Erikson's Impacts Of The Four Statuses Of Identity

Discovering who we really are and what we are all about is a life-long process. Our search for our identity and what defines who we are is a puzzle consisting of many different pieces. Identity is defined as our self-portrait that is made up of multiple components, including our chosen career path, spiritual beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, personality traits and characteristics, body image, and even where we live and where we are from. Although one’s identity is shaped my a multitude of factors, family and peer influences play a huge roll in an adolescent finding and fine tuning their personal identity.
It is usually in adolescence in which one begins to find out who they are and what they want to do with their life. Erik Erikson called this identity versus identity confusion. Erikson also notes that during the search for identity during the adolescent years is accompanied by a psychosocial moratorium, which is the gap between childhood and adulthood that adolescents experience while exploring their identity. Erikson’s theory includes four statuses of identity that help to resolve an identity crisis: identity diffusion, identity foreclosure, identity moratorium, and identity achievement. Which of these four statuses of identity an …show more content…
This article was based upon a study that family influences have a direct effect on moral identity development. Our moral identity is a major part of our identity as a whole. The study used variables such as family support, family income, volunteerism, family activities, and parenting styles were used to test and determine the correlation between family influences and identity development. According to the study, family influences including social/moral attitudes, personality characteristics, and opportunities to explore self-conceptions and moral actions were directly related to the moral and overall identity development of an