Summarise two different psychological approaches to identity. How has each been used to further our understanding of this concept?

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Katie Young        X5224457        TMA01

Part 1 – Essay

Summarise two different psychological approaches to identity.  How has each been used to further our understanding of this concept?

Identity is a topic in psychology studied by many theorists.  The term identity is used to describe a person’s conception and expression of their individuality or group affiliations.  A commonly used psychological method of studying identity is the ‘I am’ method.  This is a simple, everyday exercise and has been used by psychologists since the discipline began.  The Twenty Statements test is one which was used by the founders of psychology to help them study identity.  It basically asks people to write down twenty statements to the question ‘who am i?’.  

Erik Erikson believed that identity is developed in a series of stages.  The eight stages which he described occur over a person’s lifetime and he developed this theory from naturalistic observations, clinical work and his own experiences.   He believes that each stage is all about becoming competent in an area of life.  If a stage is handled well, it provides the foundation for the next stage.  If handled poorly, then the individual will feel a sense of inadequacy.   The development of ego identity is one of the main elements of Erikson’s theory.   Ego identity is Erikson’s term for a secure feeling of who and what one is (Phoenix, 2007, p55).  He says that this is achieved during adolescence which is the fifth stage of his theory.   During adolescence, young people are developing a sense of self and exploring their independence.  In this period, young people can, for a while, try out various identities without commitment before finding their own niche in society (Phoenix, 2007, p55).  If they find it hard to make commitments to adult roles and are at war with themselves, this is called identity crisis.  

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Marcia developed Erikson’s theory further by developing a semi-structured interview method to measure identity as well as developing four different identity statuses.  These four different statuses are not stages and are not sequential according to Marcia.  His method has been particularly influential as it has provided a method that allows Erikson’s ideas on identity to be measured (Phoenix, 2007, p57).  Marcia’s theory argues that crisis and commitment form and adolescence’s identity.  He defined crisis as a time of upheaval and the end outcome leads to a commitment being made to a certain role or value.

Henry Tajfel developed Social ...

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