Erik Erikson: The Eight Stages of Development Biography Although not as famous as Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson was no less influential in the development of 20th century psychology. Like Freud, Erikson viewed human beings as developing through a series of 'stages,' but he broke with Freud in terms of his emphasis on social development, versus sexual development. Erikson was the first major theorist to question Freud's emphasis on the Oedipus Complex and

Erik Erikson a summary of biographical information about the psychologist Erik Erikson The work of Erik Erikson is like that of Freud it touches upon the individual growth but while Freud analyzed himself, and stated the growth in terms of the very infant, after which he assumed that the mind does not adapt or grow, in the sense of the personality, except ego, though himself an ego psychologist, Erik's works are different

I had to learn that I couldn't be good at everything naturally. I learned that if I wanted to be better at a skill, there were things at which I had to work. Identity v. Role Confusion Erikson's fifth stage of psychosocial development, Identity v. Role Confusion, is one I remember very clearly. As a typical teenager, I struggled to "find myself." There were so many identities out there to choose

Franz and White (1985) argue that while Erikson's stages are generally sound, they could be made stronger by a discussion of the underlying process of interpersonal attachment. They argue that the tension of intimacy vs. isolation do not adequately account for how males and females form interpersonal attachments. The writers are clear, however, that these shortcomings do not invalidate Erikson's theory. Instead, they are looking for ways in which his theory could

Of course, not every individual resolves all of these conflicts successfully. "Erikson is not explicit but presumably assumes character types comprised of combinations of the sets of traits related to the eight stages of development. Whenever a fixation occurs, it is likely to jeopardize sound development in subsequent stages as well [Erikson said] -- 'failure is cumulative'" ("Erik Homburg Erikson,"2008). Influences The era when Erikson developed his theory of development was

Erik Erikson has emerged as one of the most highly regarded contemporary psychoanalytic theorists and his psychosocial stages of development have attracted attention from many personality researchers who seek to explain personality development across the entire span of a person's life (Crain, 2011). Erikson's eight stages of psychosocial development are still taught in college psychology courses, human development courses, and are referred to in developmental research. Nonetheless, there have been