Analysis of Erikson's Theories on Development

Erikson was a German psychologist and psychoanalyst. He was a student of Freud, and was greatly influenced by his theories of personality development. Similarly to Winnicott, Erikson drew on his experiences as a child analyst, to inform his contributions. Erikson’s theories, like Winnicott, are highly regarded today.

Erik Erikson describes in his research eight psychosocial developmental stages. Although the first five are based on Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, he also added three adult stages. Erikson’s theories vary from Freud’s in that he believes genes and biological impulses, along with family and culture have the strongest consequence on human development.

The first stage of Erikson's psychosocial stage is trust vs. mistrust, which is experienced, in the first year of life. Infants learn to trust in order to satisfy their needs thus developing a feeling of self-worth. When infants receive inconsistent care they

Erikson was a psychologist who was greatly influenced by Freud. Although influenced by Freud there are some differences in there developmental stages. Erikson believed that development in an individual was molded by society, culture, and environment. While Freud’s belief was that development is in some way is influenced by the fixation of sexual interest of different areas of the body. The stages in Erikson’s development theory outline how important social experiences can shape us. While Freud’s theory is mainly based on ones sexuality. Additionally the other significant difference between Erikson’s and Freud’s theories is the outcome of a particular stage. Erikson believed that the outcome of a certain stage was not permanent and that it could be changed later on in life. While Freud presumed that if an individual became fixated on a stage problems associated with that stage would be carried on through life.

Eric Erikson was one of the most famous theorists of the twentieth century; he created many theories. One of the most talked about theories is his theory of psychosocial development. This is a theory that describes stages in which an individual should pass as they are going through life. His theory includes nine stages all together. The original theory only included eight stages but Erikson‘s wife found a ninth stage and published it after his death. The nine stages include: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. identity confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, integrity vs. despair, and hope and faith vs. despair (Crandell and Crandell,

Erikson’s theory of personality is based on his eight stages of development. In each of these eight stages of

The first stage of Erikson’s eight stages of development is called Trust vs Mistrust, and these two coexists on how the infant will later be affected in the world. Trust revolves around how often the parent attends to their children. Mistrust of course is the complete opposite from Trust. According to Erikson, my mother informed me that I developed a sense of Mistrust/Trust. She explained to me that at first she used to attend to my needs, and pick me up every time I cried, therefore, I developed trust. That all went downhill when my great grandmother told my mother to not pick me up because, crying will help my lungs. Ending with mistrust, is part of the reason why I don’t try to get close to others as much. Nowadays, I tend to keep my distance from other people.

Freud's perspective though focuses on the inner person and believes that unconscious forces act to determine personality behavior. Freud explains that everyone's personality has three aspects to it which are; id, ego and superego. Freud aso had stages of psychosexual development, unlike Erikson’s psychosocial development. Freud’s psychosexual development consisted of five parts; oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. As for Erikson's psychosocial theory it is mainly based on social and environmental factors and expands into adulthood, but Freud's psychosexual theory is based on the importance of basic needs and biological forces and his theory end at an early period of life compared to Erikson's. A similarity Erikson and Freud share together is that they both are theorists that have separated development into stages and they do use the similar age

Trust versus mistrust. This is the first stage which comes in the first year after a child’s birth. In this stage, children depend entirely on adults for basic needs such as warmth, comfort and food. If the caretakers provide these needs in a reliable manner, the children become attached to them and develop a sense of security (Scheck, 2014). Otherwise, the babies may develop insecure attitude or mistrust. This theory affirms the response received from the interviewee regarding her childhood years. She explained that she used to feel more secure and trusted her father more than her mother. This can be associated with the fact that

Erikson’s main contribution to psychology was his developmental theory. He developed eight psychosocial stages of development and believed that each stage presents

"Erikson's main contribution was to bridge the gap between the theories of psychoanalysis on the problems of human development, which emphasize private emotions, and the broader social influences that bear upon the individual. He was a strong proponent of the concept that social environment plays a major role in the development of personality. Going beyond the of a child's early life, Erikson concentrated on broader issues of peer culture, school environment, and cultural values and ideals. This led him to study the period of adolescence, in which he documented the interaction of a person's inner feelings and impulses with the world that surrounds the person."

Erik Erikson believe that childhood is very important in personality development. He created a theory of psychosocial development that covers an entire life. I believe that Erik Erikson did a great job on creating these stages.

Erik Erikson is known for his psychoanalytic theory of psychosocial development comprising eight stages from infancy to adulthood. Psychologist Erik Erikson, is a major contributor to developmental psychology, who proposed a comprehensive theory of the ways that individuals develop their identity, a sense of who they are, and society's influence on that development. Erikson stated that people go through crisis at each stage of their lives. The stages each had a developmental task to be mastered. As an individual resolved these various crises an individual would have a better harmony with their social environment that they live in. If an individual could not successfully resolve a crisis, they would be” out of step”, and the individual would have a greater difficulty in their dealing with a crisis in the future. Erikson did however recognize that an individual can develop through a stage negatively and still go on with their life. Erikson stated that each of the psychological stages have a basic conflict and important event leading to growth. The theory was developed from his hundreds of clinical observations in children.

Trust vs. Mistrust: This stage lasts from birth to 12 months of age. In this stage, infants must learn that adults can be trusted. All the Infants are dependent on their caregivers, so caregivers who are responsive and sensitive to their infant’s needs help their baby to develop a sense of trust. In this way their baby will see the world as a

However, there are several differences that exist between the names of the stages and the