How Do Teens Form Their Identities?

It is important to keep in mind that teens form their identities during their youth and go through many changes. Youth is a period that lasts from the beginning of adolescence (13-14 years) to 18 years of age. People usually see it as a difficult phase, but many people go through their youth without any problems.

The goal of such identity changes is for teens to become more independent. It is the preparation for entering adulthood with all its rights and responsibilities. How do teens form their identities? James Marcia sheds some light on this process with his youth identity theory.

Identity theory in youth

James Marcia describes four identity statuses. These four statuses show the status of the individual while respecting their identity. They arise from two conditions:

• From an experienced or unexperienced identity crisis.
• Professional, ideological or personal commitment made or not made.

What is an identity crisis? The world gives teens many different options for building their identity. They begin to explore the world as they become aware of these options. They explore what they like and don’t like, relationships, gender, friendships and so on. This research can give rise to a so-called identity crisis.

What does making commitments mean in terms of identity? As teens explore their options, they drift through them and embrace them as their own (ideas, commitments, values, and so on).

This acceptance requires a commitment to a particular ideology, personal, or professional concept. These concepts shape their identity and self-image. It, in turn, has a strong impact on them in adulthood.

Next, we go through the four statuses that emerge when these two dimensions meet. They are the division of identity, the postponement of identity, the achievements of identity, and the closure of identity.

1. Identity distribution

The teenager is not committed to anything and does not explore their options. At this point, he is not yet worried about his identity. However, it ends at some point because he feels obligated to develop a personal identity, either due to an identity crisis or social pressure.

2. Postponement

In normal development, this stage comes after the division of identity. The teenager is in a postponement phase after he has had an identity crisis, but he is not yet committed to anything.

At this point, he is looking for, exploring, and experimenting with different options. Young people do so without choosing any particular option with certainty. This can actually be a dangerous phase. If a young person has impaired self-esteem, he or she may turn to addictive substances (alcohol, smoking, marijuana, and so on).

3. Identity Achievements

The young person at this stage has passed the postponement phase. He has also made certain ideological, professional or personal commitments. After an identity crisis and after exploring his options, he chooses the path he wants to follow in order to continue his development as an individual.

All of this leads to teens forming their identities and having an idea of ​​who they are. After this, they feel confident and tend to show positive changes in behavior as well as on a personal level.

4. Closure

What happens if a young person never has an identity crisis? Sometimes a young person does not explore their options and goes through a postponement phase. When this happens, teens form their identities with the help or guidance of adults.

People at this stage tend to be better at adapting than young people at the postponement or division stage. However, it is a very unstable state and much more uncertain than identity achievements.

Final summary

Personal identity is not a single entity, nor is it an irreversible process. This is important to remember when thinking about how teens form their identities. It’s time to make decisions, but above all, it’s time to experiment.

When we say that we are not an individual, we mean that the process can follow different rhythms during different aspects of our identity. A person may have strong commitments that determine his or her professional identity, but his or her political identity may be in the deferral phase.

It is also important to understand that it is not irreversible. It is a dynamic process of giving and taking. When a young person enters an identity achievement or closure phase, he or she may experience a new identity crisis.

It forms a new identity that is different from the previous one. For example, someone who started studying for their medical degree may re-evaluate their situation and switch to studying law.

After looking at James Marcia’s research and theory, we can draw some general conclusions. One is how important it is to let young people explore the world around them. The second is that the way they face the research task is superior.

As adults, we should give young people space to explore their ideas about what is good and what is bad. That way they study things because they are curious, not because they are rebellious. We need to realize that that’s the only way teens form their identities.

If adults force young people to make arbitrary commitments, they end up in a phase of closure with an unstable identity that may prevent them from achieving identity achievements.