Stage Crisis Explained
1. Trust Vs Mistrust Involves a conflict between trust at
one extreme and mistrust at the other,
according to erikson. To progress
through this stage in the best way, the
infant needs to develop the right
balance of trust and mistrust
2. Autonomy Vs A conflict between autonomy at one
Shame/Doubt extreme and shame and doubt at the
other, erikson believed that
successful attempts by infants to
establish their independence as they
become increasingly more mobile and
competent contributes to a sense of
autonomy
3. Initiative Vs Guilt A conflict between initiative at one
extreme and guilt at the other, having
established a sense of trust and
autonomy in infancy, children develop
an increasing sense of their own
power and now want to try new things
and use their power
4. Industry Vs Involves a conflict between industry at
Inferiority one extreme and inferiority at the
other. During this stage, which
corresponds with the primary school
years, children have a desire to learn
how things are made, how they work
and what they do. According to
erikson, children will develop a strong
sense of industry, unless they are
restricted by feelings of inferiority and
inadequacy
Terms
Trust - broadly refer to the views and
expectations that an infant develop about
their environment
Mistrust - refers to when needs are not
consistently being recognised, their
environment becomes unreliable and
unpredictable, irregular or even rejecting
Autonomy- refers to the ability to do
things independently and the feelings of
self-control, self-confidence and
competence
Shame and Doubt - a sense of being too
dependent on others can lead to a lack of
self-confidence, self-consciousness and
feelings of shame and doubt about our
capabilities
Initiative - involves being able to plan,
think for oneself and carry out various
kinds of activities with a purpose
Guilt - about going too far, overstepping
boundaries, about asking too many
inappropriate questions, about becoming
the ‘wrong kind of person’
Industry - when children are encouraged
in their efforts to get the most out of things
they already have, to do practical things,
are allowed to finish their products and
are praised and rewarded for their results,
then their sense of industry is enhanced.
Inferiority - when children feel less
adequate than their peers in
achievements, skills and abilities, they
develop a sense of inferiority
Example
When an infant's cry is answered
immediately, sometimes it is ignored
briefly then answered and
sometimes the infants crying can be
left for long periods, this lack of
consistency can develop mistrust
An infant's eagerness to dress
themselves demonstrates their
increasing autonomy
A 5 year old who is so angry at her
little brother that she wants to hit
him, she realises that this is wrong
and that this action would upset her
parents, she also realises that she
will feel guilty is she fails to control
her behaviour
Children learn the basic ‘tools’ that
will enable them to become
productive, industrious workers later
in their live, reward for effort or
achievement enhances our sense of
industry.
5. Identity Vs Role The conflict between identity at one
Confusion extreme and role confusion at the
other. During this stage, which
corresponds with adolescence, the
psychosocial crisis is about
developing a sense of identity. Failure
to resolve this crisis produces some
degree of ‘role confusion’
6. Intimacy Vs Isolation Involves a conflict between intimacy
at one extreme and isolation at the
other. Failure to resolve this conflict
results in avoiding interpersonal
relationships and experiencing a
sense of isolation
7. Generativity Vs Corresponds with adulthood and
Stagnation involves the psychosocial crisis of
generativity at one extreme and
stagnation at the other, people
experience this stage at the latter half
of their lives and feel a need to
participate in the continuation of life.
Integrity Vs Despair This stage occurs when most of a
person's life's work is nearing
completion and there is time for
reflection, the last psychosocial crisis
to be faced is integrity versus despair
Identity - refer to the overall image
individuals have about themselves,
identity is something all people seek and
that the search for identity is a lifelong
search. however , it first comes into focus
during adolescence.
Role confusion - a sense of not knowing
who they are, where they belong, to
whom they belong to or where they are
headed in life.
Intimacy - refer to the ability to share with
and care about another person without
the fear of losing oneself in the process.
Isolation - refers to the sense of being
alone without anyone to share one's life
with or care for.
Generativity - refers to a person's
concern with others beyond their
immediate family, with future generations
and the nature of society and world in
which those generations will live
Stagnation - refers to a sense of
‘sameness’, inactivity, boredom, too much
concern with personal needs and
comforts and a lack of personal growth
Integrity - refers to a sense of satisfaction
with one's achievements in life and a
belief that all that happened during the
course of one's life has been useful,
meaningful and valuable.
Despair - involves feeling bitter feelings of
hopelessness, involving loss of
opportunities, mistakes that were made
and the sense that life has been
meaningless and empty.,
Role confusion can cause some
tongue people to adopt a ‘negative
identity’ which is opposite to their
parents preferences. For example,
parents might want their kid to be a
clean, classy businessman but their
kid whos adopted a ‘negative
identity’ dresses in black clothes,
wants tats, dyes their hair etc.
Soldiers who have served together
under the most dangerous
circumstances often develop a
sense of commitment to one another
that illustrates intimacy in its
broadest sense, if intimacy is not
established with friends or partners
Generativity can be achieved
through actively participating in
groups concerned with social or
environmental problems, such as
youth development and climate
change
An old person may look back
through an old photo album and feel
a strong sense of integrity because
they are looking back on their past
achievements and may feel strong
satisfaction with their life.