Essay about Cultural Influences on Identity Development

The question we are answering is, how does culture influence identity development? By the end of this paper you would be able to conclude that no matter what the surroundings of an individual is it will have some sort of an effect on either the physical or mental aspects of an individual. In order to answer this question we must understand how identity is developed, what culture consists of and concluding how culture influences identity development. First and Foremost in order to know what motivates identity development we must understand how identity is developed. Identity development starts with infants discovering of self which continues throughout childhood and become the focus of adolescence. According to Erik Erikson the goal of†¦show more content†¦During childhood, self – awareness continues both growing and changing. Children at young Ages describe themselves in terms of observable characteristics and behaviours, including physical attributes. Between ages six and twelve, children begin to include less concrete aspects of the self in their descriptions. School aged children talk about Their feelings (â€Å"I love my cat† ) and how they fit into their social world (â€Å"I’m the best defence on my team†).The cognitive, physical and social changes of adolescence allow the teenager to develop identity that will serve as a basis for their adult lives. In relation to Erikson this part of identity development would fall s under the identity versus role confusion stage, adolescents description of self-expands to include personality traits (â€Å"I’m positive†) and attitudes (â€Å"I don’t like stuck – up people†). The emergence of abstract reasoning allows adolescents to think about the future and experiment with different identities. James Marcia a clinical and developmental psychologist also has an interpretation of identity development. He theorized that identity development involves two steps. First, adolescent must depart from childhood beliefs and start to explore alternatives for identity development. Second, adolescents, make a commitment as to their individual identity in that Area. Marcia Identified four â€Å"identity statuses† to describeShow MoreRelatedHas Anyone Put Any Psychological Thought Into How They1483 Words   |  6 Pagestheir identity? Two psychologists, Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget, dedicated their lives to this type of development. Erikson theorists would take a social influence stance, and Piagetian theorists focus on one’s cognition. So, who is right? More knowledge has been obtained to know that human behavior should be social and the need to socialize with other people. Erikson believes this whereas Piaget thought of qualitative thinking that shapes a child. 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