Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages
ERIK ERIKSON – 1902-1994
Ego Identity Status
Freudian Thought
Id: Instinct, Impulsive, Desire
Ego: Reality, Shaped by World
Superego: Morality, Control Id
Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages
Psychoanalytic
perspective
Psychosocial stages
Sequence of
• Unconscious steps you go
thoughts, feeling, through
* Who you are to
emotions others –
impacting who personality,
you are today interactions with
others,
Ex.: Experiences as relationships
a child, internal
conflict/successes,
iceberg (Id, Ego,
Superego)
Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages
Aim to explain social – emotional development
8 stages: Infancy through adulthood proceed through stages –
each stage related to different problem that needs to be
resolved
success = positive personality traits
Failure = anxious, worried, troubled, develop social or personality
problems
STAGE BASED, BUT WHOLE LIFE IS IMPACTED
MOVING ON DOES NOT = MASTERY!!!
Erikson’s Psychosocial Development
Psychobiographical story of self -- how we got to be the way that we are
This field of development is known as: Ego Psychology (rooted in Freudian
Psychology)
● The ego is of utmost importance.
● The ego can adapt to situations, promotes mental health and plays a role in personality
development
● includes information about "normal" personality as well as neurotics
a. neurotic behavior: jealousy, anxiety, certain complexes
Criticism: he did no statistical research to generate his theories, and it is very hard to test his
theories in order to validate them.
Trust v. Mistrust
If needs are met, infant develops sense of basic trust
THINK: Attachment!!
Age: Birth to about 18 months
Ex. Feeding
Autonomy v. Shame and Doubt
Toddlers learn to exercise will and do things for
themselves or they doubt their abilities
Age: About 2-3 years
Ex. Toilet Training
Initiative v. Guilt
Preschoolers learn to initiate tasks and carry out plans,
or they feel guilty about efforts to be independent
Age: about 3-5 years
Ex. Exploring surroundings
Industry v. Inferiority
Children learn the pleasure of applying themselves to
tasks, or they feel inferior
Age: about 6-11 years
Ex. School
Identity v. Role Confusion
Teenagers work at refining a sense of self by testing
roles and then integrating them to form a single
identity, or they become confused about who they are.
Age: about 12-18 years
Ex. Social Relationships
Intimacy v. Isolation
Young adults struggle to form close relationships and
to gain capacity for intimate love, or they feel socially
isolated.
Age: about 19-40 years
Ex. Committed Relationships
Generativity v. Stagnation
Middle-aged discover a sense of contributing to the
world, usually through family and work, or they may
feel a lack of purpose.
Age: about 40-65 years
Ex. Work and Parenthood
Integrity v. Despair
When reflecting on his or her life, the older adult may
feel a sense of satisfaction or failure.
Age: about 65 to death
Ex. Reflection on life
Within Identity versus role confusion
Marcia’s Ego Identity Status
Ego identity /Ego synthesis
-ego identity: inner capital accrued from all those experiences of each successive stage,
when meaningful identification leads to a successful alignment of the individual’s basic
drives with his capabilities and his opportunities” (Erikson, 94). -- alignment = ego
synthesis
- Sense of ego identity = accrued confidence that one’s ability to maintain inner sameness
and continuity (one’s ego in the psychological sense) is matched by the sameness and
continuity of one’s meaning for others.
- self-esteem, confirmed at the end of each major crisis, grows to be a conviction that one
is learning effective steps toward a tangible future, that one is developing a defined
personality within a social reality which one understands” (95)
