Psychosocial development can be defined as the process by which an individual attempts to become part of a society while maintaining his or her individuality. This process does not occur with the individual being the sole actor but rather occurs through the act of socialization. Socialization is how an individual develops the values, behaviors, and knowledge about the societies in which that individual lives, and because a person lives in multiple simultaneous societies and subsocieties (communities, schools, homes, peer groups, etc.), it can be a complex task to integrate all of them.

Two types of psychosocial development exist. The first, social roles, helps the individual understand how to act appropriately in his or her social world, as social roles are the expectations of others with regard ...