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Erik Eriksons Stages of Psychosocial Development

Nghi Ly
Salt Lake Community College

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Erik Eriksons Stages of Psychosocial Development
Erik Erikson was born on June 15, 1902 in Frankfurt, Germany. His young mother was
Jewish, Karla Abrahamsen, and his biology father, who was an unnamed Danish man. He was
raised by his mother and stepfather, who was a pediatrician, Dr. Theodor Homberger; they were
married in 1905. After that, they migrated to Karlsruhe in Southern Germany (Boeree, 1997). .
The fact that Homberger was not Eriksons biological father was hidden from him for years.
During his early childhood, he was known as Erik Homberger. He spent his whole life trying to
find out who he is, and struggled with identity when he discovered the truth.
After graduating high school, Erik studied art and wanting to become an artist. When he
was not in school, he traveled around Europe, keeping a diary of his experience. He was living a
carefree life, sleeping under bridges and doing things he loved. After a year or so, he returned to
Vienna to teach children about art and other subjects. Erikson studied under Anna Freud, who is
the daughter of Sigmund Freud; his view of Psychology is very much psychoanalytic (Barger,
2015). While he was there, he met Joan Serson; the couple married in 1930 and had 3 children.
He got a certificate from Montessori and from the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society (Boeree,
1997). It was interesting to me that he never had a formal college degree, yet he was teaching at
the Harvard Medical School, Yale, Berkeley, and the Menninger Foundation.
Unlike Freud, Erik Erikson focused on psychosocial stages instead of psychosexual
stages; his ideas were greatly influenced by Freud. Erikson is a Freudian ego-psychologist
(Boeree, 1997). He agreed with some of Freuds theory, but believed that Freud misapprehended
some of the aspects of human development, such as the oedipal complex. Erikson emphasized
the role of culture, society and the conflicts that can take place within the ego itself, whereas

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Freud emphasized the conflict between the id and the superego (McLeod, 2008). Erikson is
popular among Freudians and non-Freudians alike (Boeree, 1997).
Development functions by the epigenetic principle, Erikson said. The principle say that
psychosocial development revolve around ones passing through life crisis, and how they resolve
them. Our progress of each stage has impact on the success, or lack of success in all previous
stage (Boeree, 1997). The personalities are predetermined and builds upon each earlier stage.
Successful completion of each stage results in a healthy personality and gaining a new virtues.
Basic virtues are characteristic strengths which the ego can use to resolve subsequent crises
(McLeod, 2008).Erikson took five stages of Freuds theory, and expand three stages beyond, well
into late adulthood. These eight stages include: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt,
initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation,
generativity vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair.
The first stage, which is trust vs. mistrust, occurs during the first year or so of life.
Erikson defined trust as an essential trustfulness of others as well as a fundamental sense of one's
own trustworthiness (Sharkey, 1997). During this stage, it is centers around if infants basics
needs, such as being fed when hungry, being met by parents or guardians (Boeree, 1997). They
are uncertain about the world that they live in, and babies need to learned that they can trust their
caregivers and that their requests are being fulfilled. If the parents turn away to the childs needs
or harm them, then the baby will develop mistrust; he will be withdrawn, lack of self-confidence
and suspicious around people, according to Erikson.
The second stage is autonomy vs. shame and doubt, occurred between ages two and
three. This is a stage where toddlers begin to exert their will over their own bodies for the first
time by walking alone, making choices for their meals, picking a toy. He stated that parents have

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to create a safe atmosphere so that the child to explore the limits of their abilities, and selfdevelop (McLeod, 2008). Erikson said that potty training is an early effort at gaining this control;
they should also learn to control their temper tantrums at this stage. Parents need to be patient
with their child, because if they never tried, or the parents wont let them do it by themselves, the
child will never learn, and assume that the task is too difficult to learn. If the children are
overprotective, or not given the opportunity to learn, they might become depending upon others,
lack of self-esteem, or experience shame vs. doubt.
The third stage is initiative vs. guilt; initiative means a positive response to the worlds
challenges (Boeree, 1997). This is a stage when preschoolers would like to explore and do things
on their own. Their favorite word changes from No! to Why? Children in this stage want to
understand the world, and they are expected to make some simple decision making. If children
were scolded because of their curiosity, they might feel guilty, and avoid doing so in the future. I
have a cousin whose name is Chandler; he is 6 years old. Chandler is a little angel; he has so
many questions for me. For instance, he asked me what I want to be, what are seniors in high
school, what is psychology, and it goes on and on. He is curious about everything, and it makes
sense to me because he is currently in this stage of Ericksons theory.
Industry vs. inferiority is the fourth stage in Eriksons developmental theory; it is the
beginning of formal education, occurring between six years old to puberty. This is a stage where
children are being exposed to knowledge and work, such as first time going to school. Teachers
begin to take an important role in the childs life (McLeod, 2008). However, the learning does
not only occur in the classroom, but also at home, and on the street, according to Erikson. At this
stage, children are more evolve in the larger community; there are family, teachers and peers.
Parents must encourage, teachers must care, and peers must accept (Boeree, 1997). If there were

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too little to no success or they cant develop a skill that society want, then they will develop a
sense of inferiority. They often doubt his own abilities, and think they are not good enough,
therefore, not reaching their full potential.
Next is identity vs. role confusion occur in adolescence around 18 to 20 years old.
Erikson was a tall, blond, blue-eyed, Jewish, and the kids teased him for being Nordic or Jewish
(Boeree, 1997). He was most interested at this stage because he struggled with his own identity
and he discovered a pattern leading his thinking about all other stages (Boeree, 1997). He felt
that our main social task is to discover what ego identity that we are most comfortable with.
Adolescents try to fit into groups in order to feel confident in their identities. I believe that we
have all been through this stage. When I was still in high school, people separated themselves
into groups. For instance, the athletes, the popular, the nerds, and the theater group. Also, there
were groups for each ethnicity, such as Vietnamese, Korean, and so on. Im Chinese, but were
born and raised in Vietnam; Cantonese is actually my first language. I didnt really fit into the
Vietnamese group, or the Chinese group. I was confused, however, I learned that I dont have to
fit into anything; Im who I am, and I am proud of it.
The sixth stage is intimacy vs. isolation, which is in young adulthood; its from 18 to 30
years old. Young adult have to find a way to balance out work, school, and the relationships with
others, as a lover, a friend, and as a participant in society. How much time should we spend on
ourselves and how much time with our families? What is a romantic relationship? Successful
experience in this stage will lead to comfortable relationships and a sense of safety, and care.
Avoiding this can lead to isolation, depression, and loneliness (McLeod, 2008). Again, the
pattern in this stage will influence the effort spent on self and others in the future.

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Next is generativity vs. stagnation. It is during time which they are actively involved in
raising children. People in this stage have an extension of love into the future. Few parents
expect something in return from their children; if they really do, we dont see them as very good
parents (Boeree, 1997). Erikson also stated that besides raising a children, teaching, writing, arts
and sciences contribute to the wellbeing of the future generation. On the other hand, stagnation is
selfishness, caring for no one. If a person in this stage feel like they havent done anything to
contribute to the society, they might feel stagnation. An example of a person in this stage is my
dad. He has a big heart; he helped people who needed help, and he never expect anything in
return.
The last stage, integrity vs. despair, referred to the late adulthood. Toward the end of our
life, we tend to look back at our accomplishments and decide if we are satisfies with them or not.
Erikson thought that if we can see our life is meaningful, we can get out of the stress and
pressures of society, and offer wisdom and insight. Some older people become occupied with the
past, their regrets, and their decisions making depressed. That is where despair comes in.
Eriksons eight stages of development give us an insight of ones journey through life.
However, in different culture, the timing of these stages can be different. For instance, there was
a time period in which girls are getting married at thirteen years old. In conclusion, Eriksons
work has great influential to the Psychology field. The theory helps psychologist, and just each
individual understand the life processes.

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References
Boeree, G. (1997). Erik Erikson. Retrieved December 10, 2015, from
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/erikson.html
McLeod, S. (2008). Erik Erikson | Psychosocial Stages | Simply Psychology. Retrieved
December 10, 2015, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html
Sharkey, W. (1997, May 1). Erik Erikson. Retrieved December 10, 2015, from
http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/erikson.htm