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The Ego Identity Process Questionnaire: Factor Structure, Reliability, and Convergent Validity in Dutch-Speaking Late Adolescents

Koen Luyckx, Luc Goossens, Wim Beyers, & Bart Soenens (2006). Journal of Adolescence, 29, 153-159.

Abstract

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The reliability and validity of a Dutch version of the Ego Identity Process Questionnaire (EIPQ) were evaluated. In Study 1, the instrument was found to exhibit a clear factor structure and acceptable reliability. Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis, both a model with two process factors (Commitment and Exploration) and a model with four content factors (Ideological Commitment, Ideological Exploration, Interpersonal Commitment, and Interpersonal Exploration) evidenced a good fit once direction of wording was taken into account. In Study 2, moderate convergence was observed between Commitment and Exploration, and continuous measures of identity statuses and identity styles. The results of both studies combined indicated that the Dutch version of the EIPQ may be recommended as a research tool with college students.

Introduction

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The Ego Identity Process Questionnaire (EIPQ; Balistreri et al., 1995) provides continuous scores for identity commitment and exploration in the ideological (politics, religion, occupation, value-orientation) and interpersonal (friendship, family, intimate relationships, sex roles) area. The measure has been used with college students in the United States. No validity studies have been reported in other regions of the world. The present manuscript comprises two studies that assess the factorial and convergent validity and reliability of a Dutch version of the EIPQ in Belgium (Europe). Previous manuscripts using the Dutch translation already indicated that both dimensions were meaningfully related to adjustment and personality indicators, demonstrating external validity (Luyckx, Goossens, Soenens, & Beyers, in press; Luyckx, Soenens, & Goossens, in press). Study 1: Factorial Validity and Internal Consistency Schwartz and Montgomery (2002) performed an Exploratory Factor Analysis that yielded four content factors (Ideological Commitment, Ideological Exploration, Interpersonal Commitment, and Interpersonal Exploration). Balistreri et al. (1995) performed a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) on 16 item groups they combined the two items of each specific domain and dimension (e.g., the two political commitment items) that yielded two process factors (Commitment and Exploration). No study to date reported the internal consistencies of the four scale scores. Only the Cronbachs alphas for Exploration and Commitment were reported, ranging from .69 to .76 (Mdn = .75), and from .60 to .76 (Mdn = .75), respectively. All correlations reported between Exploration and Commitment were negative and ranged from -.05 to -.46 (Mdn = -.23) (Balistreri et al., 1995; Berman, Schwartz, Kurtines, & Berman, 2001; Dunkel & Anthis, 2001; Samuolis, Layburn, & Schiaffino, 2001; Schwartz, 2002a; Schwartz & Dunham, 2000). The first purpose of Study 1 was to evaluate the factor structure of the EIPQ in a large sample of Dutch-speaking adolescents. The second purpose was to evaluate the internal consistencies of the EIPQ. In line with earlier research, it was also expected that commitment and exploration would be negatively correlated. Participants and Measure Study 1 comprised 775 Caucasian freshmen from two colleges in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. Five hundred and sixty five freshmen studied at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, and 210 freshmen studied at the agri- and horticulture program. A breakdown on gender yielded 517 women (66.7%). Mean age was 18 years 10 months (SD = 10 months). The EIPQ was

36 translated to Dutch according to the guidelines of the International Test Commission (Hambleton, 1994). Results and Discussion Four-factor model. CFA was conducted using Lisrel 8.53 (Jreskog & Srbom, 1993). The Standardized Root Mean Square Residuals (SRMR) should not exceed .09, and the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) should not exceed .06. Satorra-Bentler Scaled chi-square (6%6 ; Satorra & Bentler, 1994) difference tests were used for testing differences in fit. Because the initial four-factor model (Model 1) did not provide a good fit (df = 458; 6%6 = 2138.37; RMSEA = .07; SRMR = .10), specifications were necessary. The EIPQ consists of 20 items that are positively worded and 12 items that are negatively worded. Two method factors were included to account for a direction-of-wording effect that can detract from valid measurement of the intended constructs (Miller & Cleary, 1993): the positively worded items loaded on the first and the negatively worded items on the second factor. Both method factors were allowed to covary but the correlations between content factors and method factors were fixed to zero (Kline, 1998). This model (Model 2) had a significantly better fit than Model 1 (6%6 = 790.55; 33 df less; p < .0001) and values for RMSEA (.05) and SRMR (.06) indicated an adequate fit. Instead of using the 16 two-item groups as a first-order structure (Balistreri et al., 1995), we determined empirically which of these item-pairs had to be taken into account. In Model 3 we allowed 16 measurement error correlations reflecting domain-specific exploration and commitment. This model (Model 3) had a significantly better fit than Model 2 (6%6 = 206.69; 16 df less; p < .0001). Non-significant measurement error correlations were fixed to zero, resulting in Model 4 (6%6 = 7.27; 9 df more; p = .61). Two items (11, 25) had non-significant loadings on method factors, and four items (9, 10, 13, 18) had non-significant loadings on content factors. These factor loadings were fixed to zero which did not result in a significant increase in misfit (Model 5; 6%6 = 7.37; 6 df more; p = .29). Parameter estimates for Model 5 (df = 424; 6%6 = 1155.77; RMSEA = .05; SRMR = .06) are presented in Table 2.1. Two-factor model. The correlations between both commitment factors and both exploration factors in Model 5 (.83 and .78, respectively) lead us to combine these factors two-by-two, resulting in two process factors (Commitment, Exploration). This initial two-factor model did not provide an adequate fit to the data, with fit-indices similar to Model 1. Therefore, the specifications described above were applied to this two-factor model. This yielded very similar results and fit-indices as with

the four-factor model. The final two-factor model consisted of two process factors

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(Commitment and Exploration), two method factors (positively and negatively-worded items), eight correlated measurement errors representing domain-specific commitment and exploration, and four process factor loadings (Items 9, 10, 13, 18) and two method factors loadings (Items 11, 25) fixed to zero (df = 428; 6%6 = 1171.27; RMSEA = .05; SRMR = .06). In sum, the EIPQ captures the building blocks of identity formation, that is, commitment and exploration, both on a global process level and on an intermediate content level. Reliability. Cronbachs alphas for Ideological Commitment (7 items), Ideological Exploration (6 items), Interpersonal Commitment (8 items), and Interpersonal Exploration (7 items) were .60, .61, .55, and .60, respectively. Cronbachs alphas for Commitment (15 items) and Exploration (13 items) were .70 and .72, respectively. The correlation between Commitment and Exploration was .32 (p < .001). Study 2: Convergent Validity Schwartz (2002a) focused on the convergence of Commitment and Exploration as assessed by the EIPQ and the global identity statuses as assessed by the revised Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (EOM-EIS-II; Bennion & Adams, 1986). Achievement was positively related to Commitment and, less strongly, to Exploration, Foreclosure negatively to Exploration and, rather surprisingly, unrelated to Commitment, Moratorium strongly negative to Commitment and, less strongly, positive to Exploration, and Diffusion negatively to both dimensions. Berman et al. (2001) focused on the convergence between Commitment and Exploration as assessed by the EIPQ and the identity styles as assessed by the revised Identity Style Inventory (ISI3; Berzonsky, 1992a) and found a moderate to high convergence. The Informational style had a strong positive correlation with Exploration and a moderate positive one with Commitment, the Normative style had a moderate negative correlation with Exploration and a strong positive one with Commitment, and the Diffuse/Avoidant style had a moderate negative association with both dimensions. Study 2 assessed the convergent validity of the Dutch version of the EIPQ with these two well-known identity measures at the process level of Commitment and Exploration.

Table 2.1 Standardized Item Loadings for the Ego Identity Process Questionnaire (EIPQ; N = 775, Study 1) Factor Commitment Item (domain) 1 (occupation) 23 (occupation) 2 (politics) 7 (politics) 13 (religion) -16 (religion) -12 (values) -29 (values) 18 (occupation) -30 (occupation) 10 (politics) -26 (politics) 3 (religion) 28 (religion) -4 (values) 20 (values) I .31 .34 .42 .42 0 .34 .48 .40 0 .36 0 .43 .25 .33 .50 .35 Content II III Method IV Positive Negative Ideological realm .30 .19 .25 .23 .47 .26 .29 .43 .39 .26 .50 .26 .43 .49 .16 .54

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Exploration

Interpersonal realm Commitment 5 (friendship) .52 .20 -21 (friendship) .38 .27 17 (gender roles) .28 .25 25 (gender roles) .53 0 8 (family) .36 .34 -31 (family) .22 .43 -14 (dating) .28 .22 32 (dating) .25 .32 Exploration -11 (friendship) .48 0 27 (friendship) .42 .35 -6 (gender roles) .49 .17 19 (gender roles) .48 .17 -15 (family) .11 .50 24 (family) .31 .39 9 (dating) 0 .40 22 (dating) .27 .40 Note: Negatively worded items are preceded by a minus sign. Item pairs for which correlated measurement errors had to be allowed are indicated in bold (i.e., Items 1 and 23, 2 and 7, and so on). Zero values indicate non-significant loadings (p > .05) that were fixed to zero.

Participants and Measure

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The sample comprised 218 female first-year students from the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences. Again, all students were Caucasian. Mean age was 18 years 8 months (SD = 10 months). Participants completed the Dutch version of the EIPQ, the EOM-EIS-II, and the ISI3. The Dutch version of the EOM-EIS-II exhibited adequate reliability, factorial, and concurrent validity (Goossens, Marcoen, & Hutsebaut, 1990). The Dutch version of the ISI3 exhibited internal consistencies and interrelations among the subscales in line with those obtained for the original instrument (Soenens, Duriez, & Goossens, 2005). Cronbach s alphas for Commitment (15 items) and Exploration (13 items) were .73 and .67, respectively. The correlation between Commitment and Exploration was -.26 (p < .001). Results and Discussion In line with Marcia (1966), Achievement was positively correlated with Commitment (r = .51; p < .001) and Exploration (r = .14; p < .05), Foreclosure positively with Commitment (r = .22; p < .001) and negatively with Exploration (r = -.25; p < .001), Moratorium negatively with Commitment (r = -.38; p < .001) and positively with Exploration (r = .33; p < .001), and Diffusion negatively with Commitment (r = -.19; p < .01) and Exploration (r = -.36; p < .001). The correlations with the identity styles partially confirmed the hypotheses. The Informational style was positively correlated with Exploration (r = .46; p < .001). The Normative style was positively correlated with Commitment (r = .45; p < .001) but unrelated with Exploration (r = -.08; p > .05). The Diffuse/Avoidant style was negatively correlated with Commitment (r = -.14; p < .05) but unrelated with Exploration (r = -.11; p > .05). In sum, the Dutch version of the EIPQ evidenced moderate convergent validity with measures of identity statuses and identity styles. General Discussion Both studies combined demonstrate the factorial validity, reliability, and convergent validity of the Dutch translation of the EIPQ, a questionnaire assessing the building blocks of identity formation (i.e., commitment and exploration). First, both the model with two process factors (Commitment and Exploration) and the model with four content factors (Ideological Commitment, Ideological Exploration, Interpersonal Commitment, and Interpersonal Exploration) had an adequate fit to the data when method variation (i.e., direction of wording) was controlled for. The fit of both the two- and four-factor model further improved when domain-specific exploration and commitment were taken into account. Therefore, it

is advisable to complement the EIPQ with measures that allow for a more fine-grained,

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content-specific measurement of identity to increase the sensitivity of measurement (Waterman, 1985). Second, the internal consistencies of Commitment and Exploration were moderate, in accordance with those reported in the literature. The internal consistencies for the four content factors were rather low. These low to moderate internal consistencies were partially due to method variation and multidimensionality of the EIPQ. Third, moderate to high convergence between Commitment and Exploration and the global identity statuses was found. The convergence between Commitment and Exploration and the identity styles was less pronounced but still adequate. Only the non-significant correlation between Exploration and the Diffuse/Avoidant style was unexpected. However, given the larger picture of the associations among Commitment and Exploration and the identity statuses and styles, we can conclude that the Dutch version of the EIPQ exhibits satisfactory convergent validity. To summarize, the Dutch version of the EIPQ appeared to be a promising instrument for the field of identity research that evidences adequate validity and reliability. Raskin (1984) stated that the choice between global and more specific identity constructs could be guided by the type of construct one relates identity to. Therefore, the Dutch version of the EIPQ appears to be suitable for use in a wide array of correlational research using diverse external variables. Broad criterion variables (such as personality and psychological adaptation) can be related to the process factors Commitment and Exploration. Specific criteria (e.g., interest in politics) may be related more fruitfully to content factors such as Ideological commitment.