Erikson's Stages

The other day in class we learnt about Erik Erikson’s stages of human development. I will go through Erikson’s first five stages of human development and relate them to my psychosocial development, as I feel I have not gone through all eight stages of human development. I think I have only gone through the first five stages in my life so far. The first stage of the Erikson’s stages is trust vs. mistrust. During this stage in my life my mom stayed at home with me and my siblings so this developed trust in my parents. I was rarely left with other people. My mom was always there for me. The second stage is autonomy vs. shame, my mom was always there and often helped me with my self-governing. I was the second child but, my older brother has special needs, so I did have to do things on my own as my mom was busy with my brother. In the third stage, initiative vs. guilt, I dressed myself and took the bus by myself, as I always tried to be independent and I wanted to do things myself. During the fourth stage, industry vs. inferiority, I compared myself to my peers in how well they were doing in school and how well they were at sports compared to me. My parents and my teachers always said to not compare myself to others as I am the only one I should be worried about. The fifth stage is identity vs. identity confusion. I tried to decide what I wanted to do on my own, but my parents guided me to help me make the right decision for me. My parents also encouraged me and supported me in my decisions in what I wanted to do in life. They also listened to my problems and gave me advice if I needed it. I feel I am still in the identity vs. identity confusion stage, as I am still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life and who I am as a person. I think I was slowly moving into the sixth, which is intimacy vs. isolation, but I am not fully there yet, as I did move out of my parent’s house, but I am still dependent on my parents and ask for their advice. I do have a boyfriend, so I feel I am on my way to becoming fully connected to a relationship that is besides my family, but not quite yet. 

 This is a chart of Erikson's stages. I think it breaks down the stages nicely, so you are able to see the different stages and the different age groups you should be in.

This is a picture of Erik Erikson.