“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 find it, may have scared me for life. Nonetheless, it showed me a piece of my real identity and helped me figure out how to grow through it and better myself; it showed me the real me. In the past as well as today’s society, individuality is vital. Each teen wants to create a unique identity for ones’ self, and the start to creating that identity is in high school. As any normal teen, I was nervous for the first day, mainly being that my best friend had transferred to another school. I thought I wouldn’t be able to make any friends, and such did happen. I was never fully able to “fit in.” My hair was never long enough; my body was never skinny enough I was like the jigsaw puzzle that never fit. But not only did I have to fit in with my peers, I had to also fit in at home to what I considered to be the perfect family. My dad and mom were successful business tycoons, my two sisters were very popular and always maintained a perfect g.p.a. and then there was me, struggling to even get a B+ in class ... ... middle of paper ... ...lso fixed it. Subsequently, I realized that the only reason I resorted to drinking was because I was not pleased with myself. I always compared myself to others and immediately found fault within. I failed to realize that each person has flaws, but acknowledging those flaws and learning from your mistakes is what creates ones’ identity. That day forward, I began accepting myself for who I am, others noticed this as well, and peculiarly I didn’t have to alter my identity to try to fit in, I automatically did. Trying to create an identity for yourself should not mean to harm you in the process; it should only make you stronger. I am not worried that I haven’t figured out my whole identity. As I get older, I’m sure the whole concept of who I really am will come together, but for now, I am Shikha Balani, confident, strong, and proud of what has come to be my identity.
The character Cinderella in Cinderella could be illustrated and analyze in Erikson’s stage of identity versus role confusion. Identity versus role confusion was when a young people earlier conflict was resolved negatively, or if society limits their choices to one that does not match their abilities and desires, they may appear shallow, directionless, and unprepared for the challenges of adulthood. This stage begins with Cinderella’s father dying and leaving her to live with her stepmother which shows her true colors. During this period, Cinderella is kept with an evil stepmother and two stepsisters that don’t like her and will do anything to make her feel bad. This is where her terrible life begins.
Finding your identity is naturally a hard thing to do, especially during your teenage years in highschool when your decisions can change your whole future. We are pushed into this decision with very little opportunity, if at
What shapes our identity? Who are we? Who will we become? Main question we ask ourselves throughout the courses of our life. I know I have asked myself this a thousand times. Who am I? Many people begin the wonder what shapes our identity and how can we start to identify those traits. Have you ever just looked in the mirror and thought to yourself, why am I like this… These questions come from so many things that happen in our life. Our environment, our friends and most of all the way we were raised. The biggest factor in our identities is the way we were raised. We try so hard to please our parents that we forget how to please ourselves, I think thats called an “identity crisis”. Throughout this essay, I want to touch on a few experiences in my life that got
This stage is usually associated with the adolescent age. In this stage Erikson describes the ability or in some cases, inability to develop a sense of self-identity. Erikson says, “adolescents in this stage are now primarily concerned with how they appear in the eyes of others, rather than how they feel they are, more concerned with their connection to the roles and skills cultivated in previous stages of development.” (Erikson, pg. 289) He also defines this stage as an important development of the change between adolescent years and adulthood years. In this stage one begins to search for the values and attributes which define themselves, while noting any attributes that they do not identify with, and in some cases disagree with on a moral
In this paper I will be focusing on Erikson’s Theory mainly about identity versus role confusion. Finding one’s identity is not always an easy task. Everyone at some point in his or her life has had, as Erikson puts it, an identity crisis. Everyone experiences different struggles that can have either a positive or negative impact on their identity. On my path to identity, I have reached identity achievement, which means I have explored and made commitments. I will also be focusing on two articles highlighting a fifth possible outcome regarding identity and looking at identity statuses as developmental trajectories.
Jones, Cheryl. "Identity and Adolescents: How Adults Can Help." NCYL. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2014. . fifth
I was never outgoing as a child and always seemed to shy away from change. So, walking into school on that first day back and not recognizing a single soul was the equivalent to me experiencing that dream where you walk into a crowed area and realize you forgot to put your clothes on and everyone is staring. I was a chicken among geese and everyone knew it. I spent my time doing all that I could to fade into the background and hide from the unfamiliar faces. That was until I was unexpectedly pulled from the shadows and shown that starting over was not the end of the
They face the challenge of identifying their place in society, their own personal identity, and direction in life. Young people who are able to overcome this dilemma would develop a sense of identity, direction, and purpose. This stage is influenced by the person and others around him.
Transitioning to high school was frightening. I imagined it to be like in the movies, where the freshman were bullied and stuffed into lockers. Although my prediction was wrong, the new environment was very different from anything I had experienced before.The small community of friends that I had built in middle school was separated, and a blank slate was presented in front of me.
The fifth stage, according to Erik Erikson psychoanalytic theory of development is the Identity Vs Identity confusion. The stage occurs during adolescence in the ages between 12 to 18 years. At this stage, the adolescents try to find a sense of personal and self-identity by intensely exploring their personal goals, beliefs, and values (McLeod, 2017). Notably, the adolescence is between childhood and adulthood. Thus, their mind is between the morality learned during childhood and the ethics they are trying to develop into adulthood. The transitioning from childhood to adulthood is the most important development for a person because the individual is becoming independent and is focusing on the future regarding career, relationships, families
Adolescence refers to the transition period experienced by children that occur between childhood and adulthood (Shefer, 2011). Identity is first confronted in adolescence between the ages 12 – 19 years old, because of physical and hormonal changes in the body. It is also due to the introduction of formal operations in cognitive development and societal expectation that this contributes to an individual’s identity to be explored and established (McAdams, 2009). The forces within and outside (family, community) the individual that promote identity development usually create a sense of tension. The basic task is, in Erikson’s terms, “fidelity or truthfulness and consistency to one’s core self or faith in one’s ideology” (Fleming, 2004: 9), in a nutshell: "Who am I and where am I
The first stage of “Basic trust vs. mistrust” occurs during infancy (birth to 18th months old). At this stage, infants need to form a loving, trusting relationship with the caregiver, or there will be a risk of developing a mistrust and insecurity about the world. For me, I had a favorable outcome for this stage because my needs to survive, including food, love, warmth, safety, and nurturing were all met. For instance, because my mother was at home taking care of me, she was able to sensitively and appropriately respond to me whenever I cried for attention and food. This could be connected with my securely attached behaviors with my parents in the further stages. Thus,
These days people are so busy with keeping track of the rapid changes of society and lives of those around them, that they are do not come to terms with themselves first. As years passed by and the vision for self-discovery and identity is not on the list of things to do. One day something happens- an unexpected event or experience and the realization there is no self-discovery in progress. It is never too late to find out who you are, and to embark on the journey of self-discovery which aids the individual in searching deep into one's self to find joy, meaning, and fulfillment. This is where the individual can reveal their true identity, viewing life from different perspectives, developing a better attitude, and likeness to lead to personal happiness inside out.
In Erikson’s Identity vs. Role Confusion stage, I thought, “Who am I?” countless times like many other adolescents. I occupied much of my time trying to construct a firm identity of myself, which I now realized did more harm than good. Letting myself explore different interests would have helped me find my identity than me trying to fake some firm identity.