Erik Erikson proposed a theory of psychosocial development consisting of 8 stages from infancy to late adulthood. At each stage, individuals face a psychosocial crisis that can result in a healthy or unhealthy outcome. The stages involve developing trust vs mistrust as an infant, autonomy vs shame as a toddler, initiative vs guilt as a young child, industry vs inferiority in middle childhood, identity vs role confusion in adolescence, intimacy vs isolation in young adulthood, generativity vs stagnation in middle adulthood, and integrity vs despair in late adulthood. Successful completion of each stage leads to the acquisition of basic virtues and a healthy personality development.
Related topics: