Relationships between collective identity and ego identity were examined among 299 African American and Mexican American university students. Participants completed scales measuring racial or cultural identity and ego identity. Regression analyses indicated that ego identity was significantly related to racial identity for African Americans and cultural identity for Mexican Americans.

The authors proposed that racial and gender identities were related to ego identities based on common themes that exist across these different dimensions of identity. A sample of 300 White college students completed completed the White Racial Identity Attitude Scale (Helms & Carter, 199), the Womanist Identity Attitude Scale (Ossana, Helms, & Leonard, 1992) or Men's Identity Attitude Scale (Miville & Helms, 1996), and the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (Bennion & Adams, 1986). Multivariate multiple regression analyses revealed that all ego identity statuses were significantly related to gender and/or racial identity statuses for both women and men. Implications for practice, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.