Written by Elif Gulce Batgi
Developmental psychology, an aspect of psychology analyzing the association between age and behavior, has been enriched by theories throughout the history of psychology. A lot of famous psychologists tried to explain psychological development through different theories. For example, Sigmund Freud mentioned psychosexual development stages, whereas Abraham Maslow explained it through the hierarchy of needs in their theories. Another psychologist studying the development process of humans beginning from birth to death is Erik Erikson.
The theory of 8 stages appeared in the 1950s by psychologist and psychoanalyst Erik Erikson (1). Erikson built his theory upon Freud's theory explaining psychosexual development by drawing parallels between childhood stages and observing the interaction of social dynamics to adulthood (1). Each stage in psychosocial development helps individuals gain basic virtues and results in a healthy personality, whereas failure to successfully complete stages results in reduced ability to complete further stages and an unhealthy personality (2).
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1) Trust vs. Mistrust:
This stage involves the ages of birth to 18 months. It is the most fundamental stage in life which focuses on an infant's dependency on a caregiver such as a mother (3). Trusting or distrusting situations depend on the dependability and quality of their caregivers. Indeed dependency of infants on a caregiver includes things needed to survive such as love, warmth, safety, and nurturing. In the opposite case of sufficient care, infants form a belief that the world is inconsistent and unpredictable.
2) Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt:
Between the ages of 18 months and 3 years independence and an increased perception of having control over physical skills steps in (4). We begin to develop personal control and acquire independence even if we are still at the beginning of the development process. Wearing their shoes and clothes or having food preferences are behaviors that occur in this stage (5). If the children complete the stage, they become more secure with their abilities, but those who are not allowed to perform their developing abilities or needs will battle with feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt.
3) Initiative vs. Guilt:
Children in the preschool era at this stage means ages between 3 and 5. Children start to comprehend the concepts of aims and goals and want to do things independently at this stage (6). They exhibit the behavior of creating new games and social interactions such as having a playmate while playing a game. If children are not supported by their parents, it may cause a lack of ambition and make them feel guilty which detracts children from social interactions and creativity (5).
4) Industry vs. Inferiority:
At this stage, children are now ready to go to school which means they are between the ages of five and twelve. Children start learning how to write, read and do things on their own with the help of their teachers (2). Their peer groups will gain significance and become a major source of a child's self-esteem. Now they feel like they need approval for their accomplishments to be criticized and evaluated by the certain values of society. Some failure may be necessary for children to develop some modesty by doing so they will gain the virtue of competence (2).
5) Identity vs. Confusion:
Here the children are teenagers between the ages of twelve and eighteen. In the fifth stage of the theory teenagers’ identity starts to settle which has a crucial role in the rest of the individual’s life (3). It is the phase between childhood and adulthood. Individuals start to consider career, friends, family, and their place in society (4). If the process is done successfully individuals acquire being true to themselves, whereas if the process is done unsuccessfully it may cause role confusion.
6) Intimacy vs. Isolation:
During this stage, individuals are between the ages of eighteen and forty. According to theory, every stage correlates with the previous and next stages, so for this stage, we can say that people with strong identities are now ready to share their lives with others. People find someone that they can count on, love, and invest commitment to. Success in this stage results in healthy and happy relationships, whereas unsuccessful caused by a failure in the previous stage don’t have a strong sense of identity and are unable to build committed relationships (5).
7) Generativity vs. Stagnation:
In this stage, people are between the ages between forty and sixty-five. It is the phase of life being put in order by individuals. All the critical decisions such as marriage or career have been made and individuals are more likely to think about others aiming to leave a mark on the world by being more productive and valuable to our society (4). Those who completed this stage successfully are proud of themselves when they look at what they have done for society. Those who are unsuccessful may feel unproductive and uninvolved.
8) Integrity vs. Despair:
The Last stage of the psychosocial theory of Erikson involves the ages of sixty-five to death. It is the period when individuals look at their lives and see what they have done and achieved during their adulthood. “In those times I would do this if I had my current mind.” This sentence is such a sentence that people in this stage can say because the main thing they earn is wisdom. They can be proud of themselves and what they achieved, or regret things that they haven’t made or made mistakes.
Erikson’s theory of eight stages is a lifespan theory. In history a lot of psychologists tried to explain developmental psychology from different points of view and Erikson is one of them. Theory of eight stages is predicated on whether virtues will be gained or not and some deficiencies will occur in an individual's life.
References:
Eriksons stages of psychosocial development - StatPearls - NCBI bookshelf. (2021, November 14). National Center for Biotechnology Information. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556096/.
Erik Erikson's 8 stages of psychosocial development. (2023, March 29). Simply Psychology. https://simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html#Erikson-vs-Maslow
Erikson's stages of development. (2005, October 10). Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/erik-eriksons-stages-of-psychosocial-development-2795740.
Sutton, J. (2020, December 4). Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development explained. PositivePsychology.com. https://positivepsychology.com/erikson-stages/.
Lewis, R. (n.d.). Erikson stages of psychosocial development in plain language. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/parenting/erikson-stages.
What to know about Erikson's 8 stages of development. (2021, June 17). WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/children/what-to-know-eriksons-8-stages-development.
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