Lectures exam 2 -adolescent
development
Lecture 5 – self & identity
Why is identity an adolescent issue?
Biological changes
Puberty: pubic hair, facial hair, breasts, more fat
Appearance: how they dress, body changes, how they see themselves
Cognitive changes
More self-conscious: how they think about themselves, imagine themselves from outside and
from future, multiple identities they want to adopt
Develop a future orientation
Social changes (broader social context leads to more choice making)
Norms and values
Social choices
Educational choices
What kind of person do they want to be and with what group of people do they want to be? They
want to fit in, but want to be included in one group but maybe not in another
Identity: who am I?
Personal identity: who am I? In terms of a sense of self, identifying as someone who … Central is the
process of figuring out who one is
Social identity: who am I? In terms of group memberships, identifying with … Central is the one’s
sense of belonging to social groups (peer groups, ethnic group)
Identity makes up one’s beliefs about one self and these beliefs or perspectives about one self are
called self-concept
Self-concept: views about the self: mental image about one self:
Values
Attributes
Goals
Self-esteem
Competence
Self-concept clarity: refers to the extent to which individuals describe themselves in a positive
consistent way and to the extent in which they are sure about themselves
Theories of personal identity
Erikson’s identity development
People go through life through different stages in their psychosocial development
,Adolescence: psychosocial moratorium
Time gap between childhood security and adult autonomy (responsibilities)
They got more space from their parents but don’t have all the responsibilities
Adolescents experiment with numerous roles and identities
But related to high level of insecurity, because of different options and have to make choices
Crisis in adolescence: identity diffusion versus achievement
Either people successful cope with conflicting identities (identity crisis) and discover who they are or
they stay in this unsecure place of who they are forever
According to Erikson there are a few characteristics that can help with this
Mental and emotional capacity
Interactions with others are crucial (how one should be or not be, social comparison)
Exploration (trying out possibilities), only takes place in environments that allows this and
support this
Commitment (making choices among alternatives)
At the end of adolescence you have definite sense of identity (most people) is not true!
Other people build further on Erikson’s theory
Such as Marcia:
Marcia’s 4 stages model
Absent exploration – absent commitment: identity diffusion
No direction
It does not matter
Unstable self-esteem
Feeling alienated
Apathy
Hopelessness
Suicidal thoughts
Present exploration – absent commitment: moratorium (Erikson), adolescents should stay here as long
as they can and just explore
Openness to experience
Flexible
No direction
“It depends”
Collecting information
External doubt
, Anxious
Absent exploration – present commitment: identity foreclosure (stuck at what you’re doing but don’t
like it themselves)
Dogmatic
Inflexible
Intolerant
Black and white thinking
Authority sensitive
Obedient
Sensitive to rejection and evaluation from others
Ideal: present exploration – present commitment
Open
Flexible
Creative
Abstract and critical thinking
High self-esteem
High in moral reasoning
But: adolescents who are in moratorium and identity diffusion stage are decreasing during adolescent
years, but identity achievement stage is also still low in number how is that possible?
Identity achievement is more seen in early adulthood (18-21) instead of adolescence (12-18)
So adolescence is more a stage of exploration and no responsibilities, they switch from stage to stage
during adolescence
According to research:
Identity achievement generally not established before age 18
College years prolong psychosocial moratorium
Over time, diffusion and moratorium decrease and achievement increases
Dual cycle models
Adolescents do not begin with a blank slate
Identity is not a static status process but a cyclic process
Identity formation is a process of continuous interplay between commitment, reconsideration
and in-depth exploration
Identity formation occurs in several domains (educational and interpersonal) (parallel) and
becomes increasingly complex over time (complexity of identity formation)
Crocetti et al. model
Commitment: keep exploring and developing, keep investing and making sure it fits
Summary personal identity:
Refers to identity search and commitment
Goal is coherent sense of self
Continuous (across time and place)
Develops through exploration and commitment on various domains
development
Lecture 5 – self & identity
Why is identity an adolescent issue?
Biological changes
Puberty: pubic hair, facial hair, breasts, more fat
Appearance: how they dress, body changes, how they see themselves
Cognitive changes
More self-conscious: how they think about themselves, imagine themselves from outside and
from future, multiple identities they want to adopt
Develop a future orientation
Social changes (broader social context leads to more choice making)
Norms and values
Social choices
Educational choices
What kind of person do they want to be and with what group of people do they want to be? They
want to fit in, but want to be included in one group but maybe not in another
Identity: who am I?
Personal identity: who am I? In terms of a sense of self, identifying as someone who … Central is the
process of figuring out who one is
Social identity: who am I? In terms of group memberships, identifying with … Central is the one’s
sense of belonging to social groups (peer groups, ethnic group)
Identity makes up one’s beliefs about one self and these beliefs or perspectives about one self are
called self-concept
Self-concept: views about the self: mental image about one self:
Values
Attributes
Goals
Self-esteem
Competence
Self-concept clarity: refers to the extent to which individuals describe themselves in a positive
consistent way and to the extent in which they are sure about themselves
Theories of personal identity
Erikson’s identity development
People go through life through different stages in their psychosocial development
,Adolescence: psychosocial moratorium
Time gap between childhood security and adult autonomy (responsibilities)
They got more space from their parents but don’t have all the responsibilities
Adolescents experiment with numerous roles and identities
But related to high level of insecurity, because of different options and have to make choices
Crisis in adolescence: identity diffusion versus achievement
Either people successful cope with conflicting identities (identity crisis) and discover who they are or
they stay in this unsecure place of who they are forever
According to Erikson there are a few characteristics that can help with this
Mental and emotional capacity
Interactions with others are crucial (how one should be or not be, social comparison)
Exploration (trying out possibilities), only takes place in environments that allows this and
support this
Commitment (making choices among alternatives)
At the end of adolescence you have definite sense of identity (most people) is not true!
Other people build further on Erikson’s theory
Such as Marcia:
Marcia’s 4 stages model
Absent exploration – absent commitment: identity diffusion
No direction
It does not matter
Unstable self-esteem
Feeling alienated
Apathy
Hopelessness
Suicidal thoughts
Present exploration – absent commitment: moratorium (Erikson), adolescents should stay here as long
as they can and just explore
Openness to experience
Flexible
No direction
“It depends”
Collecting information
External doubt
, Anxious
Absent exploration – present commitment: identity foreclosure (stuck at what you’re doing but don’t
like it themselves)
Dogmatic
Inflexible
Intolerant
Black and white thinking
Authority sensitive
Obedient
Sensitive to rejection and evaluation from others
Ideal: present exploration – present commitment
Open
Flexible
Creative
Abstract and critical thinking
High self-esteem
High in moral reasoning
But: adolescents who are in moratorium and identity diffusion stage are decreasing during adolescent
years, but identity achievement stage is also still low in number how is that possible?
Identity achievement is more seen in early adulthood (18-21) instead of adolescence (12-18)
So adolescence is more a stage of exploration and no responsibilities, they switch from stage to stage
during adolescence
According to research:
Identity achievement generally not established before age 18
College years prolong psychosocial moratorium
Over time, diffusion and moratorium decrease and achievement increases
Dual cycle models
Adolescents do not begin with a blank slate
Identity is not a static status process but a cyclic process
Identity formation is a process of continuous interplay between commitment, reconsideration
and in-depth exploration
Identity formation occurs in several domains (educational and interpersonal) (parallel) and
becomes increasingly complex over time (complexity of identity formation)
Crocetti et al. model
Commitment: keep exploring and developing, keep investing and making sure it fits
Summary personal identity:
Refers to identity search and commitment
Goal is coherent sense of self
Continuous (across time and place)
Develops through exploration and commitment on various domains
