Identity Vs Role Confusion

Adolescence is popularly known to be a very tumultuous stage in a person’s life. In the adolescent stage (also coined the identity vs. role confusion stage by theorist Erik Erikson) bodies are changing rapidly, emotions are unfamiliar and unexplainable, and refraining from succumbing to peer pressure is more challenging than ever.

identity vs alienation stage. In this stage adolescents are trying to gain a sense of self.

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

role confusion stages range from ages twelve to nineteen and is the stage in life where we explore who we are, who we want to be, and where we are headed in life. The Intimacy vs. isolation stage ranges from ages twenty to thirty-four, and is when we decide whether we are loved by others, feel rejected by others, and if we want to spend life with someone else or alone (Erikson, 1994).

According to Erikson, I am most likely in the Adolescence stage of development. I am teenager and in that stage you form an identity for your life and that is what I am doing. I am figuring out who I am and what I what to be when I grow

My educational goals for high school would be to get good grades mostly, and the reason that is one of my main goals is because with grades your acceptance rate is higher to get into a college. With a higher acceptance rate, you get more options of colleges to choose from you aren’t limited to a certain college. For my college goals, they are to get a master's in nursing. Why I want my masters in nursing is because a master gets a higher chance in being hired, because they would rather choose someone with a higher degree in that area of work. Also with a masters you have more knowledge and that is always a better thing when applying to a job.

Identity development has four stages to it. The four stages are identity moratorium, identity foreclosure, identity diffusion, and identity achievement. The identity moratorium stage is the status in which the adolescent is currently in a crisis, exploring various commitments and is ready to make choices, but has not made a commitment to these choices yet. At this point in the identity development process, the adolescent may feel a sense of how they identify themself, but are nervous about portraying it or are uncertain of exactly how they want to portray him or herself. This is also when one would begin experimenting in order to try and find their identity but have yet to make a great change.

- When I was in eighth grade, towards the end of the year, I was bullied. It was unwarranted, or I would like to think it was as I was not one to stir up conflict. The bullies would throw things at me, and if they were sitting behind me, they would poke my back with pencils. At dismissal, they hid my book bag underneath one of the auditorium seats. The teacher aid became furious with me, for taking too long to dismiss. As well, as a bully would, they would also threaten to beat me up. The Eriksononian stage that would fit this scenario would be identity vs. role confusion. This stage pits identity against role confusion. A role which one can fit, identity, it is a personal self-evaluation that an adolescence goes through to refine the ego.

This stage occurs between the ages of 12 and 18. Teenagers often have problems with self identity. In this stage groups are

Confusion (Teenage Years/12-19): This stage plays an essential role in developing a sense of personal identity that will ultimately influence the behavior and development of the individual. Most teenagers during this stage have completed or are preparing to complete high school. Many questions come to mind. Will I attend college? Am I ready to move out of on my own? Emotions during this time are a tad bite overwhelming as the individual seeks a new identity.

For Erikson (1950) adolescence is a period during which individuals seek to avoid dangers of role diffusion and identity confusion by establishing a sense of personal identity. Individuals have to find answers for two major questions “who am I?” and “what is my place in society?” Identity is a “conscious sense of individual uniqueness” and an “unconscious striving for a continuity of experience” (Erikson, 1968, p. 208).

Stage five is adolescence, beginning with puberty and ending around 18 or 20 years old. The task during adolescence is to achieve ego identity and avoid role confusion. Ego identity means knowing who you are and how you fit in to the rest of society. It requires that you take all you have learned about life and yourself and mold it into a unified self-image, one that your community finds meaningful. Without these things, we are likely to see role confusion, meaning an

In today’s Western society, self-identity and social roles are important dimensions that are at times challenging to face. Social roles have always been a fundamental part of society and yet as time goes on, it seems to be increasingly difficult to understand. As discussed in class, in the medieval period, people were assigned roles based on family status. In modern days, however, societal roles have expanded and opportunities are endless, which raises the question: Is there more uncertainty about identity in modern society?

In my opinion, I feel like I have already passed Erikson’s stage of Identity vs. Role Confusion. Up until two years ago, I was however still in the midst of that phase. I was not troubled by the development of an ethnic or religious identity, but I was definitely trying to understand what to do with my life in general. I especially had two concerns: understanding what career I wanted to pursue and whether I wanted to go back to my native country. In these two years I have undertaken many different experiences that allowed me to grow tremendously and that really helped me to understand what my life goals are. In fact, I understood that I want to pursue a career in the healthcare field, more specifically I dream to become an orthopedist, that I would like to keep living in the United States at least until the

“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