Identity

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Identity

Linqin Ji

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Outline

Identity as an adolescent issue

Changes in self-conception

Changes in self-esteem

The adolescent identity crisis

Research on identity development

The development of ethnic identity

Gender-role development

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Who am I like as a person?

Which kind of person I would like to be?

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Changes in the way in which we see and feel about ourselves occur throughout the life cycle

Even a 4-year child can give some answers to the question “who are you”

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If, in fact, changes in identity occur throughout the life cycle, why have researchers who are interested in identity development pain so much attention to adolescence?

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Changes in identity that take place during adolescence involve the first substantial reorganization and restructuring of the individual’s sense of self at a time when he/she has the intellectual capability to appreciate fully just how significant the changes are

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During adolescence, individuals experience dramatic changes biologically, cognitively, and socially During puberty, adolescents change dramatically in their

physical appearance, which may prompt fluctuation in their self-image and a reevaluation of who he /she really is

Development in intellectual abilities during adolescence permit individuals to think about themselves in new ways

Changes in social roles that occur at adolescence open up a new array of choices and decisions for the young person that were not concerns previously

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Identity development is complex and multifaceted

It is better understood as a series of interrelated developments– rather than one single development– that all involve changes in the way we view ourselves in relation to others and in relation to the broader society in which we live

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Researchers and theorists have taken three approaches to the question of how the individual’s sense of identity changes over the course of adolescence

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Changes in self-conceptions The ideas that individuals have of themselves as

regards various traits and attributes

Adolescent self-esteem or self-image How positively or negatively individuals feel

about themselves

Changes in the sense of identity The sense of who one is, where one has come

from, and when one is going

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Changes in self-conceptions

Self-conception（自我概念）（青少年发展心理学， P343）关于自己的能力、外表和社会接受性等方面的态度、情感和知识的自我知觉 (Byrne, 1986)

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Adolescents’ self-conceptions Compared with children, who tend to describe th

emselves in relatively simple, concrete terms, adolescents are more likely to use complex, abstract, and psychological self-characterizations (Harter, 1999)

During adolescence, self-conceptions become more differentiated and better organized structurally (Byrne & Shavelson, 1996; Marsh, 1989; Montemayer & Eliven, 1977)

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Adolescents’ self-conceptions become more differentiated: Realization that one’s personality is expressed

in different ways in different situations: “I’m friendly when I’m in good mood”

Adolescents’ self-descriptions take into account who is describing (Harter, 1999): “My parents think I’m quiet, but my friends know I really like to party a lot”

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With the shift toward increased differentiation in self-conceptions comes better organization and integration (Harter, 1999; Marsh, 1989a): The traits and attributes children list about

themselves remain somewhat disparate Adolescents are likely to organize and integrate

various aspects of their self-conception into a more logical, coherent whole

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Adolescents’ self-conceptions Although self-conceptions does not become even

more differentiated after early adolescence (Marsh, 1989a), the movement toward more abstract and more psychological self-conceptions continues well into the high school years

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Abstraction and psychological complexity of adolescents’ self-description The increased abstraction and psychological

complexity may present some difficulties for middle adolescents, who may be able recognize – but not yet quite understand or reconcile – inconsistencies and contractions in their personalities

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Changes in self-conceptionsAbstraction and psychological complexity of adolescents’ self-description I guess I just think about one thing about myself at a time

and don’t think about the other until the next day. (early adolescent)

I really think I am a happy person and I want to be that way with everyone, but I get depressed with my family and it really bugs because that’s not what I want to be like. (middle adolescent)

You can be shy on a date, and then outgoing with friends because you are just different with different people; you can’t always be the same person and probably shouldn’t be. (late adolescent)

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Figure 1 The multiple selves of a 15-year-old girl

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Changes in self-conceptionsAlthough the recognition that one’s personality is multifaceted –even contradictory –may initially cause some distress, in the long run it probably has a number of advantages Adolescents who have more complex self-conceptions

are less likely to be depressed (Evans, 1993; Jordan & Cole, 1996)

Some psychologists have suggested that the development of a more complicated view of oneself is one way that individuals cope with the recognition of their faults and weakness, a recognition that comes with increased self-awareness of adolescents

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Although the recognition that one’s personality is multifaceted –even contradictory –may initially cause some distress, in the long run it probably has s number of advantages Having a more differentiated self-conception permits

adolescent to distinguish among his/her actual, ideal, and feared self, which will provide a motive for adolescent to improve toward ideal self

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False-self behavior –acting in a way that one knows is inauthentic Occurs most likely in romantic and dating

situations and with classmate, least likely in situations with close friends, and in the middle are situations with parents

In general, adolescents who report less emotional support from parents and peers, those who have low self-esteem, and those who are relatively more depressed and hopeless than their peers are more likely to engage in false-self behavior

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Dimensions of personality in adolescence Whereas many researchers have studied adolesce

nt personality development by examining young people’s views of themsevles, others have attempted to assess personality by administering standardized inventories designed to assess the most important aspects of personality

Five-factor model for assessment of personality

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Dimensions of personality in adolescence Big five:

Extraversion(外向性 ) Agreeableness（宜人性） Conscientiousness（谨慎性） Neuroticism（神经质） Openness to experience（开放性）

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Sex, class, and ethnic differences in self-esteem

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Sex, class, and ethnic differences in self-esteem

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Antecedents and consequences of high self-esteem

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Antecedents and consequences of high self-esteem

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自我同一性 (ego-identity) 是埃里克森的人格或自我发展理论体系中的概念，是埃里克森用来说明青少年时期心理发展的关键和人格成熟状态的一个术语

埃里克森认为，自我同一性是一种发展的结构，有时指一个人对其个体身份的自觉意识，有时指他对个体性格连续统一体的无意识追求，有时指自我综合的无言操作，有时则指对某一群体理想和特征的内心趋向

马西亚认为，同一性一旦形成，就会赋予个体曾经是谁的历史性感觉，现在是谁的有意义认识以及将来会成为谁的认识

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自我同一性同一性是指过去、现在和将来中，对“自己是谁？”、“自己还是原来的自己”、“自己自身是同一实体的存在”等问题的主观感觉或意识

同一性意味着以社会性存在确立的自我，即被社会认可的自己、所确立的自我形象

同一性是一种“感觉”当这三种自我同一性的意识在自己心中确立产生的时候，即为同一性形成或确立

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Erikson’s Theoretical Framework

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Identity versus identity diffusion “From among all possible and imaginable relati

ons, the young people must make a series of ever-narrowing selections of personal, occupational, sexual, and ideological commitments” (Erikson, 1968, p. 245)

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Identity versus identity diffusion The maturational and social forces that

converge at adolescence force young people to reflect on their place in society, on the ways that others view them, and on their options for the future

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The social context of identity development The key to resolving the crisis of identity versus

identity diffusion lies in the adolescent’s interactions with others

Forging an identity is a social as well as a mental process

The social context in which the adolescent attempts to establish a sense of identity exerts a tremendous impact on the nature and outcome of the process

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The social context of identity development The course of identity development varies in

different cultures, among different subcultures within the same society, and over historical eras

The social context in which an adolescent develops also determines, to a large extent, whether the youngster’s search for self-definition will take the form of a full-blown crisis or a more manageable challenge

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Psychosocial moratorium（心理社会延缓期）在寻求自我发现的过程中青少年从各种过多的责任和义务中解脱出来，暂时地休息的时期

During the psychosocial moratorium, the adolescent can experiment with various roles and identities, in a context that permit and encourages this sort of exploration

The experimentation involves trying on various postures, personalities, and ways of behaving

Having the time to experiment with roles is an important prelude to establishing a coherent sense of identity

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Psychosocial moratorium According to Erikson, without a period of mora

torium, a full and thorough exploration of the options and alternatives available to the young person can not occur, and identity development will be somewhat impeded

In other words, according to Erikson, adolescents must grow into an adult identity– they should not be forced into one prematurely

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Problems in identity development

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Determining an adolescent’s identity status马西亚关注个体在三个领域的探索——职业、意识形态（价值观和信念）和人际关系

Two dimensions for rating adolescents’ ego-identity:

Commitment Exploration

四种同一性状态：同一性扩散、同一性提前完成、同一性延缓和同一性形成

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Figure 3 Identity status categories derived from Marcia’s measure

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Studying identity development over time同一性并非像埃里克森所说的那样在 18岁前就确立

对不同年龄组的个体的比较显示， 18岁与 21岁的个体的同一性地位存在明显差异

这表明，对自我探索在青少年期就开始，但是一致的同一性建立是在青少年末期

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Shifts in identity status青少年的同一性是不断地丧失与获得的过程，同一性问题的解决不是一劳永逸的，它在人的一生中尤其是青少年期和成年初期会反复出现，个体也会从某一同一性状态转向另一状态

Figure 4

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Figure 4 Changes in identity status over a four-year period

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The process of ethnic identity development

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The process of ethnic identity development

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Alternative orientations to ethnic identity

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Alternative orientations to ethnic identity

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Gender-role socialization during adolescence

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Masculinity, femininity, and androgyny

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Identity