Erikson’s Psychosocial

Stage of Human
Development
8 Stages of human development
Ninth Stage was added
 Erikson Psychosocial
Eric Erikson (1902- 1994)
psychosocial stages of human
development
 A total of Eight crisis stages
featuring conflictual issues of
struggles at each stage
 Wife added the ninth stage
 Erikson’s 1st stage: trust vs. mistrust
 Trust vs. mistrust 0-18months (Can I
trust the world)
 Agreement with Freud on similar issues
except age space
 Baby’s mouth: object of sexual
satisfaction & pleasure seeking
 Significant other: Mother
 Erikson’s 1st stage: trust vs. mistrust
Normal personality development: trust in
self and significant others (mothers)
(hopeful).
Faulty personality development: mistrust
in self & significant others (mothers)
Evidence: conflict in adjustment to life
Other theorist: attachment & object
relation
 Erikson’s 2 stage autonomy vs.
shame & doubt
 Erikson’s autonomy vs. shame & doubt 1-3yrs
(Can I do things myself or must I rely on
people).
 Presents this stage as autonomy vs. shame &
doubt
 Although he agrees with Freud’s proposal but
emphasizes that conflictual experiences at
this stage include all toddlers’ exploration
which might lead a child to becoming either
shameful of him/herself or doubtful about
capability
 Erikson’s 3rd stage: initiative vs. guilt
 Erikson’s initiative versus guilt (Is it okay for
me to do things my own way).
 Shares a lot in common with Freud but also
this stage marks the beginning of difference
between Freud & Erikson
 Unlike Freud, Erikson sees this stage as the
time for initiating a sense of purpose &
creativity, alongside risk of failure/mistake.
 Too much control from parents/care-giver is
likely to distort the child’s initiative drive for
life.
 Erikson’s 4th stage: Industry vs. Inferiority
 Shares the same emphasis on repression
of sexual energy & development of sense
of competence.
 Focus on how can I be good.
 Successful mastery of the task here
help in reducing the sense of inferiority
or lack of competence in life.
 Erikson’s 5th stage: Identity vs. Role
confusion
 Coincide with Freud’s puberty description
but greater emphasis is laid on aspects
of constructing a sense of self in
relationship to the world (environment)
 Major concern: ‘who am I’
 When the individual at this stage cannot
relate meaningful to the world, then
confusion sets in -leading to struggle for
acceptance etc.
 Erikson’s 5th stage: Identity vs. Role
confusion
 Note that for Erikson, the very important
engagement for adolescences focuses on
identity issues wherein their concern is on the
following:
 Who am I?
 What are my strengths and weaknesses?
 How will I fit into society?
 Do I want to go to college or get a job right
out of high school?
 What career will I pursue?
 Do I want to marry and have children?
 Erikson Identity crisis vs. confusion
 Erikson referred to the time one spends in this
stage as an ‘identity crisis’, and
 The inability to successfully move through this
stage as ‘identity confusion’.
 Example: Erikson (1959) wrote a book about
young Martin Luther who stopped being a monk
to start the Lutheran Church
 Thus, described as an example of identity
confusion case
 James Marcia four stages of ego development as
follows:
 James Marcia’s four stages of ego
development
 Foreclosure status – the adolescent makes a
commitment to an occupation, religious outlook,
ideological viewpoint, etc. according to parent’s
wishes, with little personal reflection or
experimentation

 Diffusion status – the adolescent lacks a sense

of direction, and has little motivation to fine
one; they simply experiment with various paths
or choose ones that offer immediate
gratification
 James Marcia’s four stages of ego
development
 Moratorium status – the adolescent or young adult is in an
extended period of indecision about their identity; they
are preoccupied with ‘finding themselves’; includes college
students who still have not chosen a career path or college
major, or people struggling with religious or ethical values,
political philosophies, or other aspects of their future life

 Identity Achievement status – people are in this status

group when they have moved through an identity crisis and
made a commitment; they pursue careers and other paths
of their own choosing and live by their own moral code;
this is usually the preferred and most mature status to
have achieved
 Erikson’s 6th stage: Intimacy vs. Isolation
 Intimacy Vs. Isolation 20-40 years (Can I love
and be loved)
 Intimacy is gained through achieving relationships
with family and marital or mating partner(s).
 Erikson explained this stage also in terms of sexual
mutuality - the giving and receiving of physical and
emotional connection, support, love, comfort, trust,
and all the other elements that would typically be
associated with healthy adult relationships conducive
to mating and child-rearing.
 There is a strong reciprocal feature during intimacy,
otherwise the individual becomes isolated.
 Erikson’s 7th stage: Generativity vs.
Stagnation
 Generativity versus Stagnation (45- 60years)
 Generativity derives from the word generation, as in parents
and children, and specifically the unconditional giving that
characterizes positive parental love and care for their
children.
 This is the mid adult stage where the individual is expected
to give back to society what he/she has been invested with.
 Consequently, individuals who have developed normally are
expected to find ways of helping, assisting and contributing
to the welfare of the community.
 Stagnation is an extension of intimacy which turns inward in
the form of self-interest and self-absorption. It's the
disposition that represents feelings of selfishness, self-
indulgence, greed, lack of interest.
Erikson’s 8th stage: Integrity vs. despair
 Integrity versus despair (65-death).
 This is a review and closing stage. The previous stage is
actually a culmination of one's achievement and
contribution to descendants, and potentially future
generations everywhere.
 At this stage people look back at the life they have
lived to see how successful or unsuccessful it has been.
 For those whose lives has been successful, they are
bound to have gained much wisdom, otherwise they give
in to despair (anger, hate, sadness and regret etc.)
 Joan Erikson’s 9 stage th

 This stage was primarily added by Joan Erikson who

worked closely with her husband. In her old age, she
discovered that there are some further development if
one lives to 80, particularly late 80s and beyond.
 Joan lived to be 93, and from personal observations
including reading of her husband’s notes and conversations
with others she arrived at the point that psychosocial
development still continue into late old age. At this stage,
she said that the early developmental stages are
reserved, reflecting instances of mistrust versus trust, as
the individual begin somehow to mistrust self and others,
and the same similar reserve situation could be for all the
other stages.
 Erikson’s Ego Development
 Ego identity: Our continually changing sense of
self that emerges due to our social interactions
and experiences.
 Ego strength: This develops when people
successfully master each stage of development.
 Conflict: At each stage of development, people
face some type of conflict that serves as a
turning point in the developmental process.
 Interesting, his wife Joan Erikson made an
attempt to add the ninth stage which she
captures as old age (80 – death).
 Common concept between Freud &
Erikson’s stages of human
development
 Human sexual development is a life-long
process of growth, maturation & change
 Influencing variables: Biological (nature)
 Bequeathed: parents & social environment
 Human nature is predetermine – given
(emphasizing male/females identity)
 Contestation: where do we place other
multiplicities such as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI)
 Summary of their concepts
 Interplay: Biological, psychological & social influence
 Unconscious drives control human sexual
behaviour/action
 Conflict: sexual development is conflictual in nature –
it is either you develop normally or fixed (Freud) or
torn between two poles –crisis; so must make a choice
(Erikson).
 Freud emphasizes fixation of libido (sexual drives or
instincts) on different areas of the body: pleasure &
tension
 Human sexual instincts are natural BUT should be
nurtured