Table of Contents. Erikson's Notoriety. Young Adulthood. Later Years. Personality Psychology. Identity Crisis. Select Publications.
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The Erik Erikson Reader. Coles R, ed. Norton and Company; Related Articles. Understanding Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development. Conflict During the Stages of Psychosocial Development. How People Develop a Sense of Integrity vs. Developmental Psychology Overview. What Is Adolescent Psychology? Industry vs. Biography of Psychologist Melanie Klein. Sigmund Freud's Theories and Legacy in Psychology. What Is Regression in Psychology?
When psychologists talk about identity, they are referring to all of the beliefs, ideals, and values that help shape and guide a person's behavior. Completing this stage successfully leads to fidelity, which Erikson described as an ability to live by society's standards and expectations. While Erikson believed that each stage of psychosocial development was important, he placed a particular emphasis on the development of ego identity.
Ego identity is the conscious sense of self that we develop through social interaction and becomes a central focus during the identity versus confusion stage of psychosocial development. According to Erikson, our ego identity constantly changes due to new experiences and information we acquire in our daily interactions with others. As we have new experiences, we also take on challenges that can help or hinder the development of identity. Our personal identity gives each of us an integrated and cohesive sense of self that endures through our lives.
Our sense of personal identity is shaped by our experiences and interactions with others, and it is this identity that helps guide our actions, beliefs, and behaviors as we age. Young adults need to form intimate, loving relationships with other people.
Success leads to strong relationships, while failure results in loneliness and isolation. This stage covers the period of early adulthood when people are exploring personal relationships. Erikson believed it was vital that people develop close, committed relationships with other people. Those who are successful at this step will form relationships that are enduring and secure.
Remember that each step builds on skills learned in previous steps. Erikson believed that a strong sense of personal identity was important for developing intimate relationships. Studies have demonstrated that those with a poor sense of self tend to have less committed relationships and are more likely to struggler with emotional isolation, loneliness , and depression. Successful resolution of this stage results in the virtue known as love. It is marked by the ability to form lasting, meaningful relationships with other people.
Adults need to create or nurture things that will outlast them, often by having children or creating a positive change that benefits other people. Success leads to feelings of usefulness and accomplishment, while failure results in shallow involvement in the world.
During adulthood, we continue to build our lives, focusing on our career and family. Those who are successful during this phase will feel that they are contributing to the world by being active in their home and community.
Care is the virtue achieved when this stage is handled successfully. Being proud of your accomplishments, watching your children grow into adults, and developing a sense of unity with your life partner are important accomplishments of this stage.
The final psychosocial stage occurs during old age and is focused on reflecting back on life. Erikson's theory differed from many others because it addressed development throughout the entire lifespan, including old age.
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. At this stage, people reflect back on the events of their lives and take stock. Those who look back on a life they feel was well-lived will feel satisfied and ready to face the end of their lives with a sense of peace.
Those who look back and only feel regret will instead feel fearful that their lives will end without accomplishing the things they feel they should have. Those who are unsuccessful during this stage will feel that their life has been wasted and may experience many regrets. The person will be left with feelings of bitterness and despair. Those who feel proud of their accomplishments will feel a sense of integrity. Successfully completing this phase means looking back with few regrets and a general feeling of satisfaction.
These individuals will attain wisdom, even when confronting death. Erikson's theory also has its limitations and attracts valid criticisms. What kinds of experiences are necessary to successfully complete each stage? How does a person move from one stage to the next?
One major weakness of psychosocial theory is that the exact mechanisms for resolving conflicts and moving from one stage to the next are not well described or developed. The theory fails to detail exactly what type of experiences are necessary at each stage in order to successfully resolve the conflicts and move to the next stage.
One of the strengths of psychosocial theory is that it provides a broad framework from which to view development throughout the entire lifespan. It also allows us to emphasize the social nature of human beings and the important influence that social relationships have on development. Researchers have found evidence supporting Erikson's ideas about identity and have further identified different sub-stages of identity formation.
Other research suggests, however, that identity formation and development continues well into adulthood. Erikson , a former colleague of Erikson Institute co-founder Maria Piers. One of the most influential psychoanalysts of the 20th century, Erik Erikson was born in in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany.
The child will often overstep the mark in his forcefulness, and the danger is that the parents will tend to punish the child and restrict his initiatives too much. It is at this stage that the child will begin to ask many questions as his thirst for knowledge grows. Too much guilt can make the child slow to interact with others and may inhibit their creativity.
Some guilt is, of course, necessary; otherwise the child would not know how to exercise self-control or have a conscience. A healthy balance between initiative and guilt is important. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of purpose , while failure results in a sense of guilt. Erikson's fourth psychosocial crisis, involving industry competence vs. Inferiority occurs during childhood between the ages of five and twelve. Children are at the stage where they will be learning to read and write, to do sums, to do things on their own.
The child now feels the need to win approval by demonstrating specific competencies that are valued by society and begin to develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments.
If children are encouraged and reinforced for their initiative, they begin to feel industrious competent and feel confident in their ability to achieve goals. If this initiative is not encouraged, if it is restricted by parents or teacher, then the child begins to feel inferiour, doubting his own abilities and therefore may not reach his or her potential. If the child cannot develop the specific skill they feel society is demanding e.
Some failure may be necessary so that the child can develop some modesty. Again, a balance between competence and modesty is necessary. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of competence.
The fifth stage of Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development is identity vs. During this stage, adolescents search for a sense of self and personal identity, through an intense exploration of personal values, beliefs, and goals. During adolescence, the transition from childhood to adulthood is most important. Children are becoming more independent, and begin to look at the future in terms of career, relationships, families, housing, etc. The individual wants to belong to a society and fit in.
The adolescent mind is essentially a mind or moratorium, a psychosocial stage between childhood and adulthood, and between the morality learned by the child, and the ethics to be developed by the adult Erikson, , p. This is a major stage of development where the child has to learn the roles he will occupy as an adult. It is during this stage that the adolescent will re-examine his identity and try to find out exactly who he or she is. Erikson suggests that two identities are involved: the sexual and the occupational.
During this stage the body image of the adolescent changes. Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of fidelity. Fidelity involves being able to commit one's self to others on the basis of accepting others, even when there may be ideological differences. During this period, they explore possibilities and begin to form their own identity based upon the outcome of their explorations.
Role confusion involves the individual not being sure about themselves or their place in society. In response to role confusion or identity crisis , an adolescent may begin to experiment with different lifestyles e. Also pressuring someone into an identity can result in rebellion in the form of establishing a negative identity, and in addition to this feeling of unhappiness. Intimacy versus isolation is the sixth stage of Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development.
This stage takes place during young adulthood between the ages of approximately 18 to 40 yrs. During this stage, the major conflict centers on forming intimate, loving relationships with other people. During this stage, we begin to share ourselves more intimately with others.
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