Erikson’s 8 Crises/Stages of Development

1. Trust vs. Mistrust

Parents are the most dominant figure in the baby’s life because they show the baby good and
bad emotions. If the parents nurture and love the child, then the child develops hope along
with trust but if the child is under nurtured and abandoned then the kid develops mistrust.
Also, in the baby’s brain is the hormone oxytocin which includes the mirror effect to parents
and child.
2. Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
In this age, 1.0-2.5, child learns how to walk and becomes more curious about their
surroundings which means that child is allowed to explore. That experience can be good or
bad because kid can make some mistakes which makes him feel shame and doubt.
3. Initiative vs. Guilt
In this stage kid can develop initiative and he has positive responses to changes, he takes
responsibility, try out ideas and begins to find a purpose in life. Kid can make mistakes, while
being scolded the kid will feel a certain amount of guilt.
4. Inferiority vs. Industry (competence)
In this stage the child begins to learn about success and social skills. They start to learn that
with success comes with rewards, although if a child is too successful in one subject they can
become too narrow, and if a child has a little success, he starts to try less and starts to think
that he will never be successful.
5. Identity vs. Role Confusion
The teenager begins to form and identity, a self-image. The image of the self against others
involves the superior temporal gyrus and inferior parietal lobe. Person with to much ego has
no regards for others and a person with too little ego can become with destructive believing
that they are nobody.
6. Intimacy vs. Isolation
When starts the sixth stage then comes the time for relationship and adults chooses to either
be intimate or isolated. This stage involves decision making, which includes immediate
reward vs. long-term consequence, which means if you result in immediate reward it involves
either the limbic and paralimbic cortices or the dorsal prefrontal cortex and if you result in a
long term consequence it involves the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex.
7. Generativity
In this stage people want to have kids and prevent their children from having to deal with the
problems they faced in life. Parents wish the best to their kids but, also, they need to not
forget theirselves because have to enjoy their life.
8. Integrity vs. Despair
In this stage people come to terms with all life experiences and understand that in life it is
important to trust only yourself because only you will reach out to yourself when you need it
most. The eight stages wisdom may not be the only path but it involves the interactions of the
limbic system and the prefrontal cortex.