Analysis Of Erikson's Psychosocial Development Theory

Erikson's Psychosocial Development Theory and It's Origin

When you think about psychosocial development, what comes to mind? Well, the first thought that comes to my mind is process. There are many different development theories psychologists have discovered over the years. A psychologist named Erik Erikson just so happened to be one of those psychologists in that group. He came up with the Erikson's Psychosocial Developmental Theory. It was one of the most influential theories. This theory has eight different stages which starts from infancy thru death. This paper informs you on the life span of the theory, from the beginning to the end.

Erik Erikson

Erik Erikson was a phenomenal psychologist. Not only was he just an psychologist but a psychoanalyst

It consists of eight stages throughout the human life span. These stages are: Basic trust vs mistrust, Autonomy vs shame and doubt, Initiative versus guilt, Industry versus inferiority, Identity versus confusion, Intimacy versus isolation, Generativity versus stagnation, and Integrity versus despair. Erikson called the stages a crisis in personality (Papalia, Feldman, & Martorell 2015) which is “a major psychosocial challenge that is particularly important and will remain an issue to some degree throughout life” (pg.27). Each stage has an age period that goes along with each psychological crisis: Birth to 18 months, 18 months to 3 years, 3 years to 6 years, 6 years to puberty, puberty to young adulthood, young adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood. The theory considers that you'll have a healthy personality and basic virtue, if successfully complete these stages (McLeod

It's easy to understand and is broken down in small parts that makes it easier to see how humans develop. Even though some of Erik's ideas were influenced by Sigmund Freud theory, it still over topped his. The making of Erikson Institute keeps his legacy alive today. The impact made on lives throughout the psychological field will forever be honored. As the book stated, (Papalia, Feldman, & Martorella 2015) “Erikson's theory is important because of it's emphasis on social and cultural influences and development beyond adolescence” (pg. 27) I find that statement out the book to be very true to this