Since Eriksson put forward the concept of self-identity, it is generally believed that the positive acquisition of self-identity is of great significance to the healthy development of individuals. Therefore, this concept and theory have attracted wide attention from all walks of life, and have been widely used in social psychology, personality psychology, developmental psychology, educational psychology, consulting psychology and cultural psychology. Up to now, the research on self-identity abroad has been systematically studied for nearly 40 years, forming a special research field and extremely rich literature, including the basic issues of self-identity, such as content, process, structure, function, formation and development, influencing factors, psychological mechanism, and the related research on self-identity and personality, cognition, social environment, social adaptation, mental health and other variables, including cross-cultural research on self-identity. The research objects have been from teenagers to adults. However, the research on self-identity in China has not received due attention, and the discussion and research on self-identity theory only stays on the introduction and evaluation of Erickson's or Hasia's self-identity theory, and there are even fewer empirical studies on self-identity.
On the basis of Freud's classical psychoanalysis theory, American neo-psychoanalyst e·h· Erickson put forward the theory of self-psychology and social development stages with personality development as the main line. Eriksson divides the life course into eight stages, and each stage has specific psychological and social tasks to complete. These tasks are stipulated by the conflicts or contradictions among maturity, social and cultural environment and social expectations, which he calls "psychological and social crisis".
Eriksson believes that the crisis faced by young people is the confusion between identity and identity. When an individual reaches puberty, the maturity of the body will always destroy the balance between id, ego and superego, and at the same time become confused and confused because of social conflicts and demands. Teenagers must gain self-identity through active exploration and personal experience to prevent identity confusion.
"Self-identity" is an implicit concept, which is difficult to define accurately. Theoretical circles have made great efforts to define this concept, but due to the richness and complexity of this concept and the different theoretical frameworks of researchers, the concept of self-identity lacks a clear and unified definition. Erickson believes that the concept of self-identity can be defined from different angles and used at different levels to emphasize different problems. He defines self-identity from subjective, structural, functional, social, cultural, historical and environmental, conscious and subconscious angles or levels. He summed up several different meanings of self-identity he mentioned: "once it was the consciousness of individual uniqueness;" Another period means the subconscious pursuit of personal character continuity; Another period is as the standard of self-synthesis; In addition, it also serves as an internal consistency with the ideals and identity of the group. "
Recently, researchers have paid more and more attention to the combination of individual and society in self-identity. For example, krogh clearly defined self-identity as the balance between self and object, while grotte Wante, Bosma and Belson Ski emphasized the concept of self-constructed identity and regarded identity as the structure or framework of interaction between individuals and the world. Some researchers in China also defined the concept of self-identity. For example, Zhang Chunxing, a scholar in Taiwan Province Province, translated "identity" into integration, and thought that integration (or sense of integration) represented a state of mature personality. The formation of this state is that the individual integrates six levels: current self, physiological characteristics, social expectation, past experience, realistic environment and future hope, and integrates them into a whole personality structure, so that an individual can understand "who am I?" And "Where am I going?" The problem is no longer lost.
Although every theorist or scholar defines this concept from the different elements contained in self-identity and their different effects on the development and efforts of life, basically these definitions are not contradictory, and many of them strengthen, enhance, supplement and exert each other's meanings.
Generally speaking, self-identity is a series of feelings about who you are, what position you should occupy in society, what kind of person you want to be in the future, and how to strive to be an ideal person. This is an implicit and clear answer to the question "Who am I?", and it is also an individual's confirmation of himself and his thinking and choice of some issues related to self-development, such as ideals, occupations, values and outlook on life. The establishment of corresponding self-identity means that I have a full understanding of myself, can integrate my past, present and future, establish my ideals and values according to the limitations and needs of society, and make my own thoughts on the future development, that is, self-identity needs a complex mixture of one's past, present and future, and also needs the integration of self and society.
Self-identity is a psychological and social structure that reflects social influence and self-construction. It is also the balance between the inner self and the self and the environment. It is the embodiment of the consistent relationship between real self, real self and ideal self, and the adaptive reflection of the interaction between self and social and cultural environment. This identity structure organizes and constructs a unified whole self through cognition and self-synthesis, and constantly assimilates and adapts when encountering new experiences and information, thus forming a reference system of individual life and a theory about self.