Erikson Development Theory Essay

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Introduction: The lives of people never remain in stasis; instead, as a human develops, his or her life path changes accordingly with his or her gains and losses in cognitive and physical ability. This essay will discuss how these changes in life path affect people in middle adulthood (40 – 60) with reference to Erikson’s developmental theory and give examples of how these changes impact social function. It will use peer-reviewed journal articles and books as references to form a reliable information base when discussing the theories and scientific outcomes of aging. It will begin by explaining and critiquing Erikson’s developmental theory and then continue to discuss the kinds of changes being made in middle adulthood and the impact of these …show more content…

In each stage a person is faced with decisions which he will unconsciously make with either a positive or negative outcome (Vogel-Scibilia et al, 2009). Success in later stages is partially predetermined by successes or failures in earlier stages (Agronin, 2014). Success in the three stages of adulthood hinges on whether the individual healthily navigated through “identity vs. confusion” in adolescence which in turn is affected by the childhood stages before it (Agronin, 2014). The first stage begins at infancy when the baby will be lead into the first decision of trust vs. mistrust and from then onwards it will be faced with another seven stages (Schoklitsch et al, 2012). The stage being focussed on in this essay occurs in middle adulthood between the ages of 40 – 60, when the key decision being made according to Erikson is generativity vs. stagnation (Vogel-Scibilia et al, 2009). Generativity is defined by Erikson as “the concern in establishing and guiding the next generation” and was cited by him and other academics as a key indicator of successful aging (Schoklitsch et al, 2012). In order to succeed in the generativity vs. stagnation stage, an adult must establish the willingness to pass on their knowledge and values to the younger generation (Busch et al, 2012). Failure to properly achieve generativity can be caused …show more content…

In this longitudinal study data was collected regarding the participants social standing when they were 15 and then recollected when they had reached middle adulthood (Marion et al, 2013). The purpose of the study was to test whether the negative impacts of isolation during adolescence were still present in some form during middle adulthood (Marion et al, 2013). They discovered that people who lacked friends during adolescence also struggled during middle adulthood as they reported lowered instances of life satisfaction and lower friendship quality (Marion et al, 2013). The study shows that poor social functioning is a persistent problem throughout the lifespan (Marion et al, 2013). The importance of a strong social support is highlighted in a study by Takizawa et al (2006). The study was based in a village with a high suicide rate where they tested the effect of social support on stress-buffering (Takizawa et al, 2006). The stress-buffering effect of social support was found to be highly effective but only for males (Takizawa et al, 2006). The effect was so high in males that it was found in not only males receiving the support but also in males providing the support, however, there was no effect on depressive symptoms in women (Takizawa et al, 2006). This gender discrepancy was similar but more severe than the one found in Van Aken et al’s (2006)

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