Personality development and identity formation has been strongly influenced by Erikson's psychosocial theory. Erikson suggested that all humans experience eight major stages of psychosocial development throughout their lives (Sigelman & Rider, 2012). Each of these stages has general age ranges and learning tasks that must be completed to move to the next developmental stage with positive results. During each phase a conflict occurs; consequently, successful or unsuccessful resolution of this conflict will result in differences in personality development and have lasting effects on the remaining developmental stages. When conflict occurs during a particular developmental stage, it is often due to a change in personal needs and social demands and results in a crisis (Ochse & Plug, 1986). A crisis is a critical point in every stage of development and will have positive and negative impacts on future development. According to Erikson, a person will progress to the next stage of development regardless of the successful resolution of the previous conflict due to physical and biological problems. development, natural age and social progressions of humans (Sigelman & Rider, 2012). Consequently, if a conflict has been unsuccessfully resolved, this will greatly influence how remaining conflicts are addressed and identity formation develops. The fifth stage of psychosocial development brings with it identity conflict versus role confusion. This stage typically occurs between the ages of 12 and 20 and is a time when adolescents begin to express who they are in their lives, careers, and personal relationships (Sigelman & Rider, 2012). Often considered the most critical stage of development, identity ...... middle of paper ......252. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.50.6.1240Orlofsky, J. L., Marcia, J. E., & Lesser, I. M. (1973). Ego identity state and intimacy/isolation crisis in young adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 27(2), 211-219. doi:10.1037/h0034787Sigelman, C. K. & Rider, E. A. (2012). Human Development across the Lifespan (7th ed.) Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Weinberger, M. I., Hofstein, Y., & Whitbourne, S. (2008). Intimacy in young adulthood as a predictor of divorce in midlife. Personal Relationships, 15(4), 551-557. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6811.2008.00215.xZhao, J., Li, X., Barnett, D., Lin, X., Fang, X., Zhao, G., & ... Stanton, B. (2011). Parental loss, trust with current caregivers, and psychosocial adjustment among children with AIDS in China. Psychology, Health and Medicine, 16(4), 437-449. doi:10.1080/13548506.2011.554569