Chris Oresic
MacFarlane
T/R 3:15
4/10/12
Identity Formation of Chris Oresic
In our adolescent years we go through many experiences that shape who we are. Some experiences that we go through are storm and stress, identity formation, minority culture versus majority culture conflict, gender issues, and many other experiences. The one experience I feel that has defined me as a person today was my identity formation.
According to Marcia there are two key processes of identity formation: exploration and commitment. “Exploration indicates the extent to which adolescents consider various alternative commitments in relevant identity domains. Commitment is the degree to which adolescents have made choices in important identity domains and are committed to these choices.” (Meeus, 2011) Identity formation also has four subsets which are diffusion, moratorium, foreclosure, and achievement. These subsets play a crucial part in identity formation and had a great deal to do with my personal identity formation.
During my identity formation I have been through diffusion. Diffusion indicates that the adolescent has not yet made a commitment regarding a specific developmental task and may or may not have explored different alternatives in that domain. (Meeus, 2011) During the diffusion process a child doesn’t have an established identity but is not actively pursuing one either. In my case I was at a state of identity diffusion when I was younger when I did not have a religion that
I associated myself with. Even though I did not have a religion, I had no need or want to pursue a religion. Another instance where diffusion was evident in my life, this was when I did not have a

social relationship with my peers and I was completely content with just keeping to myself.
When I was younger I would keep to myself and would not really have any want to talk to anyone. This was caused by me going through the foster care program and the fact that most people were not a main stay in my life due to the constant movement from foster house to foster house. Even though this is a very inactive part of identity formation I feel it is very important because this can be a basis of exploration.
Another subset of identity formation is foreclosure. This is when an individual takes on an identity without exploring any other options. This was prevalent in my life because I took on the identity of a follower when I was younger which led me to become a bully and started me on a path of being a very aggressive and sheltered person. I did not have influence from adults instead I was forced to follow my peers in my foster home or they would make my stay at the house a very unpleasant experience. I feel this is a very big problem among adolescence today because children are getting off to a bad start and don’t care enough to explore other options until it is too late. I feel as an educator I will keep my eye out for children that are on the fence and are looking to “belong” I will guide these children to be positive and hang out with positive peers. Even though foreclosure is a very dangerous period in identity formation it is a very important period because it helps adolescent children discover what is right for them and in my situation it helped me use what I experienced as a learning experience and did not let it consume me
Identity moratorium is another aspect of identity formation. During moratorium, the adolescent is in a state of active exploration but has not made significant commitments.(Meeus, 2011) During moratorium an individual is having an “identity crisis” and try out a lot of different identities and have a hard time committing to one.

This was a big part of my life when I was growing up as an adolescent; I would experiment with different groups and could never commit to one group. The big problem was that I was looking to belong to a group and never was open to the thought of being an individual first. Once I figured out that there was no group that could satisfy every need I have I desired to be an individual first and let belonging to groups second which led me to my identity achievement.
The final stage of identity formation is identity achievement. Identity achievement signifies that the adolescent has finished a period of active exploration and has subsequently made a commitment. (Meeus, 2011) This is the part of adolescence’s life is when they finally commit to a identity and find their true self. When I achieved identity achievement I decided to step out of my comfort zone and became a leader. When I made this decision I was more independent and was more consistent as a person. I was more accepting of people no matter group they were apart of and actually had people want to hang out with me because I was always a person you could count on and what you saw was what you got. After I achieved identity achievement I became a much happier person and started to invest in people that wanted to invest in me and eventually invested in people who needed someone to be there for them had no one to turn to and that is actually how I met some of my good friends.
All four aspects, diffusion, moratorium, foreclosure, and achievement do in fact play a big role in identity formation. In the study conducted my Meeus he says that all adolescent children go through the process of identity formation but there is a variation in which they go through it. On finding that Meeus found unsettling was “an increase of moratorium in some studies, whereas others report a decrease.” This was due to the

environment in which they were raised. They went on later explain they “also found that the process of identity formation is less dynamic than commonly assumed. There are few indications of people shifting very often between various identities statuses or having severe identity crises.” (Meeus, 2011) I feel that every adolescent goes the process of identity formation and the rate to which they go through it has a lot to do with them as an individual and the environments in which they are put into.
Meeus, W. (2011). The Study of Adolescent Identity Formation 2000– 2010: A Review of Longitudinal
Research. JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ON ADOLESCENCE, 75-94.