The Life Cycle Completed.Erik Erikson Is The Most Influential

The Life Cycle Completed Erik Erikson is the most influential person in the field of psychology. He was born on June 15th, 1902 in Frankfurt, Germany and died on May 12th, 1994 in Massachusetts, Boston. He is known for his theory of psychosocial development comprising eight stages from early infancy to adulthood. Each of these stages, the person experiences a psychosocial crisis that influences personality based on their positive or negative outcomes. However, every human being enters certain stages to reach the full potential of development. In addition to Erikson, he was influenced by Sigmund Freud, who was a psychoanalysis, developed the structural models of personality, and psychosexual stages. Erikson extends on Freudian thoughts†¦show more content†¦However, a sense of basic trust is crucial in this stage because it plays an important role in establishing a relationship with others. It follows that every living person has basic trust and with it, to some degree, the s trength of hope (Erikson, J. p.107). On the other hand, elders are compelled to mistrust because they are incapable of doing their own activities due to deterioration. In this case, hopelessness is what triggers fatigue and depression because they do not have the capacity and strength. The second stage is autonomy versus shame and doubt (1 year to 3 years old). Children are eager to learn so they can demonstrate their abilities and skills for independence. However, there are limits; when these are overstepped and things get out of control, there may be a reversion to insecurity and a lack of self-confidence that ends in shame and doubt in their capacities (Erikson, J. p.107). Surprisingly, this type of doubt presents in elderly because they do not have the autonomy to determine the choices in life and have control of their body. For instance, an elderly who are unable to walk due to having issues with their knee depends on their wheelchair. For this reason, it is a physical impedim ent because his daily activities are limited. Will become weakened, though held in check enough to provide some security and to avoid the shame of lost self-control (Erikson, J. p.108). The third stage is initiative versus guilt ( 3 to 5 years