Erickson’s Theory of Psychological Development

Psychology Development

Purdue Global

HN 377: Child Development

May 22, 2018

Erickson’s Theory of Psychological Development

According to Erickson, every person has a distinguished identity. This uniqueness is composed of the different personality traits that can be considered be innate or acquired, positive or negative and they vary from one person to another based on the degree of influence that the environment has on the individual. As human beings, we retain many characteristics that are refined in many different aspects and that ultimately define who we are (Bee and Boyd, 2004). Erik Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development highlights the sociocultural factors of growth and development. Erick categorizes these characteristics into eight stages of psychosocial conflicts. Erick Erickson suggests that all individuals must successfully master these conflicts in order to adjust well to the environment. According to the theory, we all encounter a certain crisis that contributes to our psychosocial growth at each of Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development. Whenever we experience such crisis, we are left with no choice but to face it and think of ways to resolve it. If we do not overcome the predicament or crisis then this may lead to substantial impact on our psychosocial development (Bee and Boyd, 2004).

From the case we learned that Talia is a 17 year old is beginning to feel the pressure on her future plans and having trouble in making decisions, owing to her difficult childhood after her parents separated. She has experienced a drop in self- esteem and is not sure about the career she wants to pursue. Using what I learned from studying Erick Erickson’s psychological theory of development I believe that the following research findings will highlight Talia’s problem.

First it important to note that at the age of four Talia’s parents separated. At this age a child is at a stage of purpose versus initiative. Therefore, at this stage a child wants to begin and compete their own actions for a purpose. Also, during this stage develops a new emotion of guilt in which can be confusing to the child (Bee and Boyd, 2004). Children normally feel guilty over things that are not logically supposed to cause guilt. For instance, it is possible young Talia felt guilty over her parent’s separation.at this point, the child feels the complexities of planning and developing a sense of judgment. If the environment is favorable the child learns to take initiative and prepare for leadership. However, according to Bee and Boyd (2004), the child may develop negative behaviors. Parents and pre-school teachers should encourage and support children’s efforts while also helping them make realistic and appropriate choices. If adults discourage this pursuit of independent activities or dismiss them as silly, then children develop guilt about their needs and desires, which could be the case of Talia not being sure of the career to pursue.         Additionally, at the age of 13 to 19 the youth face identity versus the role of confusion. The teenager must achieve identity in occupation, gender roles, politics some cultures and religion. Identity crisis is a condition where one struggles to accept self or find themselves and purpose (William, 2011). If one makes a bridge between childhood and adulthood.it is the ability to search one’s intentions as well as the intention of others (William, 2011). Also sharpened by awareness of the roles society has offered, adolescents are confronted with need to establish for themselves and to do it in an often hostile world. In the career world, teenagers are deciding for themselves but in many cases, parents want to have a decisive role or say in the matter. If society is too insistent, the teenager will bow to external wishes forcing him or her to foreclose on self- discovery.  It is my opinion that Talia may be experiencing some form of sort pressure thus be indecisive of what she wants to pursue.

Grohol (2011) says culture affects careers and life planning.  People fall into careers by accident or by happenstance (Grohol, 2011). Not only do young individuals not know what they want, they don’t even have the ability to put that question into context for themselves. Researchers say that cultures differ in their focus on individualism and autonomy. The family might be the decision maker instead of an individual. Cultures differ greatly at that point. Talia’s culture could be having a say on her dilemma. Self- esteem means being able to appreciate yourself for who you are. This is in spite of faults and foibles and all. The best way of overcoming a low self -esteem is to take a self-inventory. One way of doing this can be listing one’s strengths and weaknesses followed by setting realistic expectations or goals. For instance, instead of waiting for people to stop criticizing you, stop the cycle of negative thinking, to avoid reinforcing negative self-esteem.The next step for Talia would be to be proud of her achievements and set aside perfection. This involves knowing yourself and embracing new opportunities. This is actually adjusting one’s self-esteem and trying out something new and avoiding comparing with others.

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