Angie Shanks
Identity-versus-confusion stage

Erikson’s identity-versus-confusion stage occurs between the ages of 12 to 20 years. Also referred to as adolescence, this stage is full of physical changes as well as psychological changes. For some adolescence this time can be a very confusing period, as well as dangerous as the child struggles to determine who they are. I interviewed two adolescence, Haley a girl age 12 and Dalton a boy age 14. I was interested to see how gender may play a role in this stage of development. After asking them both the same questions I found there were both similarities and differences. The first question was “How would you describe yourself?” Dalton and Haley both started with “people would describe me as” instead of replying with how they view themselves. Dalton’s answer was that he is good at giving advice, and not exactly the social butterfly. Haley’s response was that everyone describes her as a good listener and very much a social butterfly. According to Erikson’s theory this broader view of them represents a developmental advance of adolescence. The next question I asked was “Do you like the person you are?” Dalton’s reply was “sure why not.” Haley responded with “yes, I’m awesome, don’t care what anyone says.” “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” Dalton’s strengths were hunting, being one with nature, trustworthy, own person, outspoken and smartish. Haley’s strengths were trustworthy, independent, organized, empathic, and smart. Neither Dalton nor Haley could come up with any weaknesses to tell me. I’m hoping that it is a positive reflection of their self-esteem. The final question was “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Without hesitation Dalton replied with he wants to be a conservation agent. Haley on the other hand replied with “Haven’t even thought about it.” When asked about their friends and peers, Dalton has several friends but doesn’t feel he has a best friend. He doesn’t trust any of them enough to consider them best friends. He has chosen