Essay On Erikson's Capacity For Fidelity

Erikson theorizes that in such a period, adolescents have certain tasks, one of which is identifying who they are. An individual successfully completes the task by staying true to his or her self, whereas when a person fails that stage, it leads to role confusion; consequently creating a weak sense of self. (Block 2011). The stage also entails a variety of personal challenges and limitations faced as well as a series of needs to be met, including: attention, guidance, independence, stability, and acceptance, among other needs. Meeting an adolescent’s needs is fundamental to their healthy development and personal growth. Nevertheless, adolescence remains as puzzling of a period in time for both the teens experiencing it, as well as for the individuals surrounding them, watching them as they navigate through the trials that adolescence brings them.

According to Erik Erikson, adolescence is marked by the child’s questioning his or her identity during what he refers to as the identity versus identity confusion developmental stage. During this phase, the adolescent becomes mindful of his or her identity and seeks his or her purpose in life, as well as the answer to the eternal question, “who

Adolescence is Erikson’s fifth stage of development wherein the person must master the conflict of identity versus role confusion. The question, who I am? Is a question that arises during this time? The child is concerned with

With respect to Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development, the adolescence is the stage of identity versus role confusion. He also believes that identity as the significant personality achievement of adolescence is an essential step toward becoming a productive happy adult (Feldman, 2006). I remember so vividly my high school experience; especially

It outlines the struggle an individual faces in finding stability between developing a sense of forming a unique identity while still being accepted and “fitting in” with society. Erikson believed that when teenagers adequately navigated their way through this crisis, they would transpire into having a clear understanding of their individual identity and easily share this new ‘self’ with others. However, if an individual is unable to navigate their way through this crisis period, they may be uncertain of who they are which can result in a lack of understanding, leading to disconnection from society and the people around them. If youth become stuck at this stage they will be unable to become emotionally mature adults, according to Erikson’s theory. This period of an individual’s life allows them to investigate possibilities which will lead them to discovering their own identity based upon the result of their explorations.

According to Erikson’s theory, as the individual transits into adolescence, he or she begins to express the high interest in understanding and trying to make sense of the self and its qualities. This process includes self-awareness, self-conscious and self-examination ( Brinthaupt & Lipka, 2012). Porfeli, Lee & Vondracek (2013) believed that in the early to middle adolescence, the individuals are struggling to identify the balance between developing a unique individual identity while still being accept by the general society. Therefore, it explains the reason why individual may develop high consciousness towards to criticism in social environment. Simultaneously, Hoffnung, M., Hoffnung, R. J., Pause, Jeffrey, Burton, Hine (2013) stated that adolescences are able to evaluate self identity from multiple perspectives as well as able to take others opinions into

Adolescent is a disconcerting time when there are many life changes emotionally, physically, socially and psychologically. There are unrealistic expectations which lead to disappointment and rejection. The maturity level of adolescents makes them feeling life is not fair and things will never change to benefit them. Erikson’s identity vs. role confusion is an example of how developing into owns identity can be challenging, especially when learning how to transition into adulthood. Adolescence is one of the most importance stages in life where the mind and body goes through varies changes. When changes cause impairment or interfere with activities of daily living it results in

Erik Erikson named the stage of adolescents “identity versus role confusion” (Sigelman, C. & Rider, E. pg. 343). This is a pivotal time in an individual’s life where many future endeavors; personal, academic, and professional, depend on the outcome of this stage. During this time, adolescents are trying to refine the many facets of their personality such as, political, sexual, religiousness, just to name a few. This is an arduous

Erikson’s stage of Identity vs. Role Confusion (13-19 years old), was a crucial time for my brother and I, as my parents decided to put us back in public school. I was thirteen-years old at the time, just entering the eighth grade as a “new kid” in a very small rural community. This was beyond some of my toughest

Another stage of Erikson’s theory that is similar to stages of Kohlberg’s theory is identity versus identity confusion where the adolescent learns the essence of what makes them who they are from bringing together everything they have learnt and what kind of person they will be. Kohlberg’s stages that are similar is the conventional stage of good boy/ nice girl morality where the school-aged child follows rules to be accepted by those around them, and the postconventional stage of social contract orientation where the adolescent will follow society customs for the benefit of others. These three stages are closely associated as someone’s identity is usually shaped by the customs of society. People will do what is expected of them to be accepted which in turn contributes to their identity. The last similarity between the two theories is Erikson’s stage of generativity versus stagnation where the middle-aged adult broadens their concern from themselves to the community and world, and Kohlberg’s postconventional stage of universal ethical principles where the adult’s actions are determined by their own ethical principles and standards of behaviour. These two stages complement each other as a person cannot have concerns for the community and world if they do not have a sense of their own beliefs and values as a foundation. A person needs to know what they value to then go on and have concerns that

In her study, Josselson found that Identity Achievers break psychological ties to childhood and form separate, distinct identities (Evans, Forney, Patton, Renn, Guido, & Quaye, 2016, p. 294). They take pride in themselves and rely on their own accomplishments for their self-esteem rather than on the approval of parents which often causing deliberate distancing from them. They seek internal affirmation as opposed to external approval. The major theme in this group is independence. As I reflect on who I am today, I connect with Josselson's description of an identity achiever.

At this age, students are straddling between adulthood and childlike behavior. With the stages of growth in mind, I revisited the Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development. They are currently in the Fidelity: identity vs. role confusion (adolescence stage, 13-19). This is the stage that graduates them from child into an

Erik Erikson was a prominent American psychologist that created many theories about human development and social growth. Erikson produced a stage model based upon the premise that a person lives in the social world and that personality is formed based upon the social interactions that a person experiences. He describes a series of development crises that a person must face throughout the lifespan. Erikson’s theory can be applied to “The King of Pop”, Michael Jackson. Many stages of Erikson’s psychosocial theory failed in Michael Jackson’s life. The results of Jackson not successful completing these stages lead him to be mentally deranged.

In entering adolescence, people heavily contemplate their ego identity. In the early 1900s, theorist Erik Erikson believed in eight stages of ego development from birth to death. For the purpose of this paper I have

“I just want to be someone, mean something to anyone, I want to be the real ME”, by Charlotte Eriksson. The quest of my journey is to discover my real purpose, my real goal but most importantly, find my real identity. This is known as the “Identity versus Role Confusion Stage” or as described by psychoanalyst Erik H. Erikson, the fifth stage of the Eight Stages of Man. It occurs between the ages of 12 to 18, where every person battles to establish a certain roll or skill that provides one with a sense of a sturdy foundation in the adult society. I too am currently going through this stage of life, dodging many obstacles in order to seek out my identity. The hardest obstacle- my attempt to fit in with my peers, but the extremes I took to