Erik Erikson's stage theory of psychosocial development helped create interest and research on human development through the lifespan. An ego psychologist who studied with Anna Freud, Erikson expanded psychoanalytic theory by exploring development throughout the life, including events of childhood, adulthood, and old age. Learn more in this guide to Erik Erikson's life and theories.
Best-known for his famous theory of psychosocial development and the concept of the identity crisis, Erik Eriksons theories continue to remain influential today and contributed to our understanding of personality development throughout the lifespan. Learn more about his life, career, and how early experiences led to his interest in identity in this Erik Erikson biography.
Erik Eriksons theory of psychosocial development is one of the best-known theories of personality. Similar to Freud, Erikson believed that personality develops in a series of stages. Unlike Freuds theory of psychosexual stages, Eriksons theory describes the impact of social experience across the whole lifespan.
This summary chart provides an outline of the stages in Eriksons theory of psychosocial development. Each stage is centered on a conflict that must be resolved. Learn more about the important events in each stage and the potential outcomes of succeeding or failing to resolve these conflicts.
Are you unsure of your role in life? Do you feel like you dont know the real you? If so, you may be experiencing an identity crisis. Theorist Erik Erikson coined the term identity crisis and believed that it was one of the most important conflicts people face in development. According to Erikson, an identity crisis is a time of intensive analysis and exploration of different ways of looking at oneself. Learn more about identity crisis, Erik Erikson, and identity research.
Now that youve learned more about Erik Eriksons life and theories, its time to see how much youve learned. Test your knowledge of Eriksons eight stages of development in this quiz.