Erikson's Stages Of Development

7 Key excerpts on "Erikson's Stages Of Development"

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  Case Studies in Educational Psychology

  • Frank Adams(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Stages of Psychosocial Development

  DOI: 10.4324/9781315054261-59

  0–2 Years: Trust vs. Mistrust

  A child learns trust if the maternal/paternal individual meets the infant’s needs consistently and affectionately. Distrust is learned if the mother/father is inconsistent, negative, or neglectful.

  2–3 Years: Autonomy vs. Shame or Doubt

  A child learns trust if the maternal/paternal individual meets the infant’s needs consistently and affectionately. Distrust is learned if the mother/father is inconsistent, negative, or neglectful.

  3–6 Years: Initiative vs. Guilt

  Children utilize language/develop physical skills to explore/master environment around them, developing a sense of initiative. If they encounter conflict with others/become frightened, or are made to feel their ideas and/or activities are insignificant, guilt will develop.

  6–12 Years: Industry vs. Inferiority

  Industry develops when children master tasks, complete objectives, and are recognized for achievements. They feel inferior if they fail often, are compared with peers negatively, or are not recognized for their activities/accomplishments.

  12–18 Years: Identity vs. Role Confusion/Identity Diffusion

  Identity is achieved when one finds inner uniformity/wholeness/completeness and can address the question, “Who am I?” If one is unable to I select from roles and value systems, or loses an identity by overidentification with others, role confusion/identity diffusion results.

  18–35: Young Adulthood—Intimacy vs. Isolation

  One who has the ability to maintain an identity while sharing self with another has achieved intimacy. Isolation occurs when one competes/is combative with others rather than sharing total intimacy.

  35–55: Middle Age Adulthood Generativity vs. Self-Absorption or Stagnation

  An individual concerning self with aiding/nurturing the next generation/producing meaningful work as an extension of self is experiencing generativity. One who is unable/incapable of helping others/is self-absorbed becomes stagnated.

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  Human Behavior Theory

  A Diversity Framework

  • Roberta Greene(Author)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  22) Erikson outlined eight states of development spanning birth through death. This section summarizes each of the stages and discusses the associated development tasks. An additional component is a brief critique based on individual and cultural group differences in development is presented for each stage. Cultural influences on issues related to various stages are examined, and the concept of mastery of developmental tasks is explored. Stage 1 : Basic Trust Versus Basic Mistrust Erikson (1959) believed that “enduring patterns for the balance of basic trust over basic mistrust” are established from birth until about age 2 (pp. 64-65). He viewed the establishment of trust as the “cornerstone of the healthy personality” and the primary task during this first stage (p. 58). The resolution of each psychosocial crisis, according to Erikson, results in a basic strength or ego quality. He indicated that the first psychosocial strength that emerges is hope, the enduring belief in the attainability of primal or basic wishes. Hope is related to a sense of confidence and stems primarily from the quality of maternal care a person receives. Although Erikson focused on the development of healthy personalities, he acknowledged that the resolution of each crisis produces both positive and negative ego qualities. He identified a tendency toward withdrawal (detachment) from social relationships as the negative outcome of the first life crisis. Erikson proposed that tendencies later in life toward low self-esteem, depression, and social withdrawal are indications that there may have been difficulty during the first developmental stage. In working with clients who have these behaviors, practitioners need to become knowledgeable about the history of their relationships

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  The SAGE Encyclopedia of Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation

  • Bruce B. Frey(Author)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • SAGE Publications, Inc

    (Publisher)

  Erik Erikson’s theory of the stages of psychosocial development, first presented in the 1950s and refined over the course of his life, is fundamental to the understanding of an individual’s personality development over the course of the life span. Erikson proposed that personality development was a process that evolved through the interaction between biological, psychological, social/cultural, and historical factors. Erikson described eight psychosocial “crises” (or conflicts) that individuals face over the life span as they interact with their environment. Erikson proposed that each crisis must be resolved before individuals are prepared to move to the next stage and that unresolved conflicts at one stage influence development at later stages. According to Erikson, the sequence of the stages represents successive development of the component parts of the psychosocial personality and is invariant across cultures. However, the ways in which different cultural groups meet the stage conflicts may vary. Erikson’s theory has provided the foundation for studies by researchers from multiple fields interested in the study of personality development, the interaction between environment and personal development, and how individuals adapt to or cope with a variety of life issues over the course of the life span. This entry describes each of the eight stages of Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development and then examines the relevance of Erikson’s theory to research.

  Basic Principles: The EightStages of Psychosocial Development

  Each stage is characterized by a central conflict arising from the interaction between personality, developmental, and social processes. These place specific demands on the individual that are necessary for growth and positive ego formation. Successful resolution leads to development of a particular strength and virtue for that stage, which in turn influences later attributes. Resolution of the stage determines the relative prominence of either positive or negative attributes. If the balance is toward the positive, it will help the individual meet later crises and provide a better opportunity for unimpaired psychosocial development. On the other hand, some expression of the negative component is to be expected and even necessary for healthy development. Erikson also proposed that the individual’s ability to resolve each of the developmental conflicts was related to interaction with significant individuals at the different stages of development. He termed these relationships “the radius of salient significant relations” for each stage.

  Dealing with each conflict at a particular stage of development provides the basis for progress to the next stage. As a person faces each challenge, the person assumes both increased vulnerability and increased potential, and a new strength emerges that contributes to further development. Erikson stated that all components of the personality are present in some form even before their emergence as a “crisis,” and they remain systematically related to all the other components. Therefore, optimal development depends on the proper resolution of conflicts in the appropriate sequence and integration of newly added identity elements with those already in existence.

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  The Wiley Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences, Models and Theories

  • (Author)
  • 2020(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  Erikson’s theory takes into account individual readiness for development and societal influences. As such, the stages refer to a developmental phase rather than specific age ranges (Erikson & Erikson, 1998). The eight psychosocial crises are also referred to as tensions between one’s syntonic and dystonic tendencies. Through mastery of the syntonic tendencies, the former of each tension couplet, individuals develop a sense of identity, ego integrity, and, ultimately, fulfillment as contributors to the success of the next generation (Erikson, 1993, 1950; Erikson & Erikson, 1998). Ego Qualities Complementary to each psychosocial crisis, Erikson notes a specific quality that is associated with each stage of development. The qualities are Hope, Will, Purpose, Competence, Fidelity, Love, Care, and Wisdom. For example, upon mastery of the first stage of development where an infant builds a sense of trust in their caregiver, the infant gains the foundational quality, or strength, of Hope, which will remain with the individual through the subsequent stages (Erikson & Erikson, 1998). These qualities contribute to the readiness of individuals to transition to the next stage in development, and, more generally, from childhood to adulthood (Erikson & Erikson, 1998). Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development Basic Trust vs. Basic Mistrust Erikson’s first stage arises from the tension between trust or mistrust that result from interactions between an infant and their caregiver (Erikson, 1993, 1950). When an infant’s basic needs of comfort, food, and safety are satisfied, the infant builds a sense of trust in the caregiver. Infants who do not develop a sense of trust may be susceptible to later personality dysfunction and psychopathology; however, these outcomes can be remedied through the reestablishment of a trusting relationship

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  Adult Personality Development

  Volume 1: Theories and Concepts

  • Lawrence S. Wrightsman(Author)
  • 1994(Publication Date)
  • SAGE Publications, Inc

    (Publisher)

  Erikson proposed that eight stages described the pattern of personality development from infancy through old age. (In the sexist language commonplace at the time, Erikson unfortunately christened these “the eight stages of man.”) At each stage, a psychosocial “crisis” (Erikson’s term) faced the individual; this crisis–really a choice point–led to subsequent development going in either one direction or another. A favorable resolution of the crisis leads to the acquisition of a virtue at that stage.

  How the person adjusts to the crisis at each stage depends on what Erikson (1980a) labeled the epigenetic principle, which derives from the biological assumption that the development of the embryo follows a broad, designated plan (Chiriboga, 1989). Erikson hypothesized that “the success with which the demands of any stage are resolved lays the groundwork, good or bad, for resolution of any further crisis” (Chiriboga, 1989, p. 124). In this “ground plan,” each part has its time of special ascendancy, until all the aspects have developed to form an integrated organism (Erikson, 1963, 1968a).

  Thus, as indigenous to stage theories, Erikson saw these choices as building on previous ones. His epigenesis principle would ask, for example, if a person chooses isolation as a way of resolving the crisis at Stage 6, how can he or she develop generativity, instead of self-absorption, at Stage 7? We will illustrate the impact of the epigenetic principle as we explore each stage in sequence.

  Stage 1: Trust Versus Mistrust

  Erikson saw this stage as the foundation and hence by far the most important stage (Dacey, 1982). Trust, he viewed in a broad sense–learning what to expect in the world. Acquisition of trust meant not so much a belief that the world is safe as that it is orderly and predictable. Hence, trust involves negative as well as positive expectations. Acquisition of trust means learning that a dangerous person can be trusted to be dangerous, just as much as it means that a care giver can be “trusted” to reappear, to provide (Dacey, 1982). In an interview with psychologist Richard I. Evans (1967), Erikson states, “There is a correspondence between your needs and your world, this is what I mean by basic trust” (p. 15). In contrast, irregularity and inconsistent care can lead to the child experiencing anxiety and insecurity, and hence mistrust.

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  Psychology for Actors

  Theories and Practices for the Acting Process

  • Kevin Page(Author)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  basic trust versus basic mistrust (the polarities), where the ability to trust others and one’s environment (the competency) is contrasted with an inability to do so. So, in this first stage, during infancy, the child’s main developmental task, or crisis to be resolved between the polarities, is to develop trust and a sense of security; a failure to succeed at this task will result in an inability to trust that will affect the individual for the rest of their life.

  Erikson felt that development followed an epigenetic scheme, meaning that the developmental cycle followed a predetermined sequence that unfolded in a naturally progressive order, much like an embryo grows into a fetus and a fetus into a baby; each stage built upon the last. Erikson’s developmental schema was based on two primary assumptions:

  (1) That human personality in principle develops according to steps predetermined in the growing person’s readiness to be driven forward, to be aware of, and to interact with a widening social radius; and (2) that society, in principle, tends to be so constituted as to meet and invite the succession of potentialities for interaction and attempts to safeguard and to encourage the proper rate and the proper sequence of their unfolding.

  (Erikson, 1964, p. 270)

  While the polarities described in the names of each of Erikson’s stages appear to be wholly positive or negative in nature, Erikson was careful to warn that this is not necessarily so. He explained that the extremes of either pole are actually unhealthy and maladaptive, and that the goal of personality development is to find a balance or appropriate ratio between the two extremes (Frager & Fadiman, 2005, p. 191). For instance, looking at the qualities of basic trust and basic mistrust, even though “trust” may seem a wholly desirable trait, someone who is too trusting may be gullible and just as out of touch with reality as someone who is neurotically mistrustful. A healthy person is able to discriminate between situations where trust in another has been earned and another situation in which they may be taken advantage of. It is the balance between relative trust and relative suspicion that helps a person successfully navigate their way through life’s interactions with others. In all of the following stages, successful development is in finding the balance

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  Theories of Development

  Concepts and Applications

  • William Crain(Author)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  2. The Stages Describe General Issues .   As I have emphasized, stages refer to general characteristics or issues. Erikson went beyond Freud’s relatively specific focus on body zones and attempted to delineate the general issues at each period. At the oral stage, for example, he showed that it is not just the stimulation of this zone that is important but the general mode of taking in and, more generally still, the development of a sense of trust in one’s providers. Similarly, at each stage Erikson tried to isolate the most general issue faced by the individual in the social world.

  3. The Stages Unfold in an Invariant Sequence .   All stage theories imply an invariant sequence, and Erikson’s is no exception. He said that each stage is present in some form throughout life, but each reaches its own crisis at a specific time and in a specific order.

  Erikson’s claim is based on the assumption that his sequence is partly the product of biological maturation . As he put it, the child obeys “inner laws of development, namely those laws which in his prenatal period had formed one organ after another and which now create a succession of potentialities for significant interaction with those around him” (Erikson, 1963, p. 67). At the second stage, for example, biological maturation ushers in a sense of autonomy. Because of maturation, children can stand on their own two feet, control their sphincter muscles, walk, use words such as me, mine , and no , and so on. At the third stage, maturation prompts a new sexual interest, along with capacities for imaginative play, curiosity, and vigorous locomotion.

  At the same time, societies have evolved such that they invite and meet this inner, maturational succession of potentialities. When, for example, the child at the autonomy stage demonstrates a new degree of self-control, socializing agents consider the child ready for training. For example, they begin toilet training. The result is the battle of wills, between child and society, which creates the crisis of this period. Similarly, when children become recklessly ambitious with respect to sexual matters, societies decide it is now time to introduce their particular sexual prohibitions, creating the core conflict at the third stage. Thus the succession of crises is produced by inner maturation on the one hand and social forces on the other.

  4. The Stages Are Cultural Universals

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