Sarah is a 12th-grader. She is beginning to question her parents' religious views and authority a lot, but her own career goals are starting to solidify after years of exploring and doing volunteer work at a veterinary clinic. Explain where Sarah is at in her identity development using Marcia's classification system

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Sarah's identity status depends on which domain we look at in this question. In terms of her religious identity, Sarah is just beginning to question the ideas with which she has been raised. This implies that Sarah is in either diffusion or moratorium, and the question stem doesn't really provide enough to sort between those two. In terms of diffusion, Sarah is realizing she doesn't know what she believes (sort of at the beginning stages of searching) and in terms of moratorium Sarah may be beginning a more active exploration of her own beliefs (active exploration is characteristic of moratoriums status). In terms of her career, however, Sarah may well be entering the "identity achieved" arena, as she has actively explored and appears to be firming up a commitment to a career in veterinary science.