This document discusses Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development. It outlines the key conflicts or tensions that individuals face in each stage from infancy through childhood and how they are resolved. In each stage, success leads to healthy development of basic virtues like trust, autonomy, initiative or industry, while failure can result in weaknesses like mistrust, shame, guilt or inferiority. The document provides details on each stage, including the relevant age range and behaviors that promote healthy resolution of conflicts versus those that may cause problems. An overarching theme is that personality develops through an ongoing process of social interaction and adaptation across one's lifespan.

2. Personality Development
Erik Erikson

3. Erik Erikson
In each stage a person faces certain
conflicts and challenges.
People must modify their personalities in
order to adjust successfully to their social
environments
Begin in childhood
A child’s success in the early stages
depends largely on their parents
An ongoing process that is never final

4. Trust vs. Mistrust
Trust
o Respond
quickly
o Holding
o Cuddling
o Playing
o Talking to them
o Love them
o Care for them
Mistrust
Receive
inconsistent care
Receive little
love and attention
Fear and
suspicion toward the
world and everyone in
it

5. Trust vs. Mistrust
TRUST!
These infants see the
world as a safe place
and other people as
helpful and
dependable

6. Autonomy vs, Shame
2 to 3 yrs old

7. Autonomy
 Develop a sense of independence
 Developing minds of their owns
 SAYING NO!
 Allow children to practice new motor skills, want to
do everything themselves
 Let them practice life skills and make simple
choices
 Gives a sense that they can control their own
behavior and their environment
 Builds confidence
They will look forward to meeting greater challenges

8. Shame
 Not allowing children to do things for
themselves
 Doubt their abilities
 Always critizeing and scolding children for
not being perfect
 Question their worth and their abilities to
control themselves and their world.
View themselves and the world in shame and
doubt.

9. Initiative vs. Guilt
Four and five year olds

10. Initiative
Often initiate activities
Spend time imaging what they want to do,
then think of ways to do those things.
Children need to know their ideas, questions,
and concepts matter to others
Children need chances to create play ideas
and put them into action

11. Guilt
 Parents scold instead encourage
 Children’s play ideas are not praised
 Belittle and ridicule children
 Punishing children foe acting on their
ideas
 No encouragement to think or be creative
 Parents convey to children that their ideas
are not valuable or worthwhile
The child will feel less confident

12. Industry vs. Inferiority
6 to 11
C Children capable of
deductive reasoning
 Learn to follow rules
 Become interested
in how things are made,
how they work, and what
they do
 Parents are no
longer the only influence
on stages; friends,

13. Industry
 Capacity to make a productive
effort.
 What parents can do
o Encourage children to do, make, or
build projects
o Stress importance of seeing a task
through to completion
Praise and reward them for their efforts

14. Inferiority
 Feel incapable of succeeding in their
efforts
 Discouraged from doing and making things
on their own
 Not praised for their accomplishments,
don’t feel like they can do anything right.
 May passively accept failure or
misbehave to compensate