Erikson's psychosocial stages
MCAT glossary · Psychological, Social & Biological Foundations of Behavior
Definition
8 stages each with crisis: trust vs mistrust → autonomy vs shame → initiative vs guilt → industry vs inferiority → identity vs role confusion → intimacy vs isolation → generativity vs stagnation → integrity vs despair.
Erikson's psychosocial stages in plain English
Erik Erikson said a person grows through life by facing eight big 'tug-of-war' challenges, one after another, from birth to old age. In each stage you're pulled between a healthy outcome and an unhealthy one — like a baby learning 'can I trust the world?' (trust vs. mistrust), a teenager asking 'who am I?' (identity vs. role confusion), or an elderly person looking back and feeling either peace or regret (integrity vs. despair). Handling each crisis well gives you a strength you carry forward; handling it poorly makes the next stages harder, kind of like building levels of a tower where a shaky floor makes everything above it wobble. The eight in order: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair.
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