SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
ERIKSON’S PSYCHOSOCIAL STAGES
Tasks of Infancy
1. Trust vs. Mistrust. Erikson’s first normative crisis of infancy, a period of helplessness and dependency
2. Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt. Crisis of later infancy centered on toilet training and the child’s will.
Tasks of Childhood
3. Initiative vs. Guilt. Early childhood crisis that requires the child to manage a strong attraction to the opposite-sex
parent, roughly corresponding to Freud’s phallic stage
4. Industry vs. Inferiority. Crisis of later childhood to school entry, when children must learn new skills that can affect
self-esteem.
Task of Adolescence
5. Identity vs. Role Confusion. Crisis of adolescence when self-definition is a crucial stage
Task of Adulthood
6. Intimacy vs. Isolation. Crisis of early adulthood, when commitment to another person in a relationship is central.
7. Generativity vs. Stagnation. Middle –age crisis if involvement in guiding future generations and generally being
productive.
8. Ego integrity vs. Despair. Crisis of old age, life review takes place
The goals, concerns, accomplishments, and dangers, are summarized in the following table:
IMPLICATIONS AND CRITICISMS OF ERIKSON’S THEORY
• Not all people experience Erikson’s crises to the same degree or at the same time. The age ranges in each stage
may represent the best times for a crisis to be resolved, but they are not the only possible times. For example,
children who were born into chaotic homes that failed to give them adequate security may develop trust after
being adopted or otherwise brought into a more stable environment.
• Erikson’s theory emphasizes the role of the environment, both in causing the crises and in determining how they
will be resolved. The stages of social development are played out in constant interactions with others and with
society as a whole. During the first three stages, the interactions are primarily with parents and other family
members, but the school plays a central role for most children in Stage IV (industry versus inferiority) and Stage
V (identity versus role confusion).
• Erikson’s theory describes the basic issues that people confront as they go through life. However, his theory has
been criticized because it does not explain how or why individuals progress from one stage to another and also
because it is difficult to confirm through research.
, ENCOURAGING INITIATIVE AND INDUSTRY
• Encourage children to make and to act on choices.
• Make sure that each child has a chance to experience success.
• Encourage make-believe with a wide variety of roles.
• Be tolerant of accidents and mistakes, especially when children are attempting to do something on their own.
• Make sure that students have opportunities to set and work toward realistic goals.
• Give students a chance to show their independence and responsibility.
• Provide support to students who seem discouraged.
SUPPORTING IDENTITY FORMATION
• Give students many models for career choices and other adult roles.
• Help students find resources for working out personal problems.
• Be tolerant of teenage fads as long as they don’t offend others or interfere with learning.
• Give students realistic feedback about their work and support for improving. Adolescents may need many
“second chances.”
HOW DO CHILDREN DEVELOP SOCIALLY AND EMOTIONALLY?
DURING THE PRESCHOOL YEARS
Socioemotional development in early childhood can be partly described in terms of Erikson’s psychosocial stage of
initiative versus guilt.
• Peer relationships help children overcome the egocentrism that Piaget described as characteristic of
preoperational thinking.
• Prosocial behavior includes caring, sharing, comforting, and cooperating.
• Play
PROSOCIALBEHAVIOR
• Prosocial behaviors are voluntary actions toward others such as caring, sharing, comforting, and cooperating.
• Several factors seem to be associated with the development of prosocial behaviors (Eisenberg, 2001), including
the following:
1. parental disciplinary techniques that stress the consequences of the child’s behavior for others for others and that are
applied within a warm, responsive parent-child relationship
2. Contact with adults who indicate they expect concern for others, who let children know that aggressive solutions to
problems are unacceptable, and who provide acceptable alternatives.
ERIKSON’S PSYCHOSOCIAL STAGES
Tasks of Infancy
1. Trust vs. Mistrust. Erikson’s first normative crisis of infancy, a period of helplessness and dependency
2. Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt. Crisis of later infancy centered on toilet training and the child’s will.
Tasks of Childhood
3. Initiative vs. Guilt. Early childhood crisis that requires the child to manage a strong attraction to the opposite-sex
parent, roughly corresponding to Freud’s phallic stage
4. Industry vs. Inferiority. Crisis of later childhood to school entry, when children must learn new skills that can affect
self-esteem.
Task of Adolescence
5. Identity vs. Role Confusion. Crisis of adolescence when self-definition is a crucial stage
Task of Adulthood
6. Intimacy vs. Isolation. Crisis of early adulthood, when commitment to another person in a relationship is central.
7. Generativity vs. Stagnation. Middle –age crisis if involvement in guiding future generations and generally being
productive.
8. Ego integrity vs. Despair. Crisis of old age, life review takes place
The goals, concerns, accomplishments, and dangers, are summarized in the following table:
IMPLICATIONS AND CRITICISMS OF ERIKSON’S THEORY
• Not all people experience Erikson’s crises to the same degree or at the same time. The age ranges in each stage
may represent the best times for a crisis to be resolved, but they are not the only possible times. For example,
children who were born into chaotic homes that failed to give them adequate security may develop trust after
being adopted or otherwise brought into a more stable environment.
• Erikson’s theory emphasizes the role of the environment, both in causing the crises and in determining how they
will be resolved. The stages of social development are played out in constant interactions with others and with
society as a whole. During the first three stages, the interactions are primarily with parents and other family
members, but the school plays a central role for most children in Stage IV (industry versus inferiority) and Stage
V (identity versus role confusion).
• Erikson’s theory describes the basic issues that people confront as they go through life. However, his theory has
been criticized because it does not explain how or why individuals progress from one stage to another and also
because it is difficult to confirm through research.
, ENCOURAGING INITIATIVE AND INDUSTRY
• Encourage children to make and to act on choices.
• Make sure that each child has a chance to experience success.
• Encourage make-believe with a wide variety of roles.
• Be tolerant of accidents and mistakes, especially when children are attempting to do something on their own.
• Make sure that students have opportunities to set and work toward realistic goals.
• Give students a chance to show their independence and responsibility.
• Provide support to students who seem discouraged.
SUPPORTING IDENTITY FORMATION
• Give students many models for career choices and other adult roles.
• Help students find resources for working out personal problems.
• Be tolerant of teenage fads as long as they don’t offend others or interfere with learning.
• Give students realistic feedback about their work and support for improving. Adolescents may need many
“second chances.”
HOW DO CHILDREN DEVELOP SOCIALLY AND EMOTIONALLY?
DURING THE PRESCHOOL YEARS
Socioemotional development in early childhood can be partly described in terms of Erikson’s psychosocial stage of
initiative versus guilt.
• Peer relationships help children overcome the egocentrism that Piaget described as characteristic of
preoperational thinking.
• Prosocial behavior includes caring, sharing, comforting, and cooperating.
• Play
PROSOCIALBEHAVIOR
• Prosocial behaviors are voluntary actions toward others such as caring, sharing, comforting, and cooperating.
• Several factors seem to be associated with the development of prosocial behaviors (Eisenberg, 2001), including
the following:
1. parental disciplinary techniques that stress the consequences of the child’s behavior for others for others and that are
applied within a warm, responsive parent-child relationship
2. Contact with adults who indicate they expect concern for others, who let children know that aggressive solutions to
problems are unacceptable, and who provide acceptable alternatives.
