Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Development.pptx

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Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
Background
• Refined and explained Freud's theories
into 8 stages of psychosocial
development
• The 8 stages of development is
characterized as a series of
psychosocial stages that have a basic
conflict and important events leading to
growth
• How the conflict is managed ultimately
shapes an individual’s personality.

Erik Erikson
• Proposed a theory of psychosocial development from infancy to
adulthood.
• During each stage, the person experiences a psychosocial crisis
which could have a positive or negative outcome on personality
development.
• The success of each stage depends on how well the previous crisis was
resolved.
• The successful completion of each of these stages results in a healthy
personality and acquiring new virtues
• Failure to complete any of these stages results in a reduced capacity to
complete the other stages, which in turn results in an unhealthy
personality and sense of self

Erikson
Erikson believed that “each stage
of life is associated with a specific
psychological struggle, a struggle
that contributes to a major aspect
of personality.”

Psychosocial Theory – Erikson
 Childhood is very important in
personality development
 Accepted many of Freud's
theories, including the id, ego
and superego
 Unlike Freud, felt that
personality continued to
develop beyond five years of
age

Erikson
Children are
not simply
biological
organisms
that endure
Children
develop in the
context of
society’s
expectations,
prohibitions and
prejudices
Personality is
shaped over the
life span;
experiences later
in life can heal
problems in early
childhood

Erikson’s 8 Stages of Psychosocial
Development
 Trust versus Mistrust
 Autonomy versus Shame/Doubt
 Initiative versus Guilt
 Industry versus Inferiority
 Identity versus Role Confusion
 Intimacy versus Isolation
 Generativity versus Stagnation
 Integrity versus Despair

Stage 1: Trust vs. Mistrust (birth to 1 year)
Infancy
• Virtue: Hope
• Important event: Feeding
• Children develop a sense of trust when caregivers provide reliability,
care and affection. A lack of this will lead to mistrust
For example....
• With warm and responsive care, infants gain a sense of TRUST
• Infant may develop a secure attachment with caregiver
• Secure attachment: A relationship in which an infant obtains both
comfort and confidence from the presence of his or her caregiver.
• They feel confident and sees the world as a fun, safe

Stage 1: Trust vs. Mistrust (birth to 1 year)
Infancy
• Mistrust develops when infants have to wait too long for comfort or are
handled too harshly
• These infants may develop insecure-avoidant attachment
• Insecure-avoidant attachment: A pattern of attachment in which an
infant avoids connection with the caregiver, as when the infant seems
not to care about the caregiver's presence, departure or return
• Infants are mistrustful
• Change in infant's Temperament and as a result develop anxiety
• Temperament: is defined as the “biologically based core of individual
differences in styles of approach and response to the environment that
is stable across time and situations

Stage 2: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
(1 to 3 years) Early Childhood
• Virtue: Will
• Important Events: Toilet Training, feeding
• Children need to develop a sense of personal control over physical
skills and a sense of independence. Success leads to feeling of
autonomy, failure results in feelings of shame and doubt
• Children starts wanting to choose and make decisions for themselves
• Autonomy is nurtured when parents allow kids to make reasonable
choices/decisions
• “Which pair of shoes do you want to wear?”

Stage 2: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
(1 to 3 years) Early Childhood
• Children do not learn to be independent and begin to doubt their ability
to make good choices
• Feels shameful
• Authoritarian parenting: An approach to child rearing that is
characterized by high behavioral standards, strict punishment for
misconduct, and little communication from child to parent
• Authoritarian parent: "You're wearing this shirt because I said so"
• When parents are over-controlling and uses an authoritarian parenting
style and do not allow reasonable choices.

Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt
(4 to 5 years) Preschool
• Virtue: Purpose
• Important Event: Exploration
• Children need to begin asserting control and power over the
environment. Success in this stage leads to a sense of purpose.
Children who try to exert too much power experience disapproval,
resulting in a sense of guilt.
In this stage the child learns to:
• Cooperate with peers
• Develop their ability to lead others
• Imagine and to broaden his/her skills e.g. tying a shoe lace, doing their
zippers and dressing themselves

Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt
(4 to 5 years) Preschool
Outcomes
• When those tasks/initiative undertaken are achieved they feel good
about themselves and their accomplishments
• When the undertaken tasks does not produce the desired results, the
child feels guilt
Guilt can also result in:
• aggressive behaviors (e.g., yelling and throwing objects)
• fearfulness
• social phobias

Stage 4: Industry vs. Inferiority
(6 to 11 years) Middle and Late Childhood
• Virtue: Competence
• Important Event: School
• Children need to cope with new social and academic demand. Success
leads to a sense of competence, while failure results in feeling of
inferiority.
Key Features
• Children busily practices and then master new skills
• For example, children are more eager to learn and put a lot more effort
into becoming better at more complexed skills like reading, telling time,
writing structured sentences etc.

Stage 4: Industry vs. Inferiority
(6 to 11 years) Middle and Late Childhood
• Industry develops when children have successful experiences in:
 School
 Extra-curricular activities
 Social groups
• Inferiority develops when children have negative experiences that lead
to feelings of incompetence
• For example; a child that is not good at soccer like his/her peers may
feel incompetent/ inferior

Stage 5: Identity vs. Role Confusion
(12 to 19 years) Adolescence
• Virtue: Fidelity
• Important Event: Social relationship
• Teens need to develop a sense of self and personal identity. Success
leads to an ability to stay true to self, while failure leads to role
confusion and a weak sense of self.
Key Features
• Adolescence ask and tries to answer the question: “who am I?”
• They acquire a sense of identity or can be confused about what their
roles are in the adult world
• In response to role confusion or identity crisis, an adolescent may begin
to experiment with different lifestyles (e.g., work, education or political
activities)

Stage 6: Intimacy vs. Isolation
(20 to 25 years) Young adulthood
• Virtue: Love
• Important Event: Relationships
• Young adults need to form intimate, loving relationships with others.
Success leads to strong relationships, while failure results in loneliness
and isolation.
Outcomes
• The successful adult can experience true intimacy, which makes things
possible like enduring friendships and marriage.
• Because of earlier disappointments, some individuals cannot form close
relationships with others and remain isolated.

Stage 7: Generativity vs. Stagnation
(26 to 64 years) Adulthood
• Virtue: Care
• Important Events: Work and Parenthood
• Adults need to create or nurture things that will outlast them, often by
having children or creating a positive change that benefits others.
Success leads to feelings of usefulness, while failure results in shallow
involvement in the world.
Key Features
• Generativity means giving back to the next generation (child-rearing;
caring for others (family & community) e.g. volunteering
• The person who fails in these areas feels an absence of meaningful
accomplishment (Stagnation)

Stage 8: Integrity vs. Despair
(65 + years) Old Age
• Virtue: Wisdom
• Important Event: Reflection on life
• Older adults need to look back on life and feel a sense of fulfillment.
Success at this stage leads to feelings of wisdom, while failure
results in regret, bitterness and despair.
Key Features & Outcomes
• Individuals reflect on the kind of person they have been
• Seeing your life as productive and successful: sense of accomplishment
and develops integrity
• Seeing your life as unproductive and unaccomplished: develop despair;
leads to depression and loneliness

ESSAY
WRITING
What kind of life are you
envisioning in the future?
Is it a life of ego integrity
or despair?

Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Development.pptx

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