One of the theorists to investigate the development of identity would be Erik Erikson. According to Erikson (1968), throughout an individual’s life-span, they experience conflicts. These conflicts arise at certain points in life and need to be successfully resolved for the progression in to the next of Erikson’s eight stages (Sigelman & Rider, 2015). The specific stage relevant to the development of identity formation in adolescence would be the ‘identity versus role confusion’ stage. Identity development involves exploring options and making commitments to obtain a relatively stable self-perception (DeHaan & MacDermid, 1996). In contrast, role confusion occurs when individuals are not able to commit specific life choices (DeHaan & MacDermid,
All throughout our lives, we wrestle with the question of who am I and what do I want in life? However, it is usually during the adolescent years that this issue really comes to a head and we begin a more earnest search into finding ourselves and deciding the direction we want to take with our lives. One of the theorists who studied this idea of identity formation was James Marcia. Marcia proposed that there were four different stages or statuses in the development of identity which he labeled Identity Diffusion, Identity Foreclosure, Identity Moratorium, and Identity Achievement. In this essay, we will briefly summarize his four different stages and then apply his theory to my own identity development during the adolescent years.
Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes (Rathus, 2010, p.5). In my Psychology class I learned about multiple brain experiments and I also learned a lot of things about myself that I never thought of or crossed my mind. Things like being a procrastinator and letting things stress you out doesn’t do any good, they can only harm you. Even though there is positive stress in this world, I believe negative stress outweighs the good stress in the world. The 3 biggest areas that struck my attention the most were behavior, peers and my mind. All 3 of these topics that I have chose to write about relate back to me in one way or another. In each of the paragraphs below they will explain the parts of the brain being used and what actually goes on.
They may be little things but in the end they can end up becoming something big. Conflicts tend to happen throughout a person’s life which can also add onto the stress that they feel. Conflict is something that in the end a person has to decide, disagree, agree, or ignore something that they have been arguing about with another person. The book says “ Reasearch has also shown that both children and adults expect to experience more stress when faced with unexpected negative life events, such as the sudden death loved one, than when dealing with the death of a family member, than dealing with stress generated by ore controalable stressers. Another daily stresser would be inside the workplace which for a person with a job this is an everyday thing sometimes. Stress from work can come from working to much and not giving yourself a break even on your off days. Who a person is as an employee can stress someone out a lot simply because some people think that they should be higher up then what they actually are. Even though we are a wealthy country, with decreasing crime rate we are still going to stress. Crime is something that can go back up in a heart
Life is full of deadlines, expectations, and events, whether in great magnitude or not, these things in life cause stress. Human bodies are made to experience stress and react to it. However, there’s a difference between a healthy amount of stress, aka Acute stress; used in “fight or flight” situations, and unhealthy stress, aka Chronic stress- Having so much stress that if not dealt with, leads to various health problems. In a survey done by the American Psychological Association in 2011, more than half (53%) of the population of adults in the United States said that they have had personal health problems due to high stress. Chronic Stress is no simple
Though I am not a teenager, I still have not developed an entire sense of identity cohesion. I believe my identity will not be complete until later on in my life. Nevertheless, I have experienced some role confusion around ages 18 and 19 when I first enrolled in college. I wasn’t sure what major I was going to study or what career I wanted to pursue. The confusion has lessened and I firmly identify with being a psychology major. However, I haven’t chosen a career to pursue. Since I don’t have identity cohesion it leads me to be indecisive in who I am, what I want to become, and the goals I set for my future. I can see myself trying different jobs or roles before I choose a permanent position for a career that I can incorporate into my identity.
The one thing that I learned in this course that caught my attention pertains to Marcia’s “identity formation statuses” beginning with “identity diffusion” the adolescent that simply doesn’t care where they’re headed in life and are not exploring any options displaying low commitment and low exploration. Then secondly “foreclosure” the adolescent has made a choice on who they want to become in time based on the values of others (e.g. becoming a police officer because their grandfather and father were both police officers) this displays high commitment, but low exploring. Thirdly the “moratorium” status exploring the different options one has its the opposite of “foreclosure” where the person displays low commitment, but high exploration. Then
The quest for self-identity is very significant in this time of my life, which is the reason I have chosen this topic for my project. I am a definite opportunist and I seize every occasion if the possibility of learning something new arises. Although it is very exciting to experience moratorium, it is also at times stressful and daunting having to continuously explore different roles and opportunities. Along with my peers, I am attempting to resolve many existential dilemmas such as “What career path should I follow?” or “What roles apply to me?” These questions give rise to the feeling of identity uncertainty and role confusion.
Do you remember how you learned how to ride a bike, read a book, or read a book? These and many more activities you are allowed to do are all cause of procedural memory. Procedural memory are the motor skills that you have developed from repeated times. These things, such as walking, talking, eating, start when you are born. You do these motor skills and actions so much that they become more of a habit and you do not notice that you are actually do them. People do not stop and say to their selves “Remember to breath, in, then out” or “to walk, you put your right foot out first, then your left”. That would make life a little more difficult than it already is. Humans and animals can learn with feedback. For example, when we start driving, we will learn the amount of pressure we have to put on the peddle for the car not to go to fast or too slow. “Perceptual learning training with feedback is not formally different from that experienced by a rat required to choose between a triangle and circle, say, when one of these is followed by a given outcome (e.g., access to food) and one is not. Contemporary associative theories of animal discrimination learning (e.g., that proposed by Rescorla & Wagner, 1972) provide an explanation of such learning” (Mitchell & Hall, 2014). Another habit we have as humans are is superstitious learning. Superstitious learning is “actions performed even when there is no causal relationship between the action and its consequences” (Eichenbaum, 2008). For
The use of technology and its newfound purposes and repercussions have been met by serious resistance in many areas, and the American legal system is by no means different. In one of his articles, author Jeffrey Rosen expands on this topic and introduces the reader to the concepts of procedural and episodic memory.
Research Paper Identity is what evolves us, it is what makes us think the way we do, and act the way we act, in essence, a person’s identity is their everything. Identity separates us from everyone else, and while one may be very similar to another, there is no one who is exactly like you; someone who has experienced exactly what you have, feels the way you do about subjects, and reacts the same to the events and experiences you have had. This became prevalent to me as I read through many books, that everyone goes through the process of finding who they are. A prevalent theme throughout literature is the idea that over time one develops their identity through life over time, in contrast to being born with one identity and having the same
When people want to figure out their identity, they’ll have to change their perspective, on how they think people view them. Doing this, you’ll slowly engage deeper into self-consciousness. George Herbert Mead, explained in four stages on, how people come to self-consciousness. Two important things that work together as a person goes through the stages, in George Herbert Mead’s theory are, the “I,” and the “Me.” The Four stages are, imitation, play, games, and generalized (Pg. 35-40 Mead 2009.) There’re also some challenges, and another theory that relates to, George H. Mead’s theory of identity development, that I will discuss as well.
When we first enter this world we enter as blank slates, we have yet to become the person we are meant to be. However, as we progress through life we begin to experience both negative and positive experience which help form and shape us into who we are. This process is called identity formation and although it was believed the process of Identity Formation ended once one entered their adult years it is now believed that Identify Formation continues throughout one’s lifetime (Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P 2015). The situations or experiences that individuals will experience throughout their lifetime will usually vary from person to person. However, the situations or experience an individual goes through is grouped into 3 categories age-graded,
The Influence of Others (Final Exam Part 1) As time flashed before my eyes, I have grown to love the person I have become. However, I cannot take all the credit when it comes to how I had the ability to define who I am. Specific authorities who have been directly or indirectly in my life have played a part in helping me see who I am and who I can become as time progresses. As of today, I have the confidence to say that I am ambitious, a role model, devoted, an African American woman and a family person. My identity is important to me because I want to be the individual who is remembered as the one who did everything in her power to be different from those she grew around. I don’t want to be remembered as one of those Fort Wayne girls who became pregnant at a young age because sex was more important than using the resources available to better one’s own future. Also, I want to be remembered as one of those individuals who would rather stay in the house and study than party every weekend. I work my hardest each and every day to earn grades that will make those who believe in me proud and I want my actions to reflect it. Most people may feel that an identity does not matter nor has an importance in life, but I believe it is the most important thing to develop over time. An identity separates you from others around you. It makes you different and it can either benefit or destroy the person you are. Your identity does not just come in one day, but it is a lifelong progress that
We all are facing two main kind of stress: short term as an acute and long terms as a chronic. Acute stress is the type of stress that comes immediately with a change