Psychosocial Theory

The Rationale for Emphasizing Psychosocial Theory

• Addresses growth across the life span• Assumes that individuals have capacity to

contribute to their own psychological development

• Takes into consideration the active contribution of culture to individual growth

Stages of Development

The 11 Stages of the Lifespan

Basic Concepts of Psychosocial Theory

• Psychosocial evolution– Proposed by Julian Huxley– Range of abilities that allows us to gather

knowledge from our ancestors and transmit it to our descendants

– E.g. child care, education, modes of communication

Basic Concepts of Psychosocial Theory

• Six basic concepts– Stages of development – Developmental tasks– Psychosocial crisis– The central process for resolving the psychosocial

crisis at each stage– A radiating network of significant relationships– Coping behavior

Stages of Development

• Erikson proposed eight stages of development– A period of life that is characterized by a specific

underlying organization• These stages follow the epigenetic principle– Biological plan for growth allows each function to

emerge systematically until the individual has fully developed

• The themes of earlier stages may reemerge at any point

Psychosocial Crises

• Psychosocial crises– State of tension that results from discrepancies

between the person’s competences at the beginning of the stage and society’s expectations

• From these conflicts, new social capabilities are produced

Psychosocial Crises of the Life Stages

• Most people experience both positive and negative elements of the continuum – Contributes to the person’s adaptive capacities

• Outcome of the crisis is integration of the two opposing forces

• Succession of crises occurs in a predictable sequence– Epigenetic principle

Psychosocial Crises

• What is the purpose in conceptualizing life in terms of crises?

Developmental Tasks

• Havighurst’s concept of developmental tasks– Process by which humans learn tasks required by

society to which they are adapting• Society has age-graded expectations – Tasks change with age

Developmental Tasks

• Sensitive periods – Periods of development when an individual is

most ready to acquire a new ability– Teachable moments

• Developmental tasks may reflect gains in physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development

Developmental Tasks Associated with the Life Stages

Developmental Tasks Associated with the Life Stages

Developmental Tasks

• Describe a developmental task that may have changed in content from the time of your grandparents to your time– What are some of these changes? – What led to the changes?

The Central Processes for Resolving the Psychosocial Crises

• Psychosocial crisis– Reflects discrepancy between developmental

competencies at the beginning of a stage and new societal pressures

• Central process – Suggests a way that the person takes in cultural

expectations and changes self-concept• Example: Imitation in toddlerhood

The Central Process for Resolving Each Psychosocial Crisis

Radius of Significant Relationships

• Age-related demands on individuals are communicated through significant relationships

• Over the lifespan, the radius of the circle expands– In adulthood, the radius condenses to a few

significant relationships

Coping

• Refers to people’s conscious, adaptive efforts to manage:– Stressful events– Emotions associated with the stressors

• Begins with appraisal• Results in prime adaptive ego qualities or core

pathologies

Prime Adaptive Ego Qualities

Core Pathologies

Evaluation of Psychosocial Theory

• Strengths– Highlights social nature of human development– Provides broad, integrative context

• Weaknesses– Explanations of the mechanisms are not well

developed– Number of stages and links to biological based

development

Evaluation of Psychosocial Theory

A Recap of Psychosocial Theory

• Which phenomena is the theory trying to explain?

• What assumptions does the theory make?• What does the theory predict?

The Six Basic Concepts of Psychosocial Theory

The Mechanisms for Positive and Negative Psychosocial Development

Your Perspective

• Consider the radius of significant relationships• Where do you fall on the radius in terms of

your connections with others?• What interconnections are there between

these radii at this point of your life?

Case Study – Erik Erikson

• Reflections– Why did Erikson feel like a “stranger in his own

culture?”– What are the biological, psychological, and

societal factors that contributed to Erikson’s identity crises?

– What factors from childhood appear to be influencing Erikson’s experiences as an adolescent?

Case Study – Erik Erikson

• Reflections– Who are the significant figures in Erikson’s life/the

radius of significant others?– What factors might have contributed to Erikson’s

ability to cope with the challenges of this period of his life, eventually finding a direction and meaning to which he could commit his talent and energy?

Case Study – Erik Erikson

• Reflections– Based on Erikson’s account of his childhood and

adolescence, how might his life experiences and his cultural context have influenced the nature and focus of his psychosocial theory?