Identity development among Lebanese youth: An investigation of Marcia's paradigm

The purpose of this study was to investigate Marcia's ego identity paradigm in a sample of Lebanese youth. Another purpose was to examine correlates to identity statuses, namely gender and academic achievement. The sample consisted of 255 students, 18-21 years old, selected randomly from one university in Lebanon. The Ego Identity Process Questionnaire (EIPQ) was used to measure participants' level of Exploration and Commitment, and accordingly, classify them into one of Marcia's four Ego Identity Statuses: Achievement, Moratorium, Foreclosure, and Diffusion. Also, participants' self-reported cumulative grade point average (GPA) served as achievement data. The results showed that most participants were in either Foreclosure (29.41%) or Moratorium (29.02%). No significant gender or academic differences were found across the statuses. In future research, factors such as family structure, war, and political instability that might affect individuals' identity statuses must be investigated using larger and more representative samples.

DISCOVER in High School: Identifying Gifted Hispanic and Native American Students

Based on Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, the DISCOVER assessment was designed to identify gifted minority students for placement into programs for the gifted. In previous studies, the reliability and validity of the assessment in elementary grades were examined and yielded mostly positive results. In this study, similar analyses were carried out to investigate some validity aspects of DISCOVER with secondary students. The sample consisted of 303 predominantly Hispanic and Native American ninth graders. The results provided evidence for an alignment of the assessment with the theory of multiple intelligences. Also, no overall gender or ethnic differences were found in the numbers of students identified. In addition, the results suggested that the use of the DISCOVER assessment might help in reducing the problem of minority students' under-representation in programs for the gifted, as 29.3% of the high school students who participated in this study were identified as gifted.