Good day, everyone. This is Stephanie Kahane of ABM 14.

And for today, we will be tackling Eric Erickson

Erikson's theory of psychosocial development consists of 8 stages. 5 stages up to 18 years old and 3 stages
beyond. As we can observe here, the lower stages have shorter spans also showing that the younger a
person is, the more changes they undergo, and thus, the more crucial are the fulfillment of virtues. So,
virtues? Well, according to Erikson, at every stage, there is a certain crisis to face that is psychosocial in
nature.

Psycho, pertaining to the psychological needs involving an individual's mental and emotional state in
conflict with the social or the needs of society. And these crises may have a positive or negative impact on
a person. So how does the impact occur? Well, it is basically like this. If a crisis was handled successfully, it
develops the person's ego.

And do take note that ego is not necessarily a bad thing. Having an established self esteem is important,
especially nowadays. What is not desirable, however, is being egotistical or in simple terms, being self
centered and having too much ego. Moving forward, if a stage is successfully completed, it would acquire
the person a basic virtue, the one I'm talking about earlier, which the ego can use to solve future crisis.
Now that we know about the stage in the crisis, what happens next?

Well, that would be the outcome. If the person completes the stage successfully, it will contribute to
having a healthy personality. However, if the stage was unsuccessful, it leans to having an unhealthier
sense of self or an unhealthy ego seemingly hindering or slowing down one's personality development.
Next are the stages. As we focused earlier on the development, now things are going to get a little bit
more specific.

Ready? Erikson's theory of psychosocial development is based on what he calls an epigenetic principle,
wherein one's personality is built upon each previous stage. This is also why if ever there is failure to meet
the needs of a stage's psychosocial crisis, this decreases one's ability to complete succeeding stages.
Whereas, if otherwise, it actually strengthens one's ability to cope. Again, Erikson's theory of psychosocial
development consists of 8 stages, and each stage has its own psychosocial crisis to face, which, if handled
successfully, obtains the person a specific virtue, which are characteristic strengths necessary for
regulating one's ego.

The first stage occurs at infancy, wherein the necessary virtue to obtain is hope. Trust versus mistrust.
From the minute the baby was born to about 18 months old, the primary caregiver, may it be the mother,
the father, or a guardian, plays a crucial role. At this stage, the infant is uncertain and clueless about the
world. Thus, he or she needs stable and consistent care.

If the needs are met and proven reliable, then a sense of trust and security and the virtue of hope will be
developed, which are to be handy in future stages. On the other hand, if the experience is harsh or
inconsistent, unpredictable, and unreliable, a sense of mistrust, doubt, and fear will be developed instead.
This greatly affects one's future relationships and reactions to threat, insecurities, and anxieties. The next
stage occurs at early childhood to obtain the virtue of will. Autonomy versus shame.

At 18 months old to about 3 years old, the parents, both of them, play a crucial role as the child is
becoming more mobile and tries to become independent, like making choices on their own. If the parents
are supportive, patient, and encouraging, then the child will learn about his or her skills, limits, and
abilities and be able to practice them. He or she will also become more confident and autonomous or self
governing. On the other hand, if the child is being overly controlled, not given enough opportunity to learn
on their own, and is criticized with his or her abilities and even for having mistakes or accidents, then he or
she might feel a sense of shame or doubt, lacking self esteem, and becoming overly dependent on others.
That's why a parent must neither do everything for the child nor be intolerant of failure.

There must be a balance of guidance. The next stage occurs at play age, to obtain the virtue of purpose.
Initiative versus guilt. Ages 3 to 5 is said to be lively, rapid developing, and full of action. Children assert
themselves more frequently and ought to interact with other children.

They also ought to go to school and regularly have time to play as the activities serve as an opportunity to
develop their interpersonal skills. He or she may also ask many questions as his or her curiosity grows. If
the said needs were catered well, they develop a sense of decision making and leading. Initiative will also
be established, but a healthy balance between initiative and guilt or self control and conscience will lead
to the virtue of purpose. However, if criticism, control, or invalidation occurs specifically from the family,
then there can be too much guilt and the child might become slower to interact and have a repressed
creativity.

They may also lack self initiative, feel like a nuisance to others, and therefore, remain as followers. The
next stage occurs at school age to obtain the virtue of competency. Industry versus inferiority.

_1__--_-________
Children aged 5 to 12 years old learn to read, write, compute, and do things on their own. Teachers play a
crucial role in developing certain skills while peer groups contribute to one's self esteem.

He or she might feel the need to reach certain goals and gain the approval of society. Then if he or she is
encouraged and given recognition for taking initiative, the child begins to feel more determined and
confident to accomplish more. But, of course, some failure is still necessary to develop modesty. Finding a
balance between accomplishment and failure earns the virtue of competence. However, if the child is not
at all encouraged or even restricted or invalidated by society, he or she might feel inferior, doubt his own
abilities, and not make the most out of his or her potential.
__________

The 5th stage occurs at adolescence to obtain the virtue of fidelity, which Ericsson actually emphasized as
a crucial stage for developing a person's identity. Identity versus role confusion. This is probably where
most of us are right now. Ages 12 to 80 is considered a transition from childhood to adulthood.
Adolescents are basically children that are more independent and are undergoing major changes in all
aspects of life.

One would most likely search for a sense of self and identity for their personal values, beliefs, and goals.
Erikson suggests that there are 2 identities involved, the sexual and the occupational. Adolescents would
most likely look at the future and feel the need of belongingness and adaptation to society. As physical
changes become more obvious than ever, Erickson claims that one may feel uncomfortable in his or her
own body image until he or she can grow in his or her own body image until he or she can grow into the
changes. Moreover, as one strives to discover his or her true identity, adolescents explore different
lifestyles and possibilities and begin to form their own identity.

Successfully establishing this in the society earns the person the virtue of fidelity, wherein he or she can
commit and is more accepting of differences. However, failure to do so could lead to role confusion. But at
the same time, pressuring or forcing someone to an identity leads to unhappiness, rebellion, and a
negative identity.

________-______
We're almost through. The 6th stage occur at young adulthood to obtain the virtue of love. Intimacy
versus isolation. This stage takes a much longer period of time, but it just basically means that young
adults have plenty of time to search for love. At ages 18 to 40, one tends to share his or herself more
intimately with someone other than family members.

He or she would probably lean towards commitments and loving relationships of longer terms, or in a
simpler context, finding a partner. If the needs are met, one would be comfortable in a relationship with a
sense of commitment, safety, and care, providing the virtue of love. However, if not successful, one would
probably avoid intimacy and fear commitment in relationships, which can lead to isolation and make him
or her feel lonely or even depressed.

__________

The second to the last stage occurs at adulthood to obtain the virtue of care. Generativity versus
stagnation.

People ages 40 to 65 finally get to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. One ought to have an established
career, a settled relationship, and maybe even his or her own family. The theory suggests that adults also
ought to make their mark in this world by creating or nurturing things that give back to society. Success in
this stage would earn them the virtue of care while failing to contribute may lead to unproductivity and
stagnation, not making their mark, or non involvement with society. Lastly, the 8th stage occurs at
maturity to obtain the virtue of wisdom.

Ego integrity versus despair. Senior citizens or people aged 65 and above ought to explore life as a retired
person. While productivity is slowed down, one contemplates with his or her accomplishments with
everything that he or she has gone through. If one's life can be deemed successful, then integrity would
most likely develop. But the virtue of wisdom can only be achieved with the right balance of integrity and
despair, making one able to accept death without fear and look back on his or her life with a sense of
closure and completeness.

However, if one is dissatisfied with life, mainly because it is dominated by unproductivity, guilt, or regrets,
then he or she might develop despair and even get depressed or hopeless. So now that we've tackled the
stages of development, we could visualize better its concept and how one stage is crucial towards
succeeding stages. To sum it up, we ought to become more independent and wiser as we get older, but
fulfilling the basic virtues at the corresponding stages helps us have better relationships and a better life.
But wait. There's more.

This is seriously the last part, so please bear with me. Before we end, let us have a little roots check. Eric
Erickson is an ego psychologist, emphasizing the role of culture and society and the conflicts that can take
place within one's ego, fully explaining how he came up with what we discussed earlier. Moreover, it is
said that his theory provided a realistic perspective of personality development. And because of his ideas,
psychology no longer views middle and late adulthood as irrelevant.

Lastly, he was greatly influenced by Sigmund Freud. However, his focus is on psychosocial stages, unlike
Freud who focused on psychosexual stages. So that's all for my presentation. Again, this is Stefanika Hain
of ABM 14, and thank you very much for listening.