“The strength acquired at any stage is tested by the necessity to transcend it in such a way that the individual can take chances in the next stage with what was most vulnerably precious in the previous one. Thus the young adult, emerging from the search for identity, is eager and willing to fuse his identity with that of others. He is ready for intimacy…” (Erikson, Eight Stages of Man, pg 8) Erikson believed that people cannot achieve true Intimacy without first having formed a solid identity as an individual. First, do you agree with Erikson’s position on identity formation and intimacy? Do you see intimacy leading to identity formation in well-functioning individuals, or identity formation leading to intimacy? Can they be separated?
