“…This study has been conducted on a sample of German participants. Although, as mentioned, the findings on ego development, identity status, and intimacy development are very much in line with North American findings, future studies should include ethnic diverse samples, as there is some support for the notion of cultural differences in intimacy (Marshall, 2008), ego development (Bakken & Huber, 2005), and identity development (Côté, 1997). Furthermore, during recent years, progress has been made in conceptualizing the commitment and exploration components of identity more thoroughly, identifying, for example, different types of adaptive and less adaptive moratorium states (Crocetti et al, 2008).…”