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Over the last decades, there has been a significant increase in the “pathologization” of adolescent risk-taking behaviors, with such behaviors rarely being considered as normative trangressions typical of this period. However, numerous scholars have stressed the important role of exploratory behaviors in the resolution of the process of identity construction, individuation, and socialization during this developmental period. This article aims to provide a critical reflection on the concept of risk-taking behaviors in adolescence and to examine in which ways Eriksonian and neo-Eriksonian models of identity formation offer potential interpretations for understanding the role of risk-taking during this developmental period.