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Erikson believed that development involves psychosocial crises. During adolescence, the crisis revolves around identity issues. Adolescents begin making choices about who they want to be. If the challenges of the crisis are met successfully, adolescents form a secure sense of identity. To do so, adolescents must evaluate their personal assets and liabilities. During this period, adolescents explore possibilities and begin to form their own identity based on the outcome of their explorations. Identity-the sense of who one is – can be hindered, which results in a sense of confusion (“I don’t know what I want to be, when I grow up”) about oneself and one’s role in the world. If the challenges of the psychosocial identity crisis are not dealt with successfully, adolescents may develop an incomplete sense of self. These adolescents who experience self-doubt are preoccupied with their own concerns and too dependent on or excessively isolated from others.
Having a confused identity is like wandering aimlessly in search of oneself, without roots and lacking a vision for the future. Extreme forms of identity confusion leave individuals vulnerable to personality and behavioral disorders such as depression, delinquency, substance abuse and suicide. Forming an identity is a process and product of individual and social factors. Adolescents use abstract thinking to assess their options and speculate about the future. Forming an identity provides adolescents with information about themselves, their direction in life and their place in meaningful relationships.
Erikson argued that adolescence should be a time of psychosocial moratorium –a period during which youth are reasonably free of adult responsibilities that might prevent them from adequately addressing identity issues. According to Erikson, adolescents should use this moratorium to consider who they are and their direction in life. An important part of this process is experimenting with a variety of roles, lifestyles, relationships and value choices (Wallerstein & Goldberger, 1998).
Adolescents who experience a moratorium and are able to experiment with roles have an important advantage in identity formation. When a period of experimentation does not occur, adolescents are at risk for identity confusion and may not realize their capabilities. As a result, they may be unprepared to enter adulthood. Identity formation is particularly important because it gets them “on track” and moves them in a meaningful direction toward adulthood.
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