An assessment of the relationship between identity development, faith development, and religious commitment

The current study is the first to report on the relationship between identity status and various facets of religiousness: faith development, religious commitment, and negative aspects of religiousness. In addition, multiple measures of religious commitment and faith development were used to allow for the generalization of findings beyond the limitations inherent in specific individual scales. Using a college sample (N = 228), the achieved identity status was positively associated with religious commitment; however, it was not related to faith development. As expected, individuals in the moratorium status were higher in faith development than diffused or foreclosed participants. The pattern of results suggests that the identity development statuses of achieved and moratorium relate significantly but differentially to alternative conceptions of religious development and maturity (i.e., sincere religious commitment and faith development).