Carol Russell-Lambert Professor Naja Berg Hougaard Psychology 220 November 29, 2017 Identity Development Human development is a highly complex lifelong process. Identity is a self-definition or sense of who one is, where one is going, and how one fits into society. It relates to our basic values that dictates the choices we make in life. It is considered that identity formation is a means of finding oneself, by matching one’s talent with available social roles. Crisis is a vital part in one’s development. It occurs in every stage of finding one’s self and without resolution, may lead to tension and role confusion. Dedicated and influential theorists such as Erik Erikson and James Marcia have contributed significantly to the broadening and understanding …show more content…
He implemented eight psychosocial stages which includes trust versus mistrust. One example of the specified inclusions are infants. In order to come to a resolution for these feelings of insecurity, infants look towards their care givers for care and stability to fulfill their desired needs. With autonomy versus shame stage, children begin to assert their independence, utilizing their skills otherwise they will end up doubting their abilities. Initiative versus guilt is another stage where pre-scholars develop initiative by devising and carrying out bold plans. These people plan activities, developing a sense of initiative with others therefore feeling secure in their ability to lead and make decisions. The identity versus role confusion stage is noted as Erikson’s most popular. He characterized adolescence as a crucial and critical time of identity development. To achieve a sense of identity some adolescents attempt to define and explore who they are regarding their career choice, religion, political views, sexual orientation etc., figuring out a way to fit into society. According to Erikson, “the adolescent mind is essentially a mind or moratorium, a psychosocial stage between the morality learned by the child, and the ethics to be developed by the adult” (Erikson, 1963, p.245. As they go through the different sexual and …show more content…
She is a twenty-two-year-old Guest services Agent who is presently working at the Sheraton Hotel in Queens, New York. During my interview with her I discovered that she and her family of four migrated from Jamaica in search of a better life here in the United States of America. She portrayed a warm and friendly personality, as such it was easy for me to talk with her about self-identity. She informed me that while she was in Jamaica she excelled in High School and went on to University where she studied Health Science. Her reason for choosing that field was because her mother was very much involved in her development and encouraged her to stick to the sciences where she could specialize in becoming a medical doctor in the future. Listening to her, I realized that her decision at the time was based on what her mother had in mind for her and not necessarily what she wanted to become. I questioned her if she had figured out what she wanted to do with her life then, she clearly had no idea therefore she just followed her parent instruction. She pointed out that her mother who played a significant role in her life, always instilled in her the importance of a good education and that becoming a doctor would be the right choice. When she arrived in the United States everything changed. I followed up with the conversation and she told me that she started rebelling and didn’t want to go back to
Erikson’s psychosocial stages generally occur with important age related events, presenting the individual with a conflict, or question to be answered. For example, the first stage (birth to two years of age) presents a crisis of trust vs. mistrust coinciding with the important event of feeding. In this stage a child develops a sense of competence (or lack of) over their ability to trust others.
One of the most important aspect of the development of an individual is the development of the individual’s identity. Identity refers to “a definition placed on self” which has two simultaneous characteristics. The first is a sense of sameness or continuity across various situations and over a period of time and the second is a difference that makes an individual distinct from others. The formation of an identity is imperative to ensure an individual’s psychological and social well-being and must always be considered within the socio-cultural context which the individual exists in.
According to Saul McLeod (2008), in his article, Erik Erikson, he states, “Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development has eight distinct stages, taking in five stages up to the age of 18 years and three further stages beyond, well into adulthood. Erikson suggests that there is still plenty of room for continued growth and development throughout one’s life” (Paragraph 7). Erikson developed his theory of their being eight different psychosocial stages that a human being will encounter during their life. The eight states are: First, Trust vs. Mistrust, this is the first stage that Erikson developed in his theory. This stage will occur from a person’s birth to one year of their life. Trust is an essential part for children to see the trustfulness of other and the fundamental sense of building a relation through trustworthiness. For an example, Erikson decided that if an infant received food and comforted when needed the child will be able to develop a sense of trust for the caregiver. Not only was Erickson determined that children need a sense of comfort to develop trust, but mistrust is necessary for children to learn the difference between honest and a dishonest person in their life. Second, Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt, this is Erick Erikson second stage of his development theory children will go through between two and three years old. This is the time children can develop a sense of self-control without a loss of their own self-esteem. When children can be independent from the trust they have gain. If trust and a supportive atmosphere were not provided to a child, where the parents were over controlling, children will experience a low self-esteem and will always doubt their abilities. Third, Initiative vs. Guilt will begin to occur between ages four and five. During this time a child will be more independent to realize who she/he
Erikson believes a person’s personality changes throughout their lifespan and primarily focuses on ego. Furthermore, ego is a person’s sense of self-importance or self- acceptance. This is a major factor when discussing personality because how we perceive ourselves, reflects onto others. Erikson’s eight stages of psychological development consist of infancy, early childhood, preschool, middle school, adolescence, young adulthood, middle age and old age. He indicates that during each stage of life a person experiences a psychological crisis, which could aid in a negative or positive result. During the infancy stage, the psychological crisis is trust vs. mistrust, meaning total dependence on the mother or father. If either or both parents show love and attention, then the child will develop trust, or otherwise mistrust if neglected. Early childhood, around the ages two to three years old a child becomes more mobile and shows signs of independence. The caregivers will either assist the child in all their needs or wait patiently as they figure them out on their own. Erikson distinguishes the importance of allowing children to face their own challenges with the tolerance of failure. This will provide the willingness to push through hard times and overcome adversity. Stage 3, initiative vs. guilt describes the interaction between other children and their ability to make decisions. A child will initiate activity with others continuously when he or she feels secure. Nevertheless, when children are told ‘no’ they react with feelings of guilt. The fourth stage of Erikson’s theory begins to explain inferiority. In this stage, a student will be introduced to teachers who become a major part of a child’s psychological development. With encouragement, children will feel confident in themselves, whereas negative reinforcement may cause self-doubt. Identity vs.
There is many different ways which the concept of identity has been defined and studied by social scientists. Some of these scientists include, Coatsworth, Shwartz, Srivastava, and Furstenburg. The actual dictionary definition of “identity” is, the fact of being who or what a person or thing is. An individuals’ personality characterstics also relate to their sense of identity. These types of characterisitcs are known as, the “Big Five'”. This is a term used to describe the five broad traits of humans.
In conclusion, the formation of one’s identity has many components. Beginning at the onset of adolescence and continuing to expand, grow and form and reform as we live through the struggles or success of life. Many theorists have endeavored to clarify the development of identity formation. However, Erik Erickson offered one significant theory involving the formation of one’s identity. Expounding on Erickson theory, Marcia developed his Identity Status Model according to the existence or absence of crisis and commitments. These four statuses, diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium and achievement can combine in various ways to produce a self. One’s sense of identity is determined largely by the choices and commitments made, therefore, having a well-developed sense of self can provide an individual with insight to their strengths, weaknesses, and individual uniqueness. An individual that finds themselves
Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development consist of eight stages we encounter as we develop and grow. After successfully resolving an emotional crisis within a stage, we then proceed to the next one. Erikson believed that human development covers the entire lifespan, rather than ending during adolescence. If we are unable to resolve the crisis during any one stage, either due to a personal or environmental factor, it would prohibit us from moving on.
Erik Erikson was a psychologist specializing in post Freudian studies. Many ideas and foundations of his theories came from the Freud way of thinking. Erickson could be considered a neo Freudian, someone who is influenced by and still practices elements of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis. Erik Erikson’s development theory expanded on Freud’s original five stages of development, consisting of a new eight psychosocial stages of development known as The Life Cycle. The ego and sexual development are a large focus for Erik Erikson’s stages. In each of his stages there are two main terms for the child to learn and they are always opposites of each other. In addition to psychologists today still using Erikson’s stages of development for assessments on patients, research is still being conducted to prove the validity of Erikson’s design. His work is important to various areas of psychology including development and personality.
Erik Erikson developed the eight stages of life theory. Erikson’s theory focuses on the development from birth to death, social context, and interpersonal relations during each stage of life (McAdams, 2009). In the same manner, each stage of life is comprehendible in three levels, such as the body, ego, and family and culture. The eight stages of life are infancy (trust vs. mistrust), early childhood (autonomy vs. shame and doubt), childhood (initiative vs. guilt), childhood (industry vs. inferiority), adolescence and young adulthood (identity vs. role confusion), young adulthood (intimacy vs. isolation), mature adulthood (generativity vs. stagnation (or self-absorption)), and old age (ego integrity vs. despair).
Heffner, C. L. (2017). Chapter 3: Section 3: Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development. Retrieved September 22, 2017, from
In Erik Erikson’s theory, he believes that all humans go through eight phases throughout their entire life. According to Erikson, during the early childhood development, a child passes through three phases. These three phases include the toddler (Autonomy v. Shame), preschool (Initiative v. Guilt), and elementary school (Industry v. Inferiority). You should be able to tell the difference of a child who is brought up in a healthy or unhealthy environment. Toddlers will take pride in their actions or they will throw temper tantrums. Preschoolers will take responsibility or accuse others for their behavior or actions. And children in the elementary school phase will either be successful or unsuccessful when learning new abilities. In his work, Erikson was trying to point out that “Each stage is an emotional crisis or a turning point, in personality, and the crisis in each stage must be successfully met for normal, healthy psychological development.” (Ciccarelli & White, 2015, p.
In this paper I will be focusing on Erikson’s Theory mainly about identity versus role confusion. Finding one’s identity is not always an easy task. Everyone at some point in his or her life has had, as Erikson puts it, an identity crisis. Everyone experiences different struggles that can have either a positive or negative impact on their identity. On my path to identity, I have reached identity achievement, which means I have explored and made commitments. I will also be focusing on two articles highlighting a fifth possible outcome regarding identity and looking at identity statuses as developmental trajectories.
“According to Erikson’s theory, every person must pass through a series of eight interrelated stages over the entire life cycle.” (“Erikson’s stages of development,” 2016). An example would be basic trust and mistrust. This stage is from birth up to a year old. A baby develops trust when being held, fed, or simply being touched. If the baby does not develop trust it will result in the baby having insecurity and mistrust. Another example would be identity vs role confusion, this stage is during adolescence. During this age adolescents begin to discover their identity, those who do not begin to try to be like others which is also known as “fitting
Erikson was a developmental psychologist and he was very well known at the time of his psychosocial development among human beings. Erikson developed eight stages that show growth across a lifespan in every human being. Each of the stages that Erickson developed, build on one another and after every successful stage the outcome is called “virtue”. Erikson believed that difficulty on one stage can have a result later on in life. There is one main contradiction between Erikson and Freud which is Freud was an ID psychologist, Erikson was an ego psychologist. He emphasized the role of culture and society and the conflicts that can take place within the ego itself, whereas Freud accentuate the conflict between the ID and the superego. (McLeod, S. A. (2013). Erik Erikson) The eight psychosocial development stages that Erikson developed are; trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame/doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair.
Erikson believed that personality development included the impact of society, culture, and the relationships that are made. The psychosocial theory developed by Erikson included eight stages: stage one (basic trust vs. mistrust), stage two (autonomy vs. shame and doubt), stage three (initiative vs. guilt), stage four (industry vs. inferiority), stage five (identity vs. role confusion), stage six (intimacy vs. isolation), stage seven (generativity vs. stagnation), and lastly, stage eight (ego integrity vs despair). Erikson’s first stage, basic trust vs. mistrust, is when the child will develop trust based on how their needs are being met. Erikson’s second stage, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, the child will soon begin to understand the struggle for control of oneself. Erikson’s third stage, initiative vs. guilt, child will develop a sense of control over oneself and learn to take responsibility of one’s actions. The fourth stage, industry vs. inferiority, is when the child will begin to encounter social interactions daily and these social interactions will cause the child to compare himself/herself to others to measure success and failure in oneself. Erikson’s fifth stage, identity vs. role confusion, the child will begin to decide what it is that one wants to gain from life and what to be as an adult. The sixth stage in Erikson’s personality development, intimacy vs. isolation, young adults will spend time trying to figure out with whom to share a personal relationship with. The seventh stage, generativity vs. stagnation, is a way to figure out how to become a nurturing individual in order to create the next generation. Lastly, Erikson’s stage eight, ego integrity vs. despair, learning to accept that one’s life is coming to an end (Ciccarelli and White,