From birth, humans seek connectedness. Regular social interaction is almost as important as eating or sleeping, and is achieved through social activities and relationships with family and friends. Creating and maintaining these relationships is a process that occurs throughout an individual’s lifetime. Yet, during adolescence these interpersonal relationships start to have a particularly important function. Interactions with family and peers are vital to adolescent identity formation, and the crucial role of these relationships places additional stress on the bonds during this life stage. As Steinberg mentioned in a recent paper, “Adolescence has long been characterized as a time when individuals begin to explore and examine psychological characteristics of the self in order to discover who they really are, and how they fit in the social world in which they live”(Steinberg, 2001). The idea that adolescence is a time of “role experimentation” and a “stage of identity formation” (Erikson, 1956) has existed for decades, dating back to Erikson’s definition of the life stage: Identity vs. Role Confusion. In this stage, as the adolescent begins to be conscious of how their identity is perceived by others, a heightened level of identity awareness develops. Although Erikson’s idea of a life stage with perfect delineated boundaries is now fairly obsolete, the struggle to define one’s identity during adolescence is still very present and relevant. With the advent of the internet, the possibilities for defining the self have expanded dramatically. The youth sector latched onto this technology, using it to help ease and facilitate connections with others. Email and Instant messenging allowed people to communicate quickly in a non-confrontational fashion, and weblog communities encouraged individuals to share their thoughts, feelings, and opinions with others online. All of these methods of communication allow the individual to assume multiple identities. According to (Lenhart, 2001) almost one quarter of teens admit to pretending to be someone else over Instant messenger or email. Thus, it is undeniable that this online medium is forum where the expression of role confusion and diffusion can occur freely. But, what impact does this have on the formation of a single identity that is congruent with the ego? An important part of the adolescent identity formation process is the recognition that others notice the outward expression of the self, and that this outward expression must agree with others in order to fit into a social group.
In “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell and “A Dollhouse” by Henrik Ibsen, the authors use symbolism to shed light on the way woman were once looked down upon by men. In both plays the woman face similar derisive attitudes from the men in their lives. Women are treated as property, looked down upon and only useful in matters pertaining to cooking, taking care of children, housework and sexual objects. The women’s marriages, socioeconomic and social status are completely different, but both women reach their emotional breaking point, and grow so discontent with their situations they are willing to take drastic actions.
All and all, Glaspell’s and Ibsen’s use of the bird cage, dead bird, and dollhouse allows the reader to identify with women of the nineteen century and the roles they played. Throughout the plays, the reader can visualize how men dismiss women as trivial and treat them like property, even though the lifestyles they are living is very much in contrast. The playwrights each in their own way are addressing the issues that have negatively impacted the identity of women in society.
In conclusion, Even though both Ibsen and Glaspell are showing the responsible for giving women insight to what their lives could be as an independent person who is treated as an equal, their plays deals somewhat different sight to deals with the problems of the inequality between men and women. In other words, in A Doll’s House, Nora – like many others – begins to realize that she is more than capable of thinking and living for herself. Unlike Nora, however, in Trifles, Mrs. Wright chose to stay married to her unloving and murder her husband. Moreover, unlike what A Doll’s house portrayed, in Trifles, Glaspell shows the power of women can gain by sticking together and looking out for one another in order to improve their social positions from the behavior of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters.
Biological influences combined with societal and social expectations contribute to how well people learn to adapt to their environments (2013). According to Erikson, there are eight stages of development. Within these states, there are different psychological, emotional and cognitive tasks. In order to adjust, individuals must learn to develop these tasks. During adolescence, Erikson states that each person needs to navigate through the development task of ‘‘Identity vs. Identity confusion ’’ (2013). He defined this task by stating that adolescent children must learn to develop a sense of self and establish independence. Prior to this stage of development, a person’s parents largely influence their identity. In this stage the adolescent children begin to explore and develop their identity outside of their parents’ influence (Hill, Bromell, Tyson, & Flint, 2007). Adolescents are generally more egocentric at this stage and have an increased sense of self-consciousness. They also have a strong desire to conform to peer influence and develop concerns regarding their appearance. They develop concern about their level of competence in relation to their peer group as well. As peer influence increases, during this stage, parental influence decreases (Ashford & LeCroy, 2013; Hill et. al, 2007). Conflict generally increases between parent and child at this stage of development (2007).
In the case of China, the cause of a robust economy might not match, or even be synonymous with, the causes of political and social change; especially since the effects have not yet reached their full potential. However, there is some contrasts
The plays, A Doll House and Trifles, brilliantly depict the male dominated relationships that were prominent in each playwright’s society. The play, A Doll House, by Henrik Ibsen, shows how women are seen as nothing more than a pretty face. On the other hand, Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, presents the idea that women are loyal to their husbands so they will do as their husbands wish. The concept of women being viewed as harmless creatures by men because they see them as unintelligent is prominent in both works and serves as the focus of each playwright’s critique of the attitudes toward marriage in their own respective societies.
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
Adolescence is a time in a person’s development when many changes are occurring. Transitions in an adolescent’s development that take place include physical maturation, shifting educational environments, an increased association with peers, and developed cognitive abilities (Barber & Chadwick, 1992). Barber and Chadwick (1992) report that these developments allow the adolescent to consider their value and position in society. They further report that an adolescent’s self-esteem “can be a useful marker of the success with which he or she is proceeding through this important period” (Barber & Chadwick, 1992, p.128).
China is one of the world’s top exporters, and has a fast growing major economy, with growth rates rising at an average of 10% over the past decade . In February of 2011, China became the world’s second largest economy, overtaking the country of Japan, which held the title for the past 40 years . China’s rapid and unprecedented economic growth is a boon to the country; however, it may prove unsustainable and become a detriment to the overall well being of the nation. One of the principal problems incurred by China’s hurried economic growth is a dangerous incre...
China's development is praised by the whole world. Its developments are not only in the economic aspect, but as well in its foreign affairs. Compared with other developed countries, China is a relatively young country. It began constructing itself in 1949. After 30 years of growth, company ownership had experienced unprecedented changes. Entirely, non-state-owned companies can now be more involved in sectors that used to be monopolized by state-owned companies.
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.
Social interaction is essential to the development of a person's identity, especially to an adolescent. People act consistently with their individual identity.(3) Identities relate to social meaning, which is how others see a person, not just how they see themselves.(3) This essay will include the interactions that form identity and how it is expressed through action. Also how people learn what their role is in the world, and care about the consequences of their actions. They learn how to take responsibility and shape who they are.(3) Identity is constantly changing.
Having thrown open its doors to capitalist investment and expanded at a miraculous rate over the past three decades, China has now surpassed Japan to become the second biggest economy in the world. Since the early 1980s, China's economy has metamorphosed from a centrally planned syst...
violence has risen from unattached parenting or because the lack of censorship and influence of
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.