Human emotional and psychological development described by psychologist Erik Erikson
1. Examine the eight stages of human emotional and psychological development described by psychologist Erik Erikson
2. Discuss Erikson’s first five stages of life, infancy through adolescence, with a focus on the adolescent “identity crisis”
Discuss in a 3 page APA-style paper:
1. What are the significant relationships in each of the first five stages of a person’s life? How do changes in these relationships reflect social and psychological changes in a person’s life?
2. Describe an identity crisis you have struggled with in your own life. As you define your own identity, what are the different roles you must integrate? (Examples: daughter, teammate, worker, student, or boyfriend.) Where do you find inspiration? (Examples: specific role models, events, or beliefs.) Describe pressures that can make it difficult to define your own personality and beliefs.
3. Look closely at Erikson’s fourth stage. Do you think he correctly identifies the primary struggle for school-aged children? From your own experience, do you think there might be another way to explain the fundamental changes that occur during this stage of life?
3
Write a 2-3 page essay that explores the causes and effects of materialism on our lives, focusing the mechanisms in place in our society that work to insure that we remain consumers.
Sample Solution
The eight stages of human emotional and psychological development proposed by Erik Erikson, a psychoanalyst and developmental psychologist, are important for understanding how individuals develop in society throughout their life span. According to Erikson’s theory, each stage presents an individual with a task or challenge that must be mastered before proceeding to the next stage (Erikson et al., 1997).
The first stage is trust versus mistrust which takes place from birth to one year of age. This is when an infant learns whether or not they can rely on the people around them for support and comfort in order to develop trust. The second stage is autonomy versus shame which occurs between two and three years old where children learn basic self-control skills such as potty training. The third stage is initiative versus guilt which happens between three and six years of age when children start exploring the world around them with greater independence while also developing moral values.
At ages seven through twelve comes industry versus inferiority where an individual has their first encounters with peer groups at school. The fifth phase identity versus role confusion occurs during adolescence as teens begin forming their own identities separate from their parents’ ideals. Intimacy verses isolation follows during young adulthood when individuals strive for close relationships but may feel inadequate if these attempts fail.
Generativity vs stagnation takes place in middle adulthood where adults focus on contributing something meaningful towards future generations as well as creating a legacy for themselves . Last comes integrity vs despair seen in later adulthood which deals with reflecting back upon one’s life accomplishments and determining whether they have lived up to its potential (Erikson et al., 1997). It is only after successfully completing all eight stages , according to Erikson , that a person able experience true satisfaction within themselves .
