PSYC-220-0165

Interview and Analysis of Personal Development Project

Chloe Leland

Kellogg Community College

 When I was an infant, my mother says I was rather trusting to everyone around me. I had

to attend multiple doctor's appointments when I was younger, which pushed me into deciding

whether or not to trust people who cared for my health. Therefore, for the first stage of Trust v.

Mistrust I would put myself on the trusting side. During the second stage my mom says that I

like to do things by myself even when it was not possible for me to do at the time. Sometimes

she would let me try the activity I wanted to do and at other times she would not. It depended on

the situation and what activity was at hand. Based on what she said for the second stage

Autonomy v. Shame and Doubt, I would put myself on the autonomy side with willpower. For

the third stage Initiative v. Guilt is where I can start to remember my earliest memories, but I still

asked my mom how I was during this stage. She explained that I had a big imagination and was

super creative. We always had fun pretending to be princesses or going on an awesome

adventure. This was also the time where she started to teach me the alphabet and vocabulary

words to get me ready for school. I would put myself on the initiative side because I was

encouraged to be creative but also had responsibilities.

In the Trust v Mistrust stage, I do not remember that stage, but I believe I was trusting. I

am still very trusting now in my adulthood which leads me to believe when I was younger, I was

trusting as well. As mentioned in the interview part, when I was young, I had to go to many

doctors because I had numerous medical problems. I went to the doctor on a weekly basis from

when I was under a year old until I was about 6 or 7. I was constantly meeting new people who I

needed to trust to help me feel better. Therefore, it led me to be a trusting person.

In Autonomy v. Shame and Doubt stage I can barely start to remember various memories in this

stage. I do remember getting into little fights with my mom because I wanted to do something,

and she would do it for me. I would get frustrated because I was not allowed to try anything by

myself. But I also remember going to my dad's and being able to do anything I wanted but if I

did not do it right, I got laughed at. Which led me to not want to try new things. When I view

those memories, I think that I would describe this as Malignancy. I had too much doubt and too

much shame. There is little room for error when trying anything new or someone might make

fun of me for not being perfect.

In the Initiative v. Guilt stage is where I finally can start to remember most of the memories I

started to make. I remember mom always letting me explore my creative side. I could draw,

paint, swim, or even own a Guina pig. If it was reasonable, I was allowed to try it. But with those

fun experiences there were still rules. I had to clean up the mess we made during the activities

and always made time to learn new subjects for school. My mom would teach me new

vocabulary and even how to start to spell. I would say that I was on the initiative side because I

had a balance of both.

In Industry v. Inferiority stage, I went through multiplied life impacting events. This stage is all

about letting a kid be a kid and being successful at things. Unfortunately, with everything that

was going on during that time in my life I did get to focus on having fun. My mom got caught

with drugs when I was 8 years old. Therefore, I had to go live with my dad. He did not come and

visit me on a regular basis before my mom got caught. I moved in with him and he had just

gotten married to my new stepmom who had psychological issues. But instead of taking

medication or getting the help she needed instead she abused drugs to “make it all better”. I saw

her throw knives at my father and even threaten to kill herself on thousands of occasions. I even

accidentally saw her in the bathroom with both arms covered in blood. She was not the only one
who was on drugs though. My dad as well heavily abuse drugs right in front of all the kids along

with her. I got yelled at if I cried because I missed my mom and told to shut up. I was not

allowed to even simply miss my mom who had raised me almost all by herself because that made

me a “baby”. Therefore, through all of that I would say that I am in the Maladaptation spot.

The Ego Identity v. Role Confusion stage is what stage I am currently going through. I

just recently graduated high school which means I had to pick a college and a major. I changed

my major three times and changed colleges twice. I am still unsure of what I was to do and even

who I am. I am in the Role Confusion spot because I ask myself who I am daily. In high school

everything from when school started to how grades worked were relatively the same. School

started at 7:55 and ended at 3:00. We had six classes, and they were almost always math,

science, English, history and two electives. It was the same structure every day and nothing

changed. College is not like that at all. Now that I am an adult, I must work more hours at work

to afford my car and being able to eat. There was no smooth transition into this stage or any

warning which makes it even more frightening.

In the Intimacy v. Isolation stage is when I am in my 20’s and 30’s. I think at this time I

am still going to be dating my boyfriend, who I am currently dating now, and will be in a happy

relationship. We have already had serious talks about our religious beliefs, which are not the

same, and even if we have kids how we want to raise them. I think when we hit those ages, we

will be able to communicate even further how we feel and our needs. I am trying to learn to love

people who might not be like me or share the same views. So, during this time, I think I will be

in the Virtue slot.

In the Generativity v. Stagnation stage, I will be in the middle of adulthood. During this

stage in life, I think I will be going through mental challenges. It is very common for people in
this time to question if everything they have done is worth it. So, I think at one point I will be at

Malignancy spot, but I do believe I will spring out of that and head into the Generativity spot. I

should be surrounded with people who care and love for me that can help me through that rough

patch in my life.

In the Integrity v. Despair stage, I will be in my late adulthood. During this time in my life, I

believe I will be sharing my wisdom with others. Even now, as young as I am, I love helping

others with the experiences I have been through. When I reach this stage, I am going to have

thousands more experiences that I will be able to share with people who might need it. I think in

this stage I will be in the Virtue slot because knowledge is a gift.

I think Erikson’s model can show some aspects of my experiences/behavior/personality, but I

don’t think it is 100 percent accurate. I think sometimes these stages can show up late in life and

not in the intended age range Erikson’s model states it should. As well I think what happens in

the stage can affect who you are the rest of your life but there is an available for change if need

be. What I mean is during the Initiative v. Guilt stage during that time I was more with the

Initiative side. However, only a few years after that stage I went through extremely traumatic

events that changed who I was. Therefore, I am more on the Guilt side now.

I had a hard time connecting to a few of the stages because I felt as if they were too

narrow for descriptions. It was mostly towards the stages I had not yet been in so my opinion

could be subject to change. Erikson’s ideas are helpful for being able to identify behaviors due

to what environment and nurturing a child receives. For example, I know that I have more

Malignancy traits in the Autonomy v. Shame stage, because of how both of my parents treated

me while learning new things. I can now have a better understanding of why I do things in a

particular matter. I think the weak points in Erickson's model are his final stages: Generativity v.
Stagnation and Integrity v. Despair. These two stages are heavily spread out in age groups. I

think that older adults tend to go through more than these two stages and can have more than just

the five different experiences that Erikson’s model shows. Another weak point as well is that

there is no stage during the teenage years of a person’s life. The fourth stage ends at age 12 and

then the fifth stage begins at 18. There could be a possibility that teenager's years can fit in both

stages which would make sense. However, I wish it was portrayed like that in his model more

clearly.