Erikson's psychosocial stages

Meaning: Erikson proposed that personality develops across the whole lifespan in eight stages. Each stage centers on a social crisis between a favorable and an unfavorable outcome, and how a person resolves it shapes later development. In order, with approximate ages: trust vs mistrust (infancy), autonomy vs shame and doubt (toddler years), initiative vs guilt (preschool), industry vs inferiority (school age), identity vs role confusion (adolescence), intimacy vs isolation (young adulthood), generativity vs stagnation (middle adulthood), integrity vs despair (late adulthood).

On the MCAT: Expect vignettes matched to a stage. A teenager trying out roles and beliefs points to identity vs role confusion. An older adult reviewing life with satisfaction or regret points to integrity vs despair. A middle-aged person mentoring younger people points to generativity. Questions may contrast Erikson with Freud, Piaget or Kohlberg.

Common confusion: Freud's psychosexual stages center on sexual energy and are formative in childhood (the genital stage begins at puberty and lasts through adulthood), while Erikson's stages are separate social crises continuing through old age. The stages are not pass/fail: earlier crises can be revisited, and healthy development usually balances both poles. Autonomy (toddler, control over one's actions) differs from initiative (preschool, planning activities).