Erik Erikson was an American psychoanalyst who developed a widely accepted and popularized personality development theory. Although initially based on Freud’s concepts, he distanced himself from them when he realized that cultural influence was much more important than Freud had mentioned.
We are all going through times of crisis and are used to seeing them as a negative thing, however, for Erik Erikson, crises are processes that lead us to evolution and change, these are circumstances that allow us to transcend, grow and become oneself. Aware.
- According to Erik Erikson.
- Our path to life consists of eight ages or cycles.
- Each marked by a specific conflict.
“At twenty, everyone has the face that God has given him; with forty the face that has given you life and with sixty the face they deserve ?.
-Albert Schweitzer-
These cycles indicate that human beings are constantly acquiring new knowledge and evolving throughout their lives, otherwise blockages will occur at some stage of their development, some people refuse to grow, while others mature earlier, much of this will depend on the context and environment in which everyone lives.
The eight stages of human development, according to Erikson, are:
The newborn establishes a relationship of dependence, especially with his mother, his care fully meets his needs, ensuring learning and developing his confidence, if his basic needs are met quickly.
As the baby’s senses evolve, the baby recognizes her environment as a family member and her first big success will be not to suffer anxiety in the absence of the mother and overcome the fear of being abandoned by her; otherwise, you’ll become skeptical and suspicious.
During this phase, the child becomes self-sufficient to move from one place to another. Screaming or crying is the language you use to get what you want. to take the initiative arise.
Shame on children manifests itself in a need not to be seen: it hides the face, causing tantrums and tears, or other manifestations of emotional excess. Parental control must be firm and reassuring to develop its autonomy.
If something distinguishes the child at this point is the initiative, especially during the games, discover the most important role for himself and play it, the child needs to identify and project his role in the world.
Rivalry and jealousy also appear at this stage. The child wants to be treated as a special person and rejects any deference to the mother by his siblings or others. If you don’t get relatively privileged treatment, guilt and anxiety develop.
At this point, the child has a school life. Whether he or she feels happy or dissatisfied, the child begins to be recognized for what he does in this new environment and can acquire new knowledge and skills to become productive.
Our culture has already acquired high levels of specialization that make individual initiative complex and limited, at this stage, if there is not enough recognition, a feeling of inadequacy can occur and lead to a feeling of inferiority.
This period is characterized by doubting everything we ever think, doubts your knowledge, skills and even your experiences, all this is due to the changes that the body suffers and the personality crises that this generates.
Teenagers care about the image they convey to others, they are in constant conflict between what they have been so far and what they will be in the future, they are confused about their identity, they are idealistic and very influential. At this stage with ease, you’ll be able to build a strong identity, otherwise they’ll always pretend to be what they’re not.
This is the moment when the young adult is able to make emotional, professional, political commitments, sacrificing something in return. Without fear, this young adult is unable to establish these connections with the world, the danger is isolation.
It is a phase of decisions and challenges to gain stability, where the conceptions of work, friendship and family are reinforced, it is at this point that we basically take a definitive step towards adult life, it is the beginning of maturity, approximately the period of wedding parades and the beginning of family life.
Erikson refers to generation as the desire in middle age to be productive, to guide new generations, when this does not happen, a process of personal stagnation, linked to the feeling of not transcending, of not interfering in the future is initiated: a feeling of helplessness.
Only people who have faced victories and defeats, who have created and implemented new ideas, have been maturing and reaching their fullness.
The last age of life can be a serene or anxious stage, it all depends on how the previous ages were lived, an older person should be able to make a sensitive assessment of his time and his life, where recognition of reality and understanding of the world. where he lives prevails.
There will be integrity at this stage if we can combine reflection and experience. In cases where there are unresolved conflicts or steps that have not been overcome, there is often a deep fear of disease, suffering and death.