Erikson's Theory

867 Words4 Pages
Erikson’s psychosocial theory essentially states that each person experiences eight “psychosocial crises” which help to define his or her growth and personality. These stages are experienced in a fixed sequence but timings vary from person to person. Crisis stages are driven by physical and sexual growth, which then prompts the life issues which create the crises. While passing through each crisis there are two opposing dispositions that a person must find a healthy balance between in order to successfully pass through referred to as syntonic and dystonic. For example a person must have “trust” in people and themselves but at the same time have a certain level of “mistrust” so as not to come off as being naïve and easily being taken advantage of. Successful balanced outcomes were called “basic virtues” or “basic strengths” by Erikson. Although each of these stages encompasses the hope of a person developing into a decent human being, these developments are not clear-cut or irreversible. When a person “unsuccessfully” passes through a stage they develop a tendency towards either the syntonic ( the first disposition) or dystonic ( the second disposition), which then becomes a behavioral tendency or mental problem. Erikson called an extreme tendency towards the syntonic a “maladaption” and an extreme tendency towards the dystonic a “malignancy”. For example a maladaption of intimacy can lead to promiscuity and a malignancy of isolation could lead to exclusivity. Stage 1 – Trust vs. Mistrust The first stage in Erikson’s theory occurs between birth and one year of age. This stage is fundamental because this is where a level of trust is developed and is highly dependent upon the child’s caregivers. The mother-figure is often responsible for instilling this in the child. If a child feels rejected or does not have its emotional needs fulfilled

More about Erikson's Theory

Open Document