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Erik Erikson

Erik H. Erikson’s theory of eight stages of psychosocial development was first

established in 1950 (Knight, 2017). Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development, as

noted by Maree (2021), are: Trust verses Mistrust, Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt,

Initiative versus Guilt, Industry versus Inferiority, Identity versus Role Confusion, Intimacy

versus Isolation, Generativity versus Stagnation, and Ego Integrity versus Despair. Dunkel &

Harbke (2017) claim that each stage presents a new challenge or crisis that an individual must

resolve. With the resolution of each stage a person gains a new strength (Darling-Fisher,

2019). These basic strengths – hope, will, purpose, competence, fidelity, love, care, and

wisdom – allow an individual to cope with life’s challenges (Shin, 2018; Zock, 2017). Knight

further expresses that the integration of the new virtue allows the person to see the world in a

new light and is the forming of how an individual interacts with their environment.

Modern-day scholars have considered Erikson as a forefather in several areas of

psychology and have credited him for his multifaceted approach to human development,

providing the foundation for other researchers to build upon (Kivnick & Wells, 2014).

Erikson’s theory, according to Knight (2017), has been extensively researched. His ideas on

identity formation, life cycle development, personality development and culture,

encompassing his psychosocial theory, have all been backed up by empirical support (Knight,

2017). Expanding on Freud’s idea of psychosexual development, Kivnick & Wells (2014)

claim that Erikson placed emphasis on the psychosocial aspect that family, society, and

culture were all paramount to the development of an individual. Freud believed the stages of

human development stopped once a person had reached adolescence, whereas Erikson stated

that it continues throughout one’s entire life. They also claim that Erikson addressed the

importance of the development of psychosocial health rather than focusing on the cause and

remediation of mental health issues. Erikson’s psychosocial development theory has been the
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most influential since its time. Its influence still carries on today, being a focus of research for

over fifty years (Dunkel & Harbke, 2017).

Outlined in Erikson’s psychosocial development theory, an infant is first presented

with the challenge of trust versus mistrust. An example of this can be when parents hire a

babysitter. At first, the baby does not trust the babysitter and always cries when the parents

leave. But after some time, the baby begins to feel more comfortable with the babysitter and

eventually learns to have trust in them when the parents are not around. This gives the baby

the strength of hope and helps to resolve that psychosocial stage. I have noticed this in my

life, with my cousin recently having a baby. In the beginning, when he would be left with

other family members that he was somewhat unfamiliar with, he would start to cry. Although

after being around the family for a few weeks he began to feel a lot more comfortable without

his parents being there.

Abraham Maslow

American psychologist Abraham Maslow theorized what motivates people by

creating a hierarchy of basic human needs (Dohlman et al., 2019). Lester (2013) states the

needs can be placed into five categories, in order of sequence: physiological, safety and

security, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualisation. Firstly, physiological needs are

considered the most basic needs such as oxygen, food, water, and sleep. Secondly, safety

includes the need for security and stability in one’s life. The third level are social needs such

as belongingness and love. Self-esteem is placed in the fourth level, which includes the need

to reach goals or to earn respect. The final level of Maslow’s hierarchy is self-actualisation,

which includes higher achievements such as a person’s ambition in life or self-fulfilment

(Cao et al., 2013; Medcalf et al., 2013). Maslow believed, according to Allen et al. (2019),

that unsatisfied needs are what influences a person’s behaviour. If all needs are satisfied, no
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behaviour is required. A person will only explore higher needs once the lower needs have

been satisfied. (Allen et al., 2019).

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs theory has been extremely influential,

being widely used in fields such as philosophy, psychology, and medicine (Shen et al., 2020).

Allen et al. (2019) expresses that the theory has contributed significant growth to psychology

and other sciences. Current studies prove the theory as effective with only minor adaptions to

the model’s design being necessary (Allen et al., 2019, as cited in Kenrick et al., 2010).

Remaining influential today, Maslow’s theory has been used to help recognize the motivation

behind behavioural change (Dohlman et al., 2019). Acevedo (2018, as cited in Koltko-Rivera,

2006, p. 302) states “Maslow has been “found to be the 14th- most-frequently cited

psychologist in introductory psychology textbooks” and the “10th most eminent psychologist

of the 20th century””.

Food and water are two essential requirements needed for human survival. According

to Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs, these items are considered the most basic needs,

where people will not search for higher needs until the lower needs have been met. An

example of this can be seen in the homeless. Since their primary motivation is to find food

and water, which can often be a challenge when living on the streets, their higher needs –

such as safety and security – are unable to be met. Someone I know used to be homeless and I

remember seeing them on the street several times. When talking to this person, the focus of

his day was spent trying to find a safe place to sleep and free food. I have seen firsthand how

difficult it can be to try and find a job or a place to live when you are spending most of your

energy throughout the day trying to satisfy your basic human needs.
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References

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“humanistic” psychology to integral humanism. Journal of Business Ethics, 148, 741-

763. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2970-0

Allen, J., Muñoz, J.C., & Ortúzar, J.D. (2019). Understanding public transport satisfaction:

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2019.06.005

Cao, H., Jiang, J., Oh, L., Li, H., Liao, X., & Chen, Z. (2013). A Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

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https://doi.org/10.1177/0193945918770457

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the Maslow theory of motivation improve our understanding of physician migration?

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Dunkel, C.S., & Harbke, C. (2017). A review of measures of Erikson’s stages of psychosocial

development: Evidence for a general factor. Journal of Adult Development, 24, 58-76.

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Knight, Z.G. (2017). A proposed model of psychodynamic psychotherapy linked to Erik

Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development. Clinical Psychology &

Psychotherapy, 24(5), 1047-1058.

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care needs of Maslow’s need-hierarchy among disabled residents at nursing homes in

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Zock, H. (2018). Human development and pastoral care in a postmodern age: Donald Capps,

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