Erikson's stages of psychosocial development (Which path did you take)

[mu4]

Somavision posted this earlier: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erikson...al_development and I thought it would be a interesting set of questions to ask. Which path did you take.


1. Hopes: Trust vs. Mistrust (Oral-sensory, Birth-2 years)

• Psychosocial Crisis: Trust vs. Mistrust
• Virtue: Hope

2. Will: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt (Muscular-Anal, 2-4 years)

• Psychosocial Crisis: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt

3. Purpose: Initiative vs. Guilt (Locomotor-Genital, Preschool, 4-5 years)

• Initiative vs. Guilt

4. Competence: Industry vs. Inferiority (Latency, 5-12 years)

• Psychosocial Crisis: Industry vs. Inferiority
• Main Question: "How can I be good?"
• Virtue: Competence
• Related Elements in Society: division of labour

5. Fidelity: Identity vs. Role Confusion (Adolescence, 13-19 years)

• Psychosocial Crisis: Identity vs. Role Confusion
• Main Question: "Who am I and where am I going?"
• Ego quality: Fidelity
• Related Elements in Society:

6. Love: Intimacy vs. Isolation (Young adulthood, 20-24, or 20-40 years)

• Psychosocial Crisis: Intimacy vs. Isolation
• Main Question: "Am I loved and wanted?" or "Shall I share my life with someone or live alone?"
• Virtue: Love
• Related Elements in Society: patterns of cooperation (often marriage)

7. Care: Generativity vs. Stagnation (Middle adulthood, 25-64, or 40-64 years)

• Psychosocial Crisis: Generativity vs. Stagnation
• Main Question: "Will I produce something of real value?"
• Virtue: Care
• Related Elements in Society: parenting, educating, or other productive social involvement

[mu4]

I'll go first!

1. Hopes: Trust vs. Mistrust (Oral-sensory, Birth-2 years)

• Psychosocial Crisis: Trust vs. Mistrust

2. Will: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt (Muscular-Anal, 2-4 years)

• Psychosocial Crisis: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt

3. Purpose: Initiative vs. Guilt (Locomotor-Genital, Preschool, 4-5 years)

• Initiative vs. Guilt

4. Competence: Industry vs. Inferiority (Latency, 5-12 years)

• Psychosocial Crisis: Industry vs. Inferiority

5. Fidelity: Identity vs. Role Confusion (Adolescence, 13-19 years)

• Psychosocial Crisis: Identity vs. Role Confusion

6. Love: Intimacy vs. Isolation (Young adulthood, 20-24, or 20-40 years)

• Psychosocial Crisis: Intimacy vs. Isolation

7. Care: Generativity vs. Stagnation (Middle adulthood, 25-64, or 40-64 years)

• Psychosocial Crisis: Generativity vs. Stagnation

[Gilly]

This seems waaaay too simplistic and kind of presumptuous to me. I think I started my "Care" phase as the main emphasis of my subconscious at around age 13, and my concerns about identity arose from this anxiety, peaking between 18 and 20, whence grew my concern with intimacy.

[mu4]

This seems waaaay too simplistic and kind of presumptuous to me. I think I started my "Care" phase as the main emphasis of my subconscious at around age 13, and my concerns about identity arose from this anxiety, peaking between 18 and 20, whence grew my concern with intimacy.

Erikson states that each of these processes occur throughout the lifetime in one form or another, and he emphasizes these "phases" only because it is at these times that the conflicts become most prominent.

I don't think these phases are supposed to be precise.
And in this context care is not merely a subconscious thing but care as in taking responsibility of one's children and acts such as that as a full time occupation.

[Gilly]

Eh.

[somavision]

I don't think these phases are supposed to be precise.
And in this context care is not merely a subconscious thing but care as in taking responsibility of one's children and acts such as that as a full time occupation.

This is true. From recollection I believe he described the crisis as normative, as in that they are not necessarily universal, but that from his work as a psychoanalyst he observed them to be not unusual.

Regarding the stages of development (from recollection again, I will check this) I believe, that they did not work as a simple linear progression, but that an individual could be at different stages with regards to developing different aspects of his or her identity.

Erikson was very influential during his time, but he has not been without critics and as psychological methods and other theories have developed beyond and also in contrast to his. From what I understand he is still considered relevant by mainstream psychologists.

[DirectorAbbie]

Trust-Autonomy-Initiative-Industry-Identity-Isolation

[ashlesha]

how are you answering these questions? how do you know which one to pick?

[Absurd]

how are you answering these questions? how do you know which one to pick?

Exact-fucking-ly.

[mu4]

how are you answering these questions? how do you know which one to pick?

Know oneself. I answered the question the way I thought I should answer them.

[Absurd]

Know oneself. I answered the question the way I thought I should answer them.

You sure are in a possession of exceptional memory. Besides, what the hell does this even mean:

Erikson is credited with coining the term "Identity Crisis."[6] Each stage that came before and that follows has its own 'crisis', but even more so now, for this marks the transition from childhood to adulthood. This passage is necessary because "Throughout infancy and childhood, a person forms many identifications. But the need for identity in youth is not met by these."[7] This turning point in human development seems to be the reconciliation between 'the person one has come to be' and 'the person society expects one to become'.

Such people have a false - construct - I or "ego," No one is born with this kind of "ego." This kind of split from conscious to unconscious is developed in childhood. It has to do with a shutting off instinct and ignoring sensual input. The result is that humans can not really arrive at logic. This ego is a fake. It often seeks to "find itself." It imagines it has become the "new me" and tries to construct a new act, for it is all ultimately an act that they never know they are faking until the "new me" realises it and replaces it with another act.

[Gilly]

Know oneself. I answered the question the way I thought I should answer them.

Do you have a pretentious koan for every post you make here?

[Kald]

0-2: Trust vs. Mistrust
2-4: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt
4-5: Initiative vs. Guilt
5-12: Industry vs. Inferiority
13-19: Identity vs. Role Confusion
20-24: Intimacy vs. Isolation
25-64: Generativity vs. Stagnation (on it)

[Absurd]

I don't remember my childhood. I can't answer some of those questions not to mention read that wiki page.

[DirectorAbbie]

I don't remember my childhood.

I don't remember when I was two years old, but figure since I've always been trusting it must have started there.

[willekeurig]

...

[mu4]

Obviously it's not boring and obvious to everyone...



Don't condescend to those people... m'kay....

[Hot Scalding Gayser]

The author just sounds douchey. You may have to be a feeling type to feel it but I don't like using socionics as an excuse for anything. I realize I was scathing in my critique but he pissed me off and it had nothing to do with your enjoyment of it.

Ah, I read up more about the author. Apparently he was Jewish which explains a lot. Jewish people are so afraid of being losers, of being nobodies, that they have to rule society. So no wonder he chose 'industry' over inferiority and saw the world that way. That's really sad though. I feel sorry for jewish people and the discrimination they had to go through, and how they try to deal with it by becoming overly professional. Same thing happens with Alyson Hannigan and most people in the hollywood media. But just because he was teased sociopathically doesn't give him the right to come up with cuckoo theories. *sigh*

[NewBorn STAR]

The author just sounds douchey. You may have to be a feeling type to feel it but I don't like using socionics as an excuse for anything. I realize I was scathing in my critique but he pissed me off and it had nothing to do with your enjoyment of it.

Ah, I read up more about the author. Apparently he was Jewish which explains a lot. Jewish people are so afraid of being losers, of being nobodies, that they have to rule society. So no wonder he chose 'industry' over inferiority and saw the world that way. That's really sad though. I feel sorry for jewish people and the discrimination they had to go through, and how they try to deal with it by becoming overly professional. Same thing happens with Alyson Hannigan and most people in the hollywood media. But just because he was teased sociopathically doesn't give him the right to come up with cuckoo theories. *sigh*

This way you propose my mother is a jew. holy shit

[anndelise]

I had in the past ignored this theory, but chose to give it another look because of it's mention in a recent thread. I got to the second question and again dismissed it. I have tried a few more times, but this theory....bugs me.

Partially because of the freudian relationships.
But probably mostly because I cannot answer a single one as having followed one path over the other path, nor completing a stage.

I would say that viewing these as paths, or forks in the road of one's life, ignores the complexities of the human psyche. A more closer analogy might be which side of the narrow path are you treading, or did tread, at a given time of your life. Sometimes we might walk towards the left side of the path, sometimes towards the right, and sometimes in the middle....depending on the conditions of that section of the path.

I recognize that the theory claims that each

process occurs throughout the life in one form or another

, but it still claims that

Each stage builds on the successful completion of earlier stages. Challenges not successfully completed may be expected to reappear as problems in the future.

Combine with the OP's question of which path did we take, and it just feels so...stagnant...to me.

I also have some issues with how to interpret the stages, its questions, and its choices. Even after reading the wiki article the OP linked. My attempts to answer them kept leading me to ask "Based on what criteria?"

(Note: With all that said, I am willing to consider that my difficulties in 'choosing a path' or 'successfully completing a stage', and glimpsing how both choices have played out in various portions of my life, may be related to the bpd thing. )

[Absurd]

But probably mostly because I cannot answer a single one as having followed one path over the other path, nor completing a stage.

Same here. Can't answer those questions at all.

[mu4]

I had in the past ignored this theory, but chose to give it another look because of it's mention in a recent thread. I got to the second question and again dismissed it. I have tried a few more times, but this theory....bugs me.

Partially because of the freudian relationships.
But probably mostly because I cannot answer a single one as having followed one path over the other path, nor completing a stage.

I would say that viewing these as paths, or forks in the road of one's life, ignores the complexities of the human psyche. A more closer analogy might be which side of the narrow path are you treading, or did tread, at a given time of your life. Sometimes we might walk towards the left side of the path, sometimes towards the right, and sometimes in the middle....depending on the conditions of that section of the path.

I recognize that the theory claims that each , but it still claims that Combine with the OP's question of which path did we take, and it just feels so...stagnant...to me.

I also have some issues with how to interpret the stages, its questions, and its choices. Even after reading the wiki article the OP linked. My attempts to answer them kept leading me to ask "Based on what criteria?"

(Note: With all that said, I am willing to consider that my difficulties in 'choosing a path' or 'successfully completing a stage', and glimpsing how both choices have played out in various portions of my life, may be related to the bpd thing. )

Making it a choose your path adventure is more my sense of humor put into this than the theory.

As far as how to answer the questions if you want to and a criteria to do so, maybe based on how you feel/think about it? Maybe flip a coin?

Also you don't have to be content with the answers either, you can change it one way or another. I think for me, I would like to do a few things I didn't do when I was supposed to do them.

[anndelise]

Making it a choose your path adventure is more my sense of humor put into this than the theory.

As far as how to answer the questions if you want to and a criteria to do so, maybe based on how you feel/think about it? Maybe flip a coin?

Also you don't have to be content with the answers either, you can change it one way or another. I think for me, I would like to do a few things I didn't do when I was supposed to do them.

I think I'll do the forum a favor and not even try to answer them. Talk about the makings of a tldr post.

[Raver]

Interesting thread.

0-2: Trust vs. Mistrust
2-4: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt
4-5: Initiative vs. Guilt
5-12: Industry vs. Inferiority
13-19: Identity vs. Role Confusion
20-24: Intimacy vs. Isolation
25-64: Generativity vs. Stagnation (Too early to tell)

I agree with Aqua that none of these are really set in stone and if you have enough self-awareness, you can act differently than your instincts will dictate you to.