African American Undergraduate Students' Wisdom and Ego-Identity Development: Effects of Age, Gender, Self-Esteem, and Resilience

The present study provides valuable insight into African American youths' ego-identity and wisdom development. The study examines the relationship between wisdom dimensions (cognitive, affective, and reflective) and ego-identity statuses (achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, and diffusion), and age and gender differences among 198 African American college students (age 18-25 years). The study also examines how self-esteem and resilience are related to wisdom and ego-identity. The results show that (a) age contributes to reflective and affective dimensions of wisdom, (b) there is no association between identity achievement and wisdom, (c) moratorium, foreclosure, and diffusion are negatively associated with wisdom, (d) gender does not predict wisdom, but does affect foreclosure and diffusion, (e) reflective and affective wisdom are related to resilience and self-esteem, and (f) both resilience and self-esteem are related to identity achievement. This study provides insight into the importance of fostering reflective and affective abilities for holistic development among young African Americans.