PSYCHOSOCIAL

DEVELOPMENT

Psychosocial Development

What about it?? For a concept to be psychosocial means it

relates to one’s psychological development in, and interaction with, a social environment. Involving both psychological and social aspects in human development.

• It was first commonly used by psychologist Erik Erikson in his stages of social development.

Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development

• is one of the best known theories of personality in psychology. He believed that personality develops in a series of stages. Erikson’s theory describes the impact of social experience across the whole lifespan.

• One of the main elements of Erikson’s psychosocial stage theory is the development of ego identity. Ego identity is the conscious sense of self that we develop through social interaction.

• According to Erikson, our ego identity is constantly changing due to new experience and information we acquire in our daily interactions with others. He also believed that a sense of competence also motivates behaviors and actions.

• Each stage in Erikson’s theory is concerned with becoming competent in an area of life. Each stage builds upon the successful completion of earlier stages. If the stage is handled well, the person will feel a sense of mastery. If the stage is managed poorly, the person will emerge with a crisis or problems in the future that serves as a turning point in development.

Psychosocial Stage 1- Trust vs. Mistrust (birth to 18 months) Can I Trust the World? The first stage of Erik Erikson's theory centers

around the infant's basic needs being met by the parents and this interaction leading to trust or mistrust. Trust as defined by Erikson is "an essential truthfulness of others as well as a fundamental sense of one's own trustworthiness."

To come out of this stage in good psychological health, a baby must achieve a proper balance of trust( which allows intimacy) over mistrust(which permits self-protection).

• If trust predominates, children develop what Erickson calls the virtue of hope: the belief that their needs will be met and their wishes can be attained. The child's relative understanding of world and society come from the parents and their interaction with the child. If the parents expose the child to warmth, regularity, and dependable affection, the infant's view of the world will be one of trust.

Trust enables an infant to let the mother out of sight, ‘’because she has become an inner certainty as well as an outer predictability’’

The sense of trust usually extends to parents, siblings, and others in the infant’s immediate environment. Attachment may be expressed in smiling, babbling, climbing to the mother or crying when the mother leaves.

Should the parents fail to provide a secure environment and to meet the child's basic needs a sense of mistrust will result. If mistrust predominates, children will view the world as unfriendly and predictable. They may become overwhelmed by disappointment and will trouble developing close relationships. Development of mistrust can lead to feelings of frustration, suspicion, withdrawal, and a lack of confidence.

Psychosocial Stage 2- Autonomy vs. Shame (18 months to 3 yrs.) Is It OK to Be Me?•As the child gains control over eliminative functions and motor abilities, then they begin to explore their surroundings. Children at this age like to explore the world around them and they are constantly learning about their environment. The parents still provide a strong base of a security from which the child can venture out to assert their will.

• Like freud, Erickson believed that toilet was a vital part of this process. Erickson believe that learning to control one’s body functions leads to a feeling of control and sense of independence.

• The push toward autonomy (independence or self determination) is related to maturation. Toodlers try to use their developing muscles to do everything themselves- to walk, to feed and dress themselves, and to expand the boundaries of their world.

• During this stage, virtue of will emerges: the growing power to make one’s own decision, to apply oneself to tasks, and to use self-restraint.

• Children who successfully complete this stage feel secure and confident.

• To stike the proper balance, children need the right amount of control from adults-neither too much control nor too little. Otherwise, they may rebel against all rules or to be thrown back on themselves, and the fear of losing control may fill them with inhibitions, doubt, and shame.

• In Erickson’s terms, failure to achieve autonomy evokes shame manifested in feelings of worthlessness and incompetence.

Probably this manifestation could be seen in the toodler’s saying‘’no’’ to suggestions or being plainly negativistic, going limp all over, running away, or having a tantrum.

Psychosocial Stage 3- Initiative vs. Guilt (3 to 6 yrs.) Is it OK for Me to Do, Move, and Act? Initiative adds to autonomy the quality of undertaking, planning and attacking a task

for the sake of just being active and on the move. The child is learning to master the world around them, learning basic skills and principles of physics. Things fall down, not up. Round things roll. They learn how to zip and tie, count and speak with ease. At this stage, the child wants to begin and complete their own actions for a purpose.

the child during this stage faces the complexities of planning and developing a sense of judgment. During this stage, the child learns to take initiative and prepare for leadership and goal achievement roles.

• Guilt is a confusing new emotion. They may feel guilty over things that logically should not cause guilt. They may feel guilt when this initiative does not produce desired results. Within instances requiring initiative, the child may also develop negative behaviors. These behaviors are a result of the child developing a sense of frustration for not being able to achieve a goal as planned and may engage in behaviors that seem aggressive, ruthless, and overly assertive to parents. Aggressive behaviors, such as throwing objects, hitting, or yelling, are examples of observable behaviors during this stage.

Psychosocial Stage 4- Industry vs. Inferiority (6 to 12yrs.) Can I Make it in the World of People and Things? Erickson sees middle childhood as a time of relative

emotional calm, when children can attend to their schooling and learn the skills culture requires.

• Children develop a general sense of personal mastery of great number of activities and games ---swimming, skating, camping etc. Also list some perceptual cognitive developmental traits specific for this age group. Children grasp the concepts of space and time in more logical, practical ways. They gain a better understanding of cause and effect, and of calendar time. At this stage, children are eager to learn and accomplish more complex skills: reading, writing, telling time. They also get to form moral values, recognize cultural and individual differences and are able to manage most of their personal needs and grooming with minimal assistance

• Erikson viewed the elementary school years as critical for the development of self-confidence. Ideally, elementary school provides many opportunities for children to achieve the recognition of teachers, parents and peers by producing things- drawing pictures, solving addition problems, writing sentences, and so on.

• If children are not encouraged to actively engage in these activities, their sense of mastery will give way to personal inferiority or those who receive little or no encouragement from parents, teachers, or peers will doubt their ability to be successful.

Psychosocial Stage 5-Identity vs. Role Confusion(12 to 18 years) Who Am I? What Can I Be?• According to Erickson, the chief task of adolescence is to resolve

confusion. The desirable outcome is a sense of oneself as a unique human being with a meaningful role to play in society. As the active agent of identity formation is the ego, which puts together its knowledge of the person’s abilities, needs, and desires and of what must be done to adapt to the social environment.

• As they make the transition from childhood to adulthood, adolescents ponder the roles they will play in the adult world. Initially, they are apt to experience some role confusion—mixed ideas and feelings about the specific ways in which they will fit into society—and may experiment with a variety of behaviors and activities .

• Thus, the fundamental virtue that arises from the identity crisis is the virtue of fidelity—sustained

loyalty, faith, or a sense of belonging to friends and companions to a loved one, or to a set of values, ideology, religion, a movement, or an ethic grp.

• The thoughts, efforts, and concerns of the individual at this stage center mainly on making himself acceptable to the opposite sex. An important developmental task is one’s acceptance and learning of sex roles. This comes, hand in hand, with the achieving of independence of parents and family, although this may have to be postponed at a later stage.

• Rebelliousness, defiance, and the use of drugs are expressions of adolescents in retaliating against strict

parental regulation. Where the adolescents and their parents have maintained rapport and mutual respect, the parent’s influence tends to remain strong and role confusion is lessened.

Psychosocial Stage 6-Intimacy vs. Isolation(18 or 20 to 40 yrs.) Can I Love?

• At the start of this stage, identity vs. role confusion is coming to an end, though it still lingers at the foundation of the stage. Young adults are still eager to blend their identities with friends. They want to fit in.

• The virtue that develops during young adulthood is the virtue of love, or mutuality of devotion between partners who have chosen to share their lives.

• Erickson believed that a strong sense of personal identity was important to developing intimate relationships. Studies have demonstrated that those with a poor sense of self tend to have less committed relationships and more likely to suffer emotional isolation, loneliness, and depression.

• Erikson believes we are sometimes isolated due to intimacy. We are afraid of rejections such as being turned down or our partners breaking up with us. We are familiar with pain, and to some of us, rejection is painful; our egos cannot bear the pain.

Psychosocial Stage 7-Generativity vs. Stagnation(40 to 60 yrs.)

Can I Make My Life Count?

• Generativity is the concern of mature adults for establishing and guiding the next generation. The concept is meant to include... productivity and creativity."The adult stage of generativity has broad application to family, relationships, work, and society.

• People’s impulse to foster the development of the young is not limited to guiding their own children. It can be expressed through such activities as teaching and mentorship.

• The virtue that develops during this stage is to developed sense of care.

• During middle age the primary developmental task is one of contributing to society and helping to guide future generations. When a person makes a contribution during this period, perhaps by raising a family or working toward the betterment of society, a sense of generativity- a sense of productivity and accomplishment- results.

• In contrast, a person who is self-centered and unable or unwilling to help society move forward develops a feeling of stagnation- a dissatisfaction with the relative lack of productivity.

Psychosocial Stage 8-Integrity and Despair(from 60 till death) Is it OK to Have Been Me?

• Erickson sees older people as confronting the need to accept the way they have lived their lives in order to accept approaching death.

• The virtue that develops during this stage is wisdom—an informed and detached concern with life in the face of death itself.

• Wisdom acc. to Erickson, includes acceptance of the life one has lived, without major regrets for what could have been or for what one should have done differently. It includes acceptance of one’s parents as people who did the best they could and thus are worthy of love, even thou they were not perfect. It implies acceptance of the imperfections of oneself, one’s parents , and one’s life.

• As we grow older and become senior citizens we tend to slow down our productivity and explore life as a retired person. It is during this time that we contemplate our accomplishments and are able to develop integrity if we see ourselves as leading a successful life. The final developmental task is retrospection: people look back on their lives and accomplishments. They develop feelings of contentment and integrity if they believe that they have led a happy, productive life.

• If we see our life as unproductive, or feel that we did not accomplish our life goals, we become dissatisfied with life and develop despair, often leading to depression and hopelessness.

THE END