Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Identity vs. Role Confusion

Good Essays
748 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Identity vs. Role Confusion
Lois De Dios
Developmental Psychology
Prof. Julie Weinstein
Reflective Paper During class we learned about Erik Erikson. Erikson, from 1902 to 1994, expanded Sigmund Freud's perspective on psychosocial development. Erikson had developed eight stages of psychosocial development. One of the stages that sparked my interest was identity vs. role confusion. This stage happens around teen years into the 20s. Identity vs. role confusion really caught my attention because of how Erikson described what happens around this stage, I really could relate it to myself when I started high school. One of the most important stages that Erikson created was identity vs. role confusion. This occurs around teenage years to the 20's. During this stage teenagers are still finding out who they are by testing out different roles. Erikson believed that although physical growth can be a big role to identity vs. role confusion, how adolescents feel socially is more of a big impact. He says that teenagers are more concerned with meeting peers and adults expectations. Also its more important for them to fit into the social world. In short, Erikson believed to meet those standards and to find out who they truly are, they test where they belong by trying to fit into different groups. Identity vs. role confusion interested me the most because I could relate it to myself when I was in high school. Freshman year of high school I went to Flushing High School. There I made good friends. Although I did like it there I couldn't stay because it was too far from my house. I then transferred to another high school called Academy of American Studies. I remember entering Academy for the first time and it was nothing compared to my old school. Academy was a really small school and everyone knew everyone. I entered there as a sophomore and I didn't know anyone. During lunch I sat with a group of juniors. I sat with them because they looked cool. Although they looked cool, they were no good for me. These were juniors that didn't care about their studies, did drugs and cut school. I hung out with them for a while and they made me miserable. I remember being peer pressured into smoking weed. I was barely in school and made my grades were horrible. I knew this was not me. Never did I ever went through that. I was depressed and I hated school. My parents were really upset with me. I ended up going to school counseling because I did so poorly. I stopped hangout out with those juniors and I ended up cutting class alone. I felt like a loner and a failure. I didn't know where I belong. I also carried a bad reputation of myself. Since the school was small everyone knew your business. Everyone looked at me like a drop out. Junior year arrived and I finally woke up. I knew I have goals I want to accomplish and I didn't want to have failing grades. I started hanging out with this group that were also juniors. I was happy and content with my life. This was a group where we all had goals for ourselves. They were dedicated to their education and they were a positive influence to me. I stayed with them throughout my high school years and I did so much better. Graduating high school I learned so much about myself and what is important to me. I really never understood why I hung out with those failures in the beginning. This goes back to Erikson. He said adolescents get very involved with and identify with peer groups. This is exactly what I did. I went from jerks to motivated groups. Erikson also said adolescents will move between groups and try on different selves as they search for values that will fit with what they feel is true to themselves. I stayed with the motivated group because they were similar to me. I knew I always did good in school and I wanted to graduate and go to college. That was what I valued. To graduate high school and college and be a nurse. Not to do drugs and drop out. Erik Erikson's identity vs. role confusion is very relatable. I definitely went through this stage to help me learn more about myself and what is important to me. I believe at some point in someones life they will go through this stage to help structure them as a person.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Erikson's stage of Identity and Role Confusion is a phase that occurs between ages 12 to 18. This stage is critical to transition into what type of person you want to be. Adolescents leave this stage with a sense of who they are and what they want to become, professionally and emotionally. Factors that impact adolescent development of identity include: family, society, and self reflections.…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    However, whereas Freud was an id psychologist who articulated the stages of psychosexual development and attributed behavior to “libido”, Erikson was an ego psychologist who talked about the stages of psychosocial development. Specifically Erikson claimed that a human has to go through eight stages during his/her life in order to complete his development. Each stage poses a number of challenges that have to be confronted successfully. These challenges are a conflict between his or her biological forces and sociocultural forces.…

    • 80 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    TMA01 Final

    • 1695 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Psychosocial identity theory is based on how an individual’s identity is shaped by their own development and experiences combined with their social surroundings. Phoenix refers to E. Erikson (Phoenix, 2002), who wrote about eight stages of development whereby an individual’s identity is built over their lifetime. He suggests that most of the time we are unaware of this and is only when something in our life goes wrong or changes that we become more aware of whom we are and therefore what our identity is. This seems to be why Erikson focuses mainly on adolescence, as this is when people tend to explore different possible paths that lead to certain friendships and life choices, he describes this stage as ‘psychosocial moratorium’ that will eventually lead us to shape who we are as adults. Erikson refers to this achievement as ego identity (Phoenix, 2002), where an individual feels comfortable with whom they are. As with anything or anyone in a stage of development, it is not always a smooth transition from one stage to another and the individual can sometimes be delayed or stuck on one stage; in reference to identity Erikson describes this as an identity crisis. Phoenix also refers to Marcia (Phoenix, 2002) who looked at Erikson’s development stages, particularly adolescence and suggested that people often go through different phases of their…

    • 1695 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson are two of psychology's developmental forerunners, each one having his own theory behind personality and the elements of advancing through the stages of life. Erikson is known as a Freudian ego-psychologist. His theories came after Freud's and build on Freud's original work. Both of these psychologists have some common similarities and some differences as well. The theories are separated into stages of a person's life according to age and how well a person will adapt and thrive as an adult if a certain quality or characteristic is acquired during each stage. Both of these theories are very similar, as they both have many of the same dividing age groups for development. However, there are several differences that remain between the names of the stages and the developmental issues that are encountered within them.…

    • 1386 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    called Erikson (1963) developed a theory of psychosocial stages of development. He argued that it’s…

    • 130 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Erik Erikson was a child psychoanalyst who explained development as happening in eight life stages. His psychosocial theory dealt with eight stages throughout the life of a person. New problems depict each stage and the outcome is determined by how each person deals with each problem (Varcarolis, E., Halter, M., 2013). The stages are:…

    • 949 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to Erik Erikson, there are eight stages of development an individual will experience throughout his or her lifetime. One of Erikson’s stages, which he named identity versus identity confusion, occurs specifically in the developmental period of adolescence. In this identity vs. confusion stage, an adolescent will explore different roles in hopes to find their positive identity. I believe how adolescents experience this stage is extremely crucial to how they develop and will continue to develop in life.…

    • 573 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Erikson just like Freud has distinct stages that a person goes through in life. Unlike Freud, Erikson’s stages do not end when someone turns eighteen but actually continue into adulthood. In fact, in adulthood you will experience three more stages. Erikson’s stages are broken down into 8 stages. The stages are:” Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt, Initiative vs. Guilt, Industry vs. Inferiority, Identity vs. Role Confusion, Intimacy vs. Isolation, Generativity vs. Stagnation, and Integrity vs. Despair.” Sharkey, W (2017). Erikson’s stages are aligned with Freud theory at the basis of human development. Erikson took Freud’s theory and improved the vision. Erikson first five stages parallel Freud’s but also was one of the first to…

    • 651 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The key idea in Erik Erikson’s theory is that the individual faces a conflict at each stage which may or may not within that stage. Erik Erikson was a psychologist who was most famous for coining the phases of identity crisis. Accordant to Erikson, the ego develops as it successfully resolves crises that are distinctly social in nature. These involve establishing a sense of trust in others, developing a sense of identity in society, and helping the next generation prepare for the future. According to Erik Erikson’s theory every person must pass through eight interrelated stages over their entire life cycle. From infant there’s the basic trust vs. mistrust phase, toddler age group is the autonomy vs. shame phase,…

    • 742 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Adolescence is a developmental stage that occurs through childhood to adulthood. Adolescence is a critical time in one’s life in which changes are taking place through major factors of physiological, cognitive, and behavioural aspects. As for this period in life it comes with puberty that is referred to as a change and development in the body as a child moves from kid to adult. Also, it is a time where they begin to explore who they are as individuals and develop their own identities as they get more into adulthood. This stage is known as “identity versus role confusion”. The stage comes from Erik Erikson's model from the identified eight stages in the developmental process from birth to old age. In Erikson’s life-span stage theory, identity…

    • 1093 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    66). The adolescent “discovers who they are,” which leads to the development of their identity formation. If the adolescent’s identify is not formed, they cannot find their place in a social world, which leads to Role Confusion. Due to my anxiety disorder, I was at risk for Role Confusion. Erikson’s theory is based on overcoming crises (Baker-Smith & Moore, 2001, p. 20) and I was definitely in crisis. I was expressing “feelings of inferiority, role confusion, isolation, stagnation and despair which are the antithesis of Erikson’s healthy person” (Baker-Smith & Moore, 2001, p. 21). My anxiety was hindering my identity formation because I was consumed by worry---about what other people thought about me, how I compared to everyone else, and how I was not “good enough.” I thought that I was stupid, and that therefore no one liked me. I was so busy thinking about how bad I was and what other people thought of me, that I did not spend any time developing who I actually was. It took many years and a lot of hard work with my therapist to figure out who I was and to establish my own identity. I left High School knowing a lot about myself and currently have a very strong sense of identity. Throughout my struggle with anxiety, I learned a lot about myself and who I am…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Adolescent Interview Essay

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages

    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 am I?” In their quest to find their sense of self, adolescents experiment with different personalities and roles. Some teenagers display rebellious behavior, which is normal, as they experience a flood of countless emotions. The teens that are able to cope with the differing identities are able to form a new identity that they can accept. On the other hand, those who cannot cope during this experimental period suffer what Erikson calls identity confusion, where they either withdraw themselves from everyone else, or they lose themselves in their peers.…

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He comes to experiment with different - usually constructive - roles rather than adopting a "negative identity" (such as delinquency). He actually anticipates achievement, and achieves, rather than being "paralyzed" by feelings of inferiority or by an inadequate time perspective. In later adolescence, clear sexual identity - manhood or womanhood - is established. The adolescent seeks leadership (someone to inspire him), and gradually develops a set of ideals (socially congruent and desirable, in the case of the successful adolescent). Erikson believes that, in our culture, adolescence affords a "psychosocial moratorium," particularly for middle - and upper-class American children. They do not yet have to "play for keeps," but can experiment, trying various roles, and thus hopefully find the one most suitable for…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Psychology

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Erikson 's theory is based on Freud 's, except Erikson expands on the more social or cultural elements that can impact personality development. Also, his theory includes eight stages instead of five. Erikson 's stages are basic trust vs. mistrust (birth to 1 year), autonomy vs. shame and doubt (1 to 3 years), initiative vs. guilt (3 to 6 years), industry vs. inferiority (7 to 11 years), identity vs. role confusion (12 to 18 years), intimacy vs. isolation (the 20 's), generativity vs.self-absorption (late 20 's to 50 's), and integrity vs. despair (50 's and older.) According to Erikson, if a 2-year-old is trusted and allowed to explore his or her own environment, a sense of independence, or autonomy, will be acquired.…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Identity Crisis Theory

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Erik Erikson’s Identity Crisis Theory describes the key part of teens in their adolescence age. In his theory of psychological development, it is called Identity versus confusion.…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays