Personal Identity Development Paper

Identity development, beginning in infancy, is the most important developmental mission of life. As humans, we are continually forming sense a sense of self, therefore, identity development can rarely be “completed”. As we have learned there are several types of development such as cognitive, physical, and identity, this paper will focus on my own identity development based on the findings of James Marcia. James Marcia was a developmental psychologist whom expanded on Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development and identified that there are four identity statuses. Marcia categorized these four statuses as diffusion, foreclosure, achievement, and moratorium. His goal was to identify the processes that individuals go through when they experience …show more content…
My identity is a culmination of my values and hobbies, gender, and religion. Some things that complete our identity are inevitable and we cannot change them, such as the family were born into, our ethnicity or sex. However, there are far more things we have control over in order to achieve the identity that we want to be. From the day we are born until the day we die it seems our identities are constantly under societal influences. My family and friends have greatly had an influence on my religious, and political perspectives. Growing up Roman Catholic, for as long as I can remember going to Church and saying grace before meals was a part of my daily routine. This religion was what I was born into, therefore my family had much influence forming this portion of my identity. Additionally, my family grew up with Democratic political views, which I followed as I got old enough to be able to comprehend …show more content…
In contemporary Western cultures, there is a high value placed upon individual needs, rights, and freedoms. However, the values that have been developed and are common among Western culture may not be universally shared. Various cultures value the needs of the larger community over any single individual to service of the group's greater good. It should also be noted that when forming our “ethnic identity”, ethnic minority groups struggle to blend into dominate culture and keep their cultural identities. Though, the interaction of the migrant's culture with the majority culture of the new homeland is a dynamic process that can result in changes in the broader cultural group, enhancing the ability of people of the dominant culture to better appreciate and understand aspects of the immigrant's culture (Bhugra & Becker, 2005). Cultural identity is essential for people's sense of self and feeling they belong to a certain group. A strong cultural identity can contribute to people's overall