Identity Based on Erikson and James Marcia Maddy

Identity: Based on Erikson and James Marcia Maddy Brink

Objectives 1. To discover what Erikson means by a person’s formation of identity through dichotomies of crises. 2. To understand the four identity statuses identified by James Marcia. 3. To identify characteristics of each identity status. 4. To explain my project and what I learned based on these theories. Maddy Brink

What does Erikson believe regarding identity? • Even from infancy, babies are forming their identities through their interactions with their mothers • Identity is formed based on many series of conflicts • People go through eight stages of conflicts in coming to terms with the world • In order to have a healthy sense of the world, children must learn in each stage of life both a positive and negative aspect of a conflict that arises from their experience with the world, and emerge from each stage with a favorable ratio of positive over negative. (ex. Trust v. Mistrust) Maddy Brink

Erikson’s Eight Stages of Identity Crisis 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Trust v. Mistrust – Infancy Autonomy v. Shame and Doubt – Toddlerhood Initiative v. Guilt – Preschoolers Industry v. Inferiority – School Aged Identity v. Role Confusion – Adolescence Intimacy v. Isolation – Early Adulthood Generativity v. Stagnation – Middle Aged Integrity v. Despair – Maturiy Maddy Brink

How does James Marcia fit in to all of this? James Marcia set up a framework for understanding how adolescents and young adults deal with the problems they face during the conflicts of Identity v. Role Confusion and Intimacy v. Isolation. In Marcia’s system, there are four different statuses of identity. Each corresponds to a stage in the process of exploring and committing to an ideology. Maddy Brink

No exploration No commitment Commitment Exploration Identity Diffusion Moratorium Foreclosure Identity Achievement Maddy Brink

Identity Diffusion “I don’t worry about values ahead of time; I decide things when they happen. ” “I don’t know what I believe. ” Identity diffuse people do not know how they will end up, nor do they care. They are just living for the moment and give little thought to the future. If diffuse people do not mature by adulthood – bad news. They have little self-esteem and little autonomy; they are usually disorganized, complicated, and somewhat unethical. They are withdrawn, wary of peers, and unfavorably received by others. Maddy Brink

“I’ve known since I was Foreclosure young what I wanted to be. ” “It’s better to have a firm set of beliefs than to be open to different ideas. ” Foreclosed people commit to an identity, but they commit to an identity that has been handed to them, usually by some authority. This is natural at a young age, but often in young adulthood, children of wealthy parents accept the predetermined identities that their parents give them. Foreclosed adults are characterized by a disapproval of showing strong emotion, support for authoritarian views, a need for social approval, poor results in stressful situations, stereotypical relationships, great behavior, and happy family life. Maddy Brink

MORATORIUM “When I have make a to big decisio n know a , I like to s much can abo as I People in the moratorium status are exploring ut it. ” their identities, but they have not yet committed to any certain ideology yet. They are experimenting and searching for a set of ideas and beliefs to call their own. Moratoriums are characterized by anxiety, high self-esteem, internally oriented behavior, cultural sophistication, a need for both rebellion and acceptance, short deep relationships, and favorable reception from others. Maddy Brink

Identity Achieved People who are identity achieved have explored their options and have committed to a certain ideology that fits them. They have taken on a set of values and beliefs that are all their own. “They know not only who they are, they know how they became that, and that they had a hand in the becoming. ” - James Marcia These people are independent, smart, and confident. They are generally well-received by others, and they have high self-esteem, even in unfamiliar situations. Maddy Brink

Male v. Female = we are not the same. • Females base identity on interpersonal relationships • Females deal with traditional gender issues when determining identity • Ex) from “White Oleander” Photos © 2002 Warner Bros. Pictures Link to women’s relationships paper Link to interview comment Maddy Brink

What did I do with my project, then? 1. Interview college students to see if I could determine what stage of identity formation they are in 2. Interview young teenagers to see what stages they are in, and how they have been influenced. 3. Interview adults who can look back on their lives to see the different stages, and how they progressed from one to the next. Maddy Brink

Interviews for 18 -22 year olds. • Determine identity status • Find characteristic behaviors/thought patterns in each status • See how much parents influence the children, even as the children are no longer children • See what types of crises made people change. • Find differences between male and female responses. Sample interview Maddy Brink

Interviews for 11 -12 year olds. • Determine status • See who influences this age group the most • Know why they believe what they believe • Are they independent in their thoughts? Where do their ideas come from? Maddy Brink

Interview for Adults • Did they have to go through all four statuses? • What was the order of statuses? • What caused them to move from one status to another? • What was a big crisis they faced and how did it effect them? Crisis!!! Maddy Brink

What I have found… Data for 11 -12 year old students Data for 18 -23 year olds • 19 year old female (rape victim) • 22 year old male (from military background) • 20 year old male (had severe depression) • 19 year old female (motorcycle gang parents) Data for Adult Interviews • 60 year old female • 27 year old male Maddy Brink

Conclusions • Through the interview process, we can determine a person’s predominant identity status. • Identity also is not an all-inclusive term that applies to the whole of a person’s personality. • based in all the positive or negative outcomes of Erikson’s 8 stages of development • Lifelong MAMA cycles “…identity crises (MAMA cycles) are present throughout the life span. ” - Jim Marcia Maddy Brink

Conclusions, Cont… When a person first accomplishes a fixed identity status, his sense of accomplishment/relief that he has settled on an identity will often lead to more identity formation, in other areas of his life. “But the one thing that constructing that first identity almost guarantees is subsequent identity crises. If you put it into a Piagetian framework, every accommodation carries within it the seeds of its own disequilibration. When you've developed a structure then certain things that you had to think about before become automatic. What that does is to permit one to be aware of things that they never even perceived previously. Hence, the seeds of disequilibration as new experiences must now be accommodated. ” – Jim Marcia Take the Marcia-Erikson Quiz! Maddy Brink

Table of Contents for the Power. Point 1. Title Page 12. What did I do? 2. Objectives 13. Interview 18 -22 3. What does Erikson believe? 14. Interview 11 -12 4. Erikson’s 8 stgaes 15. Interview Adults 5. How does Marcia fit in? 16. Data 6. Marcia’s 4 statuses 17. Conclusions 7. Identity Diffusion 18. Conclusions, Cont… 8. Foreclosure 9. Moratorium 10. Identity Achievement 11. Male v. Female Maddy Brink

Works Cited Crain, W. (2000). Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications. (4 th ed. ). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and Crisis. New York: Norton Hoover, K. R. (1997). With Marcia, J. E. , and Parris, K. The Power of Identity: Politics in a New Key. New Jersey: Chatham House. Marcia, J. E. (1980). Ego Identity Development. In J. Adelson (Ed. ), Handbook of Adolescent Psychology. New York: John Wiley. Marcia, J. E. (2003). E-mails sent to ME! Maddy Brink