Erik Erikson developed eight stages of psychosocial development across the lifespan. Each stage is characterized by a psychosocial crisis that must be resolved. If unresolved, it can negatively impact future development. The stages include trust vs. mistrust in infancy, autonomy vs. shame and doubt in early childhood, initiative vs. guilt in preschool, industry vs. inferiority in middle childhood, identity vs. role confusion in adolescence, intimacy vs. isolation in young adulthood, generativity vs. stagnation in middle adulthood, and integrity vs. despair in late adulthood. Erikson made major contributions to understanding development but his theory also faces some criticisms around conceptual clarity and generalizability.

2. Erik Erikson:
Eight Stages of
Development
Presented B
Ishrat Fa

3. Contents
Who is Erik Erikson? - Background
Stages of Development 1 – 4 (Rocky)
Stages of Development 5 – 8 (Dan)
Additional Works and Criticisms
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4. Erik Erikson: The Father of
Psychosocial Development
“Children love and want to be loved and
they very much prefer the joy of
accomplishment to the triumph of hateful
failure. Do not mistake a child for his
symptom”
- Erik Erikson

5. Erik Erikson’s Biography
• Born June 15,1902 Frankfurt, Germany
• Died May 12, 1994 Massachusetts, USA
• Nationality American/ German
• Fields Developmental Psychology
• Influences Sigmund Freud/ Anna Freud
• Coined the term Lifespan Development
• Key Idea Theories of Social
Psychological Development
Erik Erikson 1902-1994

6. Field of Research
• Erikson’s theory consists of eight stages of development. Each stage is
characterized by a different conflict that must be resolved by the
individual. If a person is unable to resolve a conflict at a particular
stage, they will be confront and struggle with it later in life.

7. INTRODUCTION
Social development is the sub area of developmental psychology that
focuses on the description of children's development of relationships with others,
their understanding of the meaning of their relationships with others, and their
understanding of others' behaviors, attitudes, and intentions.

9. Erik Erikson and the
8 Stages of Development
• Best known theories of personality and
development.
• Personality develops in a series of
predetermined stages.
• Psychosocial, and not psychosexual.
• In each stage of development
conflicts acts as turning points in life.

10. Personality
• Personality consists of all the relatively
stable and distinctive styles of thought,
behavior, and emotional responses that
characterize a person’s adaptations to
surrounding situations

11. Why Study Personality?
• Identify patterns in the way people
behave.
• Explain the differences between
people.
• How to improve life.

12. Psychosocial Development
• Refers to the emotional and psychological
changes across the life cycle that occurs
in the context of the individual’s social
environment.

13. Psychosocial Development
• According to Erikson- Each part of the
personality has a particular time in the life
span when it must develop, if it is going to
develop at all. If it failed to developed on
schedule, the rest of the development is
unfavorably altered. The individual is
then hindered from dealing effectively
with reality.

14. Psychosocial Stages
• Stage 1- Trust vs. Mistrust
• Stage 2- Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt
• Stage 3- Initiative vs. Guilt
• Stage 4- Industry vs. Inferiority
• Stage 5- Identity vs. Role Confusion
• Stage 6- Intimacy vs. Isolation
• Stage 7- Generativity vs. Stagnation
• Stage 8- Integrity vs. Despair

15. Stage 1-Trust vs. Mistrust
• Age- Birth to 18 months
• Conflict- Trust vs. Mistrust
• Relationship- Mother
• Strength- Hopes
• Question- Can I trust the world?
• Key Event- Feeding

16. Stage 1-Trust vs. Mistrust
• Children are completely dependent on others
• Trust: Established when babies given
adequate warmth, touching, love, and
physical care-Dependable & Reliable.
• Mistrust: Caused by inadequate or
unpredictable care and by cold,
indifferent, and rejecting parents-
Undependable, Unpredictable &
Dangerous.

17. Stage 2-
Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt
• Age- 18 month to 3 years
• Conflict- Autonomy vs. Shame
• Relationship- Parents
• Strength- Will
• Question- Is it ok to be me?
• Key Event- Toilet Training

18. Stage 2-
Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt
• Autonomy: Doing things for themselves
such as body control & making choices.
- Secure and confident self.
• Shame: Overprotective or ridiculing parents
may cause children to doubt abilities
and feel shameful about their
actions- Inadequacy & self doubt.

19. Stage 3- Initiative vs. Guilt
• Age- 3 years to 6 years
• Conflict- Initiative vs. Guilt
• Relationship- Family
• Strength- Purpose
• Question- Is it okay for me to do,
move & act?
• Key Event- Independence

20. Stage 3- Initiative vs. Guilt
• Initiative: Parents reinforce via giving
children freedom to play, use imagination,
and ask questions- Creative, Constructive.
• Guilt: May occur if parents criticize,
prevent play, or discourage a child’s
questions- Always being wrong, Failed
to explore world.
• Initiative and Guilt should be balanced
in order to have moral judgment.

21. Stage 4- Industry vs. Inferiority
• Age- 6 years to 12 years
• Conflict- Industry vs. Inferiority
• Relationship- Neighbors, School
• Strength- Competence
• Question- Can I make it in the world
of people and things?
• Key Event- School

22. Stage 4- Industry vs. Inferiority
• Children's have to cope 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

23. Stage 5-
Identity vs. Role Confusion
• Age- 12 years to 18 years
• Conflict- Identity vs. Role Confusion
• Relationship- Peers, Role Model
• Strength- Fidelity
• Question- Who am I? what can I be?
• Key Event- Peer relationships

24. Stage 5-
Identity vs. Role Confusion
• Children learn a number of different roles.
• Identity: One’s organization of individual
drives, abilities, beliefs, and experience
into consistent image of self. Who we are.
• Role Confusion: Failure to establish
an individual identity separate from
the family and having no peer
relationships and plans for an
occupation- Ego diffusion

25. Stage 6-Intimacy vs. Isolation
• Age- 19 years to 40 years
• Conflict- Intimacy vs. Isolation
• Relationship- Friends, Partners
• Strength- Love
• Question- Can I love?
• Key Event- Love relationships

26. Stage 6-Intimacy vs. Isolation
• Start of families
• Intimacy: Ability to care about others and
to share experiences with them-
Strong relationship
• Isolation: Feeling alone and uncared
for in life- Loneliness

27. Stage 7-
Generativity vs. Stagnation
• Age- 40 years to 65 years
• Conflict- Generativity vs. Stagnation
• Relationship- Household, Workmates
• Strength- Care
• Question- Can I make my life count?
• Key Event- Parenting

28. Stage 7-
Generativity vs. Stagnation
• Primary developmental task is one of
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 own needs and
comforts- Material possession,
Physical well being, Non productive

29. Stage 8-Integrity vs. Despair
• Age- 65 years to Death
• Conflict- Integrity vs. 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

30. Stage 8-Integrity vs. Despair
• In the last stages of life individuals look
back over their lives and judge them.
• Integrity: Self-respect; developed when
people have lived richly and responsibly-
Feeling of wisdom and meaning
• Despair: Occurs when previous life
events are viewed with regret;
experiences heartache and remorse-
Regret, Bitterness

31. Erikson’s
Psychosocial Development
Age
(Years)
Stage Psychosocial
Crisis
Psychosocial
Strength
Environmental
Influence
1 Infancy Trust vs. Mistrust Hope Maternal
2-3 Early childhood Autonomy vs.
Shame and Doubt
Willpower Both parents or
adult substitutes
4-5 Preschool Initiative vs. Guilt Purpose Parents, family and
friends
6-11 Middle Childhood Industry vs.
Inferiority
Competence School
12-18 Adolescence Identity vs. Role
confusion
Fidelity Peers
18-35 Young adulthood Intimacy vs.
Isolation
Love Spouse, lover,
friends
35-65 Middle age Generativity vs.
Stagnation
Care Family, society
Over 65 Old age Integrity vs. Despair Wisdom All humans

32. Assessment in Erikson’s Theory
• Psycho historical Analysis
– Application of lifespan theory to lives of
historical figures
• Psychological Tests:
– Instruments based on crisis in stages

33. Research in Erikson’s Theory
• Generativity
– Evokes need to feel closer to others
– Correlated with extraversion, openness to
new experiences
– Likely to be involved in community, social
relationships

34. Research in Erikson’s Theory
• Maturity
– High ego integrity: spent much time reviewing
their lives
• Ethnic Identity
– Ethnic minorities: ethnic identity significant
factor in determining sense of self

35. Erikson’s Contributions
• He made major contributions in the area of child development by
studying groups of Native American children and developed the
concept of identity crisis.
• He was concerned with the relationship between society/culture and
child development, which he termed “psychosocial development”.
• This interest led him to develop the Eight Stages of Development.
• In each stage, the individual encounters a developmental crisis.
• In order to move on to the next stage, the individual must resolve
the crisis.

36. Criticisms of Erikson
• Ambiguous terms and concepts
• Lack of precision
• Some terms are not easily measured
empirically
• Experiences in stage may only apply to
males
• Identity crisis may only apply to those
affluent enough to explore identities