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Identity In Adolescents

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The development of identity in adolescents was described by Erikson’s stage of cognitive development, identity versus role confusion. This stage is further broken down by James Marcia and his four stages of identity development. This stage is best described by the phrase, ‘Who am I?’. The development of identity in adolescents is impacted by peers, parenting, and other social factors such as media. Adolescents begin to develop their identity by copying their peers. This is related to the foreclosure status of Marcia’s stages, in which a teen will start to develop their identity by copying the choices of others (1). Peers are an easy influence on identity as they surround them daily. This allows for teens to experiment and be similar to others around them, making it more comfortable. Adolescents desire to fit in plays a role in the copycat game of identity discovery. As part of finding out who one is, teens will copy another to try out different roles and identities, most likely stemming from those they perceive as ‘cool’. …show more content…

During adolescence the relationship between child and parent begins to weaken as does the control over their child(1). A study in Myers, Psychology Edition 8, states that those with positive relationships with their parents tend to be more successful in school and have be happier. By having a positive relationship between parent and child, the child is more likely to stay in school. There they are further encouraged to form identities. If the child has negative relationship with their parent they are more likely to misbehave in school, thus not being able to interact with peers on a closer level. The relationship a child has with their parent can have positive or negative impacts on the child's ability to form an identity for

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