Research Areas in Psychology

Topic for Research
According to Erikson’s stages of development, the period of adolescence is when teens experience the Identity vs. Role Confusion conflict. Unless they are able to solve this conflict, they cannot proceed on to the next stage of development in a meaningful and positive way. One of the problems that adolescents face today, however, is that they are not provided with ample opportunity to resolve this conflict in a meaningful way. The identities they form for themselves are not forged in the furnace of ideals or values but rather in the cauldron of ethical egoism, wherein one learns that morality is determined by that which provides one with what one wants, i.e., all ends justify whatever means necessary to justify the individual’s personal desire or ambition. This is not a recipe for moral development, according to Kristjansson (2014). The question this study would like to ask is: What can educators do to provide adolescent students with more opportunities to develop their character so that they can successfully establish an appropriate sense of identity that will enable them to succeed in life by adhering to a system of ethics that facilitates prosperity for self, family and community?
This is an important topic to consider because as Gong (2010) has pointed out there is a major problem in modern society today with regard to individual character and the moral development of the young. Gong (2010) argues that a return to virtue ethics systems ala Confucius or Aristotle is both necessary and inevitable as otherwise society is doomed to collapse under the weight of tribalism and revolution born out of ethical egoism and the consequences that follow from subjective insistence in a postmodern, post-truth world.
A study about the cognitive and psycho-social developmental needs of adolescents so that they can develop an appropriate sense of identity for themselves would align with cognitive, social and behavioral psychology fields. I feel it would most closely align with the field of social psychology, as the identity formulation stage is really rooted in having a sense of self in relation to others in the community. So it is not so much having a sense of self as an individual distinct from others but rather of seeing where one’s place might be in the world and what one’s character should be in order to succeed.
As Bandura (2018) points out, the three main groups that influence cognitive development are peers, media and groups, and so it would be interesting to conduct a qualitative study to see how adolescents are being affected by the COVID-19 responses that have locked down communities, insisted upon social distancing and limited one’s development by putting everything essentially on hold. Understanding what the needs of this current generation are in terms of character development, what options would benefit them and what they are experiencing currently would help to prepare educators for the future in terms of facilitating their development. This study would require some interesting and appropriate theoretical frameworks, and those should be determined and applied carefully so as to be able to interpret the situation and the problem in an adequate context.
References
Bandura, A. (2018). Toward a psychology of human agency: Pathways and reflections."  Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(2),130-136.
Gong, Q. (2010). Virtue ethics and modern society—A response to the thesis of the modern predicament of virtue ethics. Frontiers of Philosophy in China, 5(2), 255-265.
Kristjánsson, K. (2014). There is Something About Aristotle: The Pros and Cons of Aristotelianism in Contemporary Moral Education. Journal of philosophy of education, 48(1), 48-68.