Psychosocial Development

Erikson’s Psychosocial Adolescent and Adult Stages

Stage Developmental Crisis Successful Dealing with Crisis

Unsuccessful Dealing with Crisis

Adolescence13-early 20s

Identity versus Role Confusion

develop a strong strong sense of

identity

confused and withdraw or want to

inconcspicuously blend in with the

crowd

Early Adulthood20s-30s

Intimacy versus Isolation

will have satisfying intimate relationships

will be isolated from other people and may suffer from loneliness

Middle Adulthood40s-50s

Generativity versus Stagnation

will be creative, productive and

nurturant

will be passive and self-centered, feel that

they have done nothing for the next generation, and feel that the world is no

better off their being alive

Late Adulthood Ego Integrity versus Despair

will enjoy life and not fear death

will feel that their life is empty and will fear

death

Erikson’s Generativity Versus Stagnation: Parenting

• Generativity- process of parenting the next generation and helping them through their crises.

• Stagnation – process where one is unable to focus outward and is still dealing with issues of intimacy or even identity

Parenting Styles• Authoritarian Parenting – tends to

be overly concerned with rules• Permissive Parenting – occurs

when parents put very few demands on their children for behavior.

A. Permissive Neglectful B. Permissive Indulgent• Authoritative Parenting – involves

combining firm limits on behavior with love, warmth, affection, respect, and a willingness to listen to the child’s point of view.

The Impact of Parenting Styles• Authoritarian parenting styles generally lead to children

who are obedient and proficient, but they rank lower in happiness, social competence and self-esteem.

• Authoritive parenting styles tend to result in children who are happy, capable and successful (Maccoby, 1992).

• Permissive parenting often results in children who rank low in happiness and self-regulation. These children are more likely to experience problems with authority and tend to perform poorly in school.

• Uninvolved parenting styles rank lowest across all life domains. These children tend to lack self-control, have low self-esteem and are less competent than their peers.

Midlife Crisis

A period of personal emotional turmoil and coping challenges that some people encounter when they reach middle age, accompanied by a desire for change in their lives, brought on by fears and anxieties about growing older

Who experience midlife crisis?

• People who live their lives fulfilling their dreams and with a purpose are less likely to experience a crisis at midlife.

• People who put little thought into what they want out of life and more thought into taking care of others are more likely to experience a crisis at midlife.

Stages of Midlife Crisis• Shock • Denial • Depression • Anger • Acceptance

External factors causing midlife crisis to become problematic

• Stress • Childhood Issues• Debt• Significant Loss• Avoidant Personality

Characterisitics of a person having a hard time getting through midlife crisis

• Unhappy with life and the lifestyle that may have provided them with happiness for many years

• Bored with people and things that may have been of interest to them before

• Feels a need for adventure and change• Questions the choices, they have made in their

lives and the validity of decisions they made years before

• Confused about who they are and where they are going

• Angry at their spouse and blame for feeling tied down

• Unable to make decisions about where they want to go with their life

• Doubts that they ever loved their spouse and resentment over the marriage.

• Desires for a new and passionate, intimate relationship

Differences Between Male and Female Midlife Crisis

• Changes that come with aging. • Becoming ill. • Becoming less attractive to the opposite

sex. • Not attaining goals they have set for

themselves. • Dying.

Men go through midlife crisis because they reach a certain age and realize that life is passing them by. They become afraid of:

• Women, on the other hand are thrust into midlife crisis because they reach a certain age and find they finally have the opportunity to do all the things in life she has put off doing while caring for her family.

• She goes through menopause, which means both biological and psychological changes. The psychological changes a woman experiences at menopause can cause her to question how she has lived her life and whether she should make changes to the way she lives.

Erikson’s Ego Integrity Versus Despair: Dealing with Mortality

• Feeling of integrity – a sense of wholeness; final completion of the identity or ego

• Feeling of despair – a sense of deep regret over things that will never be accomplished because time has run out.

Erikson believed that at the period of late adulthood, people look back on the life they have lived in a process called life review.