Analyzing Erikson's Eight Stages Of Human Development

Erik Erikson was a psychologist who contributed to psychology by proposing a theory that humans develop within stages. In his case, he proposed that humans develop in 8 stages throughout their entire life time. He believed that these stages were run by nature, and that everyone must go through of these stages and their affects in order to go through another stage. These stages are from the beginning of life to the ending stages of life. The first stage is, trust vs. mistrust which is between birth to one year. Trust was defined by Erikson as a trustfulness of others and your own trust. Like when a baby cries and it results in being fed, the baby can develop a sense of trust through his action. The reason that this trust develops and occurs
Initiative is where the child begins to have a sense of responsibility and begins to develop a sense of who he or she is. For example, a child’s imagination is a great sense of initiative, they can create their own games, and scenarios which gives a sense of security, and leadership feeling. Guilt sets in place when a child is anxious and has a little sense of responsibility, normally this can be resolved when a child has a sense of achievement. This can be influenced through criticism and excessive control, which can cause a feeling of unwantedness. The fourth stage is industry vs inferiority. This occurs in ages 6 to ages where puberty occurs. Successful experiences in school, and other factors in a child’s life gives a sense of industry because normally at this age people want to gain knowledge and experience. Inferiority is where one feels like they are good for nothing usually due to failure. This is important in education, and development of skills, and children in these stages tend to need assurance and recognition of their accomplishments, people who do not receive this tend to feel inferior, and tend to feel like they won’t compare or amount to others.
The 5th stage occurs during adolescence and it is normally identity vs identity confusion. This is where Erikson said adolescents find their true selves. This is important because, this develops a sense of the role that they will play in their adult hood. The 6th stage occurs in early adult hood, and it is intimacy vs isolation. This can normally be affected if in the last stage it was a positive outcome. Meaning most times people cannot have intimate lives without being comfortable with themselves, this is a very important part in relationships and committed friendships,