Erickson's Influence

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Erikson’s Influence Lindsey Thomas PSYCH/504 February 27, 2012 Dr. Shawn Davis Erikson’s Influence Throughout this class I have been drawn to Erikson’s psychological theory and been able to most easily apply it to my own life. Erikson applied his theory to all ages of life, not just to children as many other theorists. In life, our psychological well-being and our lives our constantly changing as Erikson suggest in his theory. In reading Erikson’s process, he gives a more in depth explanation that once read nearly every person can apply to their own lives, stage of personal development and workplaces. In this paper I will discuss how and why I believe Erikson’s theory is the easiest to apply to my personal life and development. Stages Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development contain eight different stages that span from infancy to death. Throughout these stages Erikson explains his process through infancy and trust vs. mistrust all the way through late adulthood and integrity vs. despair. Erikson’s personality theory is one of the few that addresses all stages of life. According to (Learning Theories.com, 2008), “Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development considers the impact of external factors, parents and society on personality development from childhood to adulthood. According to Erikson’s theory, every person must pass through a series of eight interrelated stages over the entire life cycle.” The eight stages to psychosocial development in one person’s whole life are Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt, Initiative vs. Guilt, Industry vs. Inferiority, Identity vs. Role Confusion, Intimacy vs. Isolation, Generativity vs. Stagnation, and Integrity vs. Despair (Cervone & Pervin, 2010). Erikson is most famous for his work in refining and expanding Freud’s theory of stages. Our progress through each stage is in part determined by
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