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Studies on Erikson's theory of psychosocial development
Erikson's psychosocial development theory
Studies on Erikson's theory of psychosocial development
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Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development relates to my life at some milestones but not all. Erikson has eight stages he feels everyone goes through in life during a certain age frame. Each stage is divided into age categories from birth through late adulthood. The eight stages are; trust vs mistrust, autonomy vs shame and doubt, initiative vs guilt, industry vs inferiority, identity vs identity confusion, intimacy vs isolation, generativity vs stagnation, and ego integrity vs despair. The first six stages seem to mostly fit to the development of who I am today. Trust vs mistrust identifies development from birth until one year. Erikson believes this is the most important step in his theory. Developing trust at a very young age will determine whether you believe you can count on others or not. From birth to one my mom was always around she catered to my needs as well as my father. They were both very attentive and altered their lifestyles to revolve around me. This attentiveness has led me to the point to where I am now where I feel strongly about the goodness in others. Autonomy vs shame and doubt revolves around beginning toddler years ages one to three. During this stage the building blocks of confidence and independence are starting to be formed. By beginning to be able to make choices on what food or toys you like or don’t like. There’s a photo of me when I was nearly three years old where I was given the choice to pick out my own clothes. My mom told me that she was trying to get me dressed and I cried and said I didn’t like the shirt she picked out for me. So she told me to pick my own. I had a life sized Barbie with a Cinderella princess gown that I could wear too! It was blue and white with big, shiny, shoulde... ... middle of paper ... ... thought that this stage would not be successful unless the individual established a sense of self and identity. I agree with this part of Erikson’s theory 100%. I am just now at a point in my life that I feel I am able to establish and commit to a relationship capable of lasting a lifetime. I am halfway through school, I have a long term career and educational plan, I know what I want, where I want to go, and what type of person I want by my side for this journey I am on. Overall I believe that Erikson was on the right path when talking about the different stages of life. I do believe that the timeline for everyone may be different though. If a person doesn’t make it through one stage with a positive outcome it may hinder them moving on to the next phase of life. Sometimes life throws curve balls that cannot be predicted by timelines and stages of development.
In Erickson’s psychosocial stage theory, one of the main components he focused on is the development of the ego identity. Ego can be defined as the conscious sense of self that is developed through interaction. According to Erickson, our ego is constantly changing due to the new and different interactions that we have on a daily basis. We can either hinder or strengthen our ego identity by the interactions we experience. Erickson believed that a hindered ego or an ego that isn’t developed can lead to a person feeling an inadequacy as well as losing the meaning of life. However, if a person’s ego is strengthened and mastered a person will feel accomplished as well as the sense of belonging. This feeling can also be referred to as the ego strength or ego quality. During the times of ego identity, the person’s potential of growth is high, however, the potential of failure is also present.
Eric Erikson believed that there are eight different social stages an individual must go through as they mature. Each of these stages involves a positive characteristic and a negative one. Your future all depends on these characteristics. So to what degree can Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development truly affect us? All I know is that the moment my life changed was the day I saved a man’s life. This moment in my life falls under the 5th stage of Eriksons theories of psychological development. It is at this stage where I was able to develop a “sense of self and personal identity”. I was following Eriksons eight different social stages my whole life and I didn’t even know it; and by the end of it, I was able to find “a reintegrated sense of self, of what one wants to do or be”. (Bee, 1992)
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.
According to Erik Erickson, in the first year of a child’s life, the main challenge is to establish trust. After birth, an infant must depend completely on others to fulfill their needs. To create a safe environment for the baby, a caregiver must provide things like food, love, and safety. Overall, if the child’s needs are met, the child should develop a positive and trusting attitude toward the world. This security will allow them to build trust with others in the future. For infants that are mistreated or neglected, the world would seem like a scary place. Sadly, they create a barrier and learn to mistrust others. Also, if the child’s needs are not completely fulfilled, the child may develop an insecure attitude (Romero).
There are many different theorists with several different ideas. I have chosen to focus on Erikson’s theory of Trust vs . Mistrust. I have to strongly agree with his ideas because I believe that experiences that a person might go through as an infant can have a huge impact on their life. I must say that I chose to take in serious consideration his beliefs as I am raising my daughter.
Erikson believed that a crisis occurs at each stage of development. Successful completion of each stage results in healthy development. Failure to complete a stage can result in a lessened ability to successfully complete the following stages. However, the stages can be successfully completed later in life.
Trust vs. mistrust happens between birth and 18 months of age. During this time, babies are beginning to learn who they can trust and who they can’t trust. This is the most fundamental stage of development because it determines if the child grows up believing the world is secure or if the world is inconsistent and unpredictable. It is important to have a good balance between the trust and doubt so the child will be open to experience new things when they mature. Autonomy vs. shame and doubt occurs in the adolescent years before preschool. This stage is important in teaching children the feeling of self control and independence. Children who are able to successfully complete this stage will have a sense of self confidence. Failing to positively complete this stage can result in self-doubt, and inadequacy.
Erik Erikson was a researcher of the Psychodynamic perspective who lived through the years 1902 to 1994. He developed a theory that dealt with the stages of human development and was referred to as a Neo-Freudian. A Neo-Freudian are those “who have revised Sigmund Freud’s theory” (Massey, 1986). His theory argued that “both society and culture challenge and shape us” (Feldman, 2011). Erik Erikson’s theory of psychological development does not specify specific ages, so the age categories can only be guessed upon. It is my personal thought that this was a smart move due to different age milestones for different cultures. The essay titled Erik Erikson: Ages, stages, and stories argues that the stages “are organized into a system of polarities that tempt us to think about psychological dynamics in a form that is more binary than Erikson intended.” Each stage has a ‘resolution’ or goal. Each stage presents a “crisis or conflict that the individual must resolve” (Feldman, 2011, p.16)
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).
Erik Erikson composed a theory of psychological development that was composed of eight stages. Erikson’s theory focuses on how personalities evolve throughout life as a result of the interaction between biologically based maturation and the demands of society. According to Erikson, “Each stage of human development presents its characteristic crises. Coping well with each crisis makes an individual better prepared to cope with the next.” (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2013, p. 314) According to Erikson’s eight stages of development, I have only been through six of the eight stages.
Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development were complex, but simple. It is something everyone will go through and experiences will always be different. The lack of reinforcement to the positive aspects of his stages can lead to quite a disaster. Surprisingly, previous stages are highly influential to the proceeding stage. The lack of reinforcement to the positive aspects of his psychosocial stages can have a very devastating effect on a person. This is because the effects built up rather than taking the place of one another. The effects are quite horrifying, but with the right environment, experiences and beliefs, everything can go well.
Erikson’s theory has some limitations. It seems to focus mainly on childhood, even though it does span the entire life. Another limitation in the theory is how it is applied to other cultures. Each culture is in its own category and has a different way of doing things. Erikson’s stages are rather concrete, whereas numerous cultures vary in ages of toilet training, breastfeeding, and even marriage. Since Erikson’s theory has rather concrete stages, how would these types of cultures fit into his model? Yet another limitation to Erikson’s theory is how can one resolve an issue within a certain stage? These are unlimited examples of both strength and weaknesses.
1.) Trust vs. Mistrust: Infancy (birth to 18 months) During this stage an infant is defenseless, afraid and relies primarily on their caregivers for the essentials of life. The infant is uncertain of what the world around them is all about; they learn safety, stability and consistency of care from their caregivers. If
No matter who you are I believe that everyone will go through stages in their life that will get them to where they are on today. I am a person who has a very interesting story; this is the first time it will be told in full. We were asked to use Erik Erikson’s theory of development as a guideline to telling the story of our lives. At first I was very nervous; however, I soon realized that this would be a fun task. Erik Erikson has eight stages of Development (Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman). I will be walking you though my life using each one of his stages drawing out the map of my life. Within my life I have had some very interesting encounters. I have been through foster care, abuse, rape, molestation, starvation, adoption, depression, and success. Although my life may not be perfect, I believe that I have overcome these battles and become the person that I am on today. I will be talking about a few crises, milestones, and some of the people that were set in place to help me and or hurt me.
Erik Erikson was a developmental psychologist known for his theory on psychosocial development. Unlike other theorists of his time Erikson’s theory focused on human development across the lifespan from birth to late adulthood. Erickson believed that development change occurs through out our lives in eight distinctive stages that emerge in a fixed pattern and are similar for all people. Erickson argued that each stage presents a crisis or conflict which results in either a positive or negative outcome (Feldman). In this essay I will identify incidents in my own life that demonstrate each stage of development according to Erickson that I have lived through. I will also interview my Aunt Tami who will share her experiences for the remainder stages of Erickson’s development that I have not gone through thus far.