Erik Erickson Was A Man Who Made A Huge Contribution In

Erikson believed that people develop in psychosocial stages. He emphasized developmental change throughout the human life span. In Erikson's theory, eight stages of development result as we go through the life span. Each stage consists of a crisis that must be faced. According to Erikson, this crisis is not a catastrophe but a turning point. The more an individual resolves the crises successfully, the healthier development will be.

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,

The second theory examined is Erik Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development. Each stage in Erikson’s theory involves a conflict/crisis that a person must work through to evolve their personality. Rosenthal (1981) explains that, “Each stage arises because a new dimension of social interaction

Erick Erickson help vastly change and pave the way for psychology. One of the aspect Erickson is known for are the 8 stages of development. Erickson suggests that every person who has ever lived must go through these stages of development. The theories describe how people and personalities go through life’s stages and function in society.

During our lives, everyone goes through a change and evolves in different ways. However, in the field of psychology as far as development, the process of growing and maturing has been previously linked only with childhood. One of the first theorists Erik Erickson felt that development continues throughout life. Erickson believes that each stage in life resembles to specific opportunities that the society might have. Erickson’s theory defines the impact of social involvement across the entire lifespan. Each stage of Erikson’s stages is unique in their own way. Erikson decided to present eight different stages of the psychosocial crisis for almost each age group.

Erikson’s eight stages are best characterized as obstacles that humans must pass through in order to meet and succeed at challenges presented to their life. Failure in one of the stages will ultimately result in a breakdown of personality, and in a more acute sense, one cannot progress along the life span. One must say that these transitions involve a “crisis that must be resolved” (Santrock, 2012, pp.22).

Erickson’s theory of life stages and development helps us understand how each of us develops throughout our lives. It explains theories starting from birth and continuing on into life. It helps us to understand why people respond the way they do when presented with certain stimuli or put in certain situations. It

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

Erickson thought development was not gradual and and occurred through steps kind of like Freud. His steps were based on biological maturation, important new knowledge, and conflicts. He developed eight steps that focused on the changing of personality and developing your identity. Erickson developments stages differed from Freud's because Erickson focused on social environment and not sexual drives. Erickson believed that each stage in a person life that have to over come a psychosocial crisis and also learn a new skill. The stages took place through out your lifespan (Funder, 1997).

This stage last from ages 2-3 years old. This stage corresponds to Freud 's anal stage. Initiative vs. Guilt is the stage where a developing child must be active in their environment. The ages of this stage are 3-5 years old. The child needs to have a sense of purpose. Industry vs. Inferiority is the stage where a child develops competence. The ages for this stage are 6-11 years old. These are the school years of a child 's life. Ego Identity Vs. Role Confusion is the stage where a child is in their adolescent years. The ages of this stage are 12-18 years old. The teenager is going through puberty and is noticing members of the opposite sex. Intimacy Vs. Isolation is the stage where the person is trying to find a mate for themselves. The ages for this stage are 18-24 years old. They want love. Generativity Vs. Stagnation is the stage where the now adult is working and they want to be a mentor for other children. the ages in this stage are 25-64 years old. The last stage of Erickson 's theory is Ego Integrity Vs. Despair. In this last stage a person needs to become comfortable with the life that they are living and have lived. The ages of this last stage are from 65-death.

Each stage has age ranges, but also basic strengths and adaptive versus maladaptive ways of coping with everyday life. I agree that at each stage the life of an individual experiences different feelings and that each stage comes with a feeling of hope. For example, in the oral-sensory stage, which is birth to one years old, babies experience trust versus distrust and the feeling of hope. Babies know that if they cry, they will get attention. They know that if they are in a familiar person’s arms, they will be cared for. If these things do not happen, the baby experiences distrust, but continue to be hopeful that they will be nurtured. The second stage is the muscular-anal stage, which ranges from age one to tree. During this stage toddlers are dealing with autonomy versus doubt with a strength of will. The third stage ranges from age three to fix, the fourth stage ranges from ages six to eleven, and the fifth stage ranges from age twelve to eighteen. The sixth stage is young adulthood, which ranges from age 18 to 35. During this stage, young adults are experiencing intimacy versus isolation with the strength of love, overall. Intimacy can lead to love, but love many also lead to isolation in many cases. The last two stages are adulthood that range from age 35 to 55, and the last stage being maturity to old age that is 55 years and older. The way Erik Erikson researched these

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.

For my life journey I have chose to use Eric Erikson’s theory I have decided to use his theory because to me his theory suited my life appropriately. Eric Erikson is a well known theorist from the twentieth century, he has produced many theories. One of his most known and recognized theory is the psychosocial development. This theory describes the steps a person goes through in life. There are nine stages in his theory. Originally his theory only eight steps, but his wife found the last step after his death and published it. The nine stages are: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy and soliditary vs. isolation, generativity vs. self absorption and stagnation, and integrity vs. despair. Although, I have not gone through all of these steps yet due to my age I am only twenty two. I will speak about the steps I have gone through so far.

Erikson’s theory followed Freud´s and it was based on many of Freud´s ideas. He had studied at Anna Freud, Freud’s daughter in Vienna. Erikson´s and Freud´s theories have similarities. Both theories admit the importance of the unconscious on development. They also both separates development into stages of a person´s life and handle similar age spans for these developmental stages. However, there are also differences that exist between names of the stages and the developmental subjects that are assumed during each stage. Part of the reason for that is that each psychologist has his own exclusive view of what causes a person’s development.