This article is about a cross-sectional study done on a diverse group of university students to study identity and the idea of agency in emerging adulthood. Emerging adulthood is a theory created by JJ Arnett about as society became industrialized, the transition between the developmental periods of adolescence and adulthood became stretched. This middle period between the two, ranging from age 18 to mid-20’s, has been cited as a period not only for social development, but for identity and psychological development. In earlier times, the course of a person’s life was easily charted with goals at each age for marriage, job placement, children, etc. In our post-industrial society, the amount of pathways a person can take to for a strong enough
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The default pathway is based on instincts and impulse. There is no real direct or action taken by the individual. The developmental pathway involves deliberate choices to grow and take action in one’s life direction. Emerging adulthood is also looked at as second chance at psychosocial moratorium as described by Erikson in 1968. This is a time to try identities without commitment in order to form a true identity. Success in this relates to the developmental pathway while failure relates to default. In 1966 another researcher, Marcia, began working on her own theory of identity. Her work concludes that there are four possible statuses in identity formation: diffusion, moratorium, foreclosure, and achievement. Though similar to Erikson’s identity theory in adolescence, Marcia focuses on the level of commitment and the degree of exploration of an individual to find their identity. In 1989, a theorist named Berzonsky furthered these studies by looking at the style in which people handle these identity issues. He found three orientations that a person could go; informational, normative, and avoidant. These each corresponded with Marcia’s stages of identity development.This article also looks at the use of agency in emerging adulthood. Agency in this sense is referencing to the degree in which a person takes responsibility for their life
The default pathway is based on instincts and impulse. There is no real direct or action taken by the individual. The developmental pathway involves deliberate choices to grow and take action in one’s life direction. Emerging adulthood is also looked at as second chance at psychosocial moratorium as described by Erikson in 1968. This is a time to try identities without commitment in order to form a true identity. Success in this relates to the developmental pathway while failure relates to default. In 1966 another researcher, Marcia, began working on her own theory of identity. Her work concludes that there are four possible statuses in identity formation: diffusion, moratorium, foreclosure, and achievement. Though similar to Erikson’s identity theory in adolescence, Marcia focuses on the level of commitment and the degree of exploration of an individual to find their identity. In 1989, a theorist named Berzonsky furthered these studies by looking at the style in which people handle these identity issues. He found three orientations that a person could go; informational, normative, and avoidant. These each corresponded with Marcia’s stages of identity development.This article also looks at the use of agency in emerging adulthood. Agency in this sense is referencing to the degree in which a person takes responsibility for their life