Joan Erikson's 9th Stage of Psychosocial Development


The last stage in Erikson’s original conceptualization is Old Age, usually thought of as beginning at age 65 and ending with death.  During this stage the individual struggles with integrity versus despair.  This is a time when many engage in a life review to consider the worth of their experiences.  Out of this life review the elder person arrives at either a sense of integrity that may lead to wisdom or to despair.

As the Eriksons entered their late 80s they began to realize that eight stages were not enough to describe the life experience.  They began to interview other people at this age and found that this led them to discover a fascinating new stage.  Joan Erikson, who had always been a silent partner in her husband’s work, completed work on the ninth stage of psychosocial development from notes made by her husband before he died and from her own observations. In the late 80s and early 90s life brings greater demands; daily, one is confronted with new problems to tackle. Joan Erikson writes that in the ninth stage the old person confronts all previous eight stages again, but this time all stages converge at the same time. On top of that, the negative pole now takes the dominant role over the positive. For instance, instead of confronting trust versus mistrust, in the ninth stage the elder confronts mistrust versus trust.

Despair becomes even more of a lurking possibility in the ninth stage than it was in the eighth. In this stage, with the increased loss of physical abilities, elders often begin to mistrust themselves and the environment. Autonomy is being continually whittled away. For example, just the simple wanting of a sandwich can leave you in a state of dependency.  Heaven forbid you should want that sandwich prepared in a special way, the way you once prepared it for yourself.  During this stage other people, even your own children, tell you what to do.   This may cause the older person to become disagreeable as a way of asserting even a modicum of adult autonomy.  Through empathy the caregiver can perhaps ameliorate some of the elder relative’s shame and doubt.  As difficult as it may be, allowing the elder to participate in his/her own decision-making as much as possible may lessen some of the negativity in the interaction.

With increasing age older people often do lose their sense of place.   They may no longer have an ascribed role to play either through work, in the family or may even be placed into retirement living Not knowing where they fit erodes even the most carefully formed identity and causes elders to feel isolated.

The primary difference between the ninth stage and the eighth stage is that in the ninth stage the elder no longer has the “luxury of retrospective despair over their life.”  They are likely to be more involved with what body part will stop working that day.  Or what special friend may be gone tomorrow.  All this sets them up for despair.  However, all is not as bleak as it seems.  If the old person can get past the despair the way is made clear for gerotranscendence.  Gerotranscendence is the stage at which the elder person is peacefully ready to move on to the next stage of existence.  

8 comments:

  1. I am 73 soon to be 74 and this just does NOT apply to me. Aging is breaking free of stereotypes and is all about perceptive. We can CHOOSE to see the negative or the positive 'stuff'. I choose the positive stuff. Sure, I have aches and pains~~so does a 20 year old! We can see problems or we can see solutions! I think we need to agree to disagree! Much love to you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Gerry,

      Thanks for your comment. I agree with you -that we CHOOSE. I am just posting various "experts" in the field. I don't have to agree with them all - it is just information. I am glad to note your own discernment about how to move through the physical aging process. Personally, I too feel the later years have freed me from a lot of the collective perceptions about life allowing me to be guided more from within.

      Delete
    2. But Gerry, you are not late 80s, 90+ yet.

      Delete
  2. I'm citing this post in a new blog I'm starting: Warp & Woof, a "life blog" mostly ... good article, though!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joan wrote this book in her 90's and was well informed by not just her own experiences, her husbands thoughts, but also the experiences of others. There are many, who by the blessings of genetics and good fortune, maintain a great deal of independence till death. I think Joan spoke about a large audience that doesn't but she also spoke to the psychological uncertainty as well. The loss of personal relationships from moves or death, the precarity of abilities as the progression of disease or age comes are factors that were all at play in Joan's book. She spoke of a great deal more! She was also given much credit by her husband for her solid partnership in helping to develop his 8 stages of development theory. Thank you for the article.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for informing my research toward elder justice

    ReplyDelete

  5. Brilliantly Slim: Every new day you keep running over a weight decrease supplement in the market. Starting in the no so distant past, we are sure that is an unending

    number of enhancements which guarantee you sit tight for adversity in a stipulated time period. In any case, we can't fall into the snare of each one of these cases,

    can we? That is the reason we keep our per clients instructed about all the new enhancements moved accessible, incorporating the reviews as for them. We trust these

    articles help you in finding the right enhancement which suits your necessities. Much the equivalent as some other enhancement, today we will review Radiantly Slim

    Diet pills to empower you to comprehend whether you should spend your money on it or not. Read here
    Radiantly Slim Diet, Radiantly Slim Diet Reviews, Radiantly Slim Diet Where to Buy?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am still learning from you, but I am trying to achieve my goals. I certainly enjoy reading all that is posted on your blog. Keeps the information coming. I loved it!
    Home Improvement Write for us

    ReplyDelete