The 8 Stages Of Development, According To Erik Erikson
Erik Erikson was a psychoanalyst from the United States who developed a widely accepted theory of personality development.
We all go through crises in our lives, and we get used to seeing them as something negative. But for Erik Erikson, crises are necessary processes that drive evolution and change. They are situations that allow us to transcend, grow and learn more about ourselves. Erik Erikson believed that the journey in life consists of eight stages or cycles, and that each one is characterized by a specific conflict.
He said that people always change and gain new knowledge and new experiences through life. If it were not so, we would be stuck in some stage of development. Some people refuse to mature, while others are doomed to grow up premature. This mainly depends on the context in which they grow up.
Erikson’s developmental stages
The eight stages of human development, according to Erik Erikson, are as follows:
1. Basic trust against basic mistrust (0-1 years)
Newborns establish relationships of addiction, especially with their mothers. With them, their needs are absolutely perfect. Such care slowly guarantees that they will learn and develop trust, as long as their basic needs are consistently addressed.
As their senses develop, they begin to recognize their environment as known. Then they begin to venture out, and their first great achievement is not to feel anxiety in the absence of the mother, and to overcome the fear of being abandoned by her. Otherwise, they will grow up to be skeptical and distrustful.
2. Independence against shame (1-3 years)
During this stage, the child develops independence to move from one place to another. Staying behind or crying is their way of trying to get what they want. If the context does not fully respond to what the child needs, they will begin to doubt themselves and be afraid to take the initiative.
The child’s embarrassment is expressed as they do not want to be seen, and they want to hide their face, tantrums and crying or various other manifestations of emotional overload. External control should be firm and reassuring so that they can develop independence.
3. Initiative against guilt (3-6 years)
If there is one thing that stands out at this stage, it is the child’s initiative. Especially when they play, they discover their most important roles and fulfill them. The child must identify and project their role in the world. The initiative at this age involves planning what role they will fulfill.
Rivalry and jealousy can also appear at this stage. The child will be treated as a special, and they reject when the mother notices someone else. If they do not receive relatively privileged treatment, they will feel guilty and anxious.
4. Hard work against inferiority (6 years – adolescence)
During this time, the child begins to go to school. Whether they feel comfortable or dissatisfied with it, the child begins to gain recognition for what they do in this new environment. They are able to gain new knowledge and new abilities, or in other words, to become productive.
Our culture has developed a high degree of specialization that has made society more complex and limited individual initiative. The risk they experience at this stage is that when they do not get enough recognition, they begin to feel inadequate, which can lead to feelings of inferiority.
5. Identity against role confusion (adolescence)
This period is characterized by the fact that they begin to doubt everything they once trusted. It is all the knowledge, abilities and experiences they have gained. This is due to all the biological changes that their bodies go through and the personality crisis this creates.
Young people worry about their image and maintain constant struggles between what they have been up to now and what they want to be in the near future. They become confused about their identities, and they become idealistic and very influential. If they move through this stage properly, they will be able to construct a solid identity. If they do not, they will continue to try to be something they are not.
6. Intimacy against isolation
This is when the young adult is able to make professional, emotional and political commitments, while sacrificing something in return. If they are not able to create these bonds with the world without fear, they will be in danger of experiencing isolation.
This is the step where decisions and challenges help them gain stability. It is also the time when their concepts of work, friendship and family are strengthened. Basically, at this stage, they are taking a definite step towards adulthood.
7. Productivity against stagnation
Erikson defined productivity as a desire for a mature age to establish and guide future generations. When this does not happen, a process of personal stagnation begins that is related to the feeling of not exceeding, without having any kind of impact on the future.
Only when people have faced both defeat and triumph, spread or generated ideas, and dedicated time and care for these ideas, can they say that they have finally matured, that they have experienced completeness.
8. Ego integrity against despair
The last phase of life can either be peaceful and calm, or full of restlessness and anxiety. It all depends on how they have solved the previous stages. In old age, the person should be able to make a wise evaluation of their life, where the recognition of reality and their understanding of the world takes precedence.
They will experience integrity at this stage if they can combine reflection with experience. If they have any unresolved conflicts or stages they have never overcome, they usually develop a deep fear of illness, suffering and death.
