Concept
Psychosocial moratorium
A period, granted by society, between childhood and adult commitment, in which a young person may put off binding choices and experiment freely with roles, beliefs and affiliations while working toward an identity. Erikson saw it institutionalised in forms such as apprenticeship, study or military service, and read Luther's years in the monastery as one.
- Broader concept
- Ego identity
- Introduced by
- Erik Erikson
- Key works
- 3
introduced by
- Erik Erikson Erikson described adolescence as a moratorium between childhood and adulthood granted by society, and in Young Man Luther (1958) read Luther's years in the monastery as such a moratorium.