Chapter 8: Lifespan Development of Human Potential
Chapter 8: Lifespan Development of Human Potential
Adolescence and Adulthood
Adolescence: Preparing for Adulthood
Anatomy is destiny.
Love and work… work and love, that’s all there is.
Sigmund Freud
“Sex, drugs, and rock & roll”
Life Magazine, 1969
Congratulations, your child has made it to Piaget’s formal operations and Kohlberg’s conventional moral stages and is a trusting, independent, guilt-free, industrious teenager. Erikson’s fifth stage takes place during the middle-school and high-school years. This period can include substantial peer-pressure as students compare their physical appearance, school performance, personal characteristics, and personal possessions with others. Erikson is perhaps most famous for coining the term “ identity crisis ” to refer to the characteristic questioning of one’s personal qualities, goals, and social roles during his fifth developmental stage. Parental tensions between the desire to protect one’s child and the need to foster independence can result in an increase in the frequency and intensity of conflicts and arguments during this stage. It is tempting to volunteer suggestions or to impose solutions on a teenager struggling with identity issues. Peers are replacing parents as the primary role models and sources of reinforcement. Personal choices can have significant impacts upon the course of one’s life and pose significant dangers. Negotiating the fine line between helpful guidance (scaffolding) and interference, is difficult for parents as the teenager struggles to attain a unique identity. Non-requested suggestions or attempts to enforce restrictions can result in identity confusion.
James Marcia (1966) developed a model addressing Erikson’s identity crisis. Marcia distinguished between four different identity states based on two considerations; had exploration occurred and had a commitment been made. The four possibilities are portrayed in the following video:
Watch the following video describing Marcia’s stages of identity development:
Identity issues could include relationships (friends and/or romantic partners), gender roles, religion, politics, interest in attending higher education, future vocation, etc. As implied by Erikson, it is desirable that the adolescent be exposed to and permitted to explore various options for each of these issues. Only then, could the adolescent make an informed decision regarding whether to commit to a particular choice, thereby attaining identity achievement. If commitment occurs without the ability to explore options (e.g., a parent’s making the decision regarding a romantic partner or future career) identity foreclosure occurs. Moratorium refers to the continual stage of exploring prior to making a commitment. Identity diffusion occurs when one never addresses identity issues or commits to a specific choice.
Freud remains current in his observation that the human condition includes the two major developmental tasks of preparing for love and work. The beginning of ad