Identity Confusion stage, which occurs between ages 12 and 20. During this stage, teenagers spend a great deal of time trying to figure out who they are, what they are all about, and where they are going in life.

Erikson’s fifth stage of psychosocial development is the Identity vs. Identity Confusion stage, which occurs between ages 12 and 20. During this stage, teenagers spend a great deal of time trying to figure out who they are, what they are all about, and where they are going in life. When my niece was 12, she would dress very sloppy for a couple of weeks and then she would change her style and start dressing very preppy. She changed her hairstyle all the time. She also changed her career aspirations. She always told me she wanted to be a veterinarian but then one day I heard her tell someone she wanted to be a police officer. A month later, she said that she wanted to work in a daycare. Was she just being flaky and couldn’t make up her mind? No, she was doing what a lot of adolescents and young adults do, which is, try on different identities to see which ones feel right.
As adolescents are searching for their own identity, they are in a state of Psychosocial Moratorium. Psychosocial Moratorium is a term Erikson used for the gap between childhood security and adult autonomy.
There are five main areas of identity development: Occupational identity, Religious identity, Gender identity, and Political identity. Pick ONE area of identity (religious, gender, political, ethnic, or occupational) and identify what stage of identity development (see below) you are in now and ALL the other stages of identity development you went through to get there. In your answer be sure to define each stage, cite it, and state an example from your own life showing how you were/are in that stage of identity development.

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