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Erik H. Erikson

Erik H. Erikson (June 15, 1902 - May 12, 1994) was a developmental psychologist known for his theory on social development of human beings, and for coining the phrase 'identity crisis'.

Theory of psychosocial development

The theory describes eight stages through which a healthily developing human should pass from infancy to late adulthood. In each stage the person confronts, and hopefully masters, new challenges. Each stage builds on the successful completion of earlier stages. The challenges of stages not successfully completed may be expected to reappear as problems in the future.

(Approx. ages) Stage	Psychosocial crisis	Significant relations	Psychosocial modalities	Psychosocial virtues	Maladaptations & malignancies
(0-1) Infant	trust vs mistrust	mother	to get, to give in return	hope, faith	sensory distortion withdrawal
(2-3) Toddler	autonomy vs shame and doubt	parents	to hold on, to let go	will, determination	impulsivity compulsion
(3-6) Preschooler	initiative vs guilt	family	to go after, to play	purpose, courage	ruthlessness inhibition
(7-12) School-age child	industry vs inferiority	neighborhood and school	to complete, to make things together	competence	narrow virtuosity inertia
(12-18) Adolescent	ego-identity vs role-confusion	peer groups, role models	to be oneself, to share oneself	fidelity, loyalty	fanaticism repudiation
(20-45) Young adult	intimacy vs isolation	partners, friends	to lose and find oneself in a another	love	promiscuity exclusivity
(30-65) Middle aged adult	generativity vs self-absorption	household, co-workers	to make be, to take care of	care	overextension rejectivity
(50+) Old adult	integrity vs despair	mankind or “my kind”	to be, through having been, to face not being	wisdom	presumption despair

Bibliography

Major works:

• Childhood and Society (1950)
• Young Man Luther. A study in Psychoanalysis and History (1958)
• Gandhi's Truth: On the Origin of Militant Nonviolence (1969)
• Adulthood (Edited book, 1978)
• Vital Involvement in Old Age (with J.M. Erikson and H. Kivnick, 1986)
• The Life Cycle Completed (with J.M. Erikson, 1997)

Collections:

• Identity and the Life Cycle. Selected Papers (1959)
• A Way of Looking at Things: Selected Papers 1930-1980 (Editor: S.P. Schlien, 1995)
• The Erik Erikson Reader (Editor: Robert Coles, 2001)

Related works:

• Identity's Architect: A Biography of Erik H. Erikson (Lawrence J. Freidman and Robert Coles, 1999)
• Erik Erikson, His Life, Work, and Significance (Kit Welchman, 2000)

See also

• Psychoanalysis
• Sigmund Freud
• Epigenetics