disposition, which if happens can produce almost
as much difficulty as a
strong or undiluted tendency towards the second 'negative' disposition.
Some of the crisis stages are easier to understand than others. Each stage
contains far more meaning than can be conveyed in just two or three words.
Crisis stage one is 'Trust versus Mistrust', which is easier to understand than
some of the others. Stage four 'Industry versus Inferiority' is a little trickier.
You could say instead 'usefulness versus uselessness' in more modern
common language. Erikson later refined 'Industry' to 'Industriousness', which
probably conveys a fuller meaning. See the more detailed
crisis stages
descriptions
below for a clearer understanding.
Successful passage through each stage is dependent on striking the right
balance between the conflicting extremes rather than entirely focusing
on (or being guided towards) the 'ideal' or 'preferable' extreme in each crisis.
In this respect Erikson's theory goes a long way to explaining why too much
of anything is not helpful for developing a well-balanced personality.
A well-balanced positive experience during each stage develops a
corresponding 'basic virtue' (or 'basic strength - a helpful personality
development), each of which enables a range of other related emotional and
psychological strengths. For example passing successfully through the
Industry versus Inferiority crisis (stage four, between 6-12 years of age for
most people) produces the 'basic psychosocial virtue' of 'competence' (plus
related strengths such as 'method', skills, techniques, ability to work with
processes and collaborations, etc). More detail is under
'Basic virtues'
.
Where passage through a crisis stage is less successful (in other words not
well-balanced, or worse still, psychologically damaging) then to a varying
extent the personality acquires an unhelpful emotional or psychological
tendency, which corresponds to one of the two opposite extremes of the crisis
concerned.
Neglect and failure at any stage is is problematical, but so is too much
emphasis on the apparent 'good' extreme.
For example unsuccessful experiences during the Industry versus Inferiority
crisis would produce a tendency towards being overly focused on learning and
work, or the opposite tendency towards uselessness and apathy. Describing
these unhelpful outcomes, Erikson later introduced the terms
'maladaptation' (overly adopting 'positive' extreme)
and 'malignancy' (adopting the 'negative' extreme). More detail is
under
'Maladaptations' and 'Malignancies'
. In the most extreme cases the
tendency can amount to serious mental problems.
Here is each crisis stage in more detail.
erikson's psychosocial crisis stages - meanings and
interpretations
Erikson used particular words to represent each psychosocial crisis. As ever,
single words can be misleading and rarely convey much meaning. Here is
more explanation of what lies behind these terms.
Erikson reinforced these crisis explanations with a perspective called
'psychosocial modalities', which in the earlier stages reflect Freudian theory,
and which are paraphrased below. They are not crucial to the model, but they
do provide a useful additional viewpoint.
'psychosocial crisis'
/
'psychosocial
modality'
meaning and interpretation
1. Trust v Mistrust
'To get'
'To give in return'
(To receive and to
give in return. Trust
is reciprocal - maybe
karma even..)
The infant will develop a healthy balance between trust and mistrust if
fed and cared for and not over-indulged or over-protected.
Abuse or
neglect or cruelty will destroy trust and foster mistrust. Mistrust
increases a person's resistance to risk-exposure and exploration. "Once
bitten twice shy" is an apt analogy. On the other hand, if the infant is
insulated from all and any feelings of surprise and normality, or
unfailingly indulged, this will create a false sense of trust amounting to
sensory distortion, in other words a failure to appreciate reality. Infants
who grow up to trust are more able to hope and have faith that 'things
will generally be okay'. This crisis stage incorporates Freud's
psychosexual Oral stage, in which the infant's crucial relationships and
experiences are defined by oral matters, notably feeding and
relationship with mum. Erikson later shortened 'Basic Trust v Basic
Mistrust' to simply Trust v Mistrust, especially in tables and headings.
2. Autonomy v Shame
& Doubt
'To hold on'
'To let go'
Autonomy means self-reliance. This is independence of thought, and a
basic confidence to think and act for oneself. Shame and Doubt mean
what they say, and obviously inhibit self-expression and developing
one's own ideas, opinions and sense of self. Toilet and potty training is
a significant part of this crisis, as in Freud's psychosexual Anal stage,
where parental reactions, encouragement and patience play an
important role in shaping the young child's experience and successful