This document provides an overview of Erik Erikson's psychosocial stages of development theory. It begins with biographical information about Erikson, noting he was influenced by Freud and developed his eight stages of psychosocial development based on clinical observations of children. The stages are then described in detail, from trust vs. mistrust in infancy to integrity vs. despair in late adulthood. Assessment methods for Erikson's theory and additional works expanding on it are also mentioned.

1. Presented By= Jaismeen kaur
Department of psychology,Punjabi University
Patiala

2. CONTENTS
 Who is Erikson?
 Difference between Freud and
Erikson theory.
 Stages of development.
 Additional works and criticisms.
 Research in Erikson’s theory.
10-02-2017 2© Jaismeen Kaur, Punjabi University, Patiala

3. Who is Erik Erikson?
(The father of Psychosocial development)
Childhood & Early Life
 Erik Erikson was born in Frankfurt. He was born to his mother
under the circumstances where his mother had not seen his
father for several months.
 He was registered as Erik Salomonsen at birth and there is no
information available about his biological father.
 In 1911, Erickson was officially adopted by his stepfather, Theodor
Homburger and he became Erik Homburger. The story of his
birth was kept from him for a long time and he grew up not
knowing who his real father was.
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4. career
 Erikson was a teacher at a private school in Vienna where he became
friends with the daughter of Sigmund Freud, Anna Freud and he got
trained in the science at the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute.
 In 1933, while Erikson was being trained in psychoanalysis, Nazis took over
Germany and emigrated to States where he became the first child
psychoanalyst in Boston.
 After working in Boston for some time, Erikson worked at various positions
in various institutes like,Harvard Medical School ,Psychological Clinic, etc.
 In 1936, Erikson joined Harvard University and worked at the Institute of
Human Relations, while teaching at the Medical School.
 Erikson left Harvard and joined the staff of the California University in
1937.
 All of his observations of children of different environments and breeds led
to compilation of the most famous book of his psychology career,
‘Childhood and Society’ in 1950. The book introduced the world to the
concept of ‘identity crisis’.
 In 1960, he went back to Harvard University and took the position of
professor of human development and worked until his retirement and after
his formal retirement he wrote on various subjects of psychology along
with his wife.
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5. Major Works
 Erikson’s main contribution to psychology was his
developmental theory. He professed that humans developed
throughout their life span, which is explained in his eight
psychosocial stages of development.
Awards & Achievements
 In 1973, the National Endowment for the Humanities gave an
opportunity to Erikson to lecture at the Jefferson Lecture, the
United States' highest honor for achievement in the humanities.
His lecture was called "Dimensions of a New Identity".
 Erikson won a Pulitzer Prize for the contribution in the field of
psychology through his writings and a U.S. National Book Award
in category Philosophy and Religion for his book ‘Gandhi’s Truth
(1969)’.
Personal Life & Legacy
 Erikson married Joan Serson Erikson in 1930 and remained
married to her until his death. They had 4 children together.
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6. Freud Versus Erikson
 Sigmund Freud's psychosexual theory and Erik
Erikson's psychosocial theory are two well-
known theories of development. While he was
influenced by Freud's ideas, Erikson's theory differed in
a number of important ways. Like Freud, Erikson believed
that personality develops in a series of predetermined
stages.
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8. Elements
 Ego identity
developed by human interaction and how an individual
becomes more conscious of themselves and their
surrounding.
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9.  Ego Strength
deals with an individual becoming competent in
different areas of life, by becoming competent in life
they feel more important.
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10.  Conflict
turning point during which an individual struggles to
attain some psychological quality. Sometimes refers to
as a psychosocial crisis, this can be type of both
vulnerability and strength, as an individual works
toward success or failure.
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11.  Erikson’s theory was developed from his 100 of clinical
observation of children.
 He identified 8 stages of psychosocial development. As a
person moves from one stage to the next the previous stage
acts as a building block.
 These stages are the result of the Epigenetic i.e each stage
unfolds from the preceding stage in a particular sequence
and each stage in the life cycle has an optimal time.
 When all the stages have unfolded according to the plan, a
fully functioning personality comes into existence.
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13. STAGE 1 Trust versus Mistrust
 Age – birth to 18 months
 Conflict – trust versus mistrust
 Relationship – mother
 Strength - hope
 Question - can I trust the world?
 Key event - feeding
 Children are completely dependent on others
 Trust is established when babies are given adequate
warmth, touching, love and physical care- dependable and
reliable.
 Mistrust caused by inadequate and unpredictable care by
cold, indifferent and rejecting parents-undependable,
unpredictable and dangerous.10-02-2017 13© Jaismeen Kaur, Punjabi University, Patiala

14. STAGE 2 Autonomy versus Shame and doubt
 Age - 18 months to 3 years
 Conflict - autonomy versus shame and doubt
 Relationship - parents
 Strength - will
 Question - Is it ok to be me?
 Key event - toilet training
 Autonomy - doing things for themselves such as body
control and making choices – secure and confident self
 Shame - over protection or ridiculing parents may
cause children to doubt abilities and feel shameful about
their actions- inadequacy and self doubt.
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15. STAGE 3 Initiative versus Guilt
 Age – 3 to 6 years
 Conflict- initiative versus guilt
 Relationship- family
 Strength - purpose
 Question - Is it okay for me to do, move and act?
 Key event - Independence
 Initiative -parents reinforce via giving children freedom to
play, use imagination and ask questions- creative and
constructive.
 Guilt - may occur if parents criticize, prevent play or
discourage a child’s questions- always being wrong, failed to
explore world.
 Both should be balanced in order to have moral judgement.10-02-2017 15© Jaismeen Kaur, Punjabi University, Patiala

16. STAGE 4 Industry versus Inferiority
 Age –6 to 12 years
 Conflict -industry versus inferiority
 Relationship- neighbors, teachers
 Strength -competence.
 Question -can I make it in the world of people and things?
 Key event -schools
 Children have to cope up with new social and academic demands
 Industry occurs when child is praised for productive activities
such as painting and building- sense of competence.
 inferiority occurs if child’s efforts are regarded as messy or
inadequate- weak sense of self, incapable to take responsibility.
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17. STAGE 5 Identity versus role confusion
 Age – 12 to 18 years
 Conflict -identity, role confusion
 Relationship-peers, role models
 Strength – fidelity
 Question – who am i? what can I be?
 Key events - peer relationships
 Children learns number of different roles
 Identity – one’s organisation of individual drives,
abilities,beliefs and experience into consistent image of self. Who
are we?
 Role confusion-failure to establish an individual identity separate
from the family and having no peer relationships and plans for an
occupation- ego diffusion10-02-2017 17© Jaismeen Kaur, Punjabi University, Patiala

18. STAGE 6 Intimacy versus Isolation
 Age -18 to 40 years
 Conflict -intimacy, isolation
 Relationship-friends, partners
 Strength -love
 Question - can I love?
 Key event - love relationships
 Start of families
 Intimacy - ability to care about others and to share experiences
with them- strong relationships
 Isolation -feeling alone and uncared for in life- loneliness
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19. STAGE 7 GENERATIVITY AND STAGNATION
 Age –40 to 65 years
 Conflict - generativity and stagnation
 Relationship -spouse, children
 Strength – care
 Question – can I make my life count?
 Key event - parenting
 Primary developmental task in one contributing to society and
helping to guide future generation
 Generativity -interest in guiding the next generation- social
involvement, parenting
 Stagnation – when one is only concerned with one’s need and
comforts- material possession,physical well being and non
productive.
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20. STAGE 8 Integrity versus Despair
 Age -65 years to death
 Conflict - integrity versus despair
 Relationship-mankind, my kind
 Strength -wisdom
 Question -Is it ok to have been me?
 Key event - reflecting on and acceptance of one’s life.
 In the last stage of life individuals look back on their lives and
judge them.
 Integrity –self respect; developed when people have lived
richly and responsibly- feeling of wisdom and meaning.
 Despair – occurs when life events are viewed with regret;
experience heartache and remorse- regret and bitterness.
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21. Assessment in Erikson’s theory
 Psycho historical Analysis
technique for intensive study of individuals, particularly historical
figures. Combination of psychoanalytical freudian concepts with
the method of historical study
• Psychological tests
 MMPI-2 [ Multiphasic personality inventory]
PRF [ Personality research form]
• Erikson also believes in empirical data collection and analysis
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22. Additional work on Erikson theory:
 MARCIA(1994) identity crisis as one in which individuals actively
explores and experiments with different identities before giving
commitment to one identity.
• Identity achievement
• Identity diffusion
• Foreclosure
• Moratorium
Shultz and Shultz (2005)
• Optimistic approach
• Deterministic approach
• Psychosocial approach
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23. Criticism
• No attention toward emotional and cognitive
development ( Louw, 1998)
• Vague causes of development (Shaffer, 2009)
• Self_ experiences Based theory (Shaffer, 2009)
• Incomplete description ( Erikson, Erikson & Kivnick,1986)
• Not Scientific ( Feist & Feist,2006)
• Identity Development (Sokol, 2009)
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24. Research implications
• Ethnic identity
Among minority group members, the formation of ethnic identity in
adolescence may affect the development of ego identity and
influence subsequent behavior. The influence of
globalization, particularly of American cultural values, on
adolescents in other countries can result in identity confusion.
Gender preference identity may also affect characteristics of ego
identity. A study of 126 Black and 292 White college students did
find a significant positive relationship between self-esteem and level
of ethnic identity; the higher the identity, the higher the self-
esteem. Thus, the issue of how self-esteem varies as a function of
ethnic identity remains unclear. (Shultz & Shultz, 2005)
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25.  Mid-life Crisis
The concept of a mid-life crisis was studied and analyzed by two
psychologists who found support that this crisis reflects the
battle between Erikson’s concepts of generativity versus
stagnation. Gail Sheehy, on the other hand, studied the effects
of the mid-life crisis on women. She found that a woman’s crisis
tends to relate to all of her children going off to school and her
waning ability to conceive. This may cause her to become more
career driven to find a purpose or have an affair in response
to fears of fading beauty and no longer being able to pass
on her genes. A woman who is unable to achieve status in a
career field may become stagnant during this phase, but those
who are capable of finding careers suitable to their educational
credentials are able to generate more, thus resolving the
conflict in a more positive manner.
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26.  Identity Crisis
Erikson predicted that people who are close to achieving or who
have achieved an integrated ego identity will have greater
ego strength than those who are farther from resolving their
identity dilemma. That prediction was supported by research on
college men (Bourne,1978).Other studies support and extend that
finding, showing that male identity focuses on individual
competence and knowledge whereas female identity is more
centred on relating to others. In other words, when women
establish an identity, they depend heavily on social relationships.
Men focus more on self and individual skills and abilities (Curry,
1998).Some research has focused on the timing of the identity crisis.
Erikson suggested that it began around age 12 and was resolved,
one way or another, by approximately age 18. However , for some
people the identity crisis may not occur until later. In one study,
up to 30 percent of the research participants were still searching for
an identity as late as age 24 (Archer, 1982)
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27.  Maturity
Erikson believed that people in the maturity and old age stage
of psychosocial development spend time recalling
and examining their life, accepting or regretting past choices .
A study using 49 psychologists as research participants found
that most of their memories were of college and early
adult years, the period involving the greatest number
of critical decisions that affected the course of their life
(Mackavey, Malley , & Stewart, 1991)
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28. THANKS
FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!
10-02-2017 28© Jaismeen Kaur, Punjabi University, Patiala