Overview Of Erikson's Psychosocial Model Of Development

In the early 20th-century, interest in the field of child development emerged. Researchers and theorists studied the ways in which children grew, learned, and, in some instances, were shaped by societal influences (Weiland, 1993). The study of child development enables us to appreciate and understand the social, emotional, physical, educational, and cognitive growth that children go through from birth to early adulthood. Grand theories attempt to organize and arrange concepts and aspects of development using a step approach. Such as that of Erik Erikson’s theory, the Psychosocial Identity Development theory, in which he addresses the development of personal, emotional, and social progression in an individual through stages (Pretorius et al., 2015). Erikson’s model for the approach of development involves the focus of overcoming conflicts that individuals encounter over the span of their childhood that influence their ego identity, or the conscious sense of self that develops and constantly changes due to new experiences and information that is acquired through daily interactions with others and events. In Erikson’s theory, he believed that each person experienced a conflict that served as a defining moment in their development that essentially shaped who they would become later on in life; he believed that unresolved problems of adult life echoed unresolved conflicts of one’s childhood (Berger, 2011).

One of the main ideas in the movie centers around Erik Erikson’s first stage of psychosocial development

Erikson’s (1968, 1980, 1982) psychosocial stages of development provide a framework for the different stages of development throughout the human lifespan. These stages of development begin at birth and continue until death, and separate the lifespan into eight stages based on chronological age. Within these eight different aging stages are corresponding psychosocial stages. Each of these psychosocial stages represent a conflict between two characteristics of development for that particular time period in a person’s 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

Erik Erikson has developed the psychosocial theory that proposes eight stages across the life span of human development. Each and every one of the stages has a “crisis”, a significant psychosocial topic that is important in that moment. The theories are deliberately having an impact on by social and cultural influence a process of development of the ego and self. “According to Erikson, the ego develops as it successfully resolves crisis that are distinctly social in nature. These involves establishing a sense of trust in others, developing a sense of identity in society, and helping the next generation prepare for the future. (McLeod 2008, p. 1) In this paper I will be talking about each of the main characters in the movie, “On Golden Pond” and what they all go through to a crisis of psychosocial development using Erikson’s theory.

The movie "The Golden Pond” has characters that each represent psychological, physical, and cognitive stages of the life cycle, also referred as Erikson’s Theories. Through these concepts each character is under a different developmental category, with each relationship urging for acceptance.

Just like Sigmund Freud, Erikson believed in the significance of early childhood. However, he believed that an individual’s personality development occurs over the individual’s entire course of life. In the early 1960s, Erik Erikson proposed a theory that provided a description of eight different stages of human development (Scheck, 2014). According to him, in each phase, individuals face new challenges and the outcome of the stage depends on how individuals handle the encountered challenges (Scheck, 2014). The stages are named based on the possible outcomes.

In life there are a number of challenges that everyone will go through. This is a part of discovering who they are and what they want to do with themselves. To help explain these differences, Erikson introduced his development theory. This helps to address some of the challenges and needs that person will go through at particular stages in their lives. To fully understand these phases there will be a focus on two characters from the film The Breakfast Club and contrasting them with Erikson's theory. Together, these different elements will provide specific insights that will highlight the transformations and challenges that everyone will go through during the course of their lives.

This also plays into Erikson’s ideas that environmental factors shape and influence a person’s development. Following Erikson’s psychosocial theory, these two won’t step out of the adolescence and young adult stage of development until they solve the crisis of “Who am I,” which will fuel their decisions for some years to

Jaime - The positive aspects of Erikson’s theory on individual personal characteristics is that it expanded on Freud’s theory of infantile development by adding to it other stages that we go through which affect our personality, those being adolescence where we are confronted with our “identity crises” which he named, young adult, adulthood and old age (Feist, Feist, & Roberts, 2013). Now in order to move on from stage to stage we need to accept the change and grow from it. These changes are affected by our environment and the connections and social associations we make with those around us. In the early stages we learn trusting and mistrusting as well as learning to play or work with others. This emphasizes how

This psychological interview analysis will compare and summarize the theoretical applications of Erikson’s Theory of Human Development and Levinson’s Life Structure Approach. The subject of the interview, Charlotte McBeth, will express the challenges that arise in the stable and transitional periods of life in a Scottish family, which she expresses in the various aspects of instability and transitional periods that Levinson defines. The death of an infant brother defines one such instability, which reflects the high infant mortality rate and a sense of guilt that Erikson would analyze through the “Initiative v Guilt” stage of childhood. However, Charlotte had a large and supportive family unit, which allowed her to find intimacy in adolescent with her close friend, Rena. In adulthood, Charlotte was able to transition to America by having a family support when leaving Scotland to find better job opportunities abroad. In essence, a summary of Charlotte’s interview will be accompanied by a psychological comparison of Erikson and Levinson’s life development theories.

According to Erikson’s Nine Stages of Psychosocial Development, “Trust vs. Mistrust,” trust and, or, mistrust is experienced from as young as infancy. I first experienced trust when I was just an infant. Since my birth, my parents have been entrepreneurs, specializing in home decorations and home improvement. Where ever my parents went, I went, which is the reason why I found trust in them. I always knew that I would be right by my parents side at all times. Both parents pulled an equal amount of responsibility while raising me and my other four siblings, with each of us being two years apart. As claimed by my parents, I started walking at only five months and I did not crawl on my knees, as babies usually do, for a long. My parents also

"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."

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.