Erikson's Psychosocial Stages and Theories of Moral Development
Barry Garrison and the Neo-Freudian Perspective
Introduction to Barry Garrison and Erik Erikson:
The lecture begins with an introduction to Barry Garrison, a prominent developmental psychologist often covered in lifespan development courses.
Erik Erikson is identified as a neo-Freudian psychologist.
He was trained by Anna Freud, who was Sigmund Freud's only child and a psychologist herself.
Erikson’s Relationship with Freudian Theory:
Erikson remained generally loyal to Freud’s core ideas but is famous for modifying the stages of development.
He transitioned from Freud's psychosexual focus to a focus on psychosocial development, emphasizing personality and social skills.
He disagreed with the Freudian notion that personality development concludes at the age of . Erikson posited that development continues across the entire lifespan.
He modified Freud’s first stages and appended additional stages, resulting in a total of stages of development.
Academic and Professional Contributions:
Despite not holding a formal academic degree, Anna Garrickson (Erikson) became renowned for this theory.
He taught at Harvard and Yale, where he established the first university courses on lifespan development.
Today, almost every university psychology department offers a course in lifespan development due to his influence.
The Power of the Ego and Self-Concept:
Erikson disagreed with Freud’s analogy of the ego and the id.
Freud compared the ego (the rider) and the id (the horse), suggesting the horse (id) ultimately possesses more power, though a strong rider might reign it in.
Erikson argued the ego has its own inherent power because it represents consciousness and houses the concept of the self.
Self-concept refers to how an individual perceives themselves across various dimensions:
Physicality: How one sees their own body.
Traits: Perceived strengths and weaknesses.
Social Relations: How one sees themselves in relation to others.
Social Roles: Identifications based on occupation or specific relationships.
Self-Evaluation: Whether one has a positive or negative view of themselves.
Impact of a positive self-concept:
Increased confidence and independence.
Greater academic success.
Openness to new experiences.
The Timeline of Early Self-Development
Contemporary Research Milestones:
At months: Babies begin to recognize themselves in a mirror.
At years: Children begin to recognize themselves in photographs.
Post- years: Children start interacting with others and using labels such as "boy" or "girl." This development occurs through play and time spent with peers, a concept connected to Vagroski.
At years: Children begin to cooperate, share, and initiate tasks or make suggestions (e.g., suggesting specific games).
At years: Children can identify themselves in terms of group membership.
Erik Erikson's Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development
Framework of the Stages:
Each stage is characterized by a central conflict.
The resolution of this conflict directly impacts the self-concept.
A positive resolution adds a favorable feature to the self-concept, while a negative resolution results in a negative attribute.
Stage 1: Trust vs. Mistrust (First year of life):
Parallel to Freud’s oral stage where pleasure centers on the mouth.
The primary goal is establishing whether the world and people can be trusted.
Positive Resolution: If parents are safety-oriented, dependable, and reliable (e.g., a mother feeding a child when hungry), the child develops a sense of trust and the belief that people are good.
Negative Resolution: Unreliable or unsafe parenting leads to mistrust and the belief that others cannot be trusted.
The Role of Balance: Experience with both sides is necessary. Too much trust leads to being naive and gullible; too much mistrust leads to pessimism, withdrawal, and social isolation. The goal is for the resolution to fall on the favorable side, resulting in the virtue of hope.
Stage 2: Autonomy vs. Shame (Early Childhood):
Parallel to Freud's anal stage, focusing on toilet training.
Positive Resolution: If children are encouraged and made to feel good about their success in toilet training, they develop autonomy.
Negative Resolution: If parents are harsh or make children feel bad about mistakes, children internalize a sense of shame.
Extreme outcomes on either side of the conflict lead to personality problems, which Erikson suggested explains what Freud termed "fixations."
Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt (Preschool Age):
Parallel to Freud’s phallic stage, but moves away from the focus on attraction to the opposite-sex parent.
Children begin taking initiative by making suggestions about activities, food, clothes, or games.
Success: Rewarding these contributions builds a sense of initiative.
Failure: Making the child feel bad for their suggestions results in guilt.
Stage 4: Industry vs. Inferiority (School Age):
Parallel to Freud's latency stage.
This period involves challenging schoolwork where children are sorted by abilities.
Industry: A sense of motivation to be hardworking, which can come from academics, sports, or other talents.
Inferiority: Sentiment derived from not being the best at tasks.
Self-Esteem: This is the critical period for the development of self-esteem (general positive/negative evaluation of oneself).
Value of Inferiority: A small amount of inferiority is beneficial for maintaining humility and preventing narcissism; however, the person should ideally lean toward industry.
Stage 5: Role Identity vs. Role Confusion (Adolescence):
Parallel to Freud’s genital stage.
The teenager attempts to distinguish themselves as an individual separate from their family.
Existential Question: "Who am I?"
Adolescents explore their own religious views, political opinions, and values, rather than just adopting what their parents say.
This may involve wearing different social masks or "personas" (as discussed by Jung) and moving between different peer groups.
Lifespan Development: The Adult Stages
General Rules for Later Stages:
As people age, specific ages become less meaningful for these stages; they are generalizations.
The conflict matters more than the age for exam purposes.
The older one gets, the more freedom they have over how these stages are resolved. In infancy, resolution is determined by parents; in adulthood, the individual has more control.
Stage 6: Intimacy vs. Isolation (Young Adulthood):
The individual seeks connections and a significant other/romantic partner outside the family home.
Positive Resolution: Achieving intimacy where partners feel safe, trust each other, and are free to be themselves.
Negative Resolution: Experiences of exclusion or failure that lead to isolation. While some isolation can be healthy, the goal is a favorable tilt toward intimacy.
Stage 7: Generativity vs. Stagnation (Middle Adulthood):
Stagnation: Continuing to be focused solely on one's own needs.
Generativity: Focusing on the needs of the next generation or children. This often involves self-sacrifice and wanting to leave the world better than one found it.
Ways to achieve generativity: Having children, charity work, or working in children's homes.
Stage 8: Integrity vs. Despair (Late Adulthood):
Existential Question: "Am I happy with the life I lived?"
Positive Resolution: Achieving ego integrity and wisdom, feeling content with who they have become even if some regrets exist.
Negative Resolution: Overwhelming regret and feelings of "I should have done this," leading to bitterness, disdain for life, and utter despair.
Interdependence of Stages:
Each stage is independent, meaning one can go badly while another goes well.
However, a bad resolution in a previous stage puts the individual at a disadvantage, making it harder for future stages to resolve successfully.
Jean Piaget and Moral Development
Origins of Piaget’s Ideas:
Piaget observed children playing and following/explaining rules.
He identified a progression: understanding rules explaining rules negotiating rules creating rules.
He interviewed children about street games, rule enforcement, and consequences for rule-breaking.
The Ink Well Moral Dilemma:
Scenario 1: A boy spills ink while trying to help his father, creating a large stain.
Scenario 2: A boy spills a small drop of ink while playing with the ink well after being forbidden to do so.
Findings: Younger children identified the first boy as "worse" because they focused on the consequences (the large stain). Older children identified the second boy as "worse" because they focused on the intention (disobedience).
Piaget linked this to cognitive development; younger children lack the cognitive advancement to fully weigh intentions.
Piaget’s Three Stages of Moral Development
1. Amoral Stage ( to Years):
Children do not have a sense of right or wrong. They are self-centered and egocentric.
Aligned with Freud's idea that infants operate on the "pleasure principle" ruled by the id. The superego (conscience) does not develop until age .
2. Moral Realist Stage (Pre-operational Stage):
Children understand and respect authority/rules but apply them rigidly.
Rules are followed to the letter; children get angry if rules are broken.
Moral judgments are based strictly on consequences, not intentions.
3. Moral Relativist Stage (Concrete Operational Stage):
Children apply rules more flexibly and understand exceptions or nuances.
Moral judgments shift to being based on intention rather than consequences.
Evaluations and Criticisms of Piaget’s Theory
Methodological Criticism (Ordering Bias):
Piaget always presented the scenarios in the same order (good intention/big mess first). Critics argued the results might be due to memory; younger children might only remember the most recent scenario.
Marina Wimmer’s Research: She addressed this by using pictures (e.g., painting a fence) so children didn't rely on memory. Her findings were consistent with Piaget: young children focused on consequences, older children on intention.
Other Considerations:
The transition from moral realism to subjectivism seems less consistent than logical or abstract reasoning developments.
There is significant cultural variation in this developmental change.
Research shows even young children can consider intentions if the intention is made highly salient (underlined or underscored) in the story.
Lawrence Kohlberg and the Heinz Dilemma
Introduction to Kohlberg:
Inspired by Piaget, he expanded the theory by presenting moral dilemmas to boys aged to .
He was interested in moral reasoning (how they justified their answers) rather than the answers themselves.
The Heinz Scenario:
Heinz’s wife is dying of cancer. A druggist has a drug that can save her but charges times what it cost to make. Heinz can't afford it, tries to reason with the druggist, and even offers to pay over time. The druggist refuses. Heinz eventually steals the drug.
Kohlberg’s Levels and Stages:
Level 1: Preconventional (Self-Interest):
Stage 1: Driven by avoiding punishment ("The police would catch him").
Stage 2: Motivated by rewards ("He should steal it so he can save his wife").
Level 2: Conventional (Social Order):
Stage 3: Seeking social approval/fitting into group beliefs.
Stage 4: Respect for authority and maintaining social structure ("People should obey the law because the teacher/police said so").
Level 3: Post-conventional (Flexible/Universal Ethics):
Stage 5: Understanding the social contract and the balance between individual rights and collective good. Laws may be seen as corrupt or flexible under certain circumstances.
Stage 6: Universal ethics. Acting on a set of internal moral principles (e.g., "always save a life") without exception. Kohlberg believed very few people reach this stage; it requires higher intelligence.
Questions & Discussion
Class Consensus on Heinz:
The class generally agreed Heinz was justified due to the urgency and the drug being needed immediately.
Video Analysis Participants:
The first boy ( years old): Placed in Stage 1 because he focused on the police catching Heinz (avoiding punishment).
The second boy ( years old): Initially suggested Stage 2/3 but was ambiguous. He mentioned the law could be corrupt, suggesting Stage 5 potential, but demonstrated hesitancy and looked for social approval (Stage 3).
The third boy ( years old): Placed in Stage 5. He understood that life is more valuable than money and that there is a point where the law is wrong.
Pro-social and Social Rule Research:
Stealing Sweets: Young children say the thief feels "good" because she got sweets (self-interest). Older children say "bad" because of guilt (rule-breaking).
Fallen Child Scenario: and year olds would walk past a fallen child to get to a birthday party; year olds would stop to help.
Moral vs. Social Rules Study: Children as young as or recognize that moral infractions (violence) are wrong even if no rules exist and no adults are watching. They do not feel the same about social rules (clothing choices), suggesting an innate sense of empathy.
Theory of Mind / Infant Study:
Study Design: -month-old infants watched a red circle try to climb a hill. A blue square helped it; a yellow triangle pushed it down.
Findings: Almost of babies preferred the helper character (blue square) when given a choice. This suggests babies are born evaluating social individuals and have an innate attraction to pro-social behavior and an aversion to anti-social behavior.