Erikson's psychosocial stages

Erikson took Freud's stages and did something radical: he ran development across the entire lifespan and made it about relationships and society, not just libido. Examiners adore this theory because it's the one stage model that never stops — you're still developing at ninety.

Erikson proposed eight psychosocial crises, each a tension between two poles. Resolve a crisis well and you earn a virtue (also called a basic strength); resolve it poorly and you carry a deficit forward. The crises are epigenetic — they unfold in a fixed order, each building on the last.

Walk the eight in order: infants face Trust vs. Mistrust (virtue: hope), learning whether the world is dependable. Toddlers wrestle Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (will) — think toilet training and "me do it." Preschoolers hit Initiative vs. Guilt (purpose), asking permission to lead and invent. School-age children face Industry vs. Inferiority (competence), measuring themselves against peers. Adolescence is the famous one — Identity vs. Role Confusion (fidelity) — the identity crisis. Young adults negotiate Intimacy vs. Isolation (love). Middle adults confront Generativity vs. Stagnation (care) — mentoring, parenting, contributing. Elders reach Integrity vs. Despair (wisdom), looking back and asking whether the life was worth living.

Clinically, Erikson gives you a map for where a client is stuck. The lonely thirty-year-old may be stalled in intimacy; the bitter retiree may be losing the integrity battle. Unresolved earlier crises can resurface, and a supportive relationship can help a client re-work a stage they never completed.

Clinical Pearl: Memorize the stages as ordered pairs with their virtues — the crisis name AND the strength earned — because the NCE loves to ask "which virtue emerges from Identity vs. Role Confusion?" (fidelity) or to match an age to its conflict. Identity vs. Role Confusion = adolescence is the single most tested item.