2. What is the Identity vs Despair Stage?
• Eighth and final stage of Erikson’s theory of
psychosocial development.
• Present in older adults from age 65 through to
the rest of their life.
• During this stage, older adults look back on
their life and decide whether they are satisfied
with their life which causes fulfillment or if
their life was not lived ideally, the latter of
which causes dispair.
3.
4. Effects
• An individual who is satisfied with how they
lived their life would naturally feel a sense of
integrity, which would allow the individual to
attain a degree of wisdom leading up to
death.
• On the other hand, an individual who is not
satisfied will have regrets and feel like they
didn’t live their life to the fullest. Feelings of
bitterness and despair accompany this.
5. Example#1
• Mary is 68 years old. She starts reflecting on her life and if
she is satisfied with her accomplishments or if she could have
accomplished more. Mary raised five children and was well
educated, having a career in the medical field as a nurse.
However two of her children turned out to live a life of crime,
frequently getting in trouble with the law. Mary wonders if
this was her fault. Could she have raised her children better?
Where did she go wrong? She feels like she probably didn’t
discipline her children as strictly as she should have. This
causes feelings of despair as she reaches the endpoint of her
life.
6. Example #2
• 70-year old Gerald ponders on his life and determines whether he
is satisfied with how he lived his life. He had a decent career as a
chef and two sons. He frequently participated in fun activities with
his sons, travelling frequently and established a strong bond with
his sons. His sons Thomas and Chris respected him and turned out
to be a lawyer and psychologist respectively. When Gerald was an
adolescent he had fun, always going to parties, and experimented
with drugs and alcohol occasionally. However as Gerald ponders on
his life, he has no regrets about experimenting with drugs and
alcohol and is more reminiscent about the fact that he enjoyed
himself during those times. The fact that Gerald enjoyed his
younger years, had sons that respected him and were successful
allows Gerald to establish a peace of mind about his life. He is
satisfied about his life.
7. My Personal Thoughts
In the future, I think that there should be an increase in the
amount of older adults who are happy with their lives. This is
due to the fact that there are many more technological
innovations such as amazing roller coaster rides, and many other
things that allow people to really have fun. Also, there are
programs for people who may need a second chance in life to
improve their life such as programs for felons to get a career and
programs for adults who failed in high school. These factors, if
utilized could improve the outlook on older adults lives as they
have more opportunities to achieve more in their life.
