Psychosocial Theory And Erikson's Pychosocial Development Theory

Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, as articulated by Erik Erikson, in collaboration with Joan Erikson,[1] is a comprehensive psychoanalytic theory that identifies a series of eight stages, in which a healthy developing individual should pass through from infancy to late adulthood. All stages are present at birth but only begin to unfold according to both a natural scheme and one's ecological and cultural upbringing. In each stage, the person confronts, and hopefully masters, new challenges. Each stage builds upon the successful completion of earlier stages. The challenges of stages not successfully completed may be expected to reappear as problems in the future.

Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development was the first theory that demonstrated the development from “womb-to-tomb.” His theory posited three tenets, the first that each era in life had a developmental crisis, and that at each period there was the opportunity for growth and development. Each developmental stage poses a developmental crisis that is central to that age, and as stated in Erikson’s second tenet, if there is an interruption in the development of one of the stages, the stages following will be effected. Though each developmental stage has one fundamental stage that is being worked on, Erikson’s third tenet states that the challenges of all of the other stages are still present; although there is one crisis that is

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.

Erik Erikson created a theory, in which he created eight stages of development based on Freud’s theory of development. The eight stages are trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, ego identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and ego integrity vs. despair. As someone develops in age, going through these stages, it increases in complexity. Erikson believed that each stage becomes a crisis that needs to be solved through self-discovery.

Psychologist Erik Erikson developed his eight stages of development to clarify the developmental challenges faced at various times in people’s lives. Stage-based theories of development were extremely popular during Erikson’s era. However, Erikson’s theory differs from other popular theories in that a person does not have to successfully complete one stage of development to move on to the next stage of development. Erikson’s stages of development are widely taught in psychology courses in the United States.

Since the development of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial model of development in the 1960s, it has become one of the most widely used measurements for studying emotional and personality development across the human lifespan (Dunkel & Harbke, 2017). Erikson’s model contains eight developmental stages, beginning in infancy and progressing until old age, and as a person ages they begin to pass through the stages, with a new psychological crisis arising at each stage (Svetina, 2014). Whitbourne, Sneed and Sayer (2009) describe how the outcome of each crisis is met with identity attainment and new personal adaptations (positive outcome), or with an incoherent identity (negative outcome). Additionally, each new stage allows for the reassessment of previous achievements, and in some cases, failures (Dunkel & Harbke, 2017). Erikson’s model is commonly recognised as a developmental ladder – each previous stage lays a foundation before an individual can progress toward the next stage (Malone, Liu, Valliant, Rentz & Waldinger, 2016). It is important to note that whilst they are referred to as “stages”, they should be viewed as being on a continuum rather than fixed categories (Dunkel & Harbke, 2017).

It is a well-known fact that an individual’s childhood has a significant impact on one’s life. This upbringing may consist of abuse, violence, or love as the type of treatment one receives, is out of their control. However one thing will always remain constant, the individual will continue to grow and develop regardless of whether or not specific childhood stages are successfully fulfilled and completed. These stages were established by psychologist Erik Erikson in his theory named, stages of development that consist of eight phases (five being between the ages of 1-18) that he believed were crucial in the development of a healthy human.

GoodTherapy.org provides a good information about Erikson and gives a list of the 8 stages of psychological development. The stages focus on a central conflict and in Erikson theory of development, children don't automatically complete each stage on a predetermined schedule. Instead, people face generalized challenges throughout life, and the ways in which they answer these challenges determine whether they develop further or stagnate at a particular stage of development. Erikson’s eight stages and associated challenges include:

How is Laura’s behavior indicative of role confusion as discussed by Erik Erikson’s model of psychosocial development?

Erik Erikson progressed human development studies when he branched off of Freud’s developmental perspective and created his own theory regarding human development containing the “Eight Stages of Man,” (Robins, Chatterjee & Canda, 2012, pg. 213). Erikson believed that the environmental aspects combined with the biological makeup of an individual created a crisis in each developmental stage to which a person would have to resolve, successfully or unsuccessfully, before entering the next developmental stage, (Sougstad, Face-to-Face #3, 2018). In the following, Erikson’s first four stages of development will be analyzed based on needed components of successful completion as well as disadvantages that may occur due to individual specific life experiences.

The stages that Erikson proposed for psychosocial development is a very good technique on guiding the conflict that different stages of human development. Although it only covers a minimal aspect of the development like certain attitude of the individual towards other people and the overall outlook in life. Also Erikson built this theory based on his normal experiences and not really based on scientific

Erik Erickson developed the eight stages to the psychosocial development. The eight stages in Erikson's theory were; Trust vs. mistrust (Infant), Autonomy vs. Shame and doubt (Toddler), Initiative vs. Guilt (Pre-School), industry vs. inferiority (School Age), identity vs. role confusion (Adolescent), intimacy vs. isolation (Young Adulthood), generativity vs. stagnation (Adulthood), and integrity vs. despair (Mature Adulthood) (Wong et al., 2015, p. 27). With each stage there is progression to matures development.

When I was in high school, I used to babysit. After each job, I’d not only leave a little richer, I also left with some pretty funny stories. The kids always had some pretty interesting information to share with me. I had one tell me that he could talk to horses, and had another that was convinced that the tooth fairy lived in his closet. Although I find it funny now, when I was their age, I probably had some pretty crazy thoughts myself. This is account to the different stage we go through during our psychosocial development. In Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, we go through eight distinctive stages each with a crisis we must overcome. With successful completion of each stage resulting in a healthy personality and the acquisition of basic virtues. These stages include Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt, Initiative vs. Guilt, Industry (competence) vs. Inferiority, Identity vs. Role Confusion, Intimacy vs. Isolation, Generativity vs. Stagnation, and Ego Integrity vs. Despair.

The process that was required from the group members to complete the Alhambra community intervention project includes our group norms and rules, meeting breakdowns, and our roles, responsibilities and contribution in this project shown in Appendix B.

Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development suggests that one’s psychological and social development can be categorized into eight distinct stages throughout their lifespan (Karkouti, 2014). Each stage has its own unique crisis that is vital to the gradual growth of one’s psychosocial identity, depending on the outcome (Sokol, 2009). This theory is observed in my life development from ages 0 to 19, which is then analyzed to the psychosocial identity I have developed today.