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Eric Erikson

Erik Erikson's theory of social development proposes that people progress through eight stages of psychosocial development across their lifespan. Each stage is characterized by a crisis between opposing forces that must be navigated. If resolved successfully, it results in a healthy personality and preferred trait. The stages span from infancy to late adulthood and focus on developing trust, autonomy, initiative, competence, identity, intimacy, generativity, and integrity. Erikson's theory provides insights into human development but has limitations as its universality cannot be fully tested and it does not account for cultural differences. It carries educational implications for understanding students' development and adapting teaching methods accordingly.

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148 views4 pages

Eric Erikson

Erik Erikson's theory of social development proposes that people progress through eight stages of psychosocial development across their lifespan. Each stage is characterized by a crisis between opposing forces that must be navigated. If resolved successfully, it results in a healthy personality and preferred trait. The stages span from infancy to late adulthood and focus on developing trust, autonomy, initiative, competence, identity, intimacy, generativity, and integrity. Erikson's theory provides insights into human development but has limitations as its universality cannot be fully tested and it does not account for cultural differences. It carries educational implications for understanding students' development and adapting teaching methods accordingly.

Uploaded by

Josiah precious
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ERIK ERIKSON’S THEORY OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Erikson's stage theory characterizes an individual advancing through the eight life stages as a
function of negotiating their biological and sociocultural forces. Each stage is characterized by a
psychosocial crisis of these two conflicting forces. If an individual does indeed successfully
reconcile these forces (favoring the first mentioned attribute in the crisis), they emerge from the
stage with the corresponding virtue.
1) Hope: TRUST VS. MISTRUST (oral-sensory, infancy, under 2 years)
Existential Question: Can I Trust the World?
The first stage of Erik Erikson's theory centers around the infant's basic needs being met by the
parents and how this interaction leads to trust or mistrust. Trust as defined by Erikson is "an
essential trustfulness of others as well as a fundamental sense of one's own trustworthiness." The
infant depends on the parents, especially the mother, for sustenance and comfort. The child's
relative understanding of world and society comes from the parents and their interaction with the
child. A child's first trust is always with the parent or caregiver; whoever that might be, however,
the caregiver is secondary whereas the parents are primary in the eyes of the child.
2) Will: AUTONOMY VS. SHAME/DOUBT (muscular-anal, toddlerhood, 2–4 years)
Existential Question: Is It Okay to Be Me?
As the child gains control over eliminative functions and motor abilities, they begin to explore
their surroundings. Parents still provide a strong base of security from which the child can
venture out to assert their will. The parents' patience and encouragement helps foster autonomy
in the child. Children at this age like to explore the world around them and they are constantly
learning about their environment. Caution must be taken at this age while children may explore
things that are dangerous to their health and safety.
3) Purpose: INITIATIVE VS. GUILT (locomotor-genital, early childhood, 5–8 years)
 Existential Question: Is it Okay for Me to Do, Move, and Act?
Initiative adds to autonomy the quality of planning, undertaking and attacking a task for the sake
of just being active and on the move. The child is learning to master the world around them,
learning basic skills and principles of physics. Things fall down, not up. Round things roll. They
learn how to zip and tie, count and speak with ease. At this stage, the child wants to begin and
complete their own actions for a purpose. Guilt is a confusing new emotion.
4) Competence: INDUSTRY VS. INFERIORITY ( middle childhood, 9–12 years)

Existential Question: Can I make it in the World of People and Things?

The aim to bring a productive situation to completion gradually supersedes the whims and
wishes of play. The fundamentals of technology are developed. The failure to master trust,
autonomy, and industrious skills may cause the child to doubt his or her future, leading to shame,
guilt, and the experience of defeat and inferiority. "Children at this age are becoming more aware
of themselves as individuals." They work hard at "being responsible, being good and doing it
right." They are now more reasonable to share and cooperate. Allen and Marotz (2003) also list
some perceptual cognitive developmental traits specific for this age group. Children grasp the
concepts of space and time in more logical, practical ways.

5) Fidelity: IDENTITY VS. ROLE CONFUSION (adolescence, 13–19 years)


 Existential Question: Who Am I and What Can I Be?
The adolescent is newly concerned with how they appear to others. Superego identity is the
accrued confidence that the outer sameness and continuity prepared in the future are matched by
the sameness and continuity of one's meaning for oneself, as evidenced in the promise of a
career. The ability to settle on a school or occupational identity is pleasant. In later stages of
adolescence, the child develops a sense of sexual identity. As they make the transition from
childhood to adulthood, adolescents ponder the roles they will play in the adult world.
6) Love: INTIMACY VS. ISOLATION
 Existential Question: Can I Love?
The Intimacy vs. Isolation conflict is emphasized around the age of 30. At the start of this stage,
identity vs. role confusion is coming to an end, though it still lingers at the foundation of the
stage (Erikson, 1950). Young adults are still eager to blend their identities with friends. They
want to fit in. Erikson believes we are sometimes isolated due to intimacy. We are afraid of
rejections such as being turned down or our partners breaking up with us. We are familiar with
pain and to some of us rejection is so painful that our egos cannot bear it. Erikson also argues
that "Intimacy has a counterpart:
7) Care: GENERATIVITY VS. STAGNATION (middle adulthood 40–59 years)
 Existential Question: Can I Make My Life Count?
Generativity is the concern of guiding the next generation. Socially-valued work and disciplines
are expressions of generativity. The adult stage of generativity has broad application to family,
relationships, work, and society. "Generativity, then is primarily the concern in establishing and
guiding the next generation... the concept is meant to include... productivity and creativity."
In contrast, a person who is self-centered and unable or unwilling to help society move forward
develops a feeling of stagnation—a dissatisfaction with the relative lack of productivity.
8) Wisdom: EGO INTEGRITY VS. DESPAIR (late adulthood, 60 years and above)
 Existential Question: Is it Okay to Have Been Me?
As we grow older and become senior citizens we tend to slow down our productivity and explore
life as a retired person. It is during this time that we contemplate our accomplishments and are
able to develop integrity if we see ourselves as leading a successful life. If we see our life as
unproductive, or feel that we did not accomplish our life goals, we become dissatisfied with life
and develop despair, often leading to depression and hopelessness.
The final developmental task is retrospection: people look back on their lives and
accomplishments. They develop feelings of contentment and integrity if they believe that they
have led a happy, productive life. They may instead develop a sense of despair if they look back
on a life of disappointments and unachieved goals.
HOW REALISTIC ERIK ERIKSON’S THEORY OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IS?
Realistically if Erik Erikson’s theory posits that every human being passes through several
distinct and qualitatively different stages in life, from birth to death. According to him, the stages
are universal, and the ages at which one is said to have passed from one to another stage are also
fairly universal. However, it must be kept in mind that Erikson did not have much knowledge of
cultures and societies other than his own, and thus the universality of his theory can and must be
questioned. So it is real.
THE EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION AND HOW ERIK ERIKSON’S THEORY OF
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AFFECT TEACHING AND LEARNING
The impact of this theory in teaching and learning has advantages and disadvantages which are
listed and explained below:

The advantages of Erikson’s theory on how it affects teaching and learning

Stage theory - development took place in stages


Ego identify - formation of ego identity right from birth

Crisis – every individual has to go through crisis in his/her life

The disadvantages of Erikson’s theory on how it affects teaching and learning

Focus on the competing forces rather than emotional development of individuals, Difficult to be
tested scientifically as it is not possible to measure some of the concepts upon which the theory
is based, Fails to specify the effect of failure in one stage impacts which other stages

The Educational implication of this theory

Various educational implications of Erikson’s theory are possible depending upon the age group
of the learner and the tasks they are expected to perform. For example, allowing the child to play
with various natural, simple materials, and role-playing for the expression of fantasy and
imagination. Games, stories and songs can be used. Real-life activities like serving food,
chopping vegetables or making chapattis, prepare children for participation in the community
around them. Child-directed activities where the child chooses his or her activity and repeats it as
often as they want must be encouraged.

Erikson’s psychosocial theory is a very powerful way for building self-awareness and for
improving oneself, as it helps to understand a person’s learning according to his or her personal
differences.

Erikson theory not as a series of steps to achieve in order and on time, but as benchmarks for
educators to analyze the personality of their students and adapt their requests. They can also
encourage their flock to be aware of their shortcomings. All this takes time, energy, is rarely
profitable (except empathy from kids). With both parents at work and no increase in the social
budget that would allow a customized education, young minds continue to bump along on a road
full of ruts of life, and produce the great diversity of adults we know . The society seen by our
self-organizational theory can only be a dynamic of conflicts and never equilibrium.

The implication of Erikson theory is to give as guidelines about the difference psychosocial
development of individual and to prevent further problem with dealing with them and to
construct appropriate methods to solve it if disruptive.

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