UNIVERSITY OF SAINT ANTHONY

(Dr. Santiago G. Ortega Memorial)

City of Iriga

COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Name: APRIL ROSE N. LLAGAS

Year and Program: BSED-3, Major in Values Education

DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES of MORAL DEVELOPMENT: ERIK ERIKSON’s View

This topic has been discussed to us already on our previous lessons. One of the things that I
somehow recall about the psychosocial theory of Erik Erikson is that, he form this theory under the
influence of Freud but Erikson was against on the psychosexual theory of Sigmund Freud because for
him, the personality development of an individual takes place all throughout the lifespan, which for me,
he had a point because as we know about Freud’s psychosexual theory, personality is shaped only in
childhood, I believed that the personality of an individual can influence through his or her environment
and it change depending on the environment also.

Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial theory consist of eight stages, first the TRUST vs. MISTRUST which
happen during birth to 18 months (infancy) every child needs to be loved, care and adequate warm, as
infants we ask ourselves if we can trust the world and we wonder if it’s safe. We learn that if we can
trust someone now, we can also trust them in the future, if we experience fear, we develop doubt and
mistrust, the responsible person on this stage is our mother. Stage 2 tackles about AUTONOMY vs.
SHAME and DOUBT which happen on early childhood, in this stage we are allow to discover ourselves to
develop self-confidence, if not there is a possibility that we can develop shame and self-doubt, both
parents are now play a major role on this. Stage 3 is all about INITIATIVE vs. GUILT it happens during our
preschool, if we are encouraging to do things then we can follow our interest, if we are held back and
told that what we are doing is bad we can develop guilt, at this stage the entire family is responsible for
it. Stage 4, INDUSTRY vs. INFERIORITY, happen in school age, now we discover our own interest and
realize that we are different from others. If we receive recognition from our teacher’s we become
industrious, if we get too much negative feedback, we start to feel inferior and lost motivation to
perform things, at this moment, our neighbors and schools plays a vital role for this. Stage 5, the
IDENTITY vs. ROLE CONFUSION it happens during our adolescence stage, at this stage, we learn now
that we have a different social role: a friend, students, child and citizens. If our parents now allow us to
go out and explore, we can find identity, if they push us to stay on their views, we can face role
confusion and feel lost, the key to our learning on this is our peers and role models. Stage 6, INTIMACY
vs. ISOLATION, happen on early adulthood stage, we start to let go on the experiences we had built
earlier in order to fit in, we always ask ourselves if we can love, if we can make a long-term
commitment, we are confident and happy, but if we cannot form intimate relationship, we might end up
feeling isolated and lonely, our friends and partners are now center in this development. Stage 7,
GENERATIVITY vs. STAGNATION, happen on adulthood, in this stage, our concern is generativity, if we
think we are able to lead the next generation into this world, we are happy, if we did not resolve some
conflicts earlier, we can experience stagnation. People at home and work are now influences us most.
Stage 8, EGO INTEGRITY vs. DESPPAIR, it happens during maturity of our life, as we grow older, we tend
to slow down and begin to look back over our lives. If we think we did well, we develop feelings and
contentment and integrity, if not we can experience despair and become grumpy and bitter.

As an individual, it is important to have a background knowledge about this theory because at

some point, we tend to analyze why a certain thing happen to us, maybe because it has something to
deal with the influences of the people around us. This theory allows us to emphasize the social nature of
human beings and the important influence that social relationships have on development. As a future
teacher, it is important to know this theory because it can help us to understand our student on how can
they form their own identities through the different life stages and developments they go through.