Parental and peer attachment and identity development in adolescence WIM MEEUS,ANNERIEKE OOSTERWEGEL AND WILMA VOLLEBERGH The main aim of this study was to test the situational hypothesis of parent–peer conflict and the parent-peer linkages hypothesis with regard to parental and peer attachment and identity. The situational hypothesis predicts that parental attachment will be associated with school identity and peer attachment with relational identity. The parent–peer linkages hypothesis suggests that parental attachment influences peer attachment and through peer attachment school and relational identity. Data from a survey of 148 middle adolescents from various ethnic groups were used. The findings offer strong support for the situational hypothesis, and only limited evidence in favor of the parent–peer linkages hypothesis. In addition, systematic links were found between parent and peer trust and commitment, and parent and peer communication and exploration. Adolescents from ethnic minority groups reported higher levels of school commitment and exploration compared with indigenous Dutch adolescents. r 2002 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Introduction The most important elaboration of Erikson’s views on identity formation is Marcia’s (1966) identity status model. Marcia describes four clearly differentiated identity statuses, based on the amount of exploration and commitment that the adolescent is experiencing or has experienced. Identity diffusion (D) indicates that the adolescent has made no commitment as yet regarding a specific developmental task and has made little if any exploration of different developmental alternatives in that domain. Foreclosure (F) means that the adolescent has made a commitment without exploration. In moratorium (M), the adolescent is in a state of active exploration and has made no commitment or at best an unclear one. Identity achievement (A) signifies that the adolescent has finished a period of active exploration and has made a commitment. In identity status research the general assumption is that a high quality of parent– adolescent relations fosters the development of identity (Grotevant and Cooper, 1985; Waterman, 1993), while only a few studies have been conducted on the association of peer– adolescent relations and identity. This article will focus on the association between parental attachment and identity, and will also examine the association between peer attachment and identity. Attachment and identity Although a number of studies has been carried out on the relationship between parental attachment and identity, the results are seemingly contradictory. In five studies a positive association between parental attachment and overall identity was found. Anderson and Fleming (1996), Kendis and Tan (1978), and Quintana and Lapsley (1987, studies 1 and 2) Reprint requests and correspondence should be addressed to Wim Meeus, Department of Child and Adolescent Studies, Postbox 80.140, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands. (E-mail address: W.Meeus@fss.uu.nl.) 0140-1971/02/$35Á00 # 2002 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Journal of Adolescence 2002, 25, 93–106 doi:10.1006/jado.2001.0451, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on