Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory says development unfolds through eight sequential stages across the entire lifespan. Each stage hands you a unique crisis to resolve, and resolving it well supports healthy development. The model charts how our social lives and self-understanding evolve all the way from infancy to late adulthood.
Exams will ask you to match age ranges to their psychosocial crises, like linking infancy with trust-versus-mistrust. The adolescent stage trips many students up, so remember this: the core task of the identity-versus-role-confusion stage is discovering your role in society, and teens usually lean on peers rather than parents to work that out.
Part of Basic Psychology, module “Human Development”. Sign in (free) to read the full notes, flashcards and the lesson quiz.