Identity Diffusion
Identity diffusion describes the problem of fragmenting one's own ego identity ( self-image ). It is based on doubts about one's own, for example, ethnic, social or gender identity , arising from uncertainties in one's own actions and decisions or from a lack of orientation.
There are uncertainties as to whether the “right” path has been chosen or fears of not knowing who one will develop into in the future or which values and norms should be adopted as one's own. This diffusion affects most adolescents and dissolves in the course of normal development. In extreme cases, however, failure to cope with latent crises can lead to serious developmental disorders that only become apparent in early adulthood when social relationships ( intimacy ) are exercised .
Young people who cannot cope with the externally imposed societal demands flee, as a result of which they neglect duties such as school, training or themselves (the most common problem is the decision on a certain occupation).
Identity diffusion can lead to the complete abandonment of one's own identity and over-identification with models and idols . Identity diffusion isn't just an adolescence problem. It also affects adults who, for example, become unemployed or chronically ill (or both), thereby losing their previous communication partners and then not being able to win new ones at all or not to the required extent. Identity diffusion is often found in people who experienced unclear family structures in their childhood (see also parentification ).
Identity diffusion is defined as follows: “Lack of an integrated concept of self and key caregivers; it is visible in the patient's unreflective, chaotic descriptions of himself and others, and manifests itself in an inability to integrate these contradictions or to perceive them at all. ”Paulina Kernberg differentiates between (temporary) identity disorder (in young people) and identity diffusion. Their concept of identity diffusion corresponds to Otto Kernberg's (1977) conceptualization of identity diffusion in adults.
Web links
- Developmental Psychology - TU Berlin ( Memento from December 31, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- Developmental Psychology - TU Braunschweig ( Memento from April 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bertram von der Stein, Herbert Mück: Psycholexikon
- ↑ Inge Seiffge-Krenke: therapeutic target identity. Changed relationships, clinical pictures and therapy. Stuttgart 2012, p. 185.
- ↑ Inge Seiffge-Krenke: therapeutic target identity. Changed relationships, clinical pictures and therapy. Stuttgart 2012, p. 185.