Published on September 8, 2024 4:09 PM GMT
Summary
In this article, Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development is discussed in depth and the critical impact of the parenting role at each stage and the long-term psychosocial consequences of childhood are analysed. The article discusses how the theory is supported by current research, how deficiencies experienced in childhood can lead to problems in adulthood, and how these processes can be related to examples such as football fanaticism and extreme shyness.
Introduction
Erik Erikson's psychosocial development theory explains the eight basic stages that individuals go through throughout life and the psychosocial conflicts they experience in these stages. Each stage is critical for the individual's personality development and social integration. In this article, I will blend Erikson's theory with current scientific data, emphasise the importance of the parenting role, and explain how developmental deficiencies in childhood have long-term effects in later life.
1. Trust and Insecurity (0-1 years)
Erikson's first stage focuses on the development of a basic sense of trust during infancy. In this period, meeting the needs of babies in a consistent and loving way ensures the formation of a sense of trust. Individuals who experience insecurity may experience difficulties in social relationships and interactions. Here, the attachment style defined in the attachment theory developed by psychologist John Bowlby is particularly important for more detailed analysis. According to John Bowlby, the sense of trust and security is fundamental in the relationship that children establish with their caregivers. Secure attachment develops in an environment where children's physical and emotional needs are met consistently and sensitively. This kind of attachment supports the child's self-confidence, trust in others, and the ability to establish healthy relationships. In cases where secure attachment is lacking, children may experience problems such as anxiety, low self-esteem and difficulties in relationships.
Parenting Role: Parents‘ responsiveness to their infants’ needs in a sensitive and consistent manner contributes to the formation of a sense of trust. This period allows individuals to feel safe in their social relationships.
Current Research: Research shows that trust is developed through consistent care and love during infancy. Individuals who experience insecurity are likely to experience social anxiety and low self-esteem in later life (Bowlby, 1988).
Example: A child who does not receive enough attention in infancy may constantly feel threatened in social environments in later ages. This may lead to a search for approval in social relationships.
2. Autonomy and Shame/Suspicion (1-3 years)
At this stage, children test their independence. Children who fail to develop a sense of independence experience feelings of shame and doubt. These feelings affect their ability to make personal initiatives and take risks. If we consider the views of Prof. Dr. Çiğdem Kağıtçıbaşı, whose work I follow closely, on the search for independence, she states that supporting children's search for independence is an important component of healthy personality development. In this period, children should receive appropriate support and guidance from their environment in order to develop their autonomy. Supporting their efforts for independence is important and helps children to feel competent and self-confident. Unsupported children may miss the opportunity to develop skills necessary for entrepreneurship such as self-determination, risk-taking and innovation. Lev Vygotsky, who has influential theories on child development, emphasises the concept of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) for the autonomy process, which refers to tasks that children cannot accomplish individually but can accomplish with the help of someone else. Children can increase their independence by learning from others in social contexts and with their help.
Parenting Role: Parents' support for their children's pursuit of independence enables the development of a sense of autonomy. Overly controlling attitudes can increase feelings of shame and doubt.
Current Research: Supporting children's pursuit of independence has been found to contribute positively to the development of self-confidence. Children who cannot develop a sense of independence may experience feelings of guilt in entrepreneurial activities at a later age (Kagitcibasi, 2013).
Example: A child who is constantly supervised and criticised may develop a sense of guilt in entrepreneurial activities and may have difficulty in realising his/her potential.
3. Entrepreneurship and Guilt (3-6 years)
During this stage, children discover their creativity and entrepreneurial skills. In a supportive environment children feel encouraged and creative, whereas children who are overly criticised or restricted may develop feelings of guilt. Here we should mention Thomas Gordon's ideas about entrepreneurship and guilt. According to Gordon:
Entrepreneurship refers to children's desire to implement their own ideas and develop creative solutions. In this period, children endeavour to act independently and explore their environment. Gordon emphasises that supporting children's entrepreneurial efforts is important to increase their self-confidence and problem-solving skills.
Gordon states that in order to support children's entrepreneurial endeavours, parents, teachers and caregivers should adopt an encouraging attitude. This allows children to test their independence and experience their success. Guilt is when children feel inadequate or bad because of a particular behaviour or action. Gordon emphasises the importance of helping children to understand their feelings of guilt and to manage these feelings constructively. According to Gordon's approach, in order to manage and overcome feelings of guilt, parents and teachers need to adopt an open, honest and supportive communication style. He states that feelings of guilt can be caused by negative feedback and therefore children should be offered constructive and positive feedback.
Parenting Role: Parents' encouragement of children's creativity helps to develop an entrepreneurial spirit. Criticism and limitations can cause feelings of guilt.
Current Research: Participation in creative activities during childhood has been shown to improve problem-solving skills and reduce feelings of guilt (Gordon, 2007).
Example: A child whose creativity is restricted may have difficulty in utilising entrepreneurial opportunities. This may negatively affect the individual's ability to take risks and be open to innovations.
4. Diligence and Incompetence (6-12 years)
At this stage, children test their abilities and skills. Children whose achievements are appreciated develop a sense of diligence, while children who experience failure and criticism experience a sense of inadequacy. Jacquelynne Eccles, a well-known academic in the field of child development and educational psychology, addresses Erikson's diligence and inadequacy stage from the perspective of social development and educational psychology. Eccles focuses on the relationship between children's academic and social achievements and their self-efficacy perceptions. According to Eccles' view, children's successful passage through this stage strengthens their belief in their academic and social abilities, i.e. their self-efficacy perceptions. In particular, the successes and failures that children encounter in the school environment affect their motivation to learn and their future performance. Eccles presents important findings on how the difficulties and successes children face in their learning process shape their perceptions of self-efficacy. While successes increase children's willingness to work and their belief in their abilities, failures can negatively affect these perceptions. Eccles also provides important data on how the support and feedback provided by teachers and parents during children's educational process influences children's feelings of diligence and inadequacy. Educational and social support systems can help children overcome the difficulties they face during this period and positively affect their perceptions of success and failure in this process. According to Erik Erikson's view, during this period, children have the opportunity to gain cognitive and social skills as they start school life. Children tend towards academic skills such as reading, writing and basic calculation, and in this process they endeavour to try and produce new things with great curiosity. This curiosity becomes the mobilising energy of children and pushes them to continuously seek learning and development. Children experience their achievements and competences concretely through the feedback they receive from their environment. The appreciation and encouragement they receive help children to accept themselves and strengthen their self-esteem. Achievements and positive feedback during this period strengthen the ego structure of the child and contribute to the formation of a strong sense of self. Children have the opportunity to see themselves as successful and competent individuals. However, children who do not receive sufficient encouragement and support from their environment or who experience failure may develop feelings of inferiority. These children may internalise their inadequacies and deficiencies and feel themselves unsuccessful and inadequate. This situation may damage children's self-esteem and cause them to evaluate themselves as deficient. Feelings of inferiority can lead children to see themselves as inadequate and unsuccessful in their developmental processes. Individuals who experience feelings of deficiency and inadequacy try to complete these deficiencies throughout their lives. In this process, social objects or groups that they see as authority and power play an important role in compensating for these deficiencies. For example, when a football fanatic individual supports a football team, he/she may see the power and success of this team as a means of completing his/her deficiencies. The success of the favourite team can help the individual to compensate for his/her feelings of deficiency and inadequacies. When the individual wins a match, he/she sees this success as his/her own success and feels proven. On the other hand, in case of defeat or insult, the individual may perceive this as a personal attack and his/her reactions may be exaggerated. In this way, individuals try to complete their deficiencies and inadequacies with social and cultural objects. These objects may be political movements, sports teams or other powerful social groups. Social objects and groups can function as tools to fulfil these deficiencies. Understanding how feelings of deficiency and inadequacy are handled in children's developmental processes and how these feelings can be associated with social objects reveals how they shape individuals' self-perception and self-esteem.
As a result, Erikson's industriousness and inferiority stage refers to a period in which children develop cognitive and social skills and evaluate themselves and their abilities. Feelings of deficiency and inadequacy affect individuals' efforts to compensate for these feelings throughout their lives. Social objects and groups function as tools to complete these deficiencies. These dynamics play an important role in our understanding of self-esteem and self-perception in children's developmental processes.
Parenting Role: Parents' appreciation of their children's achievements and positive feedback contribute to the development of a sense of diligence.
Current Research: A supportive family environment for success has been found to increase children's self-esteem and academic achievement (Eccles, 2005).
Example: A child who fails at school may feel inadequate in social environments. This may negatively affect social integration and personal self-esteem.
5. Identity and Role Confusion (12-18 years)
During adolescence, individuals are in the process of finding their identities. Individuals who have difficulty in identity development may experience role confusion and uncertainty. The main difficulty of adolescence is to oscillate between identity acquisition and identity crisis. A young person who successfully completes this period develops a unique and positive sense of identity. Identity acquisition means that the individual has a positive sense of self. In such a situation, the individual has a realistic and coherent view of who he/she is, his/her past and future, and has developed a sense of identity that coincides with his/her interests and abilities. This situation makes it easier for the individual to make decisions about the future and to make personal and professional plans. Identity crisis, on the other hand, refers to a situation in which the young person does not make such decisions or plans for the future. The resolution of confusion during adolescence clarifies the social self-perception of the young person and facilitates the choice of an appropriate profession. As a result, this period includes the need to gain emotional independence from the family, to develop gender-appropriate social roles, to create a personal value system, and to determine social roles and make decisions about them. Indecision about these goals is defined as identity confusion. James E. Marcia is an important scientist who deals with Erik Erikson's ‘identity and role confusion’ stage, especially identity development and role search in youth. Marcia expanded Erikson's concept of identity and role confusion and divided the identity development processes of young people into four different situations:
- Identity Achievement: This is the situation in which individuals find their identities after a certain process of searching and choosing. These individuals have gained clarity about values, goals and beliefs.
Identity Moratorium: This is the stage in which individuals are actively searching for their identity, but have not yet developed a definite identity. This stage may include identity exploration and role experimentation.
Identity Foreclosure: This is when individuals form their identities in line with the expectations or pressures of others. These individuals generally follow the paths determined by others without questioning their own identities.
Identity Diffusion: This is the situation where individuals do not show both search and commitment in the process of identity development. At this stage, individuals may have difficulty in determining their identities and may experience role confusion.
Marcia's concepts help us to understand Erikson's identity and role confusion stage in more detail and play an important role in analysing identity development in youth.
Parenting Role: Parents' support for their children during adolescence plays an important role in identity development. A supportive family environment can reduce uncertainties.
Current Research: It has been reported that parental support in identity development has positive effects on adolescents' identity-finding processes (Marcia, 2002).
Example: A young person in search of identity may experience uncertainty and role confusion while trying to express himself/herself in social groups. This may affect their social relations and social integration.
6. Proximity and Isolation (18-40 years)
In this stage, individuals develop their ability to establish close relationships. Individuals who cannot establish intimacy may experience feelings of isolation and loneliness. At this stage, although Daniel Levinson did not directly explain Erikson's ‘intimacy vs. loneliness’ stage, he addressed the dynamics of this stage from an expanding perspective. In his studies on adulthood, Levinson emphasises the important transition periods that individuals go through in their social and personal lives and the effects of these transitions on personal development.
Levinson's theories of ‘Adulthood’ and ‘Life Transitions’ provide important information on the close relationships that individuals establish in early adulthood and the effects of these relationships. In this context
- Building Intimacy: Levinson states that young adults need to balance between social relationships and personal goals. This reflects the basic conflict in Erikson's ‘intimacy vs. loneliness’ stage. According to Levinson, individuals may find it difficult to achieve this balance between career and personal relationships. Intimacy involves developing satisfying relationships, both personally and professionally.
Loneliness and Isolation: Levinson states that individuals may experience feelings of loneliness and isolation during this period. Transitions in adulthood, conflicts between personal goals and social ties may cause individuals to experience feelings of loneliness and dissatisfaction. Levinson suggests that these feelings are related to failures in individuals' social lives or disconnections in their relationships.
Levinson's work offers an expanding perspective on understanding how Erikson's stage of intimacy and loneliness is shaped by the complexity and transitional periods of individuals' social and personal lives. This helps us to better understand how individuals' ability to build and maintain social relationships is balanced with personal and vocational goals, and the challenges in this balancing process.
Parenting Role: Parents teaching their children healthy relationship building skills and supporting social interaction improves their ability to build intimacy.
Current Research: Social connections and supportive relationships have been shown to increase individuals' psychological health and social integration (Cohen & Wills, 1985).
Example: An emotionally isolated individual may seek to establish social connections by participating in social activities. These activities can reduce the individual's feeling of loneliness and support social integration.
7. Productivity and Stagnation (40-65 years)
Middle age is the period when individuals contribute to society and become productive. Individuals who cannot be productive may experience a feeling of stagnation. In this period, individuals are expected to raise and guide younger generations. Productivity includes the capacity to set an example and support young people to build a healthy and meaningful life. However, if the individual fails to provide this productivity, he/she may face the risk of becoming withdrawn and experiencing stagnation in his/her life. In this case, he/she may experience dissatisfaction and social isolation in his/her life because of his/her inability to provide the necessary care and guidance to the younger generations.
Parenting Role: Parents‘ modelling their children in terms of productivity and contributing to society supports individuals’ sense of productivity.
Current Research: Social contribution and productivity in middle age have been found to have positive effects on individuals' life satisfaction and psychological health (Ryff, 1989).
Example: An individual who is not satisfied in his/her career may seek productivity and social contribution in social and professional fields. This process may support the individual's feeling of self-worth.
8. Self-integrity and Hopelessness (65 years and over)
In old age, individuals question the meaning of their lives. While individuals who develop self-integrity look at their lives with satisfaction, individuals who experience a sense of hopelessness may experience regret and disappointment. This may affect the quality of life and social relationships of individuals. Successful resolution of this stage enables the individual to feel satisfied and at peace when he/she reviews his/her past. When the individual evaluates his/her life, he/she feels that there are no regrets and incomplete feelings left in the past and accepts death as a natural part of life. However, individuals who see their lives as meaningless and unsuccessful may have past disappointments and feelings of hopelessness. This may complicate the process of accepting death in old age and prevent the individual from finding peace in the last phase of life.
Parenting Role: It is important for parents to support individuals' social connections and personal achievements in the transition to old age. Supporting healthy social interactions and life satisfaction in old age can promote self-integrity.
Current Research: The development of self-integrity in old age has been found to have positive effects on individuals' quality of life and psychological health (Erikson, 1982). Social support and positive life experiences can reduce feelings of hopelessness.
Example: An individual who has satisfactory social connections throughout life can maintain a sense of self-integrity in old age. This may enable the individual to keep the meaning and value of his/her life high.
Conclusion
Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development explains in detail the critical stages that individuals go through throughout life and the effects of the conflicts they experience in these stages on personality development. The parenting role has a critical importance for individuals to have a healthy psychosocial development at each stage. The long-term effects of deficits experienced in childhood on social integration and life satisfaction in later life are supported by modern research.
Examples such as football fanaticism, extreme shyness and social isolation are important in understanding how deficits experienced during these developmental stages can manifest themselves. These cases illustrate the effects of childhood developmental deficits on individuals' social integration and personal happiness.
Future research will provide an important basis for extending Erikson's theory and better understanding it in a modern context. A more comprehensive examination of the parenting role and developmental deficits in childhood can make important contributions to improving individuals' quality of life and social integration.
In this article, I elaborate on Erikson's theory of psychosocial development and emphasise the long-term effects of the parenting role and childhood. Furthermore, it shows how the theory makes sense in the modern context through current research and concrete examples.
References
- Bowlby, J. (1988). A Secure Base: Parent-Child Attachment and Healthy Human Development. Basic Books.
Cohen, S., & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98(2), 310-357.
Eccles, J. S. (2005). Subjective task value and the Eccles et al. model of achievement-related choices. In Handbook of Competence and Motivation (pp. 105-121). Guilford Press.
Erikson, E. H. (1982). The Life Cycle Completed. W.W. Norton & Company.
Gordon, R. A. (2007). Creativity and the Role of Environment in Child Development. Journal of Creative Behaviour, 41(4), 265-279.
Kagitcibasi, C. (2013). Self and Collectivism in a Cultural Context. Springer.
Marcia, J. E. (2002). Identity and psychosocial development in adulthood. Handbook of Developmental Psychology, 309-325.
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069-1081.
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