Erik Erikson
Erikson's Psychosocial Stages
- Trust vs. Mistrust (birth to one): Warmth, affection, and consistency of care lead to a positive, secure attachment with the rimary caregiver. Inadequate care results in fear and mistrust.
- Autonomy vs. Doubt and Shame (one to two or three): If the child is permitted and encouraged to do things for himself/herself, a sense of independence develops. Self-doubt and dependence characterize the negative outcome.
- Initiative vs. Guilt (three to five or six): Curiosity, physical exploration, and high energy are typical preschoolers. Parental responses to these behaviors lead to a sense of initiative and inquisitiveness or a sense of guilt and lack of initiative.
- Industry vs. Inferiority (five or six to eleven or twelve): Elementary school years, this stage is crucial in the development of competence or self-confidence. Success-fulness in meeting the demands of school/society leads to a sense of "industry" or self-confidence. Repeated failures lead to feelings of inferiority and an unwillingness to try new tasks.
- Identity vs. Role Confusion (adolescence): Critical issue for the adolescent is the development of a consistent identity or sense of self. Positive outcome involves the ability to answer the question: "Who am I? What will I become?" Negative outcome for this stage is not knowing what you're going to do with your life or who you are.
- Intimacy vs. Isolation (early adulthood): Successful young adult. for the first time, can experience true intimacy, the sort of intimacy that makes possible good marriage or a genuine and enduring friendship. The unsuccessful outcome is isolation and despair.
- Generativity vs. Self-Absorption (middle adulthood): Generativity, the ability to give to oneself, in the sense of marriage and parenthood as well as work, is the positive outcome of this stage. Self-absorption, the inability to give of oneself, is the negative outcome.
- Integrity vs. Despair (later adulthood): If the previous stages have been successfully resolved, mature adults develop a sense of integrity. They see their lives as successful and worthwhile. The unsuccessful resolution is despair: a negative appraisal of one's life and the realization that it is too late to start over.
Additional Information About Erikson
Born: June 15, 1902, Frankfurt
Died: May 12, 1994, Harwich
Spouse: Joan Erikson
Books: Childhood and Society and Young Man Luther
Children: Kai T. Erikson, Sue Erikson, Jon Erikson
Awards: Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, Jefferson Lecture, National Book Award for Philosophy and Religion
Born: June 15, 1902, Frankfurt
Died: May 12, 1994, Harwich
Spouse: Joan Erikson
Books: Childhood and Society and Young Man Luther
Children: Kai T. Erikson, Sue Erikson, Jon Erikson
Awards: Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction, Jefferson Lecture, National Book Award for Philosophy and Religion
Additional Information about Erikson's Theory
- Erikson recognized the basic notions of Freud's theory, but believed that Freud misjudged some important dimensions of human development. Erikson said that humans develop throughout their life span, while Freud said that our personality is shaped by the age of five.
- Erikson believed that development is primarily qualitative because changes are stage like, but also quantitative as one's identity becomes stronger and one's convictions solidify. He believed that nature determines the sequence of the stages and sets the limits within which nurture operates. However, all must pass through one stage before entering the next in the stated order