Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
"Identity confusion vs. Identity: Fidelity" Elders experience confusion about their "existential identity" in the ninth stage and "a real uncertainty about status and role". [53] "Isolation vs. Intimacy: Love" In the ninth stage, the "years of intimacy and love" are often replaced by "isolation and deprivation".
In psychology, identity crisis is a stage theory of identity development which involves the resolution of a conflict over eight stages of life. [1] [2] The term was coined by German psychologist Erik Erikson. The stage of psychosocial development in which identity crisis may occur is called identity cohesion vs. role confusion.
On ego identity versus role confusion: ego identity enables each person to have a sense of individuality, or as Erikson would say, "Ego identity, then, in its subjective aspect, is the awareness of the fact that there is a self-sameness and continuity to the ego's synthesizing methods and a continuity of one's meaning for others". [41]
Many theories of development have aspects of identity formation included in them. Two theories directly address the process of identity formation: Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development (specifically the Identity versus Role Confusion stage), James Marcia's identity status theory, and Jeffrey Arnett's theories of identity formation in emerging adulthood.
During adolescent years, children begin to find out who they are. They explore their independence and develop a sense of self. This is Erikson's fifth stage, Identity vs Confusion. Completing this stage leads to fidelity, an ability that Erikson described as useful to live by society's standards and expectations. [25]
Identity exploration is the process of changing from role confusion to resolution. [132] During Erik Erikson's identity versus role uncertainty stage, which occurs in adolescence, people struggle to form a cohesive sense of self while exploring many social roles and prospective life routes.
According to Erik Erikson the young adult stage, Intimacy vs. Isolation, is emphasized around the ages of 19 to 34. At the start of the Intimacy vs. Isolation stage, identity vs. role confusion is coming to an end and it still lingers at the foundation of the stage (Erikson 1950). Young adults are still eager to blend their identities with friends.
On some readings of Erikson, the development of a strong ego identity, along with the proper integration into a stable society and culture, lead to a stronger sense of identity in general. Accordingly, a deficiency in either of these factors may increase the chance of an identity crisis or confusion.