PSYC 2070 Chapter : Test3Ch 12 Studyguide
Document Summary
According to freud, the postpubertal years constitute the last stage of personality development. Both adolescents and adults are in what freud called the genital stage, the period during which psychosexual maturity is reached. For freud, the primary developmental task of adolescence is to channel the libido into a healthy sexual relationship. Erikson, though not denying the importance of achieving sexual maturity, proposed that achievement of a sense of personal identity is far more important developmental task faced by adolescents. He described identity as a sense of self-continuity. The central crisis in adolescence is identity versus role confusion. More recent theorists, elaborating on erikson"s idea, define identity as an understanding of one"s unique characteristics and how they are manifested across ages, situations, and social roles. Erikson argued that the child"s early sense of identity comes partly unglued in early adolescence because of the combination of rapid body growth and the sexual changes of puberty.
