Analyzing Erikson's Eight Social Stages Of Development

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Every person goes through mental and physical changes as they go through life. As people live through different experiences, they begin to naturally develop as a result, usually without even realizing it. According to Erik Erikson, a famous psychiatrist, there are eight social stages of development that every human will go through as they endure new environments, events, people, and experiences. These stages can be described as building blocks; the first stage is needed to get to the second, the second stage needs to be reached in order to get to the third, and so on. Many people stand by Erikson’s theory of these social stages of development, and therefore it has become one of psychology's main theories regarding development. The first stage …show more content…

Therefore that child will be immbolized by guilt. and be fearful, heavily rely on adults, and be restricted with his or her imagination and play skills. The fourth stage is the “competence stage.” This generally occurs during the time a child is going to school up until roughly junior high. This is when most children will develop even greater social skills. A child will develop a large understanding of teamwork, playing by the rules, being fair, and some self-discipline. The mistrusting child continues to go through these stages as well, but they only continue to be negative due to the past stage being negative. This child still feels very shameful and will then experience defeat and inferiority. In stage five, or the “fidelity stage,” the child has now grown to about 13 or 14, and will remain in this stage until about 20 years old. This person learns how to answer the question of “Who am I?” satisfactorily after going through some questioning and figuring out. The person will the negative results outcome of this stage will be self-consciousness and self-doubt. The earlier stages has not correctly set this child up from self-confidence and certainty because from such a young age all they received