Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development Part 1 | MCAT Psychology Prep

In this lesson, we intorduce Erikson’s stages of Psychosocial Development. Erikson was a psychologist who studied psychoanalysis under Anna Freud, Sigmund Freud’s daughter. Erikson agreed with many aspects of Freud's theory, including that the structure of our personality has three components: the id, ego, and superego. However, Erikson disagreed with a number of points of Freud's theory, leading Erikson to develop his own psychosocial theory of personality.
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(00:05) Introduction to Erikson
One of the key disagreements that differentiates Erikson from Freud is that Erikson believed that personality development occurs over an individual's entire lifespan and not just during childhood. Recall that Freud very much believed that the events during the early years of a person's life have a major impact in determining that individual's personality in the future.
(00:57) Social Interactions
Another key difference between Freud and Erikson is that Erikson focused less than sex and more on social interactions. This is actually a common trend of many psychologists. After Freud, most psychologist shifted the focus of their theories away from sex. As mentioned, Erikson shifted his focus towards social interactions.
(01:18) Identity Crisis
Another important part of Erikson’s theory is that Erikson is well known for coining the term “identity crisis.” He believed that ego identity is gradually acquired by resolving a different psychosocial crisis at each stage of development. Let's take a look at these stages.
(01:34) Stage 1: Trust vs. Mistrust
The first stage is infancy and the psychosocial crisis defining this stage is basic trust versus mistrust. Erikson believed that at the end of each stage there could be one of two outcomes. At the end of this first stage, Erikson believed that infants would either end up being trusting of the world or would mistrust the world.
(01:55) Stage 2: Autonomy vs. Shame and Guilt
The second stage is toddler and the psychological crisis is autonomy versus shame and guilt. Stage 3 is preschool age, and the crisis is initiative versus guilt. Stage 4 is school age, and the crisis is industry versus inferiority. Stage 5, which was particularly important to Erikson, is adolescence, and the crisis is identity versus identity confusion. Stage 6 is early adulthood, and the crisis is intimacy versus isolation. Stage 7 is middle adulthood, and the crisis is generativity versus stagnation. And finally, stage 8 is late adulthood, and the crisis is integrity versus despair.
You’ll notice that for a number of these stages the age range is not clearly defined. Some stages, like infancy, you can definitely put a number to, but others, like early, middle, and late adulthood, are more general periods during an individual's life.