IDENTITY ACHIEVEMENT
ERIK ERIKSON
AND
JAMES MARCIA
DANIEL AREVALO
BIOGRAPHY
ERIK H. ERIKSON
• Born June 15, 1902
• Frankfurt , Germany
• Mother raised him alone
because of affair
• 1904: his mother marries
again.
• Both parents Jewish
• Becomes wandering artist
• 1927: teacher at Freudian
school.
• Exiled to United States 1933
• Died 1994
JAMES E. MARCIA
• Current Professor of
Psychology at Simon Fraser
University in Vancouver
• Ph.D. at Ohio State
University
Erik Erikson
What’s in a Name?
ERIK ERIKSON
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Erikson's interest in psychological identity may be traced to his early life. He was born as a
result of his mother's extramarital affair and the circumstances of his birth were concealed
from him in his childhood. His mother, Karla Abrahamsen came from a Jewish family in
Copenhagen with German roots. Since Karla Abrahamsen was officially married to a Jewish
stockbroker Waldemar Isidor Salomonsen at the time, her son, born in Germany, was
registered as Erik Salomonsen.
There is no more information about his biological father, except that he was a Dane and his
given name probably was Erik. Following her son's birth, Karla studied for a nurse, moved to
Karlsruhe and in 1904 married a Jewish pediatrician Theodor Homburger. In 1909 Erik
Salomonsen became Erik Homburger and in 1911 he was officially adopted by his stepfather.
The development of Identity seems to have been one of his greatest concerns in Erikson's
own life as well as in his theory. During his childhood and early adulthood he was known as
Erik Homburger, and his parents kept the details of his birth a secret. He was a tall, blond,
blue-eyed boy who was raised Jewish.
However, when he was forced out of Germany by increasingly hostile Nazi influences and
moved to the United States, he changed his name to Erik, son of Erik: Erikson.
Biography Cont.
• Erik Erikson, while still
in Germany, studied
psychoanalysis of
children under Anna
Freud and was even
analyzed by her.
• Developed Stage Theory
in 1950 with Childhood
and Society.
Epigenetic Principle
• Development, he says,
functions by the epigenetic
principle. It says that humans
develop through a
predetermined unfolding of
personalities in eight stages.
Our progress through each
stage is in part determined by
our success, or lack of success,
in all the previous stages.
• Uses an analogy of fetal
growth: “epigenetic
development, the step-by-step
growth of the fetal organs”
(Erikson, Childhood and
Society, pg. 65)
Erikson’s Stage
Theory
• Trust v Mistrust
• Autonomy v Shame & Doubt
• Initiative v Guilt
• Industry v Inferiority
• IDENTITY v ROLE CONFUSION
Erikson then goes further than Freud
• Intimacy v Isolation (Young Adults)
• Generativity v Stagnation (Adults)
• Integrity v Despair (Elderly)
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With every stage there is great
vulnerability but also great
potential for the individual to grow
Freud’s Stage
Theory
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Oral: 0-1
Anal: 1-3
Phallic: 3-6
Latent: 6-10
Genital: 10-end of adolescence
Hope
Will
Purpose
Competency
Fidelity
Love
Care
Wisdom
Like Piaget, Erikson postulated that these stages were cross-cultural and that
in accordance to the epigenetic principle, one must go through the stages as
life progresses.
Identity Achievement
• According to Erikson, children, approximately between the
ages of 10-21, undergo an identity crisis.
• During this crisis, a youth begins to worry about their own
place in society and begin to search for their meaning.
• This is largely an unconscious process
• You must create a “central perspective and direction, some
working unity, out of the remnants of his childhood and the
hopes of his anticipated adulthood” (Erikson, Identity and
the Life Cycle, 1958, pg. 98)
• It is important to note: “Ego Identity, then, develops out of
a gradual integration of all identifications, but here if
anywhere the whole has a different quality than the sum of
its parts” (Erikson, Identity and the Life Cycle, pg. 95)
Ego Identity cont.
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Ego identity then, in its subjective aspect, is
the awareness of the fact that there is a
selfsameness and continuity to the ego’s
synthesizing methods, the style of one’s
individuality, and that this style coincides
with the sameness and continuity of one’s
meaning for significant others in the
immediate community” (Erikson, 1968, pg
50)
“The term identity…connotes both a
persistent sameness within oneself (selfsameness) and a persistent sharing of some
kind of essential character with others”
(Erikson, 1956, pg. 57)
Throughout his writings Erikson proposed
that the self-sameness and continuity is
expressed through a “conscious sense of
individual identity,” an unconscious striving
for a “continuity of personal character,” a
continuing process of “ego synthesis,” and an
“inner solidarity” with a group’s “ideals and
social identity.” (1957)
Identity Moratorium
• Erikson briefly treats the
subject of moratorium in his
works.
• He describes the adolescent
mind this way, saying that it
is: “a psychosocial stage
between childhood and
adulthood and between the
morality learned by the
child and the ethics
developed by the adult”
(Erikson, Childhood and
Society, pg 263)
Identity Diffusion
• Erikson continues his theory
by describing the failure to
identify.
• Identity diffusion occurs
when a youth is unable to
“settle on an occupational
identity which disturbs [the
individual]. To keep
themselves together, they
temporarily over-identify, to
the point of apparent loss of
identity, with the heroes of
cliques and crowds”
(Erikson, Childhood and
Society, pg. 262)
These Individuals dress the same way: and example
of over-conforming, thus losing their sense of
identity
James E. Marcia
• Published Article in 1966
• Development and validation of egoidentity status in Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology
• This redefined and sharpened Erikson’s
Theory of Identity Achievement
• Defined the four sub-categories of
Identity
•Achievement
•Foreclosure
•Moratorium
•Diffusion
Marcia’s Identity Achievement Statuses
Identity
Achievement
Foreclosure
Moratorium
Identity
Diffusion
Exploration of
alternatives
Completed
None
In Process
May be Present
but may not be
as well
Commitment
Yes
Yes
Vaguely Present
None
Theorized that during Erikson’s Achievement Stage, these would be the different
ways that a person could be. (Note: not one person is ever fully one or the other.
People have all kinds of ideals that they hold and some might be under one
status while other times they may be another.)
Marcia’s Identity Statuses
Diffusion
When a Person is in diffusion, their
sense of identity is largely derived
from those people around them.
There is no commitment to this
identity but it is a temporary
state that can be released and
another sense can be just as
easily absorbed
Moratorium
This status describes individuals who
are actively seeking out their own
identity but have no real
commitment to who they are.
They are aware however of the
alternatives and are exploring
them as possible choices.
Achievement
Under this status are individuals
who have explored the
alternatives to their life and have
come to a conclusion of who they
are and what they should be.
They commit to this idea of the
self .
Foreclosure
Individuals who are foreclosed,
says Marcia, have simply
accepted the norms and customs
of their parents (or government)
and committed to remaining true
to them. There has been no
exploration of alternatives.
Identity Crisis
Case Study
Political Identity
Critical Questions
• Do public school children tend to have a higher incidence
rate of Identity Achievement then Catholic School Children?
• Will attendance at a private school influence the children at
Holy Family and affect their status of Identity?
• Will being at a public school influence the incidence of
identity?
Minor Questions
How will divorce factor into the incidence of Identity
achievement?
Will the children with higher socio-economic backgrounds be
more or less achieved?
Subjects
Holy Family of Nazareth School
• 6th graders
• 2 boys
• 2 girls
• 4 Caucasian/White
Harrison Lane Elementary
• 6th Graders
• 2 boys
• 2 girls
• 1 Caucasian/White
• 2 Hispanic
• 1 Afro-American
All Subjects were 11 except one HFNS boy who was 12
All Subjects came from Middle-Low socio-economic families
Procedure
• Opting for less subjects but more rich data, the
method of collecting information was though
interviews
• No real names are used but ages and some
details are retained.
• The interviews are recorded through video
camera
• Questions are pre-set and do not change from
interview to interview to maintain some level of
measurement
Interview Questions
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Good Afternoon
Well let’s get started.
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What is your name?
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How Old are you?
And what Grade are you in?
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How do you feel about living in
Texas?
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Do you live with both of your
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Parents?
Do you live with both of your
parents? (explain and expand upon)
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Did your Father go to College?
What does he do for a living, I
mean, where does he work?
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And your mother, did she also go to
College?
Is she working outside your home •
as well?
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Do you have any brothers or sisters?
How many? Which ones are older
and which are younger?
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Do you have any Political
Preference? Like do you think you •
belong to a political party or do you
consider yourself liberal or
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conservative or moderate?
How familiar are you with these
terms?
What about your parents? Do they
have any political preference?
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Do they belong to any particular
political party?
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How important are political
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questions to your parents?
(which ones?)
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Are there any political or social
issues that you feel strongly about? •
(Yes or No)
Can you name the top 2 please?
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What would you like to see done
about them?
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Have you ever done anything
political, like go to a rally or joined
any groups or contacted politicians? •
(If so) How did you get involved?
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(If none) Do you think that politics •
is important to you right now or do •
you see politics as not as important
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in your life?
How do you get your information to
make a decision?
How important is it for you to work •
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out these ideas?
Was there ever a time that you
found your political beliefs
changing, When you found yourself
having one idea, but then a few
months later adopting a different
one on the same issue?
Describe that please.
Why did that happen?
Was there anyone or anything that
may have influenced that change?
How do you feel when you are
engaged in political activities?
What do you parents think of your
own political ideas?
Are there any important
differences?
Do you think that your political
ideas will stay the same or do you
think they will definitely change?
How might they change?
What might cause that change?
Is this likely?
On a seven point scale tell me how
important your political ideas are to
you and your life?
1=nothing
7=extremely important
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Rubric
Using the questions shown on the
previous slide, certain questions were
pre-selected to be “weighted”
questions.
Those questions had responses that
would indicate the level of political
achievement of the student.
The responses were then judged as
indicating a particular status and then
they were averaged to a percentage.
Students having a higher degree of
Foreclosure would by percentage have
answered more questions with a
foreclosed answer.
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Do you have any Political Preference? Like do you think you
belong to a political party or do you consider yourself
liberal or conservative or moderate?
What about your parents? Do they have any political
preference?
How important are political questions to your parents?
Are there any political or social issues that you feel strongly
about
Which issues are important to your parents?
Do you think that politics is important to you right now or
do you see politics as not as important in your life?
How do you get your information to make a decision?
Have you ever been politically involved and how did you
become involved?
Was there ever a time that you found your political beliefs
changing and if so, how?
Who or what influenced you to do that?
How do you feel when you are engaged in political
activities?
What do you parents think of your own political ideas?
Are there any important differences?
Will your beliefs change? And How so? What might cause
the change?
How important is politics in you life?
Data Collection Tool
Name:
Achieved
Foreclosed
Moratorium
Diffused
Number answered:
Percent of total:
Sample Question: How do you get your information to make a decision?
Achievement: I look it up myself in a news paper/online etc. and make up
my own mind about it.
Foreclosure: My parents tell me about it.
Moratorium: I look for it online but I do not really make any final decisions
Diffusion: I do not/ My friends tell me.
Hypothesis
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While looking at a group of children
who are at the early part of the
Identity stage: specifically 6th graders
from Holy Family and Harrison Lane
Elementary School: the children from
the public school will demonstrate a
significantly higher rate of Identity
achievement over those children at
Holy Family.
Those of Higher socio-economic
status will be less diffused than those
of lower socio-economic families.
Those whose parents are divorced
will show less achievement, less
moratorium, less foreclosure and
much more diffusion.
Results: Private School
Results: Public School
Results: Socio-Economic
Divorce: Results
A half of the number of students that I
interviewed were only living with one
parent . I wondered if this might affect
the results at all so it was included as a
minor question.
Conclusion
• My Hypothesis was incorrect
• Most of the Public school children were diffused at higher
levels while the children in the private school were both
diffused and foreclosed at about the same level.
• Private school children were much more foreclosed than
the public school children.
• My minor hypothesis was correct: those with divorced
parents were MUCH more diffused indicating a pretty
strong positive correlation to divorce and diffusion.
• My other minor hypothesis was correct as it did show that
those of lower socio-economic status did tend to be more
diffuse as well.
Limitations and Problems
• Cannot generalize: sample
was too small however
enlightening it was.
• Limited interview: only
covered political
• Not enough racial diversity
from HFNS
• Same with the socioeconomic factor, too little
diversity
• Public school interviews
were conducted in a loud
area
Final Thoughts
Erik Erikson
Nature
Nurture
-Children at such a young age can hardly be expected to be achieved in any
manner.
-It is in most cases that any kind of achievement occurs so early on.
-Lack of political knowledge indicated diffusion.
-According to numerous studies, those who are foreclosed tend to have
conventional morality while those who are achieved will usually show
more post-conventional moral thought.
-Interesting Side note: Erikson points out that those people living in
totalitarian governments or households are much more likely to be
foreclosed or diffused because of the environment.
Special Thanks
• Dr. Amy Fisher-Smith for helping me with my
rubric
• Mrs. Khirallah- For putting up with my delays.