Autonomy or Connections? Identities as Intergenerational Projectsa

This chapter examines the first of the five core questions of this book: what it means for youth to grow up. The answers to this question can shape adults' understanding of students' aspirations for college and beyond, as well as the resources and challenges youth find as they navigate through school. The chapter considers Erikson's contribution to framing identity as a lifespan and intergenerational project, with recent research findings about the role of families' individuality and connectedness in identity development, cultural perspectives in families' values and communication about identity, opportunities and constraints in identity development, and individual variations in identity development.