Psychological development according to E. H. Erikson

Erik Homburger Erikson distinguishes the so-called eight ages of man in the mental development of man. In each of them, the individual must solve a developmental task.

first age

• first year of life
• corresponds to the oral period in Freud
• the child's task is to gain a sense of confidence in life and to defend against feelings of insecurity

Second age

• 2nd-3rd year of life
• corresponds to the anal stage in Freud
• the task is to manage the contradiction between one's feelings of autonomy (independence) and the feelings of shame that result from dependence on the environment and their demands

Third age

• preschool age
• corresponds to the phallic period in Freud
• the task is to resolve the conflict between self-initiative and feelings of guilt over intended and actual goals
• a conscience begins to develop

Forth age

• until the beginning of adolescence (up to the age of 13)
• corresponds to the period of latency in Freud
• the task is to acquire a sense of self-effort in school work and to defend against feelings of inferiority

Fifth age

• adolescence
• corresponds to the genital period in Freud
• the task is to find one's own identity and fight against feelings of insecurity about one's own role among people

Sixth age

• young adulthood (under 30)
• a person is willing to give up his own identity and let it merge with the identity of another person (intimacy); the danger is the feeling of isolation, i.e. the tendency to avoid intimate relationships

Seventh age

• middle adulthood (up to 45 years)
• the task is to give birth and raise the next generation, to take care of someone; to gain a sense of generativity and combat feelings of stagnation and personal impoverishment

Eighth age

• late adulthood and old age
• the task is to achieve personal integrity, a kind of life wisdom in which individuals accept their own life path as something that had to be the way it was; lack of integration manifests itself in the fear of death and feelings of despair that there is little time left to start another life

Links

related articles

• Child age distribution
• Psychomotor development of the child

External links

• Psychological assumptions of ethical behavior

References

• ŠVINGALOVÁ, D. Kapitoly z psychologie : III. díl - Vývojová psychologie. 1. vydání. Liberec. 2001. 51 s. ISBN 80-7083-571-0.