My Psychosocial Stages: Real Life Examples of Erikson's Stages of Development

Introduction

Erik Erikson’s was a follower of Jean Piaget and his work/theory was inspired by Piaget and with the work he saw Piaget did, Erikson wanted to expand his theory, but with a different focus. Erik Erikson came up with the Psychosocial Theory and is based on eight psychosocial stages. Erik Erikson’ theory focused the eight stages on family and culture. The 8 psychosocial stages are trust vs mistrust; autonomy vs shame and doubt; initiative vs guilt; industry vs inferiority; identity vs role confusion; intimacy vs isolation; generativity vs stagnation; and integrity vs despair. In these 8 stages the individual experiences a conflict in each stage and it is resolved depending on the individual and their surrounds. Furthermore, this essay will discuss my experiences with the psychosocial stages.

Life Story Using the Stages of Psychosocial Development

I am currently twenty-two years old and I have some life experiences, the stage I find myself in is the fifth stage of the psychosocial stages which is, identity vs role confusion. I find myself in this stage because I am in at a point in my life where I am in college getting an education, have more responsibilities as an adult that I am still getting adjusted to, have more independence than I did when I was younger, and I am still working on my identity because every time I learn more and more. In this stage, I feel I am more in the identity part because I am finding out who I am and beginning to form my own identity. Although I have been forming my own identity and have more independence, I have had support from my parents. My parents have showed me trust and have given me the support I need. For example, they give me advice when I need it and always support my decisions. Having their support all the time has impacted my life in a positive way because I know that when I need advice I go to them and they always listen and understand me.

As mentioned before, I have always had the support of my parents and growing up was no difference. They always encouraged and motivated me to do my best and would tell me to not give up in anything and to keep trying. I can say that for the first 4 stages of Erik Erikson’s theory I successfully overcame each stage, I had no problem resolving conflicts. From what I notice I trust my parents and they trust me too. When I was younger they provided my basic needs, for instance they would respond when I needed them and until today they were there for me when I need them. My parents trust at a young age also helped develop a secure attachment. Having a secure attachment has made me be secure about myself and my surroundings as well. I am also able to trust other people because of my secure attachment. In addition, I am older now and I am able to make my own decisions and differ between good and bad decisions.

Then, as I moved on to the next stage autonomy vs shame and doubt, I had no problem resolving conflict too. As mentioned, my mom tells me stories all the time about when I was growing up and she always says that I was put effort in everything I did and that I always wanted to do everything on my own because I was exploring new things and she was very patient with me. I noticed that what my mom has told me is true. For instance, I remember that being in middle school one day I came home and tried to cook something for my brother and I because I would always see my mom cooking for us and I would get curious about it. My mom told me to be careful because I could get burned or even hurt. I wanted to try cooking food that way I would be able to cook something when my mom could not make us food, in order for me to learn my mom would have patience to show me how to make some coup or tuna salad. Therefore, as a child I overcame autonomy vs shame and doubt, and as an adolescent I felt confident about being able to do certain things alone or with the help of a parent.

The next stage is initiative vs guilt, in this stage children are about 3 to 5 years old, learning more skills, and doing activities that are more age appropriate. For example, they want to help their parents more and in this stage children are building their own self-esteem. In this stage I feel like I always had initiative because I remember trying to take on more chores than what my mom would give me because I felt I was older to do more. For example, I started to help my mom more by taking care of my brother more, I would change his diaper and give him his bottle. My mom let me help her with my brother and it made me feel happy to help her. I would also want to go grocery shopping with her, I wanted to help her pick out the fruits and vegetables. My mom let me do it but she would let me pick out three different fruits and would supervise that I would not get the ugly fruits or she would explain to me why not to get the ugly fruit. Every time she would let me do something on my own I would feel proud that I was able to help her. In addition, now that I am older I am thankful my mom let me help her because what I learned when I was a child I use it in my adult life.

The fourth stage is, industry vs inferiority, this is where children are also learning new skills but it focuses more in school, for example; friends, academic subjects, and teachers having a role in the children’s life. I can recall my elementary school years, I always had good grades, liked to learn new things, and had a lot of friends. During my elementary school years my parents always helped me do my homework when I needed help and would check my homework to make sure I did it right. In order for me to be successful they always went to parent conference, they would try to get out of their job early to meet my teachers and talk about how I was doing in school. Although, I had different teachers in elementary school, there is one teacher in particular who I always remember, she was my 4th and 5th grade teacher. Ms. Leon. She always stayed after school in case we needed help with homework, she always stayed in contact with the parents to talk about how they can help up at home. There was a time where I was having a hard time with the reading when it came to reading tests, she talked to my parents and asked for their support at home so I could improve my reading and I did. Adding on, my parents encouraged me to keep reading so I can improve in school, they would take time to sit with me at home to listen to me read and having their support helped, it made me feel confident about my reading. Furthermore, my parents still motivate me, especially since I am still in college.

Moreover, now that I am an adult and have passed some stages of Erikson’s theory, I find myself in the fifth stage; identity vs role confusion. This stage focuses on adolescence to the beginning of adulthood. Individuals in this stage are transitioning from childhood to adulthood. They tend to focus on their careers, friends, relationships, families, and much more. They beginning to have more independence and figuring out who they want to be. I find myself in this stage because I am still in college focusing in my career, meeting new people, and finding my own identity. For example, I been in school for four years and I have learned a lot from new friends and professors. I have also made new friends who are in my career path and we keep in contact to help each other out. Furthermore, meeting new people has taught me to be able to listen to others points of view and share our opinions. In addition, I have also gained more independence because I am an adult and I have more responsibilities.

Conclusion

Overall, I have overcome most of the stage of Erik Erikson’s theory. Again, I think I am in the stage of identity vs role confusion because I am still in college, meeting new people, and making my connections around with people that are in my field. Also with the experiences I had child and now as an adult with the support of my parents I was able to successfully overcome them with no problem and they have impacted my life in a positive way. In addition, I will keep working on the fifth stage to successfully overcome it.