Comparing Erikson And Marcia's Theory Of Psychosocial Development

When you stare at your reflection in the mirror, what do you see? Do you really know who you are? Over the course of years people go through multiple roles and stages of life to try and find their own unique identity. This is known as Identity Formation. Psychologists have created several developmental theories that include Identity Formation, but the two most influential are Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development and Marcia’s identity status theory. Erikson’s developmental theory was broken down into 8 developmental stages, but the stage that focused on identity formation was the “Identity versus Role Confusion”. He believed that adolescents face a crisis of attempting to balance the desire to try multiple selves and the need to only have one self (Kail and Cavanaugh 316). Establishing intimate, sharing relationships with others is the result of adolescents who have already achieved a sense of identity. Adolescents who have not reached identity will never get to experience it with human relationships, therefore they live their lives in isolation. Adolescents who successfully achieve their identity are healthy and well-adjusted adults. While on the other hand, the adolescents who are stuck become emotionally unstable adults.
The four stage are diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and achievement. Identity diffusion is when the individual is overwhelmed by attempting to achieve an identity and does little to accomplish the identity. Identity foreclosure is when a person has a status that is determined by adults and not by self-exploration. Identity moratorium is when the individual is exploring multiple identities but has not found the one that satisfies them. Identity achievement is when the individual has finally chosen the one identity that satisfies them (Kail and Cavanaugh