Who am I? You have likely asked yourself this question multiple times over the course of your life so far. You may answer this question in several ways, by describing the roles you hold in society, listing adjectives that you use to describe yourself, or by listing groups that you identify with. Our sense of identity begins to develop in adolescence and may change throughout life, but our personalities are rooted in a biologically-based temperament that we have from birth. In this section, we will cover several of the factors that influence who we are, including Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, temperament and personality, and the self and identity.

In This Section:

• 19.1 Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development
• 19.2 Temperament & Personality
• 19.3 The Self
• 19.4 Identity
• 19.5 Ethnic-Racial Identity