The development begins in early adolescence, when the child stands outside of him- or herself and
starts to ask the question: who am I? which up to then s/he took for granted. In exploring this
question, the child becomes aware of playing different roles. This
questioning, Erikson argued, is most intense during adolescence, but questions of identity do
continue throughout one’s life.
Think back on your life in high school. What roles did you play in your family? In your school? In your outside life? Were you comfortable in those roles? Were you comfortable recognizing that you actually played a number of different roles? How did you feel when your roles were in conflict . To what extent did these roles contribute to your sense of identity?
Describe your own sense of identity at the end of high school.
How has your sense of identity changed since high school?
Consider Marcia’s 4 aspects of identify formation .
Then write a brief paragraph for each of Marcia’s phases, describing your personal experience.
For each aspect, pick whichever one of the following facets of your identity that most readily illustrates it.
