Human Development Theory

This article discusses Erikson's Psychosocial Theory of Human Development and its 8 different stages of development. It explains how social and cultural behavior affects human psychology and health. The article also highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the theory.

Running head: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT THEORY
Human Development Theory
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Development is one of the important issues that have been playing the minds of
psychoanalysts for a long time (Kagitcibasi, 2017). The development of human psychology and
its overall effects in their health helps in ascertaining various ways in which the human
psychological development can be studied to understand the behaviours better (Karakurt&
Silver, 2014). As a child developed to an old man there are a number of changes that take place
within them and it is deeply influenced by the social and the cultural behaviour in the
environment that the child is brought up in. in this context the topic of discussion of Human
Development theory is the Psychosocial theory. The psychosocial theory propounded by Erik
Ericson is an extension of the social aspects of the theories that have been put forward by
Sigmund Freud (Erikson, 1994). According to the theory the human life can be divided into 8
different stages. Of these 8 stages, 5 are till the age of 18 and the rest beyond that. The different
ages related to the development of the individual teach them various things related to one another
and the passing of the phase is related to the completing of the individual aspect of the situation.
The different stages of development in the psychosocial theory is divided between pre 18
years stages and the post 18 years stages (Erikson & Erikson, 1998). The pre 18 years stages are
5 in number depending on the various factors affecting the learning process of the individuals.
Trust vs. Mistrust is the stage the children learn one of the basic virtues in the form of
hope that are inculcated in them (Bockting & Coleman, 2016). In this stage there is uncertainty
among the infants regarding the way in which the people may behave in the society.
Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt is the second stage as the name suggests the child starts
to learn important attributes about the overall functioning of the society (Malone et al., 2016).
The ways in which the world functions and needed for the sustenance and meeting the daily

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needs of the individuals. The autonomy has to be supported at this age to make the child
independent.
Initiative vs. Guilt is a stage in which the children learn to manage their interpersonal
relationship (Bockting & Colema, 2016). One of the important aspects in this process is that the
initiative and guilt among the children focus on their development of the virtues of purpose in
life. In this stage they learn the virtues of their actions and their aftermaths.
Industry vs. Inferiority is a learning stage of the child when they are between 5-12 years
of age and is therefore greatly aided by the teachers (Malone et al., 2016). The positive
reinforcement and the various ideologies relating to the involvement of the children gives them
confidence about their competency helping in the overall development of the child.
Identity vs. Role Confusion is the final stage before adult hood and turning 18 in which
the children learn a number of social and sociological activities ranging from their roles in the
society to the social competence of their beings (Bockting & Coleman, 2016). This is the age
when the children have their psycho-sexual development and learn the appropriate behaviour
among the individuals in the society.
Intimacy vs. Isolation is the first stage after the human development among the people in
the society focussing on the formation of the relationships based on love and persuasion of
success (Malone et al., 2016). It is a stage in which the people focus more on the long term
commitments in the society leading to a major role related issue in the society. This stage lasts
till the age of 40 and the people learn to focus on more long term goals that they have.
Generatively vs. Stagnation is a stage in which the people in the society focus on the
learning of the importance of mortality and the permanence of things in life (Bockting &

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Coleman, 2016). They gradually learn to understand that there are a number of things in life that
are affected by the individual. This is an age of giving back to the society by inculcating among
the children the culture that one has learnt through his life.
Ego Integrity vs. Despair is the last stage of the human life in the society as the person is
in the last stages on their life gradually moving towards death. In this stage they gain the wisdom
of gaining the closure and content regarding the life that the person has led in his lifetime
(Malone et al., 2016).
These stages in the Ericson’s development model takes into account the various virtues
that a person learns throughout his life learning about the individual identities and the ideologies
of a person. One of the most important aspects is that the theories focus on the learning of the
individual through the various experiences that they have in their lifetime. On the other hand, the
theory develops ton include the middle and late adulthood as the important stages of lifetime
which had been overlooked by the earlier theorists (Brown&Stenner, 2009). One of the major
criticism that the theory faces is that it is developed as a tool highlighting of the individual across
stages rather than taking into account a factual analysis of the details. The psychosocial stages
also fail to show that how one stage of development affects the later stages of development in an
individual.
Therefore, from the above discourse it can be concluded that the individualistic
perspectives of the developmental stages of the human being are well presented as a rounded
theory. The various aspects of the theory focuses on highlighting individual perspectives of the
people in the society. The theory however is criticized for its factual data presentation rather than
the critical ways of analysis and linking of the ideologies with one another. The theory is not

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takes as a well-rounded theory of human development, and also fails to link the psychosocial
ages of development. Hence, it can be said that the psychosocial theory is a detailed analysis of
age group analysis which is overlooked by other theories but presents rather stringent
bifurcations.

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References
Bockting, W., & Coleman, E. (2016). 8 Developmental Stages of the Transgender Coming-Out
Process. Principles of Transgender Medicine and Surgery, 137.
Brown, S. D., &Stenner, P. (2009). Psychology without foundations: History, philosophy and
psychosocial theory. Sage.
Erikson, E. H. (1994). Identity and the life cycle. WW Norton & Company.
Erikson, E. H., & Erikson, J. M. (1998). The life cycle completed (extended version). WW
Norton & Company.
Kagitcibasi, C. (2017). Family, self, and human development across cultures: Theory and
applications. Routledge.
Karakurt, G., & Silver, K. E. (2014). Therapy for childhood sexual abuse survivors using
attachment and family systems theory orientations. The American journal of family
therapy, 42(1), 79-91.
Malone, J. C., Liu, S. R., Vaillant, G. E., Rentz, D. M., & Waldinger, R. J. (2016). Midlife
Eriksonian psychosocial development: Setting the stage for late-life cognitive and
emotional health. Developmental psychology, 52(3), 496.