Question

Development throughout the Lifespan

Erikson and Freud are two of the few theorists who have developed a lifespan approach to development. Freud’s approach to development was psychosexual while Erikson’s was psychosocial. Even though Freud’s theory is better known, Erikson’s theory remains a leading and very much applied model in personality and developmental psychology today.

When considering these two stage-oriented theories, you can directly compare the majority of their stages. These are matched in the following table:

Approximate Age	Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development	Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial development
Infancy (Birth to 1 year)	Oral stage	Trust versus mistrust
Early childhood (1–3 years)	Anal stage	Autonomy versus doubt
Preschool (3–6 years)	Phallic stage	Initiative versus guilt
School age (7–11 years)	Latent period	Industry versus inferiority
Adolescence (12–18 years)	Genital stage	Identity versus role confusion
Young adulthood (19–40 years)		Intimacy versus isolation
Middle adulthood (40–65 years)		Generativity versus stagnation
Older adulthood (65–death)		Integrity versus despair

When considering Erikson's eight stages of development, the way a person moves through each stage directly affects their success in the next stage. Their personality is being built and shaped with each stage. At each stage, there is a turning point, called a crisis by Erikson, which a person must confront.

In this assignment, you will observe or interview two different people, each at a different stage of development. For a third observation, take a look at yourself and the stage that you are in (this stage must be different from your other two observations).

Record your three observations in a template. Include the following information:

Name

Age

Gender

Current developmental stage

Status within the stage (i.e., identity achievement or role confusion)

Events that have lead to this status

Record your observations.

Summarize what you have learned about psychosocial development through these observations/interviews.

Summarize the trends you see in your observations/interviews regarding psychosocial development.

How does movement through Erikson's stages influence personality development? Again, be specific.

How do Erikson's stages of development compare to Freud’s stages? How are they similar? How are they different?

Between these two theories, which one do you feel best explains your own personality development? Justify your answers with specific examples.

Answer 1

Name- Ram

Age- 63

Gender-male

Current developmental stage- old age

Status with the stage- generativity

He is a retired police officer and now he is acting as a social worker in his village. He is able to contribute his best to his family and community. He thinks his life is a great success . this lead this person to feel positive about himself. He thinks that he has contributed very much to the upcoming generation.

Name - Glory

Age-18

Gender- female

Current developmental stage- Adolescence

Status within the stage- role confusion

She is in a stage in which she is not able to determine what is her unique skills and potentials. She is confused about the role she have to play in the rest of her life. The events that lead to this role confusion is that her parents are not cooperative and friendly and she doesnt have good friendships.

Iam in my early adulthood stage , and iam feeling a sense of intimacy.Iam able to form an intimate loving relationship with other people and i feel a sense of commitment , safety and care with my partner.

Psycho-social development involves changes in our interactions and understanding of one another as well as in our knowledge and understanding of ourselves as a member of society. Passing through each stage of of psycho social development necessitates the resolution of crisis or conflict. Each stage is a pairing of both positive and negative aspect of the crisis of that period. For Erikson , these crises involve psychological needs of the individual conflicting with the needs of society .According to the theory, successful completion of each stage results in a healthy personality and the acquisition of basic virtues. Basic virtues are characteristic strengths which the ego can use to resolve subsequent crises.

Freud believed that we are dominated by biological needs, especially sexual, that must be controlled if we are to become civilized human beings .Erikson believed that a person's personality is determined by how he deals with particular problems during specific stages during his life .Erikson theoretically and practically moves away from the classical psychoanalysis. He proposes a broader and more comprehensive theory which extends from birth to death and applies to various races of humanity.

If these psychosexual stages are completed successfully it will lead to healthy personality. If certain needs are not gratified at appropriate stage it result in fixation. A fixation is a persistent focus on an earlier psychosexual stage. For example, a person who is fixated at the oral stage may be over-dependent on others and may seek oral stimulation through smoking, drinking, or eating.

On the other hand, Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development is one of the best-known theories of personality in psychology. Much like Sigmund Freud, Erikson believed that personality develops in a series of stages. Unlike Freud’s theory of psychosexual stages, Erikson’s theory describes the impact of social experience across the whole lifespan.

Eriksons theory is the best theory in that it is more optimistic in nature. Freuds theory states that early childhood experience plays a role in shaping personality. Instead Erickson theory states an individuals personalityu is determineds by how he tackle his problems during specific stages in his life.Failure to successfully complete a stage can result in a reduced ability to complete further stages and therefore a more unhealthy personality and sense of self. These stages, however, can be resolved successfully at a later time. Thats why it is said that Eriksons theory is positive and optimistic as the problems in earlier stage can be resolved at a later stage.