Erik Erikson is one of the most influential psychologists of contemporary times. He has articulated the famous theory of personality development in which he has divided the whole process into eight stages. He states first stage as “Trust vs. Mistrust”. (Huitt, W. 1997). At this stage, child builds up trust with the personality fulfilling his needs. It is the case with a preschool child, who, at the stage of his educational infancy, seeks motivation without realization of its nature, structure and benefits. If he successfully meets all that he needs under the supervision of a kind teacher, trust will create. Otherwise, he will look for some other things rather taking interest in his education. Second stage of the model reveals child’s toddler hood that indicates need of confidence in personality. If parents let the child exercise his capabilities freely, (Davis & Clifton, 1995), his autonomy will increase. The pre-school children, while climbing the ladder of his pre-school years, feel the need of exploration of new dimensions. An environment that offers him better chances, his performance in learning new things improves. Erikson calls the third stage as “Initiative vs. Guilt”. If child is granted choice, he develops a positive view of self. If not allowed to make independent choice, tends to develop guilt over taking initiative, and will refrain from taking an active stance (Payne, 1991:304).
While discussing child’s initial school years, it is clear that once an individual undergoes so many restrictions, his decision power shatters largely. He seeks support from other people even on trivial issues.
The theorist calls fourth stage as “Accomplishment/Industry vs. Inferiority”. Bringing a productive situation to completion is an aim, according to Davis & Clifton (1995), which gradually supersedes the whims and wishes of play. Child needs to expand understanding of the world, Payne (1991) observes, continue age-appropriate gender-role identity, & learn basic skills. Failure to do so results in sense of inadequacy. After few months of pre-school life, a person develops social relationship within and outside his classroom. His continuous interaction with teachers, instructors and peer-group supports him in growth. A child thus becomes a regular student and gets familiarity with his role identification. Reaching the fifth stage of “Identity vs. Role Confusion”, child identifies his strengths and weaknesses. It is actually the stage of exploration of self and identity. A child aims at obtaining the identity other than his classroom, therefore he thinks of entering into comparatively vast environment for personal grooming and seeking more knowledge.
Had man no personal relations, he would have no space to exercise his abilities. The sixth stage of “Intimacy vs. Isolation” reveals the need of personal associations with fellow students, peer group and individuals around him. The seventh stage in the Erikson’s module depicts the concepts of “Generativity vs. Stagnation.” There is a need to go beyond self and family, Taylor (1995) views, and be involved in helping the next generation. A stage comes when child looks eager to share his productivity within his environment and his ideas serve as a precious advice for others. A brilliant student also transfers his innocent experiences, skills and essence of pre school time to his younger siblings or cousins etc.
“Ego Integrity vs. Despair” is the final stage of child’s life that is of change and seeking further steps. At this time, child either feels satisfied on his accomplishments in his surroundings or repents on not achieving the ‘goals’ properly. In pre-school time, a child dreams high and draws many plans, though he is unable to achieve every thing.
The Erikson’s Theory maintains imperative significance while applying it in the pre-school classroom. The classroom is one of the most important social institutions in a child’s development and leaves indelible impacts on the growth and personality of the child. In order to make a child a successful person in his future life, it would be extremely necessary to apply and exercise the basic traits of the Erikson’s theory of personality development in the classroom. While critically examining the different stages, it becomes evident that children must be treated with kindness and affection so that he can share his problems and difficulties with the teacher without any fear. In addition, it will create a sense of gratitude in him. Secondly, a child should be taught to avoid all which is harmful for him. It may infuse the power to make distinction between right and wrong in him. Moreover, sense of confidence must be build up in the children during pre-school years so that they can take initiative while performing one task or the other. “If a child is suppressed and discouraged from taking action and step according to his own choice, he may prove himself a courageous and useful member of society.” (Zaidi, 2003:31) A professional pre-school teacher loves to project the hidden qualities of pre-school children, which are supportive in finding out his interests and aptitude towards some specific tasks and disciplines. A sensible pre-school teacher keeps in mind the Erikson’s stages of learning and mould the atmosphere of the classroom in a friendly way, where every student is ready to help out his fellow-beings both in learning and at play. They learn how to perform their obligations in group. The feelings of mutual understandings and care make the innocent children co-operative, caring, kind and compassionate. Thus, Erikson’s theory is beneficial for teachers to apply in pre-school classroom.
Appendix
(Erikson’s Theory of Socio emotional Development)
Stage
Age
Expected Resolution
Trust vs. Mistrust
Infancy
Child develops a belief that the environment can be counted on to meet his or her basic physiological and social needs
Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
Toddler hood
Child learns what he/she can control and develops a sense of free will and corresponding sense of regret and sorrow for inappropriate use of self-control.
Initiative vs. Guilt
Early Childhood
Child learns to begin action, to explore, to imagine as well as feeling remorse for actions
Accomplishment/Industry vs. Inferiority
Middle Childhood/ Elementary
Child learns to do things well or correctly in comparison to a standard or to others
Identity vs. Role Confusion
Adolescence
Develops a sense of self in relationship to others and to own internal thoughts and desires (Later work has shown two sub stages: a social identity focusing on which group a person will identify with and a personal identity focusing on abilities, goals, possibilities, etc.)
Intimacy vs. Isolation
Young Adult
Develops ability to give and receive love; begins to make long-term commitment to relationships
Generativity vs. Stagnation
Middle Adulthood
Develops interest in guiding the development of the next generation
Ego Integrity vs. Despair
Older Adulthood
Develops a sense of acceptance of life as it was lived and the importance of the people and relationships that individual developed over the lifespan
Bingham and Stryker (1995) suggest that development of identity, intimacy and generativity may receive different emphases throughout adulthood for men and women. They propose five stages of socioemotional development for girls and women that parallels those proposed by Erikson, but place different emphases at important sensitive time periods.
Feldman, D.C. & Whitcomb, K.M. (2005), “The effects of framing vocational choices on Decision-making training for occupational choice and early turnover: a field experiment. Career Development International, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Huitt, W. (1997). Socio Emotional Development. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved
Kerka, Sandra (1992). Life Cycles and Career Development: New Models. ERIC Digest No. 119. ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult Career and Vocational Education Columbus OH.
It is the first stage of development which focuses on the infant’s basic needs, which the parent fulfills. The baby’s interaction with them creates a conflict of either trust or mistrust since the child is entirely dependent on them, especially the mother. In the United Arab Emirates context, women are expected to be the sole caregiver, while men supports them by providing such material needs as housing, food and clothing (Gross, 2020).
The child is still young and interacts with the world through the guardians and copies their society’s perspective. In a typical Arab family in the UAE, kids are undervalued. To instill trust, comfort and immediate response to needs are required, which is mainly the mother’s role. The girl might lose faith in society because of neglect from her father, which might affect her ability to form a healthy relationship.
Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
At this stage, toddlers start asserting their independence and insisting on following their decisions. They focus on developing personal control, performing necessary actions, and making preferences on such things as the food they like (Orenstein & Lewis, 2020). In the case study, the girl at this age might emphasize gaining emotional control over her conduct. She might dictate who touches her toys, the kind of toys she wants, and clothing.
In most cultural settings, including UAE, the girl is introduced to toilet training, which further builds independence (Coelho et al., 2020). However, as noted above, the locality involves authoritarian traditions. Thus, the behavior is guided by strict adherence to adult rules, and any digression results in severely harsh punishment, especially for publicly displayed social behavior. If she is allowed to make all these decisions herself, she will develop stable self-esteem and independence. If the family is less liberal and treats her biasedly because she is female, she can develop less self-confidence.
Initiative vs. Guilt
At this stage, children begin to engage in existential questions and are propelled by initiative self. They master the world and environment around them, learning fundamental skills (Orenstein & Lewis, 2020). Within the case study, it is obvious when the girl is interacting with complex emotions such as guilt. Because of her locality’s nature and customs, she realizes the existence of strict rules to adhere to. She thus has to make decisions based on the consequences that might follow. Usually, conservative societies limit the capacity of children from wholly submitting to their instincts and desires, particularly if they overlap the cultural boundaries. She can develop negative behaviors if she is overly restricted due to frustrations because of her unachieved goals. As such, she needs an understanding surrounding to guide her in making appropriate rational decisions which do not interfere with other people’s wellbeing.
Industry vs. Inferiority
At this stage, children are influenced by emotions in their decision-making and distracted from achieving their goals. They learn to develop new skills necessary to fit in the setting without becoming overwhelmed with guilt, shame, and feeling inferior. The girl is engaged more in school than home since most of her life is now wholly focused on academics, and she is introduced to societal roles and gender variations (Cross, 2017). Due to gender prioritization, where males are perceived to be more deserving of education than females, the girl at this stage can start feeling inferior (Zhi, 2016). However, if she masters her schoolwork well, she can develop a positive self with the right support. Learning to deal with academic and social demands are rewarding and boosts her feelings of competence. Consequently, she will learn to believe in her skills and abilities and succeed.
Identity vs. Role Confusion
At this stage, children face the most turbulent points, which affects their version of identity. The adolescent develops concern with how others see them in their public image. In UAE, the concept of self is almost inherently dependent on family status and reputation (Coelho et al.,2020). It is equally founded on the kind of support that is accorded to them. However, families exploring liberal ways can be associated with the girl in the case study by embracing both authoritarian and permissive styles of parenting. She will develop awareness of her sexual identity in the transition phase to adulthood by noticing men and wondering if they find her pretty and suited for a family. However, her actions are still restricted because of her people’s conservative culture. Her identity provides her with an integrated and cohesive sense of self, which she can maintain throughout her life.
Intimacy vs. Isolation
At the start of this stage, identity and confusion come to an end progressively. The young adult is still eager to blend with friends, especially peers, to stabilize personal identity due to the need to fit. Within the case studies context, the girl might want to associate with her age mates and even find love (Orenstein & Lewis, 2020). In college, the social rules are somewhat flexible, and she might be at liberty to interact with potential husbands.
If she faces rejection from gay people she admires, she might resort to self-alienation. The result could be similar if she breaks up with her boyfriend, and some people have a relatively lesser capacity to deal with pain, thus could trigger instantiation. However, she might get married to a suitor of the parent’s choice, which will leave her heartbroken. The consequences of her choosing her partner or the guardians are equally dependent on the extent of liberty. The marriage could be an opportunity to reconstruct her self-identity; thus, she might have lost in the previous stages or get lonely.
Generativity vs. Stagnation
In middle adulthood, individuals are faced with questions concerning the meaningfulness of their contributions to the community for its betterment. During this period, people who succeed in managing the expectations and work on their potential for what they feel is useful to society feel generative (Orenstein & Lewis, 2020). At this time, she will probably move from her parental home to her matrimonial house and nurture her family. As a college graduate, she could get employment in either government parastatal or private firms. However, cultural gender roles require her to dedicate more time for her husband and children than work (Coelho et al., 2020). She will be responsible for her kid’s development, especially in elementary school. If she finds a way to balance between the responsibilities and home setting, she will have achieved generativity. However, the possible opposite result is stagnation of feelings since she can feel useless to society.
Ego Integrity vs. Despair
The stage begins when an aging adult begins to engage with the challenge of mortality. These preliminary stages are triggered by retirement, loss of friends, spouses, acquaintances, facing a terminal illness, or any other major life event (Orenstein & Lewis, 2020). At this stage, she probably might have retired from her career or be almost retiring. She might extensively reflect on her past life, school-going, family, and workdays to develop a sense of either fulfillment or despair. She might also evaluate her relationships with other people starting with her immediate environment family. In case she never pursued a career after her college graduation, she might access to see if it was a wrong or right decision and the probable outcome of each choice. If she lived a fulfilling life, she would feel complete and successful.
Erik Erikson (1995), asserted that personality continues developing during an individual’s life span (p.37). As adulthood appears closer, adolescents focus their attention to their status in the society.
As a result of this, Erikson devised a structured theory of development over the lifespan that has been extremely influential in understanding how youngsters manage identity issues in adolescence. Erikson’s theory structured the natural life into eight stages, each of which brings a psychosocial crisis involving transitions in important social relationships.
This essay will reflect on the fifth stage of Eric Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, which is the adolescence stage under the psychosocial crisis of identity. The major crisis or inconsistency in this stage is between identity and misunderstanding of responsibility.
The purpose or motion of this crisis is to realize a personal identity. Recognition of continuity and sameness in one’s personality, when in different circumstances and when reacted to by different individuals, leads to identity.
An idea that supports my view from Erikson’s theory is the fact that identity refers to having a relatively clear and stable sense of whom an individual is in the larger society with a sense of self as an independent, dynamic, and competent agent in a comparatively safe world.
Though, developing a sense of identity involves wrestling with such important issues as “Who am I?” “What do I stand for?” and “What kind of work do I want to do?” Gender, ethnicity, and sexual preference are also important characteristics of identity development.
Another idea is that identity emerges out of an “identity crisis,” or a period of individual questioning during which they wonder and experiment with various occupational possibilities and value choices (political, religious, sexual, etc.).
For most people, an identity crisis is not an unexpected or excruciating experience but rather the continuing evolution of a sense of who an individual is. An identity crisis generally ends with a dedication to a specific career and personal value system. These two factors of crisis and commitment merge in various ways to produce four identity statuses.
Note that these are not stages that people pass through, but rather statuses that exemplify a person’s identity orientation at any particular time. As a result, a person may never experience some of the statuses, including identity achievement.
A different perspective is the positioning of identity proceedings which are impulsive dedication to visions, and values which may be hindered by feelings of mistrust, shame and doubt, guilt, and/or inferiority and futility.
Another idea that supports my view is that identity formation is a challenging process even under the best circumstances; problems in earlier development may render it even more difficult and decrease likelihood of positive outcomes.
From my point of view, the conception of identity can be summarized as consisting the following elements and their various interrelations:
Identity is a clear or understood answer to the question, who am I?
that consists of attaining a new unity among the elements of one’s past and one’s anticipations for the future,
such that it gives origin to a primary logic of similarity and continuity.
the answer to the identity question is reached by practically appraising oneself and one’s past;
by considering one’s culture, particularly its ideology, and the expectations that society has for oneself,
while, at the same time, questioning the validity of both culture and society and the appropriateness of the perceptions that others have of oneself.
Works Cited
Erikson, Erik. Childhood and Society. New York, NY: Vintage, 1995. Print.
Life is a series of challenges that helps us to develop; each stage in our life presents us with a challenge to face and a lesson to learn. Failing to overcome any challenge in one stage of life dearly affects us in the next stage or later stages of life as we would have missed out on an important lesson. Erickson’s model of development offers a wonderful way of explaining our development stages. The theory outlines eight major development stages that a person undergoes in his/her life. Different terms are used to explain Erikson’s model, for instance, bio-psychological or bio-psychosocial. All these terms refer to the identical eight stages of Erikson’s psychosocial model. This model is one of Erikson’s most distinctive works (Roazen, 1976).
Erikson Eight Stages In Life
Eriksson’s concept is simple and neat, however, it is very sophisticated, and the concept is a base for extensive or complex discussion and examination of personality and behavior. The concept is also important for understanding and also for facilitating personal development – of oneself and others (Crain, 1985).
The main elements in the concept
Stage One; Birth to 12 to 18 Months the Oral Stage; Trust vs. Mistrust
This is the infant stage; the infant is feed and comforted by the mother through teething and sleeping. This stage is characterized by the infant developing trust or mistrust towards people according to how it will be treated specially by the mother (Crain, 1985).
In this stage we find that Long ago, people never used to pay much attention to a child’s development process. Once a baby was born, the changes between adulthood and birth were ignored. Their physical growth and cognitive abilities were not very important. From the 20th century child’s development matters were dealt with seriousness. During this time, much emphasis was put on abnormal behavior. Generally when a child is born; the parents expect him or her to develop normally into a mature human being. A child is expected to go through infancy, early childhood then middle childhood. Development of a child is naturally continuous and gradual. This includes socially, emotionally, and physically.
Though this is expected, a child’s growth and development may sometimes be slower or faster than normal. Many people know that a child’s development is simply biological. Child development can also be affected by environmental factors. The people around a child will influence the child’s growth and development. Children learn by imitating and they will only imitate the people who are in contact with them early in life.
Stage Two 18 Months to 3 Yrs Old; Muscular Anal Stage; Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt
The child starts learning and being able to undertake simple activities like controlling bodily parts and walking. At this stage the child is taught toilet manners and walking. The toddle has self doubt and should be guided well. (Crain, 1985) this developmental stage involves the exploration of the child’s physical activities, under we find that the child’s motor is being developed, whereby the child Starts learning and being able to undertake simple activities like controlling bodily parts and walking. At this stage the child gets to know more about play thus some of them start playing with toys, identifying colors textures, and even walking. Here the child is said to have self-doubt and therefore he or she should be guided well by the parents or the caretaker.
Stage Three 3-6yrs Old; Locomotor Stage; Imitative Vs. Guilt
The child has reached a level of discovering and exploring new things, the child plays a lot and takes a lot of adventure. This stage is regarded as a level of discovering and exploring new things, the child plays a lot and takes a lot of adventure. However, this stage is characterized by the child being imitative and feeling guilty, therefore this child has reached a stage where the parent should therefore come with a way of satisfying his or her child, though this job of parenting itself is found to be a challenge through which trusting each other while playing, this forms a good relationship of the child with others. The child is, therefore, expected to broaden her social perspectives and become more involved with those around her (Crain, 1985).
Stage Four 6-12 Years Old Latency stage; Industry vs. Inferiority;
This stage of development sees the child going to school where he/she starts to learn a lot from teachers, friends, and neighbors. The child achieves and accomplishes some activities. Psychological the child will be industrious or become inferior. (Crain, 1985) at this stage, we find that the theory says that the immediate environment that the child lives in shapes his or her development, learning, and behavior. The reaction to surroundings is what fosters the learning of the child. This is where teachers create the teacher-initiated learning activities that children learn from teachers and also other adults around them in the school set up. When the child follows the teacher’s instructions the learning is very successful. In the classroom setup, the students just sit and listen to their teacher attentively. Children can be given workbooks that include coloring and tracing when they are still at home by the parents to help them learn.
Stage Five 12-18 Years Old; Identity Vs Role Confusion; Peer Relationships
Stage five is reached when in the adolescent stage, the adolescent form’s association with peer groups, and he/she is influenced by these peer groups. The person also has a challenge resolving his/her identity and getting direction in his/ her life, the person in this stage is becoming an adult and undergoes role confusion (Crain, 1985).
Stage Six 19-40 Year Old; Intimacy vs. Isolation; Love Relationships
The person is in young adulthood and forms intimate relations and gets into love relations, start a family life by marrying. The person also in this stage is employed or has other professional activities he/she is involved in such as business. Here, an individual has a social life that he/she is involved in (Crain, 1985).
Stage Seven 40-65 Years Old; Generativity vs. Stagnation; Parenting
The stage is reached in mid-adult and the person has children to take care of and the community to contribute to. The individual is a parent and undergoes Generativity against stagnation. The individual is challenged by finding a way of satisfying others (Crain, 1985).
Stage eight 65-80 Years Old; Wisdom and Renunciation
According to Erikson, this stage is reached by adults in their late years, a person reflects on the purpose of life and the achievement he/she has made. The person is concerned about the welfare of the community and the world as a whole. The person is either wise or suffers from renunciation (Crain, 1985).
Reasons for Choosing Erik Erikson Human Development Theory
This Erikson’s theory of human development Human growth and development involves the examination of the behavior of human beings from a bio-psychosocial point of view. Under this theory we find that the psychological development of a person is usually described in terms of age, personality, behavior, or psychological maturity and with specific regard to biological processes that take place in the life cycle of a man. There is also an assumption that human growth and development are strategically entrenched within the context of the social setting in which a person is brought up. Since every stage of human development is influenced primarily by external factors, it is paramount that we understand the social, political, cultural, or societal backgrounds of each and every person.
This theory indicates that human beings grow stage by stage and it spreads throughout their lives (infant stage to old age) i.e. people don’t stop growing until they die. Since not all change that takes place in human lives is considered development, it must be able to have a permanent feature for it to be considered an element of development. Erikson’s theory indicates that each stage of development is therefore influenced by variables within the environment such that every stage of development becomes the base for the series of the next stage. Some developmental changes are also transactional and interpersonal.
From this theory of human development, we can therefore conclude that the human growth and development process is crucial to each and every human being and its commencement occurs immediately after conception. People take various steps to grow and develop physically and psychologically. This theory shows that as a child grows he or she can learn and become knowledgeable and in the process develops future ideals. It is evident that the growth of a child takes one step at a time and one step leads to another. Although it is believed that every child has its way of growing and developing, the scientists claim that the stages for child growth are usually the same.
References
Crain, W. C. (1985): Theories of Development, 2Rev Ed, Prentice-Hall.
Marcia, J. E., (1966): Development and validation of ego identity status, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 3
Roazen, P. (1976): Erik H. Erikson: The Power and Limits of a Vision, N.Y.; The Free Press
All human beings are different in one way or another. Human beings are not born with identities; however, they acquire their identities with time. Identity crisis occurs during teenage years when people struggle between identity and confusion. The balance between identity and confusion lies in commitment making and identity.
Since life contains lessons, Erikson’s theory has contributed to the elaboration of development. According to this theory, each person experiences eight psychological crises; Erikson’s development framework includes eight stages that cover an individual’s lifespan, which assist an individual to faces and confronts the new challenges (Erik Erikson’s development theory of identity development, n.d, p.45).
The epigenetic principle states that characteristics developed at each stage are carried to the next stage as they rely on each other. According to Whitley (2009, p.29), “this principle acts as an explanation of growth, anything that grows has a ground plan and out of this ground plan the parts arise, each part has it time of special ascendancy until all parts have arisen to form a functioning whole.”
These stages include, the first stage, trust vs. mistrust (infancy, which ranges from 0 to 18 months) where trust or mistrust can be developed. A mother can establish trust to the infant through care, so that the infant does not develop mistrust towards the world at large. In this stage, the needs of an infant such as food, comfort, and affection are met by parents. If the caregivers are neglectful or abusive, the infant learns that the world is an uncouth place for people.
Developing the trust of others is essential in an individual’s life, for instance, a child, will only learn to trust his mother if he is taken care of regularly. In addition, infants begin to trust themselves as pertains to their bodies, such that they can reach for something, crawl, stand, and finally walk. However, delays in body satisfaction may result to mistrust of time (Erik Erikson’s development theory of identity development, n.d, p.46).
The second stage is autonomy vs. shame; that is common in toddlers between 18 months and 3 years. In this stage, toddlers begin exploring their environment with the support of their parents; however, caution is required as the toddlers may access things that are dangerous and harmful to their health and safety. In this stage, a child will develop special interests in specific things, such as music. However, when parents are too strict, they may hinder the child’s attempt to venture into new challenges.
This stage also attributes to a child’s training, for instance, toilet training whereby a child is able to control body waste products until he reaches the toilet. However, if too much is demanded from the children, there is a possibility of children developing doubts in their capability to accomplish tasks.
The third stage includes initiative vs. guilt, which ranges between 3 to 5 years; here, children learn to be logical, for instant, the fact that items fall down and not upwards. They also learn risk taking in the process of learning, for instant, crossing the road alone or riding a bicycle without wearing a helmet. A child may also develop a sense of frustration for not being able to achieve his goals. If a child fails to achieve his goals, he may suffer from guilt and seem powerless if ridiculed by peers (Nevid, 2008, p.349).
The fourth stage, industry vs. inferiority is a stage that occurs between 6 to 11 years, whereby children are eager to learn, hence developing through reading, writing, and communicating. However, children at this stage can be rebellious; nevertheless, if children perform competently in school and in extra- curriculum activities, they result to being industrious by taking up a role in these activities. Self-confidence is developed in most children at this stage, as they recognize their talents such as in sports or music.
The fifth stage serves as a growth point in an individual’s life; therefore, it is an indication of potential growth towards a quality personality of the rest of one’s life. Identity vs. identity confusion occurs in adolescence between 12-18 years. The adolescents are usually concerned with their personality in the presence of others, as they develop a sexual identity. In this stage, adolescents develop a sense of personal identity, while avoiding the dangers of diffusion and confusion.
Identity achievement is achieved when an individual recognizes his strengths and weaknesses and determines the best way to deal with them. This stage is very important as it contributes towards realization of an identity, whereby, one goes through puberty and the need to establish boundaries.
The sixth stage is intimacy vs. isolation, which ranges between 19 to 40 years. Identity confusion ends as adults understand identities and fit in well socially. Adults are afraid of being turned down or their relationship breaking, therefore, long-term commitments are made.
Generativity vs. stagnation is the seventh stage in middle age from 40 to 65, that entails guiding the next generation by either raising a family or contributing towards the society, hence resulting to a sense of productivity and accomplishment.
Finaly, the last eighth stage is ego integrity vs. despair is the final stage of development, which is accompanied by low productivity due to old age and retirement. At this stage, people look back at their accomplishments and feel content. However, in case of a negative outcome, an individual in this stage may consider his life as a waste, since he was not able to accomplish his goals. Erikson’s theory stresses on our adaptive nature; however, it can also be considered vague regarding the causes of development.
Addressing Differences in Gender and Culture
According to Franz & White (1985 p227), Erikson has neglected personality of both genders, as he does not elaborate much on the development of intimacy in both genders. The main critique is that the theory fails to account for the interpersonal attachments, which are essential development of both male and female. In the identity stage, pubescence is characterized by rapid body changes, which enhance sexual awareness.
Nevertheless, Erikson’s theory, as a personality theory, fails to account for personality developments in both genders. Erikson assumes that development stages are the same for both females and males. His theory elaborates that one must accept his own sex, however sex does not determine how one functions. Nevertheless, Eriksson’s theory does not apply to some cultures, as they do not acknowledge some of the stages. In addition, women do not literally fit in Erikson’s model as it mainly focuses on the male gender.
How the Theory Presents a Comprehensive Explanation of Personality Development
The adolescent stage in Erikson’s stage of psychosocial development establishes a sense of personality identity. However, failure to develop identity dramatically results in role confusion. In the intimacy vs. isolation stage, people explore personal relationships, hence developing close and intimate relationships with other people, some ending up developing secure and committed relationships. In Erikson’s theory, adolescents have unlimited imagination that allows one to develop and exercise his new skills.
Adolescents look for affirmation from their seniors hence identify confusion. According to Erikson’s stage of development, personality develops in a pre-determined order – it develops throughout one lifetime.
Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development has eight stages, each of which yields to a healthy personality and interactions. However, unhealthy personality may result from failure to complete a particular stage. In trust vs. mistrust, trust is developed when a child is sure that the world is secure, however, if this stage is incomplete, trust may never be achieved.
In the autonomy vs. shame and doubt stage, a child learns to be more confident and develops ability to pick things on his own; however, if a child is discouraged and criticized, he will feel incapable of surviving, hence become dependent on others.
Industry vs. inferiority stage involves a child comparing his worthiness to others; hence, the caregiver should ensure that the child feels worth, as an initiative towards developing personality. Identity v. role confusion stage entails adolescence search for an identity, hence this stage involves exploration in search of one’ identity.
In the intimacy vs. isolation stage, young adults make major choices regarding their future, for instant, who they want to spend their lives with, dating or when they want to settle down; the choices made are based on their own personality. In this theory, every stage is important and paves way for the next stage; however, if a stage is not successful, it yields to failure that affects an individual’s personality (Jeannine, 2007).
Addressing the Changes in Personality Over the Lifespan
Erik Erikson’s theory elaborates that personality develops throughout ones lifetime. According to Clitton & Davis (1995) Erikson theory emphasizes on the importance of personality in childhood, hence rejecting Freud’s attempt to describe personality only based on sexuality.
However, Erikson feels that personality develops even after five years of age. Each stage in Erikson’s theory is associated with psychosocial crisis that is based on physiological development. However, the outcome of one stage is not permanent since it can be influenced by later experiences.
Social and sexual factors contribute to personality development in this theory. According to Singer (1975, p.17), when a baby is born, he leaves the mother’s womb and enters the world, in which there are opportunities and limitations of his culture. The author further elaborates that Erikson’s theory attempts to include a child’s social growth, his culture, and societal forces as the main contributors of personality.
Erikson believes that each individual meets a crisis in each stage and he should resolve the crisis before moving to the next stage. Therefore, Erikson’s theory mainly views crisis as a turning point of a potential. The development of trust in offspring is because of care from mothers.
According to Whitley (2009, p.21), Erikson’s development stages are a series of life structures which change with time; it is a design of a person’s life in each stage. As an individual progress through each stage, he/she gains a positivity or negativity, which determines the personality change in each stage.
As a child grows significantly, a relationship forms between family and friends, and encompasses one’s culture. Identity crisis was referred to a situation where one encountered difficulties in the outcast of his society and environment; for instance, war veterans. However, in adolescents, identity describes an experience in that particular stage, especially in the fifth stage, which determines progress towards a healthy personality. The author further indicates that solid formation of an identity determines a healthy personality.
A healthy personality cannot be formed without a solid identity; hence, ego identity determines one’s ability to maintain immutability. Therefore, a healthy personality is achieved as long as an individual is capable of taking advantage of an opportunity that maintains their desire in life. Likewise, a healthy society should be capable of assisting and respecting an individual’s choices (Whitley, 2009, p.33). Therefore, personality changes at each level in the lifecycle, whereas crisis and positive outcomes determine the nature of a personality.
How Erikson’s Theory Fits in Modern Times
Erik Erikson’s identity theory elaborates on the stages of development in a lifespan; however, this theory has been subjected to many critiques throughout. For instant, in Erikson’s fifth stage on identity formation, questions have risen on whether it is possible for an individual to change throughout his life. His theory also seems more applicable in the male gender other than the female gender, and he simply emphasizes more on the childhood stages other that adulthood.
Each stage in his theory is marked by virtues learned by an individual, which he must absorb. Each trait that is acquired in a stage is essential for the next stage as a child grows. In addition, each stage is accompanied by crisis, which is a turning point that results to integrity. This theory signifies the life stages that an individual goes through. It is however essential in the modern society as it is an indication of how we develop our personalities.
When children come into the world, they are naïve and hardly understand anything, it is only logical that they adapt and learn from the way they are treated. If they are given special care, for instance through breastfeeding, they develop trust to the surrounding environment and believe that the world is harmless.
However, if they are neglected, they develop a completely different attitude towards the world. This is exactly what happens; therefore, this theory is realistic. The theory has further elaborated on identity crisis, a common factor that individuals face at a particular stage in life, especially in teenage.
Erikson’s theory has been explored by many authors, among them being Marcia who in his journal has further elaborated on identity. This includes identity statuses that vary from achievement, moratorium, and foreclosure and identity diffusion. Identity achievement occurs when a person explores different identities but makes a commitment to only one identity. Moratorium is a status of an individual who actively explores different identities but has not made any commitment.
While foreclosure involves a status, which involves making a commitment, but without exploring identity, identity diffusion occurs without the presence commitment or identity crisis (Marcia, 1966, p.552). In today’s changing world, identity crises are common than in early years, therefore exploring of one’s aspects at work, home and in relationships, contributes in strengthening one’s personal identity. Erik Erikson’s theory explores personality from childhood stage to despair stage, clearly identifying the role and social experiences in each stage.
The extension of Erikson’s research by Marcia is a clear indication of the quality of Erikson’s theory. According to Lerner (2002, p.417), Erikson’s epigenetic principle further explain that, as ego develops, it is faced with new demands in the society.
However, if these demands are healthy, development is evident; therefore, if the new demands are to be met, adaptations are necessary. For instant, an infant is only expected to consume food given by the caregiver, but when she/he is adult, he is expected to work. Therefore, the theory enlightens us that a behavior that seemed adaptive at some age does not remain functional for a lifetime.
What should be added or subtracted to the theory to make it fit into modern times?
The theory is faced with several critiques, emphasizing mainly on childhood and only lightly discussing on adulthood. The theory is compared to a life-long project, from birth to death, and somehow answers questions regarding development in life and how personality is achieved. Therefore, the theory is important to learners and researchers but has room for improvement. Erikson’s theory has fulfilled a social need for a theory in explaining the concept of psychological growth and development and adaptation to rapid and dramatic changes in life.
Nevertheless, according to Hoare (2005, p.21), people continue to adapt to life as it unfolds, meaning, change is required in each stage of the life cycle. In addition, Erikson focused his attention on children mainly before turning into adults thus discovering the problem of ego identity in the adolescent stage. Thereafter, he focused on adulthood in terms of intimacy and relationships. According to the author, Erikson illustrates how a person’s body complies with psychological needs, fears, and experiences that may contribute to physical or mental illness.
According to Sorell & Montgomery (2001, p.105), a female standpoint critiques Erikson’s identity theory in that, it excludes the lives of women and it is limited to identity, hence there is need to consider human experience in explorations of self-construction. In addition, there is need to correct on the omission of women in the Erickson’s theory.
Conclusion
Individual’s identity is currently changing due to new experiences and information acquired from interacting with peers. Therefore, Erikson emphasizes that competence motivates behavior and individual’s actions. When each development stage is handled well, a sense of mastery or strength is achieved. However, if a stage is poorly managed, a sense of inadequacy will be achieved. Each of the development stages involves a conflict that an individual must encounter, thus a possibility of growth and failure is higher.
A healthy personality is achieved as long as an individual is capable of taking advantage of an opportunity that maintains his/her desire in life. Therefore, a healthy society should be capable of assisting and respecting an individual’s choices. The epigenetic principle indicates that an individual develops through unfolding personality which is partly determined by our success. Nevertheless, Erikson’s theory is important in modern society, as it assists learners to understand life development and cycle.
Hoare, C. (2005). Erikson’s general and adult developmental revisions of Freudian thought: “outward, forward, upward. Journal of Adult Development, Vol. 12, No. Web.
Jeannine, S. (2007). Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages Applied to Supervision. Guidance & Counseling, Vol. 21, Issue 3. Web.
Lerner, R. (2002). Concepts and theories of human development; Edition 3. Routledge Publisher. Web.
Nevid, J. (2008). Psychology: Concepts and Applications. OH: Cengage Learning, Publisher.
Singer, D. (1975). Charlotte’s web; Erikson’s life cycle. School Library Journal. Web.
Sorell, G. Montgomery, M. (2001). Feminist Perspectives on Erikson’s Theory: Their Relevance for Contemporary Identity Development Research. Identity: an international journal of theory and research, 1(2), 97–128 Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Web.
Whitley, B. (2009). Applying a comprehensive-internal model for the evaluation of social-scientific research to the identity crisis stage of Erik Erikson’s developmental theory. Web.
Erikson’s theory of development describes eight stages which occur at a certain time of life (from infancy to old age) and are associated with specific developmental crises and tasks (Erikson, Erikson, & Kivnick, 1986; Malone, Liu, Vaillant, Rentz, & Waldinger, 2016). Erikson viewed the ability to meet these tasks and resolve these crises as important for one’s identity formation and mental health (Malone et al., 2016). Today, the theory is used as a framework for the development of humans (Knight, 2017; Malone et al., 2016). Furthermore, it has been employed to customize therapy (Marcia & Josselson, 2013). Therefore, I can apply it to my personal experience and reflect on my identity formation.
The Relation of the Theory to the First Four Stages of my Life
When using Erikson’s theory of development, it may be necessary to review the prior stages since they can affect each subsequent one. The first stage of development is infancy, in which children are balancing the feeling of trust and mistrust (Kalat, 2013; Malone et al., 2016). As I still struggle when establishing social relations, I believe that at that point, I was not successful in developing trust. The second stage is early childhood, and its critical conflict is autonomy versus shame and doubt (Malone et al., 2016). I think that I was successful there and developed a sense of control over my abilities because I have not experienced any issues with autonomy in my adolescent life.
The third stage is the preschool age, during which the sense of initiative or guilt is formed (Kalat, 2013). I have struggled with a sense of guilt over my decisions in adolescence, which makes me think that I was not successful then. The fourth stage is referred to as the school age. During it, the sense of industry or inferiority is established (Kalat, 2013). I believe that I have developed a sense of inferiority due to my academic struggles, which resulted in doubts and problems with decision-making. With the mentioned successes and failures, I entered the fifth stage: my adolescence.
My Personal Development of Adolescent Characteristics
According to Erikson, the fifth stage involves the task of acquiring one’s identity, which can either be a success or lead to role confusion (Malone et al., 2016). I believe I made some progress in my identity formation during adolescence. For example, I developed a relatively good understanding of my character. The five positive characteristics I have are honesty, loyalty, compassion, preference, and fairness. I became aware of my positive features mainly when learning how to cope with difficulties because thinking of the good traits helped my self-esteem and confidence. I believe that good characteristics balance out the negative ones, which aids me in focusing on the good side of my character and develop it. It is the primary way for me to overcome the negative aspects of my personality: I compensate them with what is good about me.
The five negative features that I have are messiness, shyness, criticism, thin skin and laziness. I have been aware of the messiness, shyness, and laziness since I was a child due to the remarks from my friends and family. The criticism and the thin skin aspects became evident to me in my adolescence when I was looking for an explanation of my issues with establishing social relationships. Thus, I experienced a growing understanding of my identity in my youth.
My concerns during early adolescence were connected to fitting with the rest of my environment. During my middle adolescence, I was worried about what I wanted to do in life. During my late adolescence, I was focused on understanding myself and my personality better. In the first two stages, I could not figure out how to deal with my issues, and the only tool that I used to address them was self-reflection. Consequently, they led me to the point where I wanted to understand myself better. I think that the latter stage was the key to dealing with the mentioned problems, and it is also directly connected to the typical adolescence crisis described by Erikson.
The event that marked a positive turning point in my life and had a profound influence on my personality was the change in my relationships with parents. During my middle adolescence, we had a lot of issues with communication. I think that the lack of trust between us at the time could be traced back to my infancy stage. However, by the end of my adolescence, I decided that I needed to understand myself better to be able to build good relationships with people. Looking back, I think that the hard time in my life pushed me towards becoming more mature, and I do not feel too bad about it.
I believe that my relationships with peers were not healthy for the most of my childhood and early adolescent life. As for other connections, I had some problems with the teachers who I viewed as excessively strict. I did not have any romantic interests, but I was not worried about it; my main concern was the problems with making friends. My thin skin was also contributing to the issue because I could be offended by any minor remark. I think that the mentioned difficulties can be traced back to my sense of inferiority which was developed during school age; problematic relationships also enhanced the feeling and made my life rather miserable. However, by the middle of my adolescence, I was learning to understand my issues and work on my negative traits, which helped me connect later in life.
My relationship with my parents was complicated during my childhood and middle youth because of the misunderstandings between us. This problem was resolved over the course of my adolescence as I became more aware of the issue and started working on it. The positive aspect of our relationship is the feeling that we will support each other because we are a family. It is a sense I had even at the times when our relationship was in bad stages.
Conclusion
The application of Erikson’s theory to my personal development can yield the following conclusions. I did not always manage to resolve the crises of different developmental stages, which affected my subsequent identity formation in a way that can be perceived as negative. However, during adolescence, my progress towards understanding my identity helped me to resolve some of the issues that followed from prior stages. Self-reflection was my main concern at the time, but it also was a tool, and it helped me to improve my ability to connect with other people.
References
Erikson, E., Erikson, J., & Kivnick, H. (1986). Vital involvement in old age. New York, NY: W. W. Norton.
Kalat, J. W. (2013). Introduction to psychology (9th ed.). New York, NY: Cengage Learning.
Knight, Z. (2017). A proposed model of psychodynamic psychotherapy linked to Erik Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 24(5), 1047-1058.
Malone, J., Liu, S., Vaillant, G., Rentz, D., & Waldinger, R. (2016). Midlife Eriksonian psychosocial development: Setting the stage for late-life cognitive and emotional health. Developmental Psychology, 52(3), 496-508.
Marcia, J., & Josselson, R. (2013). Eriksonian personality research and its implications for psychotherapy. Journal of Personality, 81(6), 617-629.
Teachers at all stages of learning can use role-playing activities and games to teach their students a wide array of social skills in accordance with Erikson’s theory. In a role-playing activity, the teacher can formulate a scenario that requires one group of students to act out a certain situation. On the other hand, another group can come up with viable solutions to resolve the scenario. In a role-playing scenario, students will have the chance to acquire both organizational and brainstorming skills. Furthermore, teachers can use role-playing games in children to impart social skills and conventions among children. For instance, through role-playing games, children can understand social conventions such as greetings, the value of thanking others, being polite, different forms of handshakes, appropriate hugs, and using titles such as sir or madam when addressing their seniors. Role-play games can also be used to teach students various forms of safety skills and protocols. For instance, a teacher can use certain role-playing games to teach children how to handle and react to emergency scenarios such as fires. Role-playing games can also teach students how to guarantee their safety by making emergency calls, completing fire drill procedures, and shouting for help. For example, teachers can use the fire station activity to provide the students with new perspectives on the environment, fire fighting, and humanitarian institutions. The fire activity requires model fire trucks, police cars, and garden hoses to serve as fire hoses.
Erik Homburger Erikson (1902-1994) is a renowned German-American psychologist and psychoanalyst. In his early years, Erikson was not sure about the path that he would like to pursue, and after he finished school, he took a gap year to travel around Germany as an artist drawing portraits and selling them. Due to his successful tutoring endeavors in art, Erikson was advised to study children psychology at the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute.
His most significant contribution to psychoanalysis was putting forward the theory of developmental stages in human beings. Even though Erikson did not have a bachelor’s degree, he served as a professor at many top-level universities, including Harvard, and his publications were some of the most cited in his field. This paper will discuss the theory of the epigenesis of identity and how it applies to teaching.
Epigenesis of Identity and Neo-Freudianism
It is safe to assume that meeting Anna Freud, Sigmund Freud’s daughter, gave Erikson’s career in psychology a head start. She noticed how considerate he was of the needs of the young students in his art class and suggested that he develop his propensities in academia. Erikson was largely influenced by Freud’s ideas about the stages of human development – anal, oral, latent, and genital. While both researchers used the life-span perspective – an approach emphasizing the changes throughout human life – Erikson shifted the focus from sexuality to social experience and explained how environment impacted personality. Moreover, he increased the number of stages up to eight, and together, they constituted the epigenetic principle – the rule of predetermination of human development.
Erikson argued that individuals did not transition from stage to stage smoothly – instead, each time, they faced an identity crisis which they needed to overcome in order to become mature (Friedman and Schustack 52). For instance, school students are likely to go through two stages – industry vs. inferiority (6-12 years) and identity vs. role confusion (12-18 years). It is critical that education practitioners take the developmental stages into account when elaborating a curriculum and handling children’s issues.
Teaching Middle Schoolers: Erikson’s Theory in the Classroom
I would like to describe a situation in which I have to teach a foreign language to a class of 11-12 year-olds (5th or 6th grade). Now, as it is clear from Erikson’s theory of developmental stages, at this age, children are approaching the industry vs. inferiority crisis. Thus, the students in my class are likely to have issues with the feeling of adequacy: they may be in doubts whether they can keep up with their peers (Snowman and McCown 105).
At the same time, the students may be afraid of making mistakes and being reprimanded for them. The lesson plan would include the students presenting their home projects in a foreign language in front of the class. While it is a common assignment, many students are struggling with feeling confident about their public speaking skills. Before the presentation, I would encourage students to listen closely and take notes and after each presentation, I would ask a couple of people “Could you please point out the best things about your peers’ project?” Since the students are likely to make mistakes, I would ask their classmates to explain to them their shortcomings – the commentary from their peers must sound less harsh. The expected outcome of the proposed instruction is less hesitation in giving presentations and positive self-esteem.
Conclusion
Erik Erikson was a prolific author and psychoanalytic, and his legacy lives on as his theory of developmental stages remains relevant to this day. In his work “The Life Cycle: The Epigenesis of Identity,” Erikson explained that human personality always remained in the state of flux, undergoing many changes. The stages are predetermined from birth till death and so are the identity crises in between – the personal conflicts a person needs to overcome to grow. In middle school, children are confronted with the industry vs. inferiority crisis. A teacher can help them feel better about themselves through positive reinforcement.
Works Cited
Friedman, Howard S., and Miriam W. Schustack. Readings in Personality. Classic Theories and Modern Research. Allyn and Bacon, 2001.
Snowman, Jack, and Rick McCown. Psychology Applied to Teaching. Cengage Learning, 2013.