HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
MATTHEW ROBISON
10-28-2010
NOTES FOR INFORMATION ON CHAPTER TWELVE C. Adolescence - - Psychosocial Development (Chapter 12) What are some components of the adolescent’ search for identity?
Erickson believes that cognitive development enables them to construct a theory of the self because as adolescents they have a “kind of maturational malice” that is vital to a process that builds on achievements of early stages. What are examples of immature thoughts? Here are several. Trust, autonomy, initiative and industry lay the groundwork for coping with challenges of adulthood; however an identity crisis is seldom fully resolved in all of these factors in the short time of adolescence, as issues concerning identity come up again and again throughout adult life.
What is the psychosocial conflict of identity vs Identity confusion and the resulting virtue of fidelity? It is explained as becoming a unique individual adult with coherent sense of self and valued role in society. Identity crisis is based on Eriksson’s life experience. His struggle and confusion caused him to find any identity the leading him to the immigrant status as his identity where he saw and experienced many things that he struggled with and worse yet decided to change and have news thoughts and actions that he had to consciously considered successful in his identity to himself. An adolescent who resolves the identity crisis satisfactorily develop the virtue of fidelity according to Erickson men do not find real intimacy or are capable of such a thing until he has achieved a stable identity, whereas women define themselves through marriage and motherhood thus women developed identity through intimacy, not before it. Erickson has been criticized for this as male biasness.
What is Identity according to Erickson? The search for identity was defined as a