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2-2 Short Paper: Erikson Versus Marcia
Brynne Nicholas
Department of Psychology, Southern New Hampshire University
PSY 319: Child/Adolescent Social Development
Instructor Michele Mortensen
November 6, 2022
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2-2 Short Paper: Erikson Versus Marcia
Social influences on an individual's development were the focus of researcher Erik
Erikson. Erikson, who developed the Psychosocial Theory of Development, held that the
development of identity is a lifelong process. Eight phases of development comprise Erikson's
psychosocial theory of development and include trust versus mistrust, autonomy versus shame
and doubt, initiative versus guilt, industry versus inferiority, identity versus role confusion,
intimacy versus isolation, generativity versus stagnation, and ego integrity versus despair. It was
Erikson's belief that in order for an individual to reach full development, he or she must go
through every stage of his theory of development. According to Erikson, when an individual
moves through each stage, they will experience an "ego crisis" that, if not resolved, could lead to
difficulties (Bee, H., & Boyd, D., 2010).
The work of Erikson's built upon by psychologist James Marcia, notably in the domain of
adolescent identity as he proposed that the result of a crisis and a commitment was that of the
development of the "self" in adolescents (Bee, H., & Boyd, D., 2010). Erikson defined a crisis as
a “period of decision making when old values and old choices are reexamined” (Bee, H., &
Boyd, D., 2010) and that a new ideology or new role was the result of this reevaluation. The
aspect of identity in relation to development was the focus for James Marcia. Proposing that
identity development occurs later in adolescence, Marcia believed that there were four statuses of
identity which include identity diffusion, identity foreclosure, identity moratorium, and identity
achievement (Kroger, J., 2015).
Aspects of temperament and emotion regulation have been incorporated into theories
relating to the development of the self by researchers like Erik Erikson and James Marcia (Bee,
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H., & Boyd, D., 2010). Although not definitively backed by research, both Erikson and Marcia
inferred that several crises experienced as a child and the continuation of them through
adolescence results in the development of an individual's identity (Bee, H., & Boyd, D., 2010).
However, according to some researchers, education and cultural variables keep identity crises
from occurring until early adulthood and they do not happen during the teen years (Bee, H., &
Boyd, D., 2010).
The theories of James Marcia and Erik Erikson have both strengths and limitations in
them. Although they both believed development lasted past adulthood, Marcia's theory of
identity development focuses on the years later in adolescence while Erikson's theory focuses on
development occurring in childhood and into adulthood. Marcia believed that the formative years
of adolescence were of the utmost significance. According to Erikson, identity development is a
lifelong process and the only way for healthy development to occur is as a result of experiencing
all eight stages of development.
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References
Bee, H., & Boyd, D. (2010). The developing child (12 th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Education,
Inc.
James Marcia and self-identity. Northern Wyoming Mental Health Center, Inc. (2022, March
31). Retrieved October 18, 2022, from
https://web.archive.org/web/20220331062721/http://wyomentalhealth.org/poc/
view_doc.php?type=doc&id=41164&cn=1310
Kroger, J. (2015, March 12). Identity in childhood and adolescence. International Encyclopedia
of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition). Retrieved October 18, 2022, from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780080970868340156
