Erik Levinson Research Paper

PSYCOSOCIAL THEORY- ERIKSON

German theorist Erik Erikson drew on Freud’s psychosexual theory to develop his psychosocial development theory. Erikson describes his theory as a blend of an individual’s internal psychological works and the external social influences. Erikson credits the developmental changes an individual experiences to three core factors. These being; the biological and physical limitations of an individual, the individual’s unique circumstances and the shaping of their society due to historical or cultural events. The psychosocial theory sees eight stages, which all face a significant crisis, which an individual must resolve in order to achieve a normal and fully developed personality (Newman & Newman, 2007).

Erikson states

Unlike Erikson, Levinson focused on only 3 eras otherwise known as seasons. The seasons of early adulthood, middle adulthood and late adulthood each overlap in order to allow variability and according to Levinson, make for the underlying patterns in development across this particular life stage. Levinson’s theory focuses on the important relationships an individual has, either to others or to institutions. These relationships make for failures at some stage, failures being ones incompetence to achieve certain goals by specific normative time frames, and they make for transitions into the next season (Hoffnung, et al., 2013).

Levinson’s novice stage is the first of the three seasons to this theory. This stage includes four significant tasks. Firstly is the determination of a dream or goal, the second is the discovery of a mentor relationship to ultimately help achieve this goal, third is the development of a career and lastly is the formation of an intimate relationship (Hoffnung, et al.,

When thinking about the why and how of a scenario both the psychosocial theory and the cognitive theory gave me the tools that allowed me to interpret the behaviours of the characters in the case study. Erikson’s approach concreted the already instilled idea of finding intimacy in early adulthood and gave explanations for the way in which a young adult seeks a career path but also just as actively seeks love and companionship. Not only did these concepts apply to Mereana in my case study, but they also applied to myself. Being a young adult I found explanations for my own thoughts and behaviours in the life stage I am at, which in turn allowed me to understand Mereana and her story to a much deeper level as I was able to actively relate to it. On the other hand, Piaget gives a more straightforward approach to understanding cognitive development in these years. Understanding the transition between formal thinking which is a more logical approach to post formal thinking that allows room for emotional reasoning alongside the rational processes, helped clarify Mereana’s choices. Both theories were relevant in a contrasting way when Mereana was demonstrating the intimacy versus isolation stage by pursuing a relationship with Jack, but also making decisions to put her education as a priority due to her post formal thought