Psychological Identity Theory

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evident in Jane Elliot’s experiment, separating blue-eyed and brown-eyed children.  A book was published by Peters in 1987 called ‘A Class Divided’.  The experiment was aimed, originally, at altering children’s attitudes towards each other. Elliot created a realistic conflict within two groups of children.  The school teacher separated blue-eyed children and brown-eyed children and instructed one group to wear a collar which showed them to be the subordinate group, telling the class they were the less smart.  This experiment caused clear conflicts between the two groups.  Name calling and viciousness towards the subordinate group became evident within the class of 7 year olds, showing that being categorized into the in-group for minor differences is enough to cause hostility.  People tend to act in accordance with the stereotype they believe themselves to be.  Social identity theory suggests that at the root of discrimination, is peoples drive towards achieving their identity. According to Erik Erikson (1968), there are eight life stages, beginning with infants developing a sense of time, and ending late in life when bodily functions become weaker and mortality is realized (as cited in Pheonix, 2011)   Erikson also suggested that identity is developed through the community in which we grow up, claiming that personal identity psychosocial, interlinked with society and so also our social identities (as cited in Pheonix, 2011). Erikson claimed that identity involved an unconscious drive for continuity as well as a conscious sense of our individuality (1968)  Erikson claimed that adolescence is a very important factor in achieving our identity as it is the period in which we go through an identity crisis, however, more phases are becoming evident and understood which argues that we can go through an identity crisis at any age , a midlife crisis, is a well heard of example of this.  Further studies on adolescence have shown there being no clear link to adolescence and identity crisis and that self esteem actually increases through this stage (Coleman and Hendry, 1990).  It was argued by Lawrence Friedman, in his biography on Erikson, that he viewed identity crisis as universal due to him being a European Jew during the second world war and so having a troubled background himself (as cited in Pheonix, 2011)  James Marcia (1966) devised a semi structured interview, concentrating on the identity statuses of adolescents.  James Marcia’s research looked at the process young people go through to achieve their identity and the extent of their commitments, in the form of their behavior and friendships.  The interview included questions such as’ have you had any doubts about your religious beliefs’ and how willing do you think

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you would be to give up going into a career if something better came along? (as cited in

Pheonix, 2011).  Answers were then divided into categories such as their interests and tastes and their roles in society.  Marcia came up with four statuses, rating young people’s position on commitment and exploration.  Identity achievement is what Marcia viewed as the most ideal status, in which young people have explored and achieved their current identity.  Marcia suggested that the status of a young person’s identity has an impact on their future stages through life (as cited in Pheonix,2011). Using Marcia’s research method, a number of studies suggest that identity is not fully achieved in adolescence as social and personal events change our views and limitations and how we see ourselves throughout life.  Marcia’s research (1966, 1980, 1994) has provided a way to measure Erikson’s theory on identity by concentrating on adolescence, Erikson‘s fifth stage of development, Marcia could study any changes in their identity as participants ranged from thirteen to twenty-five years of age. (as cited in Pheonix,2011). We cannot achieve our personal identity without social factors and embodiment and vice versa as all three factors make up our identities.

Word count

1072

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References

Coleman, J. and Hendry, L. (1990) The Nature of  adolescence (2nd edn) London, Routledge

Erikson, E. (1968). Identity, youth and crisis New York, W.W. Norton and co

Friedman,L.J. (1999). Identities Architect; A Biography of Erik Erikson

James, W.. (1890/1950) The principles of psychology 2 vols, New York, Dover Publications

Kuhn, M. K. and McPartland, S. (1954) An empirical investigation of self-attitudes, American Sociological Review Vol 19 pp 68/76

Marcia, J. (1980). ‘Identity in adolescence’, in Adelson, J (ed). Handbook of adolescent psychology. New York, John Wiley.

Peters,W. (1987). A class divided; then and now. New Haven, CT, Yale, University press

Tajfel, H., Billing, m., Bundy,R.P. and Flament,C. (1971) Social categorization and intergroup behavior, European Jurnal of social psychology.

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PART  2

1. One problem with the proposed study is that there is not enough information given on the poster as to the nature and purpose of the study, some people may be confused as to how employment history connects with researching identity. Also, there is no mention of the participants right to withdraw from the interview,  as there may be quite a few people who, after hearing that the interview is to be video recorded, do not wish to have their interview filmed which can also jeopardize confidentiality as there seems no need to be filmed when the interview is already being transcribed.

2. One ethical issue raised by the study is that of financial inducements as unemployed people would have to inform their job centre of any money they receive and so can cause harm if their benefits are affected. The values and dignity of the participants is threatened as there may be personal questions that the participants do not wish to answer but feel obliged to. The information on the poster is also misleading as it only asks for people to volunteer to be interviewed about employment history but does not tell them why they are being interviewed and so do not know that it is for psychological research.

3. A possible improvement to this study could be that  the interviews were done over the phone or even a questionnaire, which would ensure anonymity to any participants  as they would not have to give their name or be filmed.