| crisis including adaptive strength | basic virtue & secondary virtue (and related strengths) | life stage / relationships / issues |
1. Trust v Mistrust | Hope & Drive (faith, inner calm, grounding, basic feeling that everything will be okay - enabling exposure to risk, a trust in life and self and others, inner resolve and strength in the face of uncertainty and risk) | infant / mother / feeding and being comforted, teething, sleeping |
2. Autonomy v Shame & Doubt | Willpower & Self-Control (self-determination, self-belief, self-reliance, confidence in self to decide things, having a voice, being one's own person, persistence, self-discipline, independence of thought, responsibility, judgement) | toddler / parents / bodily functions, toilet training, muscular control, walking |
| 3. Initiative v Guilt | Purpose & Direction (sense of purpose, decision-making, working with and leading others, initiating projects and ideas, courage to instigate, ability to define personal direction and aims and goals, able to take initiative and appropriate risks) | preschool / family / exploration and discovery, adventure and play |
| 4. Industry v Inferiority | Competence & Method (making things, producing results, applying skills and processes productively, feeling valued and capable of contributing, ability to apply method and process in pursuit of ideas or objectives, confidence to seek and respond to challenge and learning, active busy productive outlook) | schoolchild / school, teachers, friends, neighbourhood / achievement and accomplishment |
| 5. Identity v Role Confusion | Fidelity & Devotion (self-confidence and self-esteem necessary to freely associate with people and ideas based on merit, loyalty, social and interpersonal integrity, discretion, personal standards and dignity, pride and personal identity, seeing useful personal role(s) and purpose(s) in life) | adolescent / peers, groups, influences / resolving identity and direction, becoming a grown-up |
| 6. Intimacy v Isolation | Love & Affiliation (capacity to give and receive love - emotionally and physically, connectivity with others, socially and inter-personally comfortable, ability to form honest reciprocating relationships and friendships, capacity to bond and commit with others for mutual satisfaction - for work and personal life, reciprocity - give and take - towards good) | young adult / lovers, friends, work connections / intimate relationships, work and social life |
| 7. Generativity v Stagnation | Care & Production (giving unconditionally in support of children and/or for others, community, society and the wider world where possible and applicable, altruism, contributing for the greater good, making a positive difference, building a good legacy, helping others through their own crisis stages | mid-adult / children, community / 'giving back', helping, contributing |
| 8. Integrity v Despair | Wisdom & Renunciation (calmness, tolerance, appropriate emotional detachment - non-projection, no regrets, peace of mind, non-judgemental, spiritual or universal reconciliation, acceptance of inevitably departing) | late adult / society, the world, life / meaning and purpose, life achievements, acceptance |
As an aside, there are significant parallels between the growth outcomes of the Erikson psychosocial model, and the growth aspects Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It's not a precise fit obviously because the Erikson and Maslow perspectives are different, but the correlations are clear and fascinating. Erikson separately listed a series of 'Related Elements of Social Order' within his psychosocial model, which although quite obscure in this context, might aid the comparison. You might have your own views on this. For what it's worth here's mine:
| life stage / relationships / issues | crisis | virtue outcomes | Erikson's 'related elements of social order' | Maslow Hierarchy of Needs stage - primary correlation |
| infant / mother / feeding and being comforted, teething, sleeping | 1. Trust v Mistrust | Hope & Drive | 'cosmic order' | biological & physiological |
| toddler / parents / bodily functions, toilet training, muscular control, walking | 2. Autonomy v Shame & Doubt | Willpower & Self-Control | 'law and order' | safety |
| preschool / family / exploration and discovery, adventure and play | 3. Initiative v Guilt | Purpose & Direction | 'ideal prototypes' | belongingness & love |
| schoolchild / school, teachers, friends, neighbourhood / achievement and accomplishment | 4. Industry v Inferiority | Competence & Method | 'technological elements' | esteem |
| adolescent / peers, groups, influences / resolving identity and direction, becoming a grown-up | 5. Identity v Role Confusion | Fidelity & Devotion | 'ideological perspectives' | esteem |
| young adult / lovers, friends, work connections / intimate relationships, work and social life | 6. Intimacy v Isolation | Love & Affiliation | 'patterns of cooperation and competition' | esteem |
| mid-adult / children, community / 'giving back', helping, contributing | 7. Generativity v Stagnation | Care & Production | 'currents of education and training' | self-actualisation |
| late adult / society, the world, life / meaning and purpose, life achievements, acceptance | 8. Integrity v Despair | Wisdom & Renunciation | 'wisdom' | self-actualisation |
N.B. I'm not suggesting a direct fit between Erikson's and Maslow's models. Rather, this simply puts the two perspectives alongside each other to show how similar aspects could could inter-relate. Judge for yourself.
We might also use the Erikson model to help explain what happens in Maslow's theory when a particular trauma sweeps away a part of someone's life (perhaps due to redundancy, divorce, social exclusion, bankruptcy, homelessness), which causes the person to revisit certain needs and internal conflicts (crises) hich were once satisfied earlier but are no longer met. According to both Erikson's and Maslow's theories, anyone can find themselves revisiting and having to resolve needs (or crisis feelings or experiences) from earlier years.
Further thoughts and suggestions about correlations between Maslow and Erikson are welcome.
Later Erikson developed clearer ideas and terminology - notably 'Maladaptations' and 'Malignancies' - to represent the negative outcomes arising from an unhelpful experience through each of the crisis stages.
In crude modern terms these negative outcomes might be referred to as 'baggage', which although somewhat unscientific, is actually a very apt metaphor, since people tend to carry with them through life the psychological outcomes of previously unhelpful experiences. Psychoanalysis, the particular therapeutic science from which Erikson approached these issues, is a way to help people understand where the baggage came from, and thereby to assist the process of dumping it.
To an extent these negative outcomes can also arise from repeating or revisiting a crisis, or more realistically the essential aspects of a crisis, since we don't actually regress to a younger age, instead we revisit the experiences and feelings associated with earlier life.
This chart is laid out with the crisis in the centre to aid appreciation that 'maladaptations' develop from tending towards the extreme of the first ('positive') disposition in each crisis, and 'malignancies' develop from tending towards the extreme of the second ('negative') disposition in each crisis.
A maladaptation could be seen as 'too much of a good thing'. A malignancy could be seen as not enough.
In later writings malignancies were also referred to as 'antipathies'.
| Maladaptation | Crisis | Malignancy |
| Sensory Distortion (later Sensory Maladjustment) | Trust v Mistrust | Withdrawal |
| Impulsivity (later Shameless Willfulness) | Autonomy v Shame/Doubt | Compulsion |
| Ruthlessness | Initiative v Guilt | Inhibition |
| Narrow Virtuosity | Industry v Inferiority | Inertia |
| Fanaticism | Identity v Role Confusion | Repudiation |
| Promiscuity | Intimacy v Isolation | Exclusivity |
| Overextension | Generativity v Stagnation | Rejectivity |
| Presumption | Integrity v Despair | Disdain |
Erikson was careful to choose words for the maladaptations and malignancies which convey a lot of meaning and are very symbolic of the emotional outcomes that are relevant to each stage.
In each case the maladaptation or malignancy corresponds to an extreme extension of the relevant crisis disposition (for example, 'Withdrawal' results from an extreme extension of 'Mistrust'). Thinking about this helps to understand what these outcomes entail, and interestingly helps to identify the traits in people - or oneself - when you encounter the behavioural tendency concerned.
Malignancies and maladaptations can manifest in various ways. Here are examples, using more modern and common language, to help understand and interpret the meaning and possible attitudes, tendencies, behaviours, etc., within the various malignancies and malapdations. In each case the examples can manifest as more extreme mental difficulties, in which case the terms would be more extreme too. These examples are open to additional interpretation and are intended to be a guide, not scientific certainties. Neither do these examples suggest that anyone experiencing any of these behavioural tendencies is suffering from mental problems. Erikson never established any absolute measurement of emotional difficulty or tendency as to be defined as a malignancy or maladaptation.
In truth each of us is subject to emotional feelings and and extremes of various sorts, and it is always a matter of opinion as to what actually constitutes a problem. All people possess a degree of maladaptation or malignancy from each crisis experience. Not to do so would not be human, since none of us is perfect. It's always a question of degree. It's also a matter of understanding our weaknesses, maybe understanding where they come from too, and thereby better understanding how we might become stronger, more productive and happier.
| examples | maladaptation | crisis | malignancy | examples |
| unrealistic, spoilt, deluded | Sensory Distortion | Trust v Mistrust | Withdrawal | neurotic, depressive, afraid |
| reckless, inconsiderate, thoughtless | Impulsivity | Autonomy v Shame/Doubt | Compulsion | anal, constrained, self-limiting |
| exploitative, uncaring, dispassionate | Ruthlessness | Initiative v Guilt | Inhibition | risk-averse, unadventurous |
| workaholic, obsessive specialist | Narrow Virtuosity | Industry v Inferiority | Inertia | lazy, apathetic, purposeless |
| self-important, extremist | Fanaticism | Identity v Role Confusion | Repudiation | socially disconnected, cut-off |
| sexually needy, vulnerable | Promiscuity | Intimacy v Isolation | Exclusivity | loner, cold, self-contained |
| do-gooder, busy-body, meddling | Overextension | Generativity v Stagnation | Rejectivity | disinterested, cynical |
| conceited, pompous, arrogant | Presumption | Integrity v Despair | Disdain | miserable, unfulfilled, blaming |
This section explains how some of the model's terminology altered as Erikson developed his theory, and is not crucial to understanding the model at a simple level.
Erikson was continually refining and re-evaluating his psychosocial theory, and he encouraged his readers and followers to do likewise. This developmental approach enabled the useful extension of the model to its current format. Some of what is summarised here did not initially appear clearly in Childhood and Society in 1950, which marked the establishment of the basic theory, not its completion. Several aspects of Erikson's theory were clarified in subsequent books decades later, including work focusing on old age by Joan Erikson, Erik's wife and collaborator, notably in the 1996 revised edition of The Life Cycle Completed: A Review.
The Eriksons' refinements also involved alterations - some would say complications - to the terminology, which (although presumably aiming for scientific precision) do not necessarily aid understanding, especially at a basic working level.
For clarity therefore this page sticks mostly with Erikson's original 1950 and other commonly used terminology. Basic Trust v Basic Mistrust (1950) is however shortened here to Trust v Mistrust, and Ego Integrity (1950) is shortened to Integrity, because these seem to be more consistent Erikson preferences. The terms used on this page are perfectly adequate, and perhaps easier too, for grasping what the theory means and making use of it.
Here are the main examples of alternative terminology that Erikson used in later works to describe the crisis stages and other aspects, which will help you recognise and understand their meaning if you see them elsewhere.
Erikson's psychosocial theory very powerful for self-awareness and improvement, and for teaching and helping others.
While Erikson's model emphasises the sequential significance of the eight character-forming crisis stages, the concept also asserts that humans continue to change and develop throughout their lives, and that personality is not exclusively formed during early childhood years. This is a helpful and optimistic idea, and many believe it is realistic too. It is certainly a view that greatly assists encouraging oneself and others to see the future as an opportunity for positive change and development, instead of looking back with blame and regret.
The better that people come through each crisis, the better they will tend to deal with what lies ahead, but this is not to say that all is lost and never to be recovered if a person has had a negative experience during any particular crisis stage. Lessons can be revisited successfully when they recur, if we recognise and welcome them.
Everyone can change and grow, no matter what has gone before. And as ever, understanding why we are like we are - gaining meaningful self-awareness - is always a useful and important step forward. Erikson's theory, along with many other concepts featured on this website, helps to enable this meaningful understanding and personal growth.
Erikson's psychosocial theory should be taught to everyone - especially to school children, teachers and parents - it's certainly accessible enough, and would greatly assist all people of all ages to understand the connections between life experiences and human behaviour - and particularly how grown-ups can help rather than hinder children's development into rounded emotionally mature people.
Erikson was keen to improve the way children and young people are taught and nurtured, and it would be appropriate for his ideas to be more widely known and used in day-to-day life, beyond the clinical and counselling professions.
Hopefully this page explains Erikson's psychosocial theory in reasonable simple terms. I'm always open to suggestions of improvements, especially for a challenging and potent area like this one.
I recommend for more detail you see the wonderful materials created by Professor George Boeree of the Shippensburg (Pennsylvania) University Psychology Department, and specifically George Boeree's Erikson theory explanation.
Or read any of Erikson's books - they are very accessible and rich in ideas, and they do have a strong resonance with much of what we face in modern life.
Erik Homburger Erikson (1902-94) was born in Frankfurt-am-Main Germany on 15 June 1902 to a young Danish Jewish woman, Karla Abrahamsen. His natural father departed before the birth, and his mother subsequently married Dr Theodor Homberger, Erik's paediatrician. Erik changed his surname later in life, seemingly on becoming an American citizen.
A degree of uncertainty about personal identity and direction apparently characterised Erik's childhood and early adult years - not surprisingly given his circumstances - which reflected and perhaps helped inspire his life work.
After wandering and working around Europe as an artist, Erikson came to psychoanalysis almost by accident. Around 1927 aged 25 he took a teaching job at an experimental school for American children in Vienna run by psychoanalyst Dorothy Burlingham (daughter of New York jeweller Charles Tiffany incidentally - she initially came to Vienna for psychoanalysis). This appointment was pivotal: it introduced Erikson to Montessori education methods, to psychoanalysis, to Anna Freud (lifelong friend and collaborator of Dorothy Burlingham), and also to the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society, Sigmund Freud's centre of psychoanalytical excellence. The work and teachings of Sigmund Freud and daughter Anna were to prove hugely significant in the development of Erikson's own ideas and direction, and all from an inconspicuous teaching appointment.
Erikson's early specialisation was child analysis, in which his interest and research grew following his emigration to the USA in 1933, where he also engaged in clinical work and teaching at Harvard, Yale, and later Berkeley California.
Erik Erikson's early work focused chiefly on testing and extending Freudian theory in relation to the effect of social and cultural factors upon human psychology, with a strong emphasis on how society affects childhood and development. This research entailed detailed anthropological studies of children in societies, notably conducted in 1938 with the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) and Yurok Native American people. These experiences especially helped Erikson to realise that Freudian ideas lacked vital social dimensions, and provided a key for his 'biopsychosocial' perspective.
He subsequently moved to the University of California, continuing his focus on child welfare, and also practised at the San Francisco Veterans Hospital treating trauma and mental illness. When McCarthy demanded California academics sign the 'loyalty oath' in 1950, Erikson moved to Massachusetts, where he taught and worked for ten years until moving to Harvard. He retired from clinical practice, but not from research and writing, in 1970, back to Massachusetts, and died in 1994.
Erik's Canadian wife Joan M Erikson, whom he met and married in Vienna, was also keenly interested and expert in the life stages theory and its application to childhood development and psychoanalysis. She collaborated in Erikson's clinical and teaching work and in the development and writing of his ideas too. She died in 1997, three years after her husband. They had two sons and a daughter.
Erikson's first and arguably most important book, Childhood and Society, was published in 1950, in which he first explained his eight stage theory of human development, and incidentally also established the concept of the 'identity crisis' in adolescence.
Later books reflected his interest in humanistic and society perspectives and his own passage through later life stages, and included Young Man Luther (1958), Identity and the Life Cycle (1959), Insight and Responsibility (1964), Identity: Youth and Crisis (1968), Gandhi's Truth (1970) - which won the Pulizter Prize, and Dimensions of a New Identity (1974).
Erickson's book The Life Cycle Completed: A Review (1982) was revised in 1996 by Joan Erikson in which she extended the stages of old age within the life cycle model. The book Vital Involvement in Old Age (1989), which revisited people and life stages first studied forty years earlier, was jointly written with Joan Erikson and Helen Kivnik.
See also:
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - the model contains parallels with Erikson's ideas
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross 'Grief Cycle'
Personality Models (which includes explanations of Jung, Myers Briggs, Four Temperaments, OCEAN, etc)
Conscious Competence
John Fisher's Personal Transition Curve and the John Fisher Transition Curve Diagram (PDF)
Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences Theory and the VAK (visual auditory kinesthetic) learning styles inventory
Bloom's Taxonomy or Learning Domains
Donald Kirkpatrick's Learning Evaluation Model
David Kolb's Learning Styles Model
and lots more about training and learning on the main businessballs website if you are not already there.
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