Gwendolyn T. Sorell

Feminist Perspectives on Erikson 's Theory: Their Relevance for Contemporary Identity Development Research

In view of recent controversies about theory and self, identity development researchers need to examine the utility of their own theory. In an effort to begin this enterprise, we define what we see as the central concerns of Erikson s theory a life-span, psychosocial emphasis, and the notion of agentic identity development and use a feminist standpoint analysis to examine the usefulness of these aspects of his theory in a rapidly changing, multicultural context. We critique the theory s emphasis on biology as a significant component of psychosocial development, including the emphasis on the biological distinctiveness of women and men as an explanatory construct. We also address the issue of an androcentric bias that many have argued is interwoven with the theory s core concepts. Finally, we offer conclusions regarding the aspects of the theory we find most useful and most in need of clarification or revision.

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN MORAL REASONING Stable or Situational

Some researchers have proposed that women prefer care reasoning, which considers issues of need and sacrifice, and men prefer justice reasoning, which considers issues of fairness and rights. However, differences in approach to moral reasoning may be due to the different types of dilemmas women and men encounter rather than to differences in the ways men and women approach moral problems. The present study employed parenting dilemmas to determine whether restriction of domain would reduce gender differences in moral reasoning orientation. Dilemmas were presented or elicited and differed in difficulty, importance, and personal relevance to investigate the relationship between situational characteristics and care or justice reasoning. Women and men did not differ in their use of care or justice reasoning when the domain was restricted, supporting the conclusion that differences in moral reasoning orientation result from differences in current life situations rather than from stable gender characteristics.

The Ubiquity of Gendered Cultural Contexts: A Rejoinder to Kroger, Archer, Levine, and Côté

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Identity Research and the Psychosocial Formation of One's Sense of Spiritual Self: Implications for Religious Educators and Christian Institutions of Higher Education

Utilizing Eriksons (1963) psychosocial ego identity development theory 28 qualitative interviews with religiously devout Americans are analyzed to determine different patterns of adult spiritual identity. Following an integrationist approach, we provide response to the question, “What types of identity development are accommodated, promoted, or prohibited by particular models of Christian education and the educational communities that embody them?” Recognizing individual differences in (a) the social and contextual factors that affect identity formation, (b) the way religious doubts are resolved, and (c) what individuals seek from community, we offer important implications for religious educators and Christian institutions of higher education.

CONCEALING RESPONDENTS’ GENDER IN INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS

Research into gender differences in moral reasoning may require that gender clues be removed from interview transcripts so that the gender of respondents is concealed. In the present study, graduate students were asked to read such transcripts and guess the gender of the respondent. Graduate students were able to guess the gender of the respondent with significant accuracy. Female and male students were equally accurate, and experience with interviewing or with transcripts did not increase accuracy in guessing the gender of the respondent.

Moving On: The Challenges of Dynamic Systems Perspectives

In the early 1970s when Reese [Reese & Overton, 1970], Overton [Overton & Reese, 1973], and others published articles applying the philosophical argument of Pepper’s [1942] World Hypotheses to theories of human development, a period of introspective self-examination was launched in the human development disciplines. The intervening 35 years have brought forth a plethora of contributions to the worldviews conversation [e.g., Lerner, 1976, 1978, 1992, 2002; Lerner & Kauffman, 1985; Lewis, 2000; Overton, 1984; Overton & Ennis, 2006; Thelen & Smith, 1994]. Simultaneously, sophisticated empirical investigations organized by concepts of self-organization, emergence, holism, and circular causality have challenged conventional understandings of human development processes and prompted theoretical elaboration, refinement, and reinterpretation [e.g., Dowling, Gestsdottir, Anderson, von Eye, & Lerner, 2003; Karcher & Fischer, 2004; Lewis, Lamm, Segalowitz, Stieben, & Zelazo, 2006; Smith, Thelen, Titzer, & McLin, 1999; Thelen, Corbetta, Kamm, Spencer, Schneider, & Zernicke, 1993; Thelen & Ulrich, 1991; Watson, Fischer, Andreas, & Smith, 2004]. The excitement and challenge of these theoretically and empirically unsettled times are captured and summarized in Witherington’s (this issue) elegant and superbly insightful analysis of developmental systems perspectives (DSP). In this commentary, we briefly explore the challenges that Witherington’s analysis poses for the study of adult identity development. We discuss the necessity for and difficulties of conducting adult development research firmly grounded in a DSP frame and conclude with mention of the revolutionary implications of organismiccontextualist DSP.