Erik Erikson on Adolescence

             Adolescents are faced with many difficult life decisions which, when coupled with their lack of self-knowledge, cause identity crises. Not secure in themselves, teenagers must make decisions concerning how they will act, with whom they will associate, and what life decisions they will choose. Ultimately, the process by which they determine their identity must, of necessity, be one of trial and error. Adolescents are sometimes confused about how they feel, and thus, they tend to act out in either passive or outrageous ways such as dying their hair in different colors or even strange ways of wearing pants. Adolescents are in a stage full of uncertainties; therefore, teenagers feel the need to find something that they can cling to which would make them feel like they belong somewhere or to something in the society. As a result, adolescents often find ways to conform by forming a small clique or crowd. Besides forming a clique or a crowd, they may look to other alternatives which would influence the paths of life that they want to take. Example of such alternatives could be celebrities, teachers, relatives or maybe other role models in society. Unlike when they were children, adolescents begin to move away from the family circle. Therefore, alternatives such as celebrities, teachers, or friends are more favorable than parents or relatives. Do these actions lead to their maturity? In order to mature, adolescents must experience identity crises. Experts such as psychologists G. Stanley Hall, Erik Erikson, James Marcia, Jean Piaget, and Lawrence Kohlberg would agree that adolescents who experience identity crises would be inclined toward more stable adulthood. However, how these psychologists approach the cause of identity crises in adolescence differs.
             The adolescent stage is one of the critical stages of life. Therefore, many psychologists have made an effort to explain the behaviors of an adolescent. What or who started the concer...

More Essays:

APA     MLA     Chicago
Erik Erikson on Adolescence. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 00:43, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/20464.html