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Erikson’s Stages of psychosocial development
Erik Erikson described development that occurs throughout the lifespan. Learn more in this
chart summarising Erikson's stages of psychosocial development.
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Stage
1
2
3
Age
Infancy (birth to
18 months)
Early Childhood (2
to 3 years)
Preschool (3 to 5
years)
Basic Conflict
Trust vs. Mistrust
Autonomy vs.
Shame and Doubt
Initiative vs. Guilt
Important Events
Outcome
Feeding
Children develop a sense of
trust when caregivers provide
reliabilty, care, and affection. A
lack of this will lead to
mistrust.
Toilet Training
Children need to develop a
sense of personal control over
physical skills and a sense of
independence. Success leads to
feelings of autonomy, failure
results in feelings of shame and
doubt.
Exploration
Children need to begin
asserting control and power
over the environment. Success
in this stage leads to a sense of
purpose. Children who try to
exert too much power
experience disapproval,
resulting in a sense of guilt.
4
5
6
7
School Age (6 to
11 years)
Adolescence (12 to
18 years)
Young Adulthood
(19 to 40 years)
Middle adulthood
(40 - 65 years)
Industry vs.
Inferiority
Identity vs. Role
Confusion
Intimacy vs.
Isolation
Generation v
stagnation
School
Children need to cope with new
social and academic demands.
Success leads to a sense of
competence, while failure
results in feelings of inferiority.
Social
Relationships
Teens need to develop a sense
of self and personal identity.
Success leads to an ability to
stay true to yourself, while
failure leads to role confusion
and a weak sense of self.
Relationships
Young adults need to form
intimate, loving relationships
with other people. Success
leads to strong relationships,
while failure results in
loneliness and isolation
Work and
Parenthood
Adults need to create or
nurture things that will outlast
them, often by having children
or creating a positive change
that benefits other people.
Success leads to feelings of
usefulness and
accomplishment, while failure
results in shallow involvement
in the world.
8
Maturity(65 to
death)
Ego Integrity vs.
Despair
Reflection on Life
Older adults need to look back
on life and feel a sense of
fulfillment. Success at this
stage leads to feelings of
wisdom, while failure results in
regret, bitterness, and despair.
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Stage 4 Industry v Inferiority
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For our purposes, we are going to focus on stages 4 and 5:
Psychosocial Conflict: Industry versus
Inferiority
Major Question: "How can I be good?"
Basic Virtue: Competence
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Important Event(s): School
Industry versus inferiority is the fourth stage of Erik
Erikson's theory of psychosocial development. The
stage occurs during childhood between the ages of
six and eleven. School and social interaction play an
important role during this time of a child’s life.
Through social interactions, children begin to
develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments
and abilities.
During the industry versus inferiority stage, children become capable of performing
increasingly complex tasks. As a result, they strive to master new skills. Children who are
encouraged and commended by parents and teachers develop a feeling of competence and
belief in their skills. Those who receive little or no encouragement from parents, teachers, or
peers will doubt their ability to be successful.
According to Erikson, this stage is vital in the development of self-confidence. During school
and other social activities, children receive praise and attention for performing various tasks
such as reading, writing, drawing and solving problems. Children need to cope with new social
and academic demands. Success leads to a sense of competence, while failure results in
feelings of inferiority.
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Stage Five Identity Versus Confusion
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Psychosocial Conflict: Identity Versus Confusion
Major Question: "Who am I?"
Basic Virtue: Fidelity
Important Event(s): Social Relationships
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Identity versus confusion is the fifth stage of Erik
Erikson's theory of psychosocial development. This
stage occurs during adolescence between the ages
of approximately 12 to 18. Teens need to develop a
sense of self and personal identity. During
adolescence, children are exploring their
independence and developing a sense of self.
As they make the transition from childhood to
adulthood, teens may begin to feel confused or
insecure about themselves and how they fit in to society. As they seek to establish a sense of
self, teens may experiment with different roles, activities and behaviors. According to Erikson,
this is important to the process of forming a strong identity and developing a sense of direction
in life.
Those who receive proper encouragement and reinforcement through personal exploration will
emerge from this stage with a strong sense of self and a feeling of independence and control.
Those who remain unsure of their beliefs and desires will insecure and confused about
themselves and the future.
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How Our Identity Forms Out of Conflict
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You can probably heard the term 'identity crisis'
before and you probably have a fairly good idea of
what it means. But where did this idea originate?
Why do people experience this kind of personal
crisis? Is it something confined to the teenage
years?
The concept originates in the work of
developmental psychologist Erik Erikson, who
believed that the formation of identity was one of
the most important parts of a person's life.
What is an Identity Crisis?
Are you unsure of your role in life? Do you feel like you don't know the 'real you'? If you
answer yes to the previous questions, you may be experiencing an identity crisis. Theorist Erik
Erikson coined the term identity crisis and believed that it was one of the most important
conflicts people face in development.
According to Erikson, an identity crisis is a time of intensive analysis and exploration of
different ways of looking at oneself. Erikson's interest in identity began in childhood. Raised
Jewish, Erikson appeared very Scandinavian and often felt that he was an outsider of both
groups. His later studies of cultural life among the Yurok of northern California and the Sioux of
South Dakota helped formalise Erikson's ideas about identity development and identity crisis.
Erikson described identity as:
"...a subjective sense as well as an observable quality of personal sameness and continuity,
paired with some belief in the sameness and continuity of some shared world image. As a
quality of unself-conscious living, this can be gloriously obvious in a young person who has
found himself as he has found his communality. In him we see emerge a unique unification of
what is irreversibly given--that is, body type and temperament, giftedness and vulnerability,
infantile models and acquired ideals--with the open choices provided in available roles,
occupational possibilities, values offered, mentors met, friendships made, and first sexual
encounters." (Erikson, 1970.)
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Research on Identity
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In Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, the emergence of an identity crisis occurs
during the teenage years in which people struggle between feelings of identity versus role
confusion. Researcher James Marcia (1966, 1976, 1980) has expanded upon Erikson's initial
theory. According to Marcia and his colleagues, the balance between identity and confusion lies
in making a commitment to an identity. Marcia also developed an interview method to measure
identity as well as four different identity statuses. This methods looks at three different areas
of functioning: occupational role, beliefs and values, and sexuality.
Identity Statuses
Identity achievement occurs when an
individual has gone through an
exploration of different identities and
made a commitment to one.
Moratorium is the status of a person who is
actively involved in exploring different
identities, but has not made a
commitment.
Foreclosure status is when a person has made
a commitment without attempting
identity exploration.
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Identity diffusion occurs when there is neither
an identity crisis or commitment.
Researchers have found that those who have made a strong commitment to an identity tend to
be happier and healthier than those who have not. Those with a status of identity diffusion
tend to feel out of place in the world and don't pursue a sense of identity.
In today's rapidly changing world, identity crises are more common today than in Erikson's
day. These conflicts are certainly not confined to the teenage years. People tend to experience
them at various points throughout life, particularly at points of great change such as starting a
new job, the beginning of a new relationship, the end of a marriage, or the birth of a child.
Exploring different aspects of yourself in the different areas of life, including your role at work,
within the family, and in romantic relationships, can help strengthen your personal identity.
References:
Erikson, E.H. (1970). Reflections on the dissent of contemporary youth., International Journal
of Psychoanalysis, 51, 11-22.
Marcia, J. E. (1966) Development and validation of ego identity statuses. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 3, 551-558.
Marcia, J. E. (1976) Identity six years after: A follow-up study. Journal of Youth and
Adolescence, 5, 145-160.
Marcia, J. E. (1980) Identity in adolescence. In J. Adelson (Ed.), Handbook of Adolescent
Psychology. New York: Wiley.