Family Life Cycle: Eight Stages of Self Development

In Search of the Good Read pages 187 to 190 together

Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Self Development Erik Erikson was a German-born American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst known for his theory on psychosocial development of human beings. He may be most famous for coining the phrase “identity crisis”.

Erikson's stages of psychosocial development as articulated by Erik Erikson explain eight stages through which a healthily developing human should pass from infancy to late adulthood. In each stage the person confronts, and hopefully masters, new challenges. Each stage builds on the successful completion of earlier stages. The challenges of stages not successfully completed may be expected to reappear as problems in the future.

However, mastery of a stage is not required to advance to the next stage. Erikson's stage theory characterizes an individual advancing through the eight life stages as a function of negotiating his or her biological forces and sociocultural forces. Each stage is characterized by a psycho social crisis of these two conflicting forces (as shown in the chart you will study). If an individual does indeed successfully reconcile these forces (favoring the first mentioned attribute in the crisis), he or she emerges from the stage with the corresponding virtue. For example, if an infant enters into the toddler stage (autonomy vs. shame & doubt) with more trust than mistrust, he or she carries the virtue of hope into the remaining life stages

Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Self Development Key Terms: Personality: The characteristic ways each individual acts, thinks and feels Identity: Your sense of who you are; your sense of self; who you are, what you want, what you can accomplish

Personality develops through stages. Identity Crisis: Social challenges or turning points that must be met and resolved at several points in our lives Development-Theory.htm SearchText=erikson&lid=

What are the 8 Stages of Development?

Stage #1: Trust vs. Mistrust Age range: Birth to 18 months Task: Come to feel the world is a safe place and can be trusted Example: Regular, as needed feeding, changing, touching

Stage #2: Autonomy vs Doubt Age range: 18 months to 3 years Task: Free will – learning to do things on their own; they have the ability Example: Feeding, toilet training, learning to walk on their own, talking

Stage #3: Initiative vs Guilt Age range: 3 – 5 years Task: Develop a conscience; begin to set their own limits Example: Can’t always get what you want!

Stage #4: Industry vs Inferiority Age range: 6 –12 years Task: Learn to master skills; learn to make and do things; take pride in your accomplishments Example: Literacy/numeracy; reading, writing, math

Stage #5: Identity vs Confusion Age range: years Task: Develop a sense of self; Discover who we are separate from others Example: Create life-long goals; lasting friendships; figure out what we believe in

Stage #6: Intimacy vs Isolation Age range: 18 –35 years Task: Develop and strengthen personal relationships Example: Get married, have a family, make a life-long commitment to another person

Stage #7: Generativity vs. Stagnation Age range: 35 –65 years Task: Become successful in our career; Establish a stable home environment Example: Have a good job, donate to charities, get our kids through school, enjoy life!

Stage #8: Integrity vs Despair Age range: 65 years - death Task: Reflect back on our lives Example: Looking back on life without regrets, and being happy for things that you’ve contributed to society

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Erikson’s Stages of Development Journal Do you have a clear SEPARATE IDENTITY from your parents, or did you just become what they wanted you to be? Do you have clear values that you have thought through concerning your sexual, political, moral, and religious beliefs? Did you consider many possible vocations, or did you quickly settle on one due to the influence of another person? Do you have a firm sense of IDENTITY and clear understanding of who you are and what you value or are you easily influenced and persuaded by others who may know what is better for you? Can you clearly articulate your feelings and ideas concerning social and political issues? Are you relatively sure about your moral and religious values? Are you CHOOSING YOUR PATH in life, your career, lifestyle and friends or did you adopt other ideas of how you should live your life? Are you truly living your own life or playing out a script that your parents wrote for you?