Identity has been a topical issue in both popular and social science literatures for the past forty years. The writings of Erik Erikson on the identity formation process of late adolescence have provided an important theoretical foundation to clinical, counseling, and educational practices. As the literature on adolescent development has burgeoned over the last three decades, so have efforts to understand, more systematically, the means by which young people find their occupational, religious, political, sexual and relational roles in life.

One of the most popular research traditions to...