Reflection

Erick Erickson is a German born theorist who based his theory on psychosocial stages. He had eight different stages that occurred at different ages because he believed that development occurred right through life (Santrock, 2009, p.23).

For example, trust versus mistrust, this is the first stage and is experienced during infancy, where “the infant develops trust in themselves, their parents and the world” (Claiborne & Drewery, 2010, p.186). Personally, I experienced this with my son, he cried every time someone new came to the house or whenever we would go out somewhere. He only wouldn’t cry when he was with his dad, his papa, his nana or me. I guess because we were always around him he only trusted us, he eventually grew out of it as he became older.

Another example is, generitivity versus stagnation, this stage occurs in middle adulthood, where “the adult at mid-life finds people and causes they will care about, in an effort to contribute to the world” (Claiborne & Drewery, 2010, p.186). I experience this with my Dad at most times. He is now retired so he always wants to help out with as much as he can. If he has nothing to do he starts feeling useless even though we tell him otherwise.

Erickson’s theory is significant to relate to, with the eight stages it clearly defines psychosocial attributes that will influence how a person may react in each stage of life.

Reference List

Claiborne, L., & Drewery, W. (2010). Human development: Family, place, culture. North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia: McGraw-Hill Australia.

Santrock, J. W. (2009). Life-Span Development. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Inc.