Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development
March 13, 2024
What is your opinion in regards to this theory?
Erikson explained carefully each stage and underlined what would be the outcome if even one stage was not completely fulfilled, he believed that the human behavior was directly impacted by the social experiences across the whole lifespan. Erikson supported the idea that people experience conflicts that serve as a turning point in their development. If the stage is handled well, the person will feel a sense of mastery. If the stage is managed poorly, the person will emerge with a sense of inadequacy.
“Hope is both the earliest and the most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive. If life is to be sustained hope must remain, even where confidence is wounded, trust impaired.”
Erik Erikson
On the other hand, and after reading some articles I can conclude that even if the theory is great, there are some things that could have been added. Like, the transition process from one stage to the other and how to know when one stage is completely mastered. Besides, he could have added some strategies and recommendations about how to solve the conflicts that arise along the life of the individual.
However, Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development have helped us think about some of the different conflicts and challenges that people may face as they go through life. As well as finding the causes that originated those conflicts in first place.
To me, the most impressive and accurate analysis came from Stage 3 Initiative vs Guilt. Preschool (3 to 5 years) where kids must learn how stablish control over the environment (Initiative), BUT, if they “push too much” they will be rejected by society, making them feel guilty and sinking into an emotional crisis that will remain in next stages. This is a typical case of kids nowadays, they do not know how to request attention properly and, as a consequence, they are punished or negatively reinforced by caregivers. The thing here, as a future psychologist, is being well aware of the situation and prepared to feedback caregivers in how to create a balance in the kids’ life between one extreme and the other in all stages, in this example would be Initiative and Guilt, and when that balance is achieved the kid will be ready to move on to the next stage.
According to Erickson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development, in what stage are you?    Do you believe you are facing the challenges described by Erickson? Why or why not?
According to Erickson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development I am “Early Adulthood” as I am 26 years old. I do believe I am facing challenges described by him. During this stage, sometimes, I’ve struggled to start, keep or even end a relationship with a girl or just a friend, gladly, I’ve succeeded (according to my preferences) I’ve fallen in love and I’ve got heartbreaks, I’ve lived it all. Besides, I want to add that I am not 100% agree with what this Stage states.
I do not believe that the only outcome of this Stage is LOVE and RELATIONSHIPS. I understand that from an anthropologic point of view we should grow, develop and reproduce, and interact with society, but what if we don’t want to reproduce yet or not at all? In my humble opinion I don’t think it means the Stage is not mastered. It’s just that it’s another way of life, an upgrade we could say. What if there a time during this Stage that I prefer to be alone? It could 6 months or 3 years, like a sabbatical period.Â
Personally, I do not think it will influence in my mental health au contraire. What if I want to wait until I am 50 to have children? At least for these kind of things, I think there should not be a deadline. Like I said previously, the theory lacks of explanation on how to transition from one Stage to the next one. I am not saying is wrong, of course not, I am just saying that it is just a tool to understand the development of human behavior generally speaking.
