Erik Erikson (1902-1994) established a fascinating theory concerning human development. His theory surrounded the importance of forming of personality in human beings. He postulated that there are a total of nine stages that a human experiences. At first, his theory consisted of eight; he later added a ninth stage. His theory also developed the term identity crisis for adolescents who fail to achieve an ego (Erikson Institute, 2013).
Personality theory established that there are a series of stages a human must go through to achieve psychological strength. At each stage, a crisis occurs for the person; once this crisis is resolved, the person gains strength. These crises are necessary to teach a person different values along the road of development. However, if a crisis is not resolved appropriately, this area of psychosocial development is stunted. Whether or not the area of psychosocial development is achieved or stunted will later have significant effects on the individual (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2013, p. 167).
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Erikson differed from Freud in his belief that important psychosocial development for the individual continues throughout the entire life span of a person. Freud focused on the psychosocial development that occurred in the early years of a person’s life. Erikson believed that “early experience was important, but not as important as Freud suggested. Moreover, Erikson based many of his ideas on analyses of the functioning of healthy people, whereas Freud studied individuals being treated for mental health problems” (Pressley & McCormick, 2007, p. 145).
Erikson postulated that there were nine stages of lifespan development for an individual. These stages occur in a healthy individual. The first stage Erikson recognized is the early years of an individual’s life. This occurs in the birth to two years stage. An individual learns hope by recognizing trust and mistrust in his or her relationships. At this stage, the predominant relationships occur with the parents and caregivers. If a baby’s needs are consistently cared for in a timely manner, the baby learns the value of trust. However, if a baby continues to cry and is not cared for, the child learns mistrust. Both of these life lessons are important; a healthy individual needs both trust and mistrust to successfully navigate the world. The effective goal is to achieve a balance between these two emotions. Together, these allow the individual to recognize the value of hope in life (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2013, p. 167).
The next stage examines the concept of will. From ages two years to four years, the individual struggles with the ideas of shame and guilt versus autonomy. During this time, children learn control over their bodily functions. They also begin to express various interests in different activities. Between ages four and five, the child begins to recognize initiative versus guilt. A child may feel guilty over ideas that would not cause a person to normally experience guilt. This is a normal part of the child beginning to understand and deal with guilt during his or her life (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2013, pp. 167-68).
After the initiative versus guilt stage, the child experiences a stage regarding industry versus inferiority. In this stage, the desired outcome is for the child to learn competence. Children tend to engage in sports and other competitive activities in an effort to master this. During the adolescent years (13-19 years of age), individuals undergo identity issues. A person must realize what identity he or she wishes to engage in as a person. An identity crisis may occur. The main issue is between identity and role confusion. Failure to achieve an identity may lead to an identity crisis (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2013, pp. 168-69).
As a young adult, between the ages of twenty to twenty-four years old, a person struggles with the concepts of romance and intimacy. A person may isolate themselves in an effort to avoid the pain of rejection from an intimate relationship. However, the truly functional adult accepts the risk of rejection as a necessary aspect of gaining intimacy (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2013, pp. 384-390). The next stage of life focuses on adult relationships regarding work and child-rearing. The concept of generativity concerns the focus of assisting the next generation. A functional adult needs to assist the generation after them. Adults also need to move the focus in life from sexual relationship to love relationships that do not emphasize merely the sexual aspects. Adults also need to establish work relationships; this allows the adult to focus on creating a legacy for his or her life (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2013, pp. 400-405).
During late adulthood, the person struggles with ego identity as opposed to despair. The late adult needs to confront his or her life to determine if the results are satisfactory. As a person reaches retirement age and late adulthood, the person significantly reduces the productivity associated with life. The person focuses on retirement and rediscovering the person he or she has become over the course of a lifetime. Retrospection involves an emotional and intelligent examination of a person’s life. The person must confront accomplishments achieved and the recognition that all goals in life were not achieved. Every individual will recall dreams and goals that were not reached. However, ideally, the individual will have achieved much with his or her life and feel a sense of contentment with the accomplishments (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2013, pp. 500-518).
Erikson’s theory of personality development expresses a significant understanding regarding the life span changes of the human. All humans face different goals and challenges through the lifetime. However, these challenges and goals clearly depend upon the various points of a lifetime span. Erikson elucidated on these points.
- Erikson Institute (2013) Erik Erikson. Retrieved April 24, 2013, from: http://www.erikson.edu/about/history/erik-erikson/
- Kail, RV. & Cavanaugh, JC. (2013) Human development, 6th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing
- Pressley, M. & McCormick, CB. (2007) Child and adolescent developments for educators. New York: Guilford Press.
