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Erikson’s and Piaget’s theories are critical in describing different phases of human development. The Erikson model stipulates that an individual’s personality is influenced by the eight stages of psychosocial development from infancy to adulthood. During each stage, the individual experiences crises that, if effectively solved, may result in positive outcomes and negative results if not mediated. Alternatively, Piaget’s model explains how children assimilate and accommodate knowledge about the aspects of their environment to understand what is happening around them. Erikson’s and Piaget’s theories can be used to describe adolescent life through the character of Cher Horowitz, based on the movie Clueless. The film, produced in 1995, revolves around a 15-year-old girl named Cher Horowitz who lives with her father in Beverly Hills after her mother’s demise. Cher believes that she can manipulate all situations to get the best possible results but later learns that she is not infallible. Piaget’s concept of hypothetical thinking, metacognition, imaginary audience, and personal fable, as well as Erikson’s idea of personal identity and sense of self, describe adolescent development.
Piaget’s theory explains how adolescents use hypothetico-deductive reasoning to solve problems. The model stipulates that during the formal operational stage, adolescents discover how to think hypothetically and systematically solve their problems (Jeon et al., 2019). In this case, teenagers begin analyzing the possible outcomes of their actions. In Clueless, Cher is portrayed as an ardent problem solver who solves her challenges through whichever means necessary. She is motivated to get good grades to make her father happy. As a result, she has developed a habit of manipulating her teachers to award her excellent marks. For example, Cher convinces her P.E teacher and Ms. Geist to change her poor grades to an A. When Mr. Hall, the debate teacher, refuses to change her marks, she discovers that matchmaking between him and Ms. Geist would make him happy enough to improve her grades. Fortunately, her plan worked, and Mr. Hall awarded all students with better grades (Netflix Film Club, 2020). Additionally, Cher transforms Tai’s image to prevent her from being ridiculed by other students. Therefore, Cher’s ability to find solutions to her challenges can be linked to her hypothetical thinking and deductive reasoning.
During adolescence, individuals become more independent and develop a sense of identity. According to Erikson’s theory, the identity versus role confusion stage helps teenagers nurture their beliefs, values, and goals to determine who they want to be in terms of careers or relationships. If the adolescents are in a supportive environment, they may develop a robust sense of self and personal identity. However, failure to establish an identity may result in role confusion for the teenager (Maree, 2021). In the movie, Cher is depicted as a powerful and intelligent girl who is confident in her abilities and knows what she wants. For example, she is comfortable wearing short clothes despite what others think of her because that is what defines her as a person. She is also not bothered about being a virgin at her age. Additionally, Cher has a passion for helping other people because she believes in doing good (Netflix Film Club, 2020). She donates some of her belongings to charity and always looks out for her friends Tai and Donnie. All these features assist in defining her unique personality.
Metacognition is a vital element in Piaget’s theory that allows adolescents to evaluate their thought processes and self-correct. This concept involves self-monitoring and rectifying an individual’s learning processes through adopting new approaches that yield better results and abandoning previous practices that pose adverse outcomes (dos Santos Kawata et al., 2021). In Clueless, Cher has perfected the act of manipulating situations to receive positive results. However, not all her plans succeed as she also experiences some failures. For instance, her strategy to match Tai and Elton fails, and she cannot detect that Christian Stovitz is gay while trying to befriend him (Netflix Film Club, 2020). In this case, she learns that she cannot control what people want. Due to her failures, Cher evaluates her perception of other people and life and realizes that she has many flaws that have blinded her reality. It is only after re-evaluating herself that she discovers that she loves Josh.
Erikson’s theory can also describe an adolescent’s self-assessment and correction. This is because it explains how teenagers discover themselves and what they want. This implies that adolescents make several mistakes while evaluating who they are or what they want to pursue (Schachter & Galliher, 2018). Therefore, they must be willing to try new strategies or ideas if the preexisting ones no longer work. Although Cher is depicted as an intelligent girl in control of her life, she discovers that she has no clue about various issues like what other people want when her matchmaking fails. She also realizes that her friends have good and negative sides (Netflix Film Club, 2020). However, accepting her failures and limitations helps shape her personal identity and nurture her sense of self because she learns and adapts to new changes.
Erikson’s theory emphasizes that individuals learn about their sexuality during adolescence, which defines their relationships. In this phase, individuals learn to adapt to the changes being experienced by their bodies and learn to relate with others (Branje et al., 2021). The issue of sexual relationships is evident in Cher’s character. When she sees her friend Donnie kissing her boyfriend Murray, Cher wishes she also had a partner. Similarly, when Cher treats her friends to a meal to help Tai overcome her heartbreak, they begin discussing what body types they like in men (Netflix Film Club, 2020). All these events point out the issue of sexuality and relationships. Most importantly, when Cher realizes that she loves Josh, she seeks advice from her father on relating to a boy that she likes. Additionally, she is also uncertain about how to behave around Josh to make him realize that she loves him. As a result, she resolves to engage in Josh’s hobbies, such as watching the news and reading books. Therefore, Cher’s exploration of her sexual relationship aligns with Erikson’s theory.
Piaget’s concept of an imaginary audience can be used to understand adolescents’ behavior. The model indicates that teenagers become better observers and interpreters. By observing other individuals’ appearances and behaviors and listening to their remarks, they can interpret such information and reasonably conclude what others need, think, or feel. Additionally, they also begin to anticipate what other people think about them. Adolescents may mistakenly perceive that all people around them scrutinize their every move to judge them, making them self-conscious. Piaget describes the teenager’s belief of being watched and criticized as having an imaginary audience (Nevid, 2021). In Clueless, Cher is a very self-conscious girl, which is portrayed through her dressing style. For instance, she uses an app on her computer to match her tops and skirts because she wants to dress impressively to improve her peer’s perception of her. Similarly, after her misunderstanding with Lucy, the maid, Cher feels Josh mistook her to be mean. She is also worried that Josh may not like her back because others think she is superficial. Thus, Cher tries to be perfect to avoid being judged by other people.
Piaget’s idea of a personal fable may be used to understand teenagers’ development. The notion stipulates that individuals may feel they have exceptional abilities during adolescence. They may perceive themselves as more intelligent and better than their peers (Babakr et al., 2019). Nevertheless, such a perception can influence them to take unnecessary risks, resulting in adverse outcomes. In the case of Cher, she believes that she is too smart than her friends. This is because she can manipulate situations, leading to positive results. For example, matchmaking Ms. Geist and Mr. Hall results in good grades for all her classmates. She also believes that she is too intelligent to date her peers in high school and is offended by Donnie’s idea of being in a relationship with Murray. Cher is confident that she can achieve everything through arguing due to her exceptional social skills (Netflix Film Club, 2020). Nevertheless, she learns that not all things can be manipulated because she fails her driving test and the debate argument.
In conclusion, Erikson’s and Piaget’s theories are fundamental in explaining different adolescent traits. The Erikson model illuminates a teenager’s exploration to develop a personal identity and a sense of self. It also describes adolescents’ struggle to determine their sexuality and create relationships. Alternatively, Piaget’s framework focuses on teenagers’ hypothetical thinking, metacognition, imaginary audience, and personal fable. These concepts elucidate adolescents’ problem-solving skills and self-evaluation, among other traits. Therefore, parents and guardians should use these theories to better understand their teenagers and give them the needed support.
References
Babakr, Z., Mohamedamin, P., & Kakamad, K. (2019). Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory: Critical review. Education Quarterly Reviews, 2(3), pp.517-524. Web.
Branje, S., de Moor, E., Spitzer, J., & Becht, A. (2021). Dynamics of identity development in adolescence: A decade in review. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 31(4), pp. 908-927. Web.
dos Santos Kawata, K., Ueno, Y., Hashimoto, R., Yoshino, S., Ohta, K., & Nishida, A. et al. (2021). Development of metacognition in adolescence: The congruency-based metacognition scale. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, pp. 1-10. Web.
Jeon, M., Draney, K., Wilson, M., & Sun, Y. (2019). Investigation of adolescents’ developmental stages in deductive reasoning: An application of a specialized confirmatory mixture IRT approach. Behavior Research Methods, 52(1), pp. 224-235. Web.
Maree, J. (2021). The psychosocial development theory of Erik Erikson: Critical overview. Early Child Development and Care, 191(7-8), pp. 1107-1121. Web.
Netflix Film Club. (2020). Clueless [Video] YouTube. Web.
Nevid, S. J. (2021). Essentials of psychology: Concepts and applications. Cengage Learning.
Schachter, E., & Galliher, R. (2018). Fifty years since “identity: Youth and crisis”: A renewed look at Erikson’s writings on identity. Identity, 18(4), pp. 247-250. Web.
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