A person-centered approach to identity styles

The purpose of this study was to establish whether the three identity processing styles postulated by Berzonsky (1989) could be identified with a person-centered, cluster-analytic approach. Participants were 234 Italian university students. A four-cluster solution was selected based on the criteria of the theoretical meaning of each cluster, parsimony, and satisfactory explanatory power. Three of the clusters, as hypothesized, corresponded to Berzonsky’s identity styles: informational, normative, and diffuse-avoidant. A fourth cluster, composed of mixed normative-informational students, also emerged. The style clusters were cross-validated by comparing them to classifications based on z-score differences (Berzonsky & Sullivan, 1992) and by examining their profiles on a number of identity, commitment, self-esteem, and cognitive variables. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.