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Erikson 's 8 Life Stages

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Erikson’s 8 life stages are trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. identity confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair. Trust vs. mistrust is the first psychosocial stage we experienced. According to Erikson, “trust in infancy sets the stage for a lifelong expectation that the world will be a good and pleasant place to live.” In conclusion Erikson is explaining how in infancy we rely on others to care for our needs, so we gain trust in people. For example, when my son was an infant, he relied on me religiously to care for his emotional needs, providing him food, and to comfort him. I believe that this is a true start in …show more content…

Children who are lacking in this stage will experience guilt and interpret that he or she is “bad”. For example, when I take my son to the park, I like to notice if he takes initiative to play or engage in other children without me saying “go play or go meet a friend.” At first, my son was very shy and felt bad that he couldn’t meet a friend because he seem to awkward, but later own he gained confidence and now is able to just go up and ask to play. The 4th stage of development is industry vs. inferiority. This stage is experienced at the 6 years old to puberty. This stage is about being industrious, gaining all knowledge and intellectual. The kids who aren’t industrious will have a sense of inferiority, feeling beneath other children, or not smart enough. For example, I remember being in 1st grade, and I didn’t like to participate in school activities. So, the teacher thought academically I was learning slower than the other students, and that made me feel like I wasn’t good enough or smart enough. In actuality, I didn’t like being answering and being in the spotlight of all my classmates. The 5th stage of development is identity vs. identity confusion. This stage is all about self-identifying and getting to know who you are. In the adolescent years (10-20), teenager goes through a lot of hormonal changes, and peer pressure. This stage is when teens start to develop a

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