Erik Erickson Research Paper

Erik Erikson was an ego psychologist, though Erikson had believed that the identity crisis was a large and most important part of life; happening during the adolescence stage. Erikson based his theory off of “Freud's theory regarding structure and topography of personality.” Erikson’s theory was based on cultural and society, unlike Freud’s; being concerned with the difference between superego and id. Erikson believes the ego begins to develops as it resolves crises in social in nature. Erikson expands on Freudian thoughts by the stages of personality development happens throughout the entire lifespan. Erikson maintained the belief that personality develops in a predetermined order while building on each previous stage. Erikson's theory included

This stage begins around ages 12-18; emphasizing the importance of this stage and how adolescents search for their own personal identity through exploration. The child begins to transition into adulthood; looking into houses, careers, relationships, etc. The child essentially wants to fit into society. Erikson’s importance of this stage is strongly focused on when the child begins to learn the rolls they will learn as an adult; the adolescent will re-examine their identity and begin to try to pinpoint who exactly they are; Erikson believing theres two types of identities, the sexual and the occupational. Erikson claims that the adolescent may feel uncomfortable in their own skin until they can adapt with the changes. Success in this stage will result in the adolescent have a virtue of fidelity. During this time, the adolescent starts to explore possibilities and form an identity base based on the outcomes of their explorations. A sense of failure to conform an identity within society will often lead to confusion and often have no idea where their place is in society. If the adolescent goes toward the confusion role/ identity crisis, they start to experiment with different lifestyles. If someone were to pressure an adolescent into a specific identity can result in rebellion and

The main idea being that one’s identity is based on their personal and social traits. Marcia’s 1st stage was Identity Diffusion. Identity Diffusion is when the adolescent has made no choice nor being attempting to make a commitment. Marcia’s 2nd stage is Identity Foreclosure; being the status of which the adolescent is willing to begin to commit to something in the future; goals, roles, or values. At this stage, Adolescent have not experienced an identity crisis. They usually conform to what others expectations are of them regarding their future; not having explored their options. The 3rd stage is Identity Moratorium; the status of which he adolescents is currently in their identity crisis while exploring many commitments and being ready to make choices, but no commitments yet. The 4th and final stage of Marcial’s theory is Identity Achievement; the status being in which adolescents have fully completed their identity crisis and has made their commitments to the sense of an