external styles to contributemeaningfully to the canonical analysis is inconsistent withour expectations. However, this observation needs to be con-sidered in light of the relatively strong loadings from thesystematic and internal styles, which represent opposite endsof the decision-making continuum in Johnson's (1978) tax-onomy. Thus, aside from the absence of a relation between
the moratorium status and decision-making styles, the majorpatterns identified in Study 1 were also found in this study.
General Discussion
The overall objective of this investigation was to examinevariations in decision-making styles from the perspective of-fered by the identity formation literature. The results fromthe two studies described herein provide some empirical sup-port for the position that differences in decision-making stylesmay be tied to a developmental process of exploring andcommitting to one's ego identity in late adolescence. Consist-ent with the theoretical suggestions of scholars in vocationalpsychology (e.g., Harmon & Farmer, 1983; Kroll et al., 1970;Miller-Tiedeman, 1980) and adolescent development (e.g.,Cella et al., 1987; C. K. Waterman & Waterman, 1974), thecharacteristic way in which persons resolve the identity versusidentity diffusion psychosocial task seems to be related todecisional strategies in a relatively predictable and logicalfashion.
The results of the two studies offer some useful insightsabout the nature of stylistic differences in decision making,particularly in light of previous research on the identity for-mation process and career development (Blustein et al., 1989).Given the consistent relation that was observed between theidentity-achievement status and the rational style (in Study1) and the systematic style (in Study 2), it seems plausible toassume that persons who have negotiated the identity forma-tion process in an autonomous fashion tend to use planfuland self-reflective decisional strategies (Marcia, 1980; C. K.Waterman, 1985). This finding, when considered with theobservation that persons in the identity-achievement statusalso are likely to be actively engaged in career exploration(Blustein et al., 1989), indicates that these persons tend toapproach career decisions with careful deliberation. In addi-tion, the relation between the foreclosure status and thedependent style (in Study 1) and the inverse relation betweenthe foreclosure status and the internal and systematic styles(in Study 2) suggests that the adoption of one's parentalattitudes in the identity formation process has a deleteriousinfluence on one's decision making. Persons in the diffusionstatus also manifested less than adaptive decision-makingstrategies by generally relying on intuitive and dependentstyles (in Study 1) or by tending not to rely on systematic andinternal styles (in Study 2). Contrary to our initial expecta-tions, the moratorium status was not consistently associatedwith variations in decision-making styles. Specifically, thisstatus was modestly associated with the intuitive and depend-ent styles in Study 1 and was not substantively associated withthe decision-making styles measure used in Study 2. It maybe that persons in the moratorium status who are involved inextensive career planning and exploration (Blustein et al.,1989) rely on a wide array of decisional strategies, whichthereby precludes discerning any sort of clearly delineatedpattern of relations with decision-making styles.
The results from these two studies offer a number of poten-tially important ramifications for our understanding of vari-ations in decision making. Our findings with respect to thesystematic and rational styles are relatively consistent with
EGO IDENTITY AND DECISION MAKING 167
the assumptions that underlie these particular decisional strat-egies (cf. Barren, 1979; Johnson, 1978). A similar conclusioncan be inferred with regard to the nature of dependent decisionmaking, which seems to be associated with a broader, andperhaps more pervasive, sort of dependency (cf. Marcia, 1980;A. S. Waterman, 1982). However, our initial assumption thatintuitive decision making was associated with those ego iden-tity statuses that reflect an internal locus of responsibility wasnot supported by our findings (i.e., the identity-achievementand moratorium statuses). The results of Study 1, whichlinked the intuitive style most prominently with the diffusionstatus, suggest that selected characteristics of the diffusionstatus, such as impulsivity and deficits in one's capacity tocommit to important life decisions (Marcia, 1980; A. S.Waterman, 1985), may influence the decision-making behav-ior of intuitive persons. Our findings, although clearly notconclusive, underscore the need for a closer examination ofthe nature of intuitive decision making (cf. Phillips et al.,1985).
In a more general sense, our results provide further sugges-tion that variations in decision-making strategies may belinked to a specific line of development in late adolescence.As documented in the adolescent development literature, egoidentity status tends to change over time, albeit with manyindividual variations and nuances (cf. A. S. Waterman, 1982).Specifically, persons generally progress toward greater self-definition and identity achievement as they move from mid-dle adolescence to early adulthood. (See Marcia, 1980, andA. S. Waterman, 1985, for reviews of the pertinent empiricalliterature.) It is thus conceivable that some aspects of individ-ual variations in decision-making strategies may not be bestunderstood as intrinsic traits, but rather they may be mani-festations of expected developmental processes. For example,as a person moves from a foreclosed or diffused status to amoratorium and then an identity-achievement status, his orher decision-making behavior may also shift from a relianceon dependent strategies to a point in which rational or system-atic strategies predominate. Although this view is consistentwith some theoretical suggestions (e.g., Harmon & Farmer,1983; Miller-Tiedeman, 1980) and with our results, longitu-dinal analyses to assess the precise developmental contribu-tion to stylistic differences in decision making are clearlyindicated.
The findings from our investigation offer some potentiallyuseful implications for intervention. For example, our resultsprovide a conceptual framework for the treatment of depend-ent decision making, which has been most consistently asso-ciated with maladaptive vocational outcomes (e.g., Phillips etal., 1984; Phillips & Strohmer, 1982). Given the strong rela-tion between the foreclosure status and dependent decisionmaking, one plausible direction for intervention may be toassess the breadth of dependency and to provide an integrativeintervention, encompassing both vocational and nonvoca-tional domains of one's identity, that addresses a client'sunexamined adoption of parental beliefs. Our findings alsosuggest that deliberate psychological interventions designedto foster development, such as the one that is described byMiller-Tiedeman (1980), may also facilitate systematic andinternally derived decisional strategies.
In closing, a number of limitations with respect to this studyneed to be noted. First, the relations identified in the twostudies are correlational and not causal. Second, although weused two separate measures of decision-making styles withdifferent response formats, the results nevertheless have beenderived from self-report measures and thus may be subject toerror. In addition, because of the marginal to modest reliabil-ity coefficients of some of the measures used in this study,particularly the DMI, some caution must be exercised ininterpreting the findings. Third, the studies reported hereinhave been conducted with relatively traditional college stu-dents, although the samples were heterogeneous in ethniccomposition. Thus, future research efforts in this area willbenefit from exploring the relations between identity forma-tion and decision-making styles in samples that are culledfrom diverse populations (such as ethnic minority groups andyoung adults who are not college students). Despite theselimitations the robustness and consistency of the findingsacross both studies provides an empirical foundation that willhopefully foster further research designed to identify the de-velopmental and individual antecedents of variations in de-cisional strategies.
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Received July 7, 1989Revision received October 23, 1989
Accepted October 26, 1989 •
Beutler, Levin, Tesser, and Miller AppointedNew Editors, 1991-1996
The Publications and Communications Board of the American Psychological Associationannounces the appointments of Larry E. Beutler, University of Arizona; Joel R. Levin,University of Wisconsin; Abraham Tesser, University of Georgia; and Norman Miller, Uni-versity of Southern California, as editors of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychol-ogy, the Journal of Educational Psychology, the Attitudes and Social Cognition section andthe Interpersonal Relations and Group Processes section of the Journal of Personality andSocial Psychology, respectively. As of January 1, 1990, manuscripts should be directed asfollows:
• For Consulting and Clinical send manuscripts to Larry E. Beutler, Journal of Consultingand Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ari-zona 85721.
• For Educational send manuscripts to Joel R. Levin, Department of Educational Psychol-ogy, University of Wisconsin, 1025 West Johnson Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706.
• For JPSP: Attitudes send manuscripts to Abraham Tesser, Institute for Behavioral Re-search, University of Georgia, 548 Boyd Graduate Studies, D. W. Brooks Drive, Athens,Georgia 30602.
• For JPSP: Interpersonal send manuscripts to Norman Miller, Department of Psychology,Seeley G. Mudd Building, University of Southern California, University Park, Los An-geles, California 90089.
