Analysis Of Erikson's Psychosocial Development

Erik Erikson states, “In the social jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity.” With that being said, I have become the person I am today with those in my life influencing my development, and I wouldn’t feel “alive” if it wasn’t for them. Those in my life have helped me find a sense of identity and figuring out who I am really am and what I am made of. Therefore, I can relate my development to the stages of Erik Erikson 's psychosocial development. I chose to interview, my mother, my cousin Bailey, my grandma, my sister, and my best friend Allison. The first stage is Trust vs. Mistrust. This is the stage an infant is uncertain about the world around them, so they often look toward their primary

Despair occurs at the age of 65 and older. This is when we are senior citizens, we are slowing down in life, and productivity has declined. This is the time when we start to think about our accomplishments and are able to develop integrity is we think we are going in the direction of a successful life. Erikson believed that if we feel unproductive, or feel that we did not accomplish enough in life, that we develop despair and it can lead to hopelessness. This could also lead to depression because one will think about all the things that they could have done when they were younger, but didn’t and may not be able to do anymore at this age, or time. On the other hand, success in life leads to wisdom. This allows one to look back and have a sense of completeness and one feels good about the past and will “accept death without fear.” One example, is that sometimes we see senior citizens going back to school to “graduate” and say that they graduated college to overcome despair one may have felt knowing they didn’t finish college. Lastly, I will go through this stage, and here I will either realize that I had a successful past or not, which will lead to hopelessness or completeness. So, far I think it will be a sense of completeness, as I feel very successful in life, and making my life the best it can