Erik Erikson's 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development



Erik Erikson developed a theory called the “Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development.”  He theorized that stages are precipitated by crises that all individuals face as they move from birth to death. According to Erikson, each stage presents the individual with a psychosocial conflict that must be resolved. Each stage has a positive and negative pole.  For instance, during the first stage the infant struggles with whether to trust the environment or not.  If he or she is born into a relatively stable, dependable environment the infant learns to trust and out of that trust hope emerges. If, however, the infant is born into an environment that is erratic, and undependable he or she may grow up considering the world to be an untrustworthy place.  This will colour future life experiences and rather than entering the world with a hopeful outlook, the individual may feel hopeless.  

By looking at the development of personality characteristics through the lens of Erikson’s life-stages, in the order in which they may be acquired, we can see a path through life, that if navigated successfully could lead to maturity and wisdom.

The model also helps us see what psychological work we need to do when there has been difficulty navigating a particular stage in life.  As we move towards life completion, the desire to heal, to become whole, becomes predominant as the more physical aspects of living take on less significance, relatively speaking. Identifying psychological blocks and working in a psychotherapeutic relationship, helps us to make peace with our passage through life.

Stage
Crisis
Result
Stage 1 Hope - Infant stage
Social environment caring , stable or erratic and threatening.
Basic Trust vs. Mistrust - Does the child believe its caregivers to be reliable? Does he environment foster hope or mistrust?
Child becomes trusting, hopeful in life or frightened, insecure and mistrustful.
Stage 2 Will - Toddler stage
child supported and encouraged or, either unknowingly neglected or through malevolent intent shamed and punished
Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt – Does the child believe him/herself to be intrinsically worthy, good or intrinsically bad
Child learns autonomy or internalizes sense of shame, self-doubt and criticism.
Stage 3 Purpose-Kindergarten
Child taught to do things for self and praised or child is not taught or criticized for failures.
Initiative vs. Guilt- Does child believe in own ability to plan and act or does he/she feel it is wrong to function independently?
Child learns a sense of accomplishment.  Otherwise, develops guilt about functioning independently.
Stage 4 Competence-age 6 to puberty. As child enters larger social environment, compares self worth to others (such as in a classroom).
Industry vs. Inferiority - begins to recognise major disparities in personal abilities relative to other children and judges self through attitudes of significant others, i.e., teachers
Child develops self-worth and learns comptetency in concrete world or  develops sense of inferiority in relation to others.
Stage 5 Fidelity - Teenager. Questioning of self: encouraged to explore and create self-identity or pushed to conform
Identity vs. Role Confusion- separates views from parents and authority figures, identifies with peers, explores new outlooks constructively or rebels destructiveley
Teenager either develops an identity of his/her own, or becomes confused and easily led by others,  unable to discern roles, loyalties, best interests, direction in life
Stage 6 Love  - Young adult. Lasting longer as young adults choose to stay in school and not settle but has typically been a stage of forming significant relationships and settling down.
Intimacy vs. Isolation – through dating and exploring relationship, develops capacity for emotional connection and love or experiences inadequacy or failure in relating to others  
Young adult able to connect with significant other and be intimate, establish committed relationshp or learns to isolate from others, becomes alienated. 
Stage 7 Caring - Mid-life crisis: self-evaluation occurs, leading to positive new direction and sense of role relationship in the life cycle
Generativity vs. Stagnation-through measuring success and failures of life, adult is inspired to helping others, next generation or experiences crisis and is unable to relate to or guide next generation
Adult becomes inspiration and guide for younger generation or stagnates and is unable to relate to next generations
Stage 8 Wisdom - Old age. Elder suffers decline due to aging, illness, possibility of dying, role displacement.
Ego Integrity vs. Despair-reflecting on past, elder reviews accomplishments, failures and has crisis between acceptance and bitterness
Elder is able to resolve previous and present challenges and develops wisdom or is unable to resolve earlier crises or face current illness or possibility of death and despairs in face of aging challenges