Identity is most simply defined as a person's own sense of self; their personal sense of who they are. Identity development is intrinsically linked with adolescence because, according to Santrock citing Marcia & Carpendale, "...for the first time, physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development advance to the point at which the individual can sort through and synthesize childhood identities and identifications to construct a viable path toward adult maturity". We often see the results of this sorting process in behaviors of adolescents such as adopting and shedding different personas including speech patterns, clothing styles and peer groups. Although these transitions often seem drastic and swift, adolescents are utilizing their newly honed abilities efficiently to assess, decipher and ultimately construct their own unique identity. Just as any structure is built with individual building blocks, forged together to create a whole, so is the identity.
The most fundamental building block of identity is temperament. Temperament, defined by Santrock, is an individual's behavioral style and characteristic way of responding. Because temperament is so basic, it is present and quantifiable in early infancy, long before other more complex aspects of identity. As a result, Santrock cites Galambos & Costigan's finding that, much of the research done on temperament is done on infants and children. Just as identity development and adolescence are inherently linked, so are the concepts of personality and temperament. Personality is most basically defined as the characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that make a person unique. In considering this relationship, first conceive of personality in the five factor struct...
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...ors like gender shape a adolescent's sense of who they are. From the moment we are born we are bombarded with messages about what it means, in our society, to be the sex we are assigned at birth. These are messages about gender. As soon as a child attains gender constancy they are very interested in participating in activities that are aligned with their respective gender. Step into any preschool or daycare environment and you will be confronted with girls in pink and frills playing with baby-dolls and boys playing with trucks and balls all the while clad in clothes with the same articles portrayed upon them. These children have received loudly and clearly gendered messages about who they are based on their sex. They have never considered whether they want to be feminine or masculine or even what those words mean to them they simply adopt and imitate.
Lastly, we look at identity without knowing it adolescents are searching for the answers to the question, “who am I?”. Although this is an important part of development for this stage it didn’t just being in this stage nor do adolescents have the capability to figure it all out. While growing up children are pushed one way or another by parents and peers some are pushed towards academics while others athletics. But how influential are parents and peers?
When discussing the meaning of gender identity, each and every person has a different view and perception. Most times, these views are instilled upon them throughout their childhood whether they are fully aware of it or not. As a result, some children feel forced to conform to the stereotypical gender roles and identities defined by society. For me, however, that was never a problem.
In this paper I will examine different psychological theories on binary gender identity and diverse gender identity. My intention is not to argue which set of theories is more accurate but more to provide information and let the reader decide for themselves in the light of their own experiences what theory makes the most sense to them. The psychologically charged debate over gender identity and its presence in society has taken the form of intuitions because of social necessity. On one side, diverse gender identity argues that traditional binary gender norms are no longer relevant nor an accurate reflection of the society that we live in today. The other side argues the more traditional concrete male/female gender identifications are paramount
Adolescence is a time of great change for a child. It is a time where they begin to explore who they are as individuals and develop their own identities as they get closer into adulthood. Erik Erikson theorized that in adolescence “the main task is developing an identity” and that a healthy identity is developed when they try on alternate identities and reflect on these experiences (Pressley & McCormick, 2007,p.147). Michael Nakkula says “identity is not the culmination of a key event or series of events, although key events can play an important role in the larger process. It is rather, the lived experience of an ongoing process-the process of integrating successes, failures, routines, habits, rituals, novelties, thrills, threats, violations, gratifications, and frustrations into a coherent and evolving interpretation of who we are. Identity is the embodiment of self-understanding” (Nakkula, 2008, p.11). The experiences that adolescents go through daily and over time influences the identity they eventually form. Adolescence is a time when children start to reflect on what they are good at, their relationships with family and friends, questions about sexual orientation and even religion. There are six domains that affect an adolescent’s development which are personal, social, familial, moral, and intellectual. I will be focusing on the social, intellectual and physical domains.
Identity is a group of characteristics, data or information that belongs exactly to one person or a group of people and that make it possible to establish differences between them. The consciousness that people have about themselves is part of their identity as well as what makes them unique. According to psychologists, identity is a consistent definition of one’s self as a unique individual, in terms of role, attitudes, beliefs and aspirations. Identity tries to define who people are, what they are, where they go or what they want to be or to do. Identity could depend on self-knowledge, self-esteem, or the ability of individuals to achieve their goals. Through self-analysis people can define who they are and who the people around them are. The most interesting point about identity is that some people know what they want and who they are, while it takes forever for others to figure out the factors mentioned before. Many of the individuals analyzed in this essay are confused about the different possible roles or positions they can adopt, and that’s exactly the reason they look for some professional help.
Many philosophers and psychologist from Jean Piaget to William James have theorized what makes a person who they are, their identity. Jean Piaget believed that the identity is formed in the sensorimotor stage and the preoperational stage. This means that a child is forming his identity as late to the age of seven (Schellenberg, 29) However, identity is strongly impacted by society such as school, church, government,and other institutions. Through our interactions with different situations our personality develops (Schellenberg 34). "In most situations there is a more diversified opportunity for the development of social identities, reflecting what the individual wants to put forth to define the self as well as what others want to accept,"(Schellenberg 35). Therefore, humans, much like animals, adapt to different situations based on who they are with. Individuals are always changi...
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).
Jones, Cheryl. "Identity and Adolescents: How Adults Can Help." NCYL. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2014. . fifth
DeCuir-Gunby (2009) states that identity is “a formation process begins at birth, peaks during adolescence, and continues to develop throughout adulthood, thus allowing an individual to fully negotiate multiple identities.” During adolescence, the peak of identity development, it is the most judgemental and children
Identity Achievement – the adolescent has developed a well-defined self. Development of their identities can usually be expanded upon and continually defined throughout adulthood. The adolescent is committed to an ideology in addition to having and understanding of their ego
During this stage, Erikson believes that the individual’s successful identity formation relies on social, cognitive and physical maturation (Pittman, Keiley, Kerpelman, & Vaughn, 2011). The individual tries out different roles for who they see in themselves and who they portray to others, eventually committing to their own personal role and occupational choice. Pittman et al. (2011) describe the identity formation as “consisting of decisions, investments, and commitments tied to current and future roles, goals, and relationships.” Additional considerations for identity formation include the context of the culture which is available to the adolescent during this time. After successful resolution of this stage during adolescence, individuals will typically progress into Erikson’s Intimacy versus Isolation stage during young
Heather A. Priess, a Professor of psychology with a focus on developmental psychology, writes in her article Adolescent Gender-Role Identity and Mental Health: Gender Intensification Revisited, "Parents were more likely to encourage independence, achievement, self-confidence, and competitiveness in sons than daughters, and more expressivity, warmth, and courtesy for others in daughters compared with sons." This speaks to the effect of someone's upbringing; furthermore, this is a crucial part of developing gender, and a parent will have a large role in developing a child's own identity. Not only this, but more and more children are beginning to question their identity. Robin Henig, an accomplished freelance writer with multiple science publications in various magazines, wrote in her article "How Science is Helping Us Understand Gender", "She’s questioning her gender identity, rather than just accepting her hobbies and wardrobe choices as those of a tomboy, because we’re talking so much about transgender issues these days." The fact that these issues are brought up more openly allow children to express how they're actually feeling rather than conform to gender roles within society. This does not only affect the children, but parents as well since they can be more accepting of child's choice of gender identity. The topic is not only limited to male and female genders but
In today’s society, there has been a greater emphasis on identity than in the past. The perception of identity has changed due to the growing human population, and being able to distinguish oneself from the general population. Identity is the uniqueness of a person. As people get older, their identity might change since they become more aware of the society and also are more independent. By creating and recognizing an identity, one can interact with others who have a similar identity. Identity can be formed socially. There are several factors that influence an identity.
According to Erikson, when adolescents are unable to find ownership of an identity, their lives can spiral off in several directions. In some ways they will reverse the role of their desire, slipping into a socially unacceptable role or a role that does not match who they wish to become (Feldman, 2012). Other teenagers will forego social interactions, leaving them to feel sad and alone in the world (Feldman, 2012). Teenagers thrive off of finding an identity to center themselves around, and when they fail to identify one, the adolescent crisis ensues (Feldman, 2012). There are several factors that can distract an adolescent from identifying a personal identity and pursuing a life of well-being...
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