Understanding Erickson 's Stages Of Psychosocial Development

Middle adulthood refers to the time period between 45 and 65, in which adults have settled down and are now contemplating their place in the world. It's during middle adulthood that adults now are faced with the effort of passing on something meaningful to future generations. The theories associated with middle adulthood describe the different aspects that are important during middle adulthood, from personality development to vital relationships. Examining these aspects can help one to gain a better understanding of the development that occurs during middle adulthood.

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,

A theory proposed by Erik Erikson (1950, 1963) promotes the eight development stages of adolescents through adulthood by comparing the transitory periods. During each stage, the person experiences a psychosocial crisis which could have a positive or negative outcome for identity and personality development. The first stage is trust vs. mistrust, this stage starts at birth and end at the age of one year. This stage also explains the safety that the infant is getting from the caregiver. For example, if the infant receives constant care, they will develop a sense of trust which will be carried out with them to other and future relationships. The second stage is autonomy vs. shame and doubt; this stage occurs at the age of two to three years old. In this stage, the child is mainly discovering their skills and abilities. The third stage is Initiative vs. Guilt; this stage occurs around age three to age

Erik Erikson’s identification of the several stages of psychosocial development is a brilliant theory. He acknowledged the significance of the unconscious mind and early childhood, as well as, furthered his studies and developed his own ideas. It provides a good base of knowledge for understanding what conflicts individuals may be facing at their particular developmental levels. This involves developing a sense of trust in others, a sense of identity in society, and assisting the next generation for the future. The Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial stages of development accuracy can perhaps be demonstrated when reflected to one’s life’s span. I was surprised by the accuracy of the stages when reflected to my own, especially my current stage which is Erikson’s sixth stage (young adulthood, 20 to 39 years old) Intimacy vs Isolation. In this stage, the most important factor is intimate relationships. I can strongly relate to Erikson’s theory of this stage where he asserts, it is not the quantity, but the quality of the relationships that

According to Newman & Newman (2012), “Infancy: Trust versus mistrust (first 24 months), Toddlerhood: Autonomy versus shame and doubt (2 to 4 years old), Early School Age: Initiative versus guilt (4 to 6 years old), Middle Childhood: Industry versus inferiority (6 to 12 years old), Early Adolescence: Group identity versus alienation (12 to 18 years old), Later Adolescence: Individual identity versus identity confusion (18 to 24 years old), Early Adulthood: Intimacy versus isolation (24 to 34 years old), Middle Adulthood: Generativity versus stagnation (34 to 60 years old), Later Adulthood: Integrity versus despair (60 to 75 years old), and Elderhood: Immortality versus extinction (75 years old until death)” (p. 71).

Erik Erikson founded the psychosocial stages of development in which he believed there were 8 stages. Erikson felt that the Industry vs. Inferiority stage (5-12) was a critical time for elementary age children, as this was time to gain recognition from teachers and peers. During this stage, children are encouraged to try new things and are acknowledged for their accomplishments; resulting in increased self-confidence. My parents did their best to raise my brother and me, but due to circumstances with my dad’s work, we moved around a lot. This meant I was always the “new kid” in school. When I was eight years old, my parents decided to homeschool my brother and me, which resulted in us not benefiting from the social interaction with teachers and peers. I think this may be a reason that both my brother and I were not able to master this stage leading to feelings of inferiority and low self-esteem.

According to Rogers (2013, p.87) Jessica was in stage six intimacy verses isolation of Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development Persons in this stage of psychosocial development are looking for intimacy and closeness in their relationships while still keeping their identity. If they do not achieve intimacy than they are at risk of isolation. One could view Jessica seeking fertility treatment as her wanting to obtain ultimate intimacy with her husband. What is more intimate than sharing a child with someone. This could be the reason why Jessica thought something was wrong with her which was making her question her identity in a sense. Jessica said that since Laurel has been born her and John have grown closer which could indicate that sharing a child together gave them the intimacy they both were seeking.

Psychoanalyst Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory is also part of the psychodynamic perspective. According to Erikson (Berk, 2007) society and culture have an influence on human development. In contrast to Freud whose theory that proposed development was complete by adolescence (Berk, 2007), Erikson’s theory argues that development is continuous throughout the lifespan and occurs in eight stages. The first stage of development, trust versus mistrust, occurs during infancy (birth to 1-year-old). During this stage if an infant’s basic needs are met by a responsive and attentive caregiver, the infant will begin to trust the caregiver, thus establishing the foundation for future trust relationships. In contrast if an infant does not receive enough or irregular care, or if caregivers are unresponsive, the infant can develop mistrust. The autonomy versus shame and doubt is the next stage, which occurs between the first and third years

During this stage one is still exploring into young adulthood and beginning to be more intimate with others. Individuals begin to have relationships with longer commitment with others besides family members. When this stage is successful a person feels a sense of safety and ability to commit in a relationship. If this stage is not accomplished they tend to fear commitment which can lead to loneliness, isolation or depression.

Society plays an important role in the development and formation of individual’s identity, the social idea of the perfect man or woman tends to create different traumas in people who are trying to be accepted or recognized in their environment. Seeking perfection or social acceptance often tend people fall into depression, loneliness, low self-esteem, insecurity, frustration, isolation, and many other problems that will not allow individuals to express themselves freely and create their true identity. When we think about identity we referred to the individual unique characteristic that a person have in order to be recognized as human being. Identity is also the awareness that a person has with respect to itself and makes one different from

Today I am going to narrate and reflect on one of my elderly relative’s life using Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development, which consist of eight stages from infancy to adulthood. When I asked Harold if I could do my life narrative paper on him, he brought up concerns about how accurate his life would be portrayed in the paper, because he knows that I am a writer and I might consider using this piece as inspiration for a novel or a short story. I quickly ensured him that I would not turn in this paper until he was happy with my portrayal of his life. He suggested that I do the paper in the style of Rolling Stone magazine interviews and I agreed because in that style, I would be narrating his narrative of his life, while adding my own psychology perspective on it, making it an academic paper that still stays honest to his perspective.

Erickson’s theory as previously mentioned is based on what he referred to as psychological conflicts, and is defined by eight stages. The four stages of the theory found in childhood development begin with the basic trust versus mistrust stage during infancy. Essentially the infant’s perception of the world is based on the responsiveness or neglect of their caregiver(s). I assume that my needs at this stage of development where in fact met, because I have and do view the world in a positive and trusting manner. The second of Erikson’s stages occurs between the ages of one and three, autonomy versus shame and doubt. During this stage of development when children are honing their newly found mental capabilities and motor skills, it is important that a parent allow the child freedom to express themselves reasonably thus fostering autonomy. The inability to do so can lead to the child feeling shame and doubt, and thus lacking initiative in the following stage. It is at this point, I am certain my own parenting experience went awry. My mother’s anxiety over even the smallest possible issue provoked her to stifle me at this stage. Her inability to allow me to make a mistake, such as fall left me ingrained with

Thank you for sharing your discovery of animism as I think it would be hard to catch such behavior in this environment. I find your post very interesting as I also visited a mall but did not find such behavior being portrayed. I can assume that the little girl engaged in pragmatics to communicate her ideas and feelings to her father in order to explain to her father what she wants to do. We can also assume the little girl is around the ages of two through seven years of age as it falls under the preoperational stage of Piaget's four stages of cognitive development (Tanner, Warren, & Bellack, 2015). The little girl can also fall under Erickson's psychosocial stage of Childhood (Tanner, Warren, & Bellack, 2015) has she is able

Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development underscores the important effect that external conditions, society and parents have on an individual’s personality development. The eight interrelated stages that every individual undergoes include infant, toddler, preschooler, school - child, adolescent, young adult, middle aged adult and older adult. The most important values for these successive groups are hope, will, purpose, competence, fidelity, love, care, and wisdom respectively. For the school aged child, their psychology is wired to value and pursue competence. They struggle with the crisis of industry vs.

Erick Erickson (1950,1963) proposed to a psychoanalytic theory of psychosocial development comprising eight stages from infancy to adult with each stage a person will experience some sort of psychosocial experience that may have a negative or positive outcome for their personal development. The psychosocial have eight stages each stage are depending the age of the child. The stages are; trust vs mistrust this is the infancy stage at this stage the infant is uncertain about the world they live in to end the feeling of uncertainty the infant looks upon their primary care giver for stability, autonomy vs shame this is the early child hood stage children who complete this stage successfully leave feeling secure and confident in themselves while for those who do not are left with a sense of shame and doubt of self, initiative vs guilt play age children display curiosity about the world, and begin to assert their power and contract of the world through direct play and social interaction they also feel a sense of guilt when they take a negative initiative and are punished, industry vs inferiority the school age if a child is praised for doing their best and encouraged to finish task then industry may result, while the child who ant master their school work may think of themselves as a failure and feeling inferiority may arise, identity vs role confusion the adolescence stage this is the main stage and most important development task for adolescents are to constructer their own unique sense of identity and find the social environment where they can belong to and have meaningful relationship( Chen, Lay Wu, & Yao, 2007), intimacy vs isolation young adult, adults who successful in resolving the conflict of this stage are able to develop deep meaningful relationship with others while adults who struggles with this stage experience poor relationship ( Cherry, Gans), generative vs stagnation adulthood stage failing to achieve this stage they become stagnant and feel unproductive while success in it will lead to the feeling of virtue and care(McLeod), and lastly ego integrity vs despair maturity stage to be successful in this stage the person is