Reasons for an Identity Crisis

The term "identity crisis" was coined by the German-American psychoanalyst Erik Erikson in 1950. In his writings, it refers to the "failure to achieve ego identity during adolescence." Those who emerge from adolescence without a strong sense of identity exhibit role confusion and struggle to find themselves throughout early adulthood.

Rites of Passage

• In rural communities, hunting season is often an adolescent rite of passage.

  According to Erikson, post-adolescent identity crises are prevented (or at least lessened) by a child's participation in socially sanctioned rites of passage. These vary depending on the cultural milieu into which the child was born, and they can range from birthday parties to religious ceremonies (such as bar mitzvahs and First Communions) to the first time a boy goes buck hunting with his father. Those who don't successfully progress through this adolescent identity-finding stage may become fanatics, which means that they identify themselves so strongly with an external identity or subculture that there is no room left for anything else, or they may repudiate any sense of personal identity or adult lifestyle.

Gender

• According to John Money, as explained by Anne Vitale, Ph.D., a person's "gendermap" is the part of his brain that corresponds to his sense of masculinity and femininity. An individual may notice that his gendermap is incongruous with his physical sex as early as age four, and may react by either trying to suppress (in the face of his own instincts) or express (in the face of social disapproval) incongruities. The tension between social expectations, his gender identity and his own body may result in an identity crisis post-, mid- or even pre-adolescence.

Racial

• After the 1967 landmark case of Loving vs. Virginia, in which laws banning interracial marriages were repealed, a new generation of mixed-race Americans was born. However, even at the beginning of the 21st century, the push to identify oneself as a single race exists in the form of census polls, standardized test demographics questions, and social pressure. According to author and African-American Studies scholar Dr. Molefi Asante, the idea that any percentage of African ancestry makes a person black is still socially prevalent, though it is no longer legally viable. A mixed-race child raised largely amongst members of one race or the other may also experience an identity crisis when he becomes aware of the other parts of his heritage.