mposedupon the adolescent and they are not allowed to explore for themselves, then identityconfusion reigns (Santrock 1992). Some individuals may withdraw or turn to drugsand alcohol to relieve anxiety.There are a number of good reasons why Eriksons theory may be correct, andan individuals sense of identity may change considerably through adolescence. It is thisperiod of the life cycle that physical changes occur, which will affect an individualsbody image or sense of physical self. Also during this period a pattern of sexualrelationships needs to be decided upon while societal expectations urge a young personto make some choice of vocation. However, this supporting evidence only highlights that Eriksons ideas werenot obtained via any large-scale surveys, they were infact only based on his ownobservations, and his clinical practice. Therefore they require the evidence and supportof empirical findings to discover when a sense of identity is actually achieved. Themost thorough attempt to do this was made by James Marcia (1966), after hedeveloped a interview technique to asses identity status. Within the interviewquestions relating to occupation, religion, political belief and attitudes to sexual areaswould be asked, and depending upon the answers an individual would be placed intoone of four groups. These groups are: diffusion (or confusion), where the individualhas not yet started thinking about identity seriously, foreclosure, where a commitmenthas been made but without going through a crisis, moratorium, where the individual isgoing through a crisis, and finally achievement, where the individual has beenthrough the crisis and has reached a resolution.A number of studies have been undertaken using Marcias scheme and one inparticular is of great interest. Meilman (1979), performed a cross-sectional study on12-24 year old males. It was discovered that just over half of the subjects had reachedidentity achievement at 24 years. Therefore th...
