Discuss gender and adolescent identity development.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary. Erik Erikson believed that there were gender differences in the development of identity, and his views reflected the times in which he wrote. Identity development relates to relationships and occupational choice, among other matters. Erikson (1968, 1975) assumed that relationships were more important to women's development of identity, while occupational and ideological matters were relatively more important to men's. He believed that a young woman's identity was intimately bound up with her roles as wife and mother. Studies today show that both adolescent females and males are concerned about occupational choices, even though females are more likely to expect that they will have to balance the demands of a career and a family (Cinamon & Rich, 2014; Skorikov & Vondracek, 2011). Despite cultural lip service to gender equality, this gender difference has persisted because females continue to assume primary responsibility for child rearing, even though most women are employed outside the home.