Psychosocial Stages Of Psychosocial Development

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In a way to understand psychosocial development, Erik Erikson created eight psychosocial stages beginning at infancy continuing through old age. Erikson believed that “the environment played a major role in self-awareness, adjustment, human development, and identity.” Each stage has a developmental task or an internal crisis. When a stage is completed successfully, the person will obtain more tools for the subsequent stages that follow. Consequently, if a person does not succeed in sufficiently completing a stage, the following inevitable phase will come with added difficulties. Erikson’s stages show the positives and negatives for each period of a person’s life (“Erik”). While all the stages contribute to my progress in life, I personally …show more content…

If a person completes this stage positively, he or she will “give back to society through raising our children.” Otherwise, a person can become conceited and feel uninterested (McLeod). The last and final stage of life is integrity versus despair, which appears during late adulthood. During this time, reflections on one’s life will take place and the person will begin to wonder if he or she had a successful, fulfilling life or have regrets and discontent with their life. For example, this may occur when a person becomes retired (McLeod). After having examined all eight stages, I relate mostly to the identity versus role confusion stage. I am 18 years old and have stayed at this stage for about a year. I relate mostly to this stage because I am unsure about which college and degree I wish to pursue after the completion of my Associate of Arts degree. I am concerned about how my life will appear in the future because my impending choices may be detrimental to future outcomes. I believe my chosen developmental theory is extremely valid because if my identity is not revealed, I will be lost and have no idea for plans for my future. However, once I discover what I desire to major in, I will have a good plan for my

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