Erikson Psychology Essay

The stages in which I’ll be defining are young adulthood (adolescence), middle adulthood, & late adulthood (elderly), but according to Erikson, these stages are numbered six, seven & eight. These stages help us classify individuals not based on ages primarily, but how we develop mentally & physically. Not everyone grows or reacts the same as another, which is a good thing because if we all acted the same then Erikson wouldn’t have a reason to create the stages in which he did. The three people I interviewed all had very different answers to similar questions or questions relating to another, but there were never any duplicates. But the one I could relate to the most is of course the teenager, my cousin. Although we’re three years apart we both had majority of the same goals for our future & what we do with our spare time, such as either hanging out with friends or doing small amounts of school work in order to get ahead. While I interviewed her she made me think back to when I was her age, which wasn’t too long ago, but I had many good times during that age, we both did because we spent half of those times together. Of course she asked me the question, “why are you asking all these questions?”, so I just told her it was for a grade, & we continued our interview. I would say without a doubt that she gravitates more towards the trusting side of the conflict resolution, for she’s not afraid to explore, she learns from her mistakes, and trusts her instincts, not implying that she doesn’t think before she does a certain action. The stage in which my cousin belongs to from Erickson’s perspective is the sixth stage, when she is very vulnerable to her surroundings along with the individuals in it. This is the time when she’s starting to develop a self identity, trying new things, talking and introducing herself to new people she wouldn’t on a daily basis, but mainly getting to know herself thoroughly.
The second person I interviewed was my sister.