Erik Erikson says of identity, "It is a subjective sense as well as an observable quality of personal sameness and continuity, paired with some belief in the sameness and continuity of some shared world image," (Erikson,20). According to this definition, external social forces hold a significant part in the formation of one's identity, while not consuming the entire process, as personal sameness and continuity make up a portion of the identity as well. Erikson says, "subjective sense" and "observable quality of." seeming to mean that the individual has a conscious ability to observe the trends in the social forces and then have these observations aid him/her in the decision of whether or not to adopt the exact "sameness and continuity" of the social force. External social forces, therefore, unknowingly mold an individual's identity, and the individual may then expand on these influences and shape their identity at will, choosing to mimic the social forces, cast them off and select an opposite identity, or adopt certain traits and dispose of others.
Erikson is well known for his introduction of the identity crisis (Marx). He says the crisis occurs when individuals lose the sense of the influence from the external forces and are left to struggle with themselves by themselves. Referring to those dwelling in Western, Industrial societies, this crisis supposedly occurs during the teenage years, and if a person fails to solve the identity crisis, he/she will deal poorly with most issues for the rest of his/her life. The identity crisis is a direct example of people forming who they are without the help of any outside powers. During childhood, social groups, peers, media and family all play significant roles in identity, and the child does a minimal amount of weighing observations in order to determine if the influences are legitimate. The child simply takes any influence as moral and correct, adopting the views as his/her own.
