Eastern Mindoro College

BONGABONG, ORIENTAL MINDORO

Tel. No.(043)-283-5479; email_1945 @ yahoo.com
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT

NAME: COURSE:
DATE: : CHILD & ADOLESCENT LEARNERS & LP ROOM:
CONTACT NO. INSTRUCTOR: MR. J. MAGTIBAY
EMAIL ADD: RATING:

LESSON TITLE: MODULE 7- ERIKSON’S PSYCHO-SOCIAL THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT

WEEK 7 , 3 HOURS
I. FOCUS:
At the end of this module, you should be able to:
• Explained the 8 stages of life
• Identified at least 6 ways on how Erikson’s theory can be useful as a future teacher
II. INTRODUCTION: Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development are a very relevant, highly
regarded and meaningful theory. Life is a continuous process involving learning and trials which
help us grow.
III. STRATEGIES
A. ABSTRACTION AND GENERALIZATION
GEAR UP YOUR MIND!

Highlights:
➢ ERIKSON’S PSYCHO-SOCIAL THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT
It is a comprehensive psychoanalytic theory that identifies a series of eight stages that a
healthy developing individual should pass through from infancy to late childhood. Erikson’s theory
describes the impact of social experiences across the whole life span. He believed that personality
develops in a series of stages; the impact of the significant others in the development of one’s view of
himself, life and of the world. He presented a comprehensive framework of eight psycho-social stages
of development. He described the crisis that a person goes through: the maladaptation and
malignancies that result from failure to effectively resolve the crisis; and the virtue that emerges when
balance and resolution of the crisis is attained. Erikson emphasized the significance of mutuality and
generativity in his theory. Mutuality reflects the effect of generations on each other, especially among
families between parents, children and grandchildren. Everyone potentially affects everyone else’s
experiences as they pass through the different crises stage. Generativity a disposition within one of the
crisis stages reflects the significant relationship between adults and the best interest of children. 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. The
epigenetic principle says that we develop through a predetermined unfolding of our personalities in
eight stages. Psychosocial development involves: 1) Eight stages of human development; 2) Each
stage consists of a unique developmental task that confronts individual with a crisis; 3) Each stage is
concerned with becoming competent in an area of life; 4) If the stage is handled well, the person will
feel a sense of mastery, which he sometimes referred to as ego strength; 5) If the stage is managed
poorly, the person will emerge with a sense of adequacy.
Page 1 of 5
 EMC-SLE: THE CHILD & ADOLESCENT LEARNERS & LEARNING PRINCIPLES

Erikson’s Eight Stages of Development:

1. Stage 1 - Infancy, the crisis is trust vs. mistrust. The goal is to develop trust without completely
eliminating the capacity for mistrust. If the primary caregivers, like the parents can give the baby a
sense of familiarity, consistency and continuity, then the baby will develop the feeling that the world is
a safe place to be, the people are reliable and loving. If parents the parents are unreliable and
inadequate, reject/harm the infant, then he/she will develop mistrust. He/She will be apprehensive and
suspicious around people. Sensory maladjustments happened if parents are overly protective of the
child. Overly trusting, even gullible, this person cannot believe anyone would mean them harm; the
child whose balance is tipped away over on the mistrust side will develop the malignant tendency of
withdrawal characterized by depression, paranoia, and psychosis. If proper balance is achieved, the
child will develop the virtue of hope, the strong belief that even things are not going well, they will work
out well in the end.

2. Stage 2 - Early Childhood, (from 18 mos. to 3 years. old), the task is to achieve a degree of
autonomy while minimizing shame and doubt. The crisis is autonomy vs. shame and doubt. If parents
or caregivers permits the child to explore and manipulate his/her environment the child will develop a
sense of autonomy or independence. If the parents/caregivers come down hard on the attempt of the
child for independence, the child will soon give up with the belief that he/she cannot and should not act
on his/her own. It can lead the child to feel ashamed and doubt his/her abilities. If children are given
impression that they are not good for much, it can lead them to shame and doubt. The child will
experience maladaptive tendency, called impulsiveness, a sort of shameless willfulness that leads to
jump into things without proper consideration of the abilities and compulsiveness, a feeling as if the
entire things they do and so everything must be done perfectly. If the child gets proper positive balance
of autonomy and shame and doubt he/she will develop the virtue of willpower or determination.

3. Stage 3 - Early Childhood, (from 3 to 6 years old), the crisis is initiative vs. guilt. Initiative means
a positive response to the challenges, taking on responsibilities, learning new skills, and feeling
purposeful. A child is capable of imagining a future situation, one that is not a reality right now. It is the
attempt to make that non-reality a reality. Parents/caregivers should encourage children to try out their
ideas; accept fantasy, curiosity and imagination, but if they’re too abrupt and too harsh the child learns
to feel guilty about his/her feelings and action. Too much initiative and too little guilt will result to a
maladaptive tendency called ruthlessness, a feeling of not caring who they step on to achieve their
goals. The extreme form of ruthlessness is sociopathy. Too much guilt can result to inhibition- which
means a person will not try things because they fear that if it fails, they will be blamed. A good balance
leads to the strength of purpose. The virtue is called courage, the capacity for action despite a clear
understanding of limitations and past failure.

4. Stage 4 - The School-Age-Stage, (from 6 to 12 years old), the crisis is industry vs. inferiority.
The task is to develop a capacity for industry while avoiding an excessive sense of inferiority. Children
must dedicate themselves to education and to learn the social skills their society requires of them.
Parents and other family members must encourage, teachers must care, and peers must accept.
Children must learn that there is pleasure not only in conceiving a plan, but in carrying it out. They
must learn the feeling of success, whether in school, playground, academic, or social. If the child is
allowed too little success, because of harsh teachers or rejecting peers, then he/she will develop a
sense of inferiority or incompetence. Additional sources of inferiority are racism, sexism, and other
forms of discrimination. Too much industry leads to the maladaptive tendency called narrow virtuosity
2
 EMC-SLE: THE CHILD & ADOLESCENT LEARNERS & LEARNING PRINCIPLES

– children who are not allowed to be children because they are push into one area of competence
without allowing the development of broader interest. Most common malignancy is inertia, the one who
suffer from the inferiority complex, the child becomes inert. The right balance of industry and inferiority
develop a virtue of competency.

5. Stage 5 - The Adolescence, (beginning with puberty and ending around 18 or 20 years of age),
the crisis is identity vs. Identity diffusion. The task is to achieve ego identity and avoid role confusion.
Ego identity means knowing who you are and how you fit in to the society. It requires that you take all
you’ve learned about life and yourself and mold it into a unified self-image, one that you are meaningful
to the society. Society should provide accomplishments and rituals (rites of passage) that help to
distinguish the adult from the child. When an adolescent is confronted by role confusion, an uncertainty
about one’s place in a society and the world, he/she will suffer an identity crisis and lack of identity is
difficult. Fanaticism a maladaptive tendency in which a person believes that his way is the only way,
there is no room for tolerance, promote their beliefs and lifestyles without regard of other’ right to
disagree. If an individual successfully negotiate this stage he will have a virtue of fidelity – means
loyalty, the ability to live by societies standards despite their imperfections, incompleteness, and
inconsistencies.

6. Stage 6 - Early/Young Adulthood (from about 18 to 30 years old), the crisis is intimacy vs.
Isolation. The task is to achieve some degree of intimacy, as opposed to remaining in isolation.
Intimacy - is the ability to be close to others as a lover, a friend, and as a participant in society. The
maladaptive form promiscuity is the tendency to become intimate too freely, too easily and without
depth to relationships with friends, neighbors, community as well as lovers. The malignancy called
exclusion is the tendency to isolate oneself from love, friendship and develop hatefulness in
compensation for one’s loneliness. If successfully negotiate this stage, an individual will carry this for
the rest of his/her life the virtue of psychosocial strength called love.

7. Stage 7 - Middle Adulthood, (from 30 to 60 years old) the crisis is generativity vs. Stagnation.
It is a period which one is actively involved in raising children. Generativity is an extension of love into
the future. It is a concern for next generation and future generations. Individual, like parent, does not
expect to be repaid for the love he/she gives to his/her children. Teaching, writing, invention, social
activism and anything contributing to the welfare of the future generations is generativity. Stagnation,
on the other hand, is self-absorption, caring for no one. A stagnant person stops to be productive
member of the society. Overextension is the maladaptive tendency which means a person holds so
many jobs that he has no longer time for any of them. The malignant tendency is called rejectivity that
is too little generativity and too much stagnation that you are no longer participating or contributing to
society. If you are successful in this stage you will have a virtue – a capacity for caring.

8. Stage 8 - Late Childhood/Old Age, (from 60- up begins around retirement), crisis is ego
integrity and despair. The task is to develop ego integrity with a minimal amount of despair. Ego
integrity means coming to terms with one’s life, and thereby coming to terms with the end of life. It
seems like the most difficult stage because of detachment from the society, from a sense of usefulness,
retiring from jobs; inputs are no longer requested or required, etc. Then one’s would feel despair. The
person in old age believes that he alone is right. He does not respect the ideas and views of the young.
The maladaptive tendency is presumptions – which happen when a person presumes ego integrity
without actually facing the difficulties of old age. The malignant tendency is called disdain. The person
3
 EMC-SLE: THE CHILD & ADOLESCENT LEARNERS & LEARNING PRINCIPLES

becomes very negative and appears to hate life. The virtue develop is called wisdom – someone who
approaches death without fear and has the strength.

B. ANALYSIS
Research, 'read, analyze and fill out the matrix below

Stage Crisis Significant Maladaptation (with Malignancy Virtue (with

Person description) (with description) description)

4
 EMC-SLE: THE CHILD & ADOLESCENT LEARNERS & LEARNING PRINCIPLES

C. APPLICATION
Write your own life story using the stages of psychosocial development (stages 1 - 5). Ask
information from your parents and other significant person in your life. Write a narrative / Discuss
each stage of your own psychosocial development using Erikson’s theory and include a
photo/picture of yourself and significant person/s in your life. Consider the crisis, maladaptation’s
/ malignancies and the virtues. Make a digital scrapbook (pdf format) for this your project.

IV. REFLECTION

From Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Theory of Development, I realized that...

________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________

Prepared by:
MR. JAYMAR B. MAGTIBAY
Instructor
5