Erik Erikson’ s Theory of Psychosocial Development
Born: June 15, 1902
Birthplace: Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Died: May 12, 1994
Location of death: Harwich, MA
Cause of death: unspecified
Religion: Jewish
Race or Ethnicity: White
Occupation: Psychologist
Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Eight Stages of Childhood
Stages | Developmental Task or Conflict to be Resolved |
Oral-Sensory (birth to 1 year) | Trust vs. mistrust. Babies learn either to trust or to mistrust that other will care for their basic needs including nourishment, sucking, warmth, cleanliness and physical contact. |
Musculo-anal (1-3 years) | Autonomy vs. shame and doubt. Children learn either to be self sufficient in many activities, including toileting, feeding, walking and talking or to doubt their own abilities. |
Locomotor-Genital (3-5 years) | .Initiative vs. guilt. Children want to undertake many adultlike activities, sometimes overstepping the limits set by parents and feeling guilty. |
Latency ( 6-11 years) | Industry vs. inferiority. Children busily learn to be competent and productive or feel inferior and unable to do anything well. |
Adolescence (12-18 years) | Identity vs. role confusion. Adolescents try to figure out “Who Am I?”. They establish sexual, ethnic, and career identities, or are confused about what future roles to play. |
Young Adulthood (19-35 years) | Intimacy vs. isolation. Young adults seek companionship and love with another person or become isolated from others. |
Adulthood (35-50 years) | Generativity vs. stagnation. Middle aged adults are productive, performing meaningful work, and raising a family, or become stagnant and inactive. |
Maturity (50+ years) | Integrity vs. despair. Older adults try to make sense out of their lives, either seeing life as a meaningful whole or despairing at goals never reached and questions never answered. |