Erikson's eight stages of psychosocial development are summarized in three sentences. The stages span from infancy to late adulthood and center around resolving crises of trust, autonomy, initiative, industry, identity, intimacy, generativity, and integrity. Each stage builds on the previous as the individual develops socially and forms their sense of self. Successful completion of each stage results in healthy development of personality and relationships, while failure can lead to negative outcomes like fear, shame, guilt, and despair.

1. Erikson’s
Eight Stages
of
Psychosocial
DevelopmentPresentation by Renee Illerbrun,
Heather Kleinsmith, Kevin
McMullen, and Ann Pallifrone

2. Erik Erikson
and his psychosocial stages
 Ideas influenced by Freud’s work
with personalities
 Ego psychologist
 Believed the ego develops as it
successfully resolves social crises
 Maintained that personality
develops in a predetermined
order and each builds upon the
previous stage
 Interested in how children
socialize and how that affects
their sense of self

3. Eight Stages
of Psychosocial Development

4. Stage One:
Trust vs. Mistrust
Can I trust the people around me?
The most important period in a person’s life
Infancy

5. Trust
• Stability
• Consistency
• Building blocks that are necessary to
construct the trust for success in life
• Virtue of hope

6. Mistrust
• Failing to complete the stage of virtue
of hope
• Increased/heightened sense of fear
• Anxiety
• General feeling of mistrust in the world
around them

7. Stage Two:
Autonomy vs. Shame and
Doubt
Can I do things myself or am I reliant on
the help of others?
Children at this stage are focused on
developing a greater sense of self-control.
Early Childhood

8. Autonomy
• Ages of 1-3 years old
• Independence
• Self-confidence
• Positive or negative

9. Shame and Doubt
• Positive reassurance
• Over protective
• Feeling shameful
• Learn doubt
• Toilet training
“Erikson believes that
children who
experience too much
doubt at this stage will
lack confidence in their
powers later in life”
(Woolfolk, 1987).

10. Stage Three:
Initiative vs. Guilt
The child develops a fundamental understanding of
morals and values. They gain self-esteem and learn to
cooperate with their peers. This is affected by a sense of
power and control of their environment, which concludes
to the positive outcome of self-purpose and worth.
Preschool

11. The Facts
Initiative vs. Guilt
• Begin to explore their own feelings about themselves while
dealing with society’s perceptions and expectations
• Suicide risk
• Anger directed towards themselves rather than others
• May also do things such as change their address,
practitioner, job/career, etc.
• Feeling “worn down” and search for ways to quickly escape
issues
• Impulsivity: a big characteristic
• Abandonment issues
• Feel stuck in the “victim” role

12. Strategies
Initiative vs. Guilt
1. Focus on attaining reasonable goals that build self
esteem
2. Expand support networks – suggest support groups
3. Vocational rehabilitation evaluations can be initiated
4. Involvement with others – helps to remove personalized
guilt
ex. “What did I do to deserve this?”
5. Peer to peer mentorship – helps transition to the next
stage
Recovering people will apply the newly acquired coping skills and
hopefully recover from their old ways of coping in order to pursue
empowerment, minimize disability, and change recurrent
episodes/residual symptoms.

13. Stage Four:
Industry vs. Inferiority
Goal represented in this stage of development reflects the
individual’s ability to rely on themselves. During this stage
the child will learn about friendship, self- evaluation and
teamwork. Provides a sense of ‘competence’ in terms of
educational achievement.
School Age

14. Recovery Process
Industry vs. Inferiority
• Energy stage
Activity vs. Isolation and Rehabilitation vs.
Static Disability
Addressed by seeking out greater levels of purposeful
work and meaningful leisure chases
• People who negotiate a mutually flexible,
combined relationship with their providers
will progress faster

15. Strategies
Industry vs. Inferiority
• Pursuit of interests and activity
• focus involves increase in the basic drive to be productive as
well as success with one’s recovery plan
• Vocational rehabilitation services
• Practitioner needs to continue to nurture both
independence and production and assist the recovering
person in determining comfortable limits on activity
• should model problem solving skills and help come to
constructive solutions

16. Stage Five:
Identity vs. Role Confusion
Who am I? Who can I be?
Children are exploring their independence
and sense of self.
Adolescence

17. The Facts
Identity vs. Role Confusion
• Ages 13-19 years old (adolescence)
• Fidelity is the main virtue
• Development of social relationships is important
• Concerned with appearances
• Sense of sexual identity
• Figuring out future roles in the adult world
• Risk of “identity crisis”

18. Stage Six:
Intimacy vs. Isolation
Will I be loved or will I be alone?
The major conflict centers on forming
intimate, loving relationships with other
people.
Young Adulthood

19. The Facts
Intimacy vs. Isolation
• Ages 18-40
• Newfound identity and meaningfulness
• Developing intimacy and willingness to
express feelings and share experiences

20. Possible Outcomes
Intimacy vs. Isolation
Failure to Establish Intimacy Results in:
1. Loneliness
2. Feeling or being uncared for
Success in Establishing Intimacy Results in:
1. Close intimate friendships
2. Feeling secure in relationships
What is the importance in understanding
this stage?

21. Stage Seven:
Generativity vs. Self-
Absorption (Stagnation)
How can I contribute to the world?
Adults strive to create or nurture things that
will outlast them.
Middle Adulthood

22. The Facts
Generativity vs. Self-Absorption
- Ages 40-65
- Goes further into looking beyond and toward the future
- Establishing family and productivity in the community
- If they do not feel productive or that they have
accomplished their goals, they feel like they are losing the
meaning of life
- mid-life crisis
Why is this important to understand?

23. Stage Eight:
Ego Integrity vs. Despair
Did I live a meaningful life?
People reflect on the life they have lived and
come away with either a sense of fulfillment or
a sense of regret.
Maturity

24. The Facts
Ego Integrity vs. Despair
• Age 65 until death
• Wisdom is the main virtue
• Retrospection (the final developmental task)
• Can occur out of sequence
ex. Terminal disease diagnosis

25. Possible Outcomes
Ego Integrity vs. Despair
Seeing Your Life as Productive/Successful:
- Contemplate accomplishments
- Develop integrity
Seeing Your Life as Unproductive/Unsuccessful:
- Dissatisfied with life
- Develop despair
- Can lead to depression/hopelessness

26. So, how is this theory
relevant to us?
and
How does this theory
help us better
understand
ourselves?