Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory of Development, Essay Example

From the ages of about 6 to 12, or grammar school years, people are said to be engaged in Erikson’s fourth stage of psychosocial development where they grapple with developing a perception of themselves as industrious individuals. If they fail to achieve this perception, they may be stuck with a perception of themselves as inferior individuals. Here, we discuss the nature and ramifications of this stage. In so doing, we indicate the relevance of a successfully achieving the psychosocial objective of this stage for Erikson’s next stage; that is, adolescence, in which the person endeavors to ascertain a unique perception of their own self while surmount confusion about their own individual nature.

In Erikson’s fourth stage children struggle to grasp the virtue of competence (Santrock 2011). The basics of skill are learned. To be defeated the hope of such “industrious” association may pull the child back to the more isolated. People grapple with the pragmatic notion of special and temporal logic. They expand on understandings of causal relationships and annual circadian rhythms. At this phase, they are ready to understand and complete more complicated tasks such as language and numeric manipulation and interpretation. Furthermore, they often show a measure of autonomy with disobedience.

Erikson saw primary school as vital for the growth of self-assurance (Myers 2010). Primarily, grade school affords numerous chances for kids to attain the acknowledgment of educators, parents and friends by manufacturing stuff like drawings and solutions to simple math problems. If kids are optimistic about creating things and doing it well, they are often rewarded for their effort. Thus, they become industrious by becoming more attentive and persistent at activities pending fulfillment. If kids are derided or disciplined for their hard work or if they discover they are inept of meeting expectations, they grow a mind-set of inadequacy regarding their ability.

At this time, kids familiarizing themselves with their own particular aptitudes and persist at determining their own self-worth (Santrock 2011). They start to decide to do things to follow that awareness like playing in organized sports if they are athletic or playing a musical instrument if they are inclined toward performance art. If they are not permitted to find out about what they can do at their individual pace, they tend to develop of lack of enthusiasm.

All of these things are necessary to become a typical teenager. Many of the more rudimentary developments at this stage will come to full fruition in the next. In order to succeed in the next phase, the rudiments of development from the previous phase must mature in this phase.

Here, we have discussed the nature and ramifications of this stage. In doing, we have indicated the significance of an effectively negotiating the psychosocial objective of this stage for Erikson’s next stage –adolescence, where the person endeavors to discover a distinctive perception of their own identity while surmounting any confusion about who they really are. From the age of around 6 to 12, or during primary school, children are said to be engaged in Erikson’s fourth stage of psychosocial development where they tackle the challenge of developing a perception of themselves as industrious individuals. If they fail to achieve this perception, they may be stuck with a perception of themselves as inferior people.

References

Santrock, J.W. (2011). Life-Span Development, 13th Ed. NY: McGraw Hill.
Myers, D.G. (2010). Psychology, 9th Ed. NY: Worth Publishers.