The Developmental Stages of Erik Erikson

Theory

Freud didn’t exactly invent the idea of the conscious versus unconscious mind, but he
certainly was responsible for making it popular. The conscious mind is what you are
aware of at any particular moment, your present perceptions, memories, thoughts,
fantasies, feelings, what you have. Working closely with the conscious mind is what
Freud called the preconscious, what we might today call “available memory” anything
that can easily be made conscious, the memories you are not at the moment thinking
about but can readily bring to mind. Now no one has a problem with these two layers of
mind. But Freud suggested that these are the smallest parts!

The largest part by far is the unconscious. It includes all the things that are not easily
available to awareness, including many things that have their origins there, such as our
drives or instincts, and things that are put there because we can’t bear to look at them,
such as the memories and emotions associated with trauma.

According to Freud, the unconscious is the source of our motivations, whether they are
simple desires for food or sex, neurotic compulsions, or the motives of an artist or
scientist. And yet, we are often driven to deny or resist becoming conscious of these
motives, and they are often available to us only in distinguished form. We will come
back to this.

Freudian psychological reality begins with the world, full of objects. Among them is a
very special object, the organism. The organism is special in that it acts to survive and
reproduced, and it is guided toward those ends by its needs – hunger, thirst, the
avoidance of pain, and sex.

A part – a very important part – of organism is the nervous system, which has one of its
characteristics a sensitivity to the organism needs. At birth, that nervous system is little
more than that of any other animal, an “it” or id. The nervous system, as id, translate the
organism needs into motivational forces called, in German, triebe, which has been
translation from need to wish is called the primary process.

The id works in keeping with the pleasure principle, which can be understand as a
demand to take care of needs immediately. Just picture the hungry infant, screaming
itself blue. It doesn’t “know” what it wants in any adult sense; it just knows that it wants it
and it wants it now. The infant, in the Freudian view, is pure or nearly pure id. And the id
is nothing if not the psychic representative of biology.
Unfortunately, although a wish for food, such as the image of juicy steak, might be
enough to satisfy the id, it isn’t enough to satisfy the organism. The need only get
stronger and the wishes just keep coming. You may noticed that, when you haven’t
satisfied some need, such as the need for food, it begins to demand more and more of
your attention, until there’s come a point where you cant think of any else. This is the
wish or drive breaking into consciousness.

Luckily for the organism, there is that small portion of the mind we discussed before, the
conscious that is hooked up to the world through the senses. Around this little bit of
consciousness, during the first year of a child’s life, some of the “it” becomes “I”, some
of the id becomes ego.

The ego, unlike the id, functions according to the reality principle, which says “take care
of a need as soon as an appropriate object is found. “It represents reality and, to a
considerable extent, reason.

However, as the ego struggles to keep the id (and, ultimately, the organism) happy, it
meets with obstacles in the world. It occasionally meets with objects that actually assist
it in attaining goals. And it keeps a record of these obstacles and aides. In particular, it
keep tract of the reward and punishments meted out by the most influential objects in
the world of the child – mom and dad. This record of things to avoid and strategies to
take become the superego. it is not completed until about seven years of age. In some
people, it never is completed.

There are two aspects to the superego: One is the conscience, which is an
internalization of punishments and warnings. The other is called the ego ideal. It derives
from rewards and positive models presented to the child. The conscience and ego ideal
communicate their requirements to the ego with feelings like pride, shame, and guilt.

It is as we acquired, in childhood a new set of needs and accompanying wishes, this

time of social rather than biological origins. Unfortunately these new wishes can easily
conflict from the ones id. You see, the superego represents society, and society often
wants nothing better than to have you never satisfy your needs at all.

THE STAGES

As I said earlier, for Freud, the sex drive is the most important motivating force. In fact,
Freud felt it was the primary motivating force not only for adults but for children and
even infants. When he introduced his ideas about infantile sexuality to the Viennese
public of his day, they were hardly prepared to talk about sexuality in adults, much less
in infants.

It is true that the capacity for orgasm is there neurologically from birth. But Freud was
not just taking about orgasm. Sexuality meant not only intercourse, but all pleasurable
sensation from the skin. It is clear even to the most prudish among us that babies,
children, and of course, adults, enjoy tactile experience such as caresses, kisses, and
so on.

Freud noted that, at different times in our lives, different parts of our skin give us
greatest pleasure. Later theories would call these areas erogenous zones. It appeared
to Freud that the infant found its greatest pleasure in sucking, especially at the breast.
In fact, babies have the penchant for bringing nearly everything in their environment to
contact with their mouths. A bit later in life, the child focuses on the anal pleasures of
holding it in and letting go. B y three or four, the child may have discovered the pleasure
of touching or rubbing against his or her genitalia. Only later, in our sexual maturity, do
we find our greatest pleasure in sexual intercourse. In these observations, Freud had
the making of a psychosexual stage theory.

The Oral Stage last from birth to about 18 months. The focus of pleasure is, of course,
the mouth. Sucking and Biting are favorite activities.

PIAGET”S STAGES OF MORAL JUDGEMENT

Theory

Jean Piaget began his career as a biologist – specifically, a malacologist! But his
interest in science and the history of science soon overtook his interest in snails and
clams. As he delved deeper into the thought-processes of doing science, he became
interested in the nature of thought itself, especially in the development of thinking. Find
relatively little work done in the area, he had the opportunity to give it a label. He called
it genetic epistemology, meaning the study of the development of knowledge.

Piaget studied many aspects of moral judgment, but most of his findings fit into a two
stage theory. Children younger than 10 or 11 years think about moral dilemmas one
way: older children consider them differently. As we have seen, younger children regard
rules as fixed and absolute. They believed that rules are handed down by adults or by
God and that one cannot change them. The older child’s view is more relativistic. He or
she understands that it is permissible to change rules if everyone agrees. Rules are not
sacred and absolute but are devices which use to get along cooperatively.
At approximately the same time—10 or 11 years—children’s moral thinking undergoes
other shifts. In particular, younger base their moral judgments more on consequences,
whereas older children base their judgment on intention on intentions. When, for
example, the young Childs hear about one boy who broke 15 cups trying to help his
mother and another boy who broke only one cup trying to steal cookies, the young child
thinks that the first boy did worse.

There are many more details to piaget’s work on normal judgment, but he essentially
found a series of changes that occurs between the ages of 10 and 12, just when the
child begins to enter the general stage of formal operations.

Intellectual development, however, does not stop at this point. This is just the beginning
of formal operations, which continue to develop at least until age 16. According, one
might expect thinking about moral issues to continue to develop throughout
adolescence. Kohlberg therefore interviewed both children and adolescents about moral
dilemmas, and he did find stages that go well beyond Piaget’s. He uncovered six
stages, only the first three of which share many features with Piaget’s stages.

Our personality traits come in opposites. We think of ourselves as optimistic or

pessimistic, independent, or dependent, emotional, or unemotional, adventurous or
cautious, leader or follower, aggressive or passive. Many of these are inborn
temperament traits, but other characteristics, such as feeling either competent or
inferior, appear to be learned, based on the challenges and support we received in
growing up.

The man who did a great deal to explore this concept is Erik Erikson. Although he was
influenced by Freud, he believed that the ego exists from birth and that behavior is not
totally defensive. Based in part on his study of Sioux Indians on a reservation, Erikson
became aware of the massive influenced of culture on behavior and placed more
emphasis on the external world, such as depression and war. He felt the course of
development is determined by the interaction of the body (genetic biological
programming), mind (psychological), and cultural (ethos) influences.

He organized life into eight stages that extend from birth to death (many developmental
theories only cover childhood). Since adulthood covers a span of many years, Erikson
divided the stages of adulthood into the experiences of young adults, middle aged
adults and older adults. While the actual ages may vary considerably from one stage to
another, the ages seem to be appropriate for the majority of people.

Erikson’s basic philosophy might be said to rest on two major themes:

1. The world gets bigger as we go along and

 2. Failure is cumulative.

While the first point is fairly obvious, we might take exception to the last. True, in many
cases an individual who has to deal with horrendous circumstances as a child may be
unable to negotiate later stages as easily as someone who didn’t have as many
challenges early on. For example, we know that orphans who weren’t held or stroked as
infants have an extremely hard time connecting with others when they become adults
and have even died from lack of human contact.

1. Infancy: Birth to 18 months

Ego Development Outcome: Trust vs. Mistrust

Basic strength: Drive and Hope

Erikson also referred to infancy as the Oral Sensory Stage (as anyone might who
watches a baby put everything in her mouth) where the major emphasis is on the
mother’s positive and loving care for the child, with a big emphasis on visual contact
and touch. If we pass successfully through this period of life, we will learned to trust
that life is basically Okay and have basic confidence in the future. If we fail to
experience trust and are constantly frustrated because our needs are not met, we
may end up with a deep-seated feeling of worthlessness and a mistrust of the world
in general.

Incidentally, many studies of suicides and suicide attempts point to the importance of
the early years in developing the basic belief that the world is trustworthy and that
every individual has a right to be here.

Not surprisingly, the most significance relationship is with the maternal parent, or
whoever is our most significant and constant caregiver.

2. Early Childhood: 18 months to 3 years

Ego Development Outcome: Autonomy vs. Shame

Basic Strengths: Self- control, Courage, and will

During this stage will learn to master skills for us. Not only do we learn to walk, talk
and feed ourselves, we are learning finer motor development as well as the much
appreciated toilet training .Here we have the opportunity to build self-esteem and
autonomy as we gain more control over our bodies and acquire new skills, learning
right from wrong. And one of our schools during the “Terrible two’s” is our ability
to use the powerful word “NO!” It may be pain for parents, but it develops important
skills of the will. (See Use of the Will from He Hit Me Back first!)

It is also during this stage, however, that we can be very vulnerable. If were shamed
in the process of toilet training or in learning other important skills, we may feel great
shame and doubt of our capabilities and suffer low self-esteem as a result. The most
significant relationships are with parents.

3. Play Age: 3 to 5 Years

Ego Development Outcome: Initiative vs. Guilt

Basic Strength: Purpose

During this period we experience a desire to copy the adults around us and take
initiative in creating play situations. We make up stories with Barbie’s and Ken’s toy
phones and miniature cars, playing out roles in a trial universe, experimenting with
the blue print for what we believe it means to be an adult. We also begin to use the
wonderful word for exploring the world—“WHY?”

While Erikson was influenced by Freud, he downplays biological sexuality in favor of

the psychosocial features of conflict between child and parents. Nevertheless, he
said that at this stage we usually become involved in the classic “Oedipal struggle”
and resolve this struggle through “social role identification.” If we’re frustrated over
natural desires and goals, we may easily experience guilt.

The most significance relationship is with the basic family.

4. School Age: 6-12 years

Ego Development Outcome: Industry vs. Inferiority

Basic Strengths: Method and Competence

During this stage, often called the latency, we are capable of learning, creating and
accomplishing numerous new skills and knowledge, thus developing a sense of
industry. This is also a very social stage of development and if we experience and
resolve feelings of inadequacy and inferiority among our peers, we can have serious
problems in terms of competence and self- esteem.
As the world expands a bit, our most significance relationship is with the school and
neighborhood. Parents are no longer to complete authorities they once were,
although they are still important.

5. Adolescence:12 to 18 Years

Ego Development Outcome: Identity vs. Role Confusion

Basic Strengths: Devotion and Fidelity

Up to this stage, according to Erikson, development mostly depends upon what is

done to us. From here on out, developments depends primarily upon what we do.
And while adolescence is a stage at which we are neither a child nor an adult, life is
definitely getting more complex as we attempt to find our own identity, struggle with
social interactions, and grapple with moral issues.

Our task is to discover who we are as individuals separate from our family of origin
and as members of a wider society. Unfortunately for those around us, in this
process many of us go into a period of withdrawing from responsibilities, which
Erikson called a “monatorium.” And if we are unsuccessful in navigating this stage,
we will experience role confusion and upheaval.

A significant task for us is to establish a philosophy of life and in this process we

tend to think in terms of ideals, which are conflict free, rather than reality, which is
not. The problem is that we don’t have much experience and find it easy to
substitute ideals for experience. However, we can also develop strong devotion to
friends and causes.

It is no surprise that our most significant relationships are with peer groups.

6. Young Adulthood: 18 to 35

Ego Development Outcome: Intimacy and Solidarity vs. Isolation

Basic Strengths: Affiliation and Love

In the initial stage of being adult we seek one or more companions and love. As we
try to find mutually satisfying relationships, primarily through marriage and friends,
we generally also begin to start a family, though this age has been pushed back for
many couples who today don’t start their families until their late thirties. If negotiating
this stage is successful, we can experience intimacy on a deep level.
If we’re not successful, isolation and distance from others may occur. And when we
don’t find it easy to create satisfying relationships, our world can begin to shrink as,
in defense, we can feel superior to others.

Our significant relationships are with marital partners and friends.

7. Middle Adulthood: 35 to 55 or 65

Ego Development Outcome: Generativity vs. Self Absorption or Stagnation

Basic Strengths: Production and Care

Now work is most crucial. Erikson observed that middle-age is when we tend to be
occupied with creative and meaningful work and with issues surrounding our family.
Also, middle adulthood is when we can expect to “be in charge,” the role we’ve
longer envied.

The significant task is to perpetuate culture and transmit values of the culture
through the family (taming the kids) and working to establish a stable environment.
Strength comes through care of others and production of something that contributes
to the betterment of society, which Erikson calls generativity, so when were in this
stage we often fear inactivity in meaninglessness.

As our children leave home or our relationships or goals change, we may be face
with major life changes—the mid-life crisis—and struggle with finding new meanings
and purposes. If we don’t get through this stage successfully, we can become self
absorbed- and stagnate.

Significant relationships are within the workplace, the community and the family.

8. Late Adulthood: 55 or 65 to death

Ego Development Outcome: Integrity vs. Despair

Basic Strengths: Wisdom

Erikson felt that much of life is preparing for the middle adulthood stage and the last
stage is recovering from it. Perhaps that is because as older adults we can often
look back on our lives with happiness and are content, feeling fulfilled with a deep
sense that life has meaning and we’ve made a contribution to life, a feeling Erikson
calls integrity. Our strength comes from a wisdom that the world is very large and we
now have a detached concern for the whole life, accepting death as the completion
of life.

On the other hand, some adults may reach this stage and despair at their
experiences and perceived failures. They may fear death as they struggle to find a
purpose to their lives, wondering “Was the trip worth it?” Alternatively, they may feel
they have all the answers (not unlike going back to adolescence) and end with a
strong dogmatism that only their view has been correct.

The significant relationship is with all of mankind—“my kind.”

According to the developmental stages of Erik Erikson the patient belongs to middle
adulthood in which the significant relationship are within the workplace, the
community and family.