Module 3.6: Social & Emotional Development in Adolescence & Adulthood

Trust and Mistrust

If needs are met, infants develop a sense of basic trust (infancy to 1 year).

Autonomy and Shame/Doubt

Toddlers learn to exercise their will and do things for themselves, or doubt their abilities (1-3 years).

Initiative and Guilt

Preschoolers learn to initiate tasks and carry out plans, or feel guilty about their efforts to be independent (3-6 years).

Industry and Inferiority

Children learn the pleasure of applying themselves to tasks, or they feel inferior (6 years to puberty).

Identity and Role Confusion

Teens refine a sense of self to form a single identity, or become confused about who they are (teen years to 20s).

Intimacy and Isolation

Young adults form close relationships and gain the capacity for intimate love, or feel socially isolated (20s to early 40s).

Generativity and Stagnation

Middle-aged people discover a sense of contributing to the world, usually through family/work, or feel a lack of purpose (40s to 60s).

Integrity and Despair

Reflecting on their lives, older adults may feel a sense of satisfaction or failure (late 60s and older).

Diffusion

Without clear commitment to a particular identity and with little sense of who they are.

Foreclosure

A premature commitment to an identity with little exploration.

Moratorium

Teens more actively seek a meaningful identity.

Achievement

A committed sense of self, and a desire to accomplish something personally meaningful.

Emerging Adulthood

Occurs from age 18 to mid-twenties, no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults.

Social Clock

The culturally preferred timing of social events like marriage, parenthood, and retirement.