Transcript Developmental Q11 - Ms. Allison, Psychology

Q11: Examine psychological research into adolescence.
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Introduction
 Research into adolescent identity
 Thesis:
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Body
 Erickson
 Marcia
 Rutter
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Conclusion
Life as stages of developmentadolescence as one aspect
 Adolescence as a time of identity
crisis
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Challenges
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Identity vs role confusion
Intimacy- fear commitment since it
may contribute to a loss of identity
Time diffusion-disbelieve time will
bring change while at the same time
fear that it might
Diffusion of Industry-inability to
concentrate or great concentration in a
single area
Negative identity- scorn for role offered
by family or society
Psychosocial moratoriumsuspension of activity during
identity formation to ‘find oneself’
to resolve identity crisis
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Did not conduct empirical research to support his
ideas
 Theory based on non-rigorous observations of
adolescence in therapy in the 40s and 50s (biased sample
and questionable generalization)
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Contradictions of Erikson’s view of adolescence as
time of constant negative turmoil
 Time of positive identity formation (Marsh, 1989)
 Most American teenagers are confident, happy and
satisfied (Offer, 1981)
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Some ideas outdated- reflect 1950s America
 Female identity tied to type of man she marries
 Lifestyles different today
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Expanded on Erikson’s ideas and tried to test
empirically
Focus on crisis and commitment
 Crisis- re-evaluation of previous choices and
values
 After crisis- commitment to new set of values and
ideology
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Used semi-structured interviews as a
research method
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Statuses are not stages, but depend on the
amount of choices and commitments made
 Identity diffusion- no sense of choice and not yet
made a commitment
 Identity foreclosure- willingness to commit to roles
and values for the future; tend to conform to
expectations of others
 Identity moratorium- examining choices, not yet
made a commitment
 Identity achievement- gone through identity crisis
and made a commitment to identity (roles and values)
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Strengths
 Meilman (1979)- identity achievers rose after 15 years old
 Mundane realism- evident in daily life that teenagers try out various
identities
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Limitations
 Limited sample- while, middle-class Americans during the 1960s and
70s
 Cohort effects- Waterman & Waterman (1979)
▪ Findings linked to a particular age and culture
 Oversimplification
▪ Archer (1982)- added complexity- different stages of identity formation in
different areas
 Cultural Relativity
▪ Condon (1988)-Studied the Inuit in the Canadian arctic who didn’t have time for
identity formation and progressed to adulthood much earlier than American,
middle-class sample
Rutter (1976)-studied adolescents on the Isle of
Wight (self-report) and found that only a
minority showed signs of crisis or conlict
 O’Connel (1976)-interviews with married women
suggested that identity develops over the
lifespan
 Condon (1987)- studied Inuit of Canada and
found they did not spend time questioning their
identity (early adulthood)
 Lenroot (2007)- brain development differs
between genders (MRI scans- women reach full
brain development maturity by 21; men at 30)
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