o progress or regress. At these turning points, a person can either resolve conflicts or fail to adequately resolve the developmental task. Delving further into these differences, Erikson contended that each stage of life has its own psychosocial task. Young children wrestle with issues of trust, then autonomy, then initiative. School-age children develop competence, the sense that they are able and productive human beings. In adolescence, the task is to synthesize past, present, and future possibilities into a clearer sense of self. Adolescents wonder: "Who am I as an individual? What do I want to do with my life? What values should I live by? What do I believe in?" Erikson calls this quest to more deeply define a sense of self the adolescent's "search for identity." To refine their sense of identity, adolescents usually try out different "selves" in different situations - perhaps acting out one self at home, another with friends and still another at school and work. If two of these situations overlap - like when a teenager brings a friend home from school - the discomfort can be considerable. The teen may ask, "Which self is the real me? Which self should I be?" Often, this role confusion gets resolved by the gradual reshaping of a self-definition that unifies the various selves into a consistent and comfortable sense of who one is - an identity.But not always, Erikson believes that some adolescents forge their identity early, simply by taking on their parents' values and expectations. Others may adopt a negative identity that defines itself in opposition to parents and society but in conformity with a particular peer group, complete perhaps with the shaved head or multi-colored coif. Still others never quite seem to find themselves or to develop strong commitments. For most, the struggle for identity continues past the teen years and reappears at turning points during adult life. During the first social stage, trust versus mistrust, ...
