Employing Erikson's identity theory within Marcia's operational framework, the association between identity formation and adult achievement was examined in a subset of gifted individuals from Termnan's longitudinal study. Terman's most successful A group and the least successful C group were compared with respect to their identity formation. Significant relationships were found between identity formation and occupational success at the data points under study. The successful As were found to be mostly Identity Achievers, whereas the unsuccessful Cs were miore likely Identity Diffusers. The explanation power of Erikson's identity theory for varied achievement in adulthood calls for attention to identity research in gifted education.
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