Erikson and Goffman on American Identity

When foreigners think about the United States, they think about McDonald's, Statue of Liberty, Hollywood movie star and so on. Regarding Americans, Texans and cowboy boats, Californians and surfboards, and the face of New Yorkers have a sharp smile. Certainly, all these things represent the United States in some way, but what is the identity of the Americans? Analysis of Ericsson's American identity has raised concerns about the four themes of mothers, teenagers, bosses, and machines. He used John Henry's hero's mythology to unite all four themes.

Erik Erikson: Erik Erikson is one of the founders of developmental psychology and is known as a pioneer of human development. You may have heard the word "identity crisis". Ericsson is a psychologist who invented this sentence. Interestingly, despite being the most famous clinical psychologist ever, he has never really got a bachelor's degree. He teaches at Yale University and Harvard University and is known for his work in psychosocial development. Ericsson's son, Kai is a famous sociologist.

Erikson (1951, 1968) has developed a widely used identity development model, focused on the development of identity by quest and commitment. Ericsson uses the term "identity" as it is synonymous with what others call self-concept. However, the term identity can also be conceptualized as a way of understanding certain aspects or parts of self concept (Abrams, 1994; 1999; Hogg, 2003; Serpe, 1987; Stryker & Burke, 2000; Tajfel & Turner, 2004). For example, people can have religious identities, including relevant content and goals, such as what to do, what is worth and how to behave.

James Marcia extended the theory of identity achievement by Ericsson. According to Marcia, the development of identity is ongoing, and like children in the Ericsson theory encounters different "crises", they can resolve identity. Unlike Ericsson, Marcia thinks that seeking self-identification is an aggressive process requiring conscious thinking and conscious decision making. He asked two questions: Marcia also placed great emphasis on allowing children to have time to find their own identity. People of this age do not have exposure to the world enough to truly understand these possibilities so ask young people to have themselves and their future fully formed views I am irresponsible. According to the survey, only 20% of the graduates who graduated from high school are proactively seeking their identity or prove their identity. But do not worry about these students