According to James Marcia, which of the following four categories of identity development leads adolescents to appear carefree even though their lack of commitment impairs their ability to form close relationships and results in them being socially withdrawn?

Identity diffusion

Explanation:

This question doesn't give us the options for the answers but we can assume them because James Marcia's theory has only 4 categories of identity developent so I'll assume these are the options:

a. foreclosure

b. identity diffusion

c. moratorium

d. identity achievement.

James Marcia is a psychologist who proposed a theory on how adolescents go through the process of forming their identity.

According to him, there are 4 different stages that adolescents go through.

Foreclosure: This identity is reached when the adolescent makes a commitment without really having explored their alternatives. They might do this because they are following someone else's desire or their family tradition. Identity diffusion: They avoid making decisions or even exploring them, this can lead to a social isolation. In other words, they still don't care about making a decision and they remain in a state of "carefree" Moratorium: They are in the middle of a crisis, exploring their alternatives but without fully committed to one just yet. Identity achievement: They have gone through a crisis, made explorations and decisions in order to find their identity.

In this example, we are asked which of the four categories of identity development leads adolescents to appear carefree even though their lack of commitment impairs their ability to form close relationships and results in them being socially withdrawn. We can see that the state of identity diffusion makes adolescents to appear "carefree" and by not exploring their options this can result in them being socially withdrawn. Thus, the correct answer is identity diffusion.