212 Part II Psychodynamic Theories
(as Erikson did) to wander alone in search of self; experiment with drugs and sex;
identify with a street gang; join a religious order; or rail against the existing soci-
ety, with no alternative answers. Or they may simply and quietly consider where
they fit into the world and what values they hold dear.
Once again, Erikson’s theory is consistent with his own life. At age 18 and
feeling alienated from the standards of his bourgeois family, Erikson set about
searching for a different style of life. Gifted at sketching and with more identity
confusion than identity, he spent the next 7 years wandering through southern
Europe in search of an identity as an artist. Erikson (1975) referred to this stage
of his life as a time of discontent, rebellion, and identity confusion.
Although identity confusion is a necessary part of our search for identity, too
much confusion can lead to pathological adjustment in the form of regression to
earlier stages of development. We may postpone the responsibilities of adulthood
and drift aimlessly from one job to another, from one sex partner to another, or
from one ideology to another. Conversely, if we develop the proper ratio of iden-
tity to identity confusion, we will have (1) faith in some sort of ideological prin-
ciple, (2) the ability to freely decide how we should behave, (3) trust in our peers
and adults who give us advice regarding goals and aspirations, and (4) confidence
in our choice of an eventual occupation.Fidelity: The Basic Strength of Adolescence
The basic strength emerging from adolescent identity crises is fidelity, or faith in
one’s ideology. After establishing their internal standards of conduct, adolescents
are no longer in need of parental guidance but have confidence in their own reli-
gious, political, and social ideologies.
The trust learned in infancy is basic for fidelity in adolescence. Young peo-
ple must learn to trust others before they can have faith in their own view of the
future. They must have developed hope during infancy, and they must follow hope
with the other basic strengths—will, purpose, and competence. Each is a prereq-
uisite for fidelity, just as fidelity is essential for acquiring subsequent ego strengths.
The pathological counterpart of fidelity is role repudiation, the core pathology
of adolescence that blocks one’s ability to synthesize various self-images and values
into a workable identity. Role repudiation can take the form of either diffidence or
defiance (Erikson, 1982). Diffidence is an extreme lack of self-trust or self-confidence
and is expressed as shyness or hesitancy to express oneself. In contrast, defiance is
the act of rebelling against authority. Defiant adolescents stubbornly hold to socially
unacceptable beliefs and practices simply because these beliefs and practices are
unacceptable. Some amount of role repudiation, Erikson believed, is necessary, not
only because it allows adolescents to evolve their personal identity, but also because
it injects some new ideas and new vitality into the social structure.Young Adulthood
After achieving a sense of identity during adolescence, people must acquire the
ability to fuse that identity with the identity of another person while maintaining
their sense of individuality. Young adulthood—a time from about age 19 to 30—
is circumscribed not so much by time as by the acquisition of intimacy at the
beginning of the stage and the development of generativity at the end. For some