One of the best-known theories of social development is the Eight Psychosocial Crises described by Erik Erikson.[1] Erik Erikson (1902‐1994) believed we know what motivates us throughout life. We make conscious choices in life, focusing on meeting particular social and cultural needs rather than purely biological ones. For instance, humans are driven by the need to experience the world as a trustworthy place, feel we are capable individuals, believe we can contribute to society, and possess confidence in having lived a meaningful life. These are all psychosocial problems. Erikson divided the lifespan into 8 crises, usually called stages. Each stage or crisis consists of psychosocial tasks to accomplish. Erikson believed that an individual’s personality takes shape throughout his lifespan in the face of life’s challenges. According to Erikson, successful development involves positively dealing with and resolving the goals and demands of each crisis. If a person does not resolve a crisis successfully, it may hinder his ability to deal with later crises.
Crises of Infants and Preschoolers: Trust, Autonomy, and Initiative
From the day they are born, infants face a crisis (in Erikson's paradigm) about trust and mistrust. They are happiest if they can eat, sleep, and excrete according to their schedules, regardless of whether their schedules are convenient for their caregiver. Unfortunately, a young infant is in no position to control or influence a caregiver's scheduling needs, so the infant faces a dilemma about how much to trust or mistrust the caregiver's helpfulness. It is as if the infant asks "If I demand food (or sleep, or a clean diaper, etc.) now, will my caregiver be able to help me meet this need?" Hopefully, between the 2 of them, caregiver and child resolve this choice in favor of the infant's trust: the caregiver proves to be adequate in attentiveness, and the infant risks trusting the caregiver's motivation and skill.[1]
Caregivers who are consistently and appropriately responsive and sensitive to their infant's needs help the infant develop a sense of trust; the infant will see the world as a safe, predictable place. Unresponsive or inconsistent caregivers who do not meet their infant's needs can elicit feelings of anxiety, fear, and mistrust; the infant may see the world as unpredictable and unsafe. If infants are treated cruelly, or their needs are not met appropriately, they will likely grow up with a sense of mistrust for people in the world.[2]
As soon as the first crisis resolves, a new one develops over autonomy and shame. The child (now a toddler) may trust their caregiver, but their trust contributes to the desire to assert autonomy by taking care of basic personal needs, such as feeding, toileting, or dressing. At this stage of development, you will often hear toddlers say things like “me-do-it” as they exert their autonomy. Given the child's lack of experience in these activities, self-care is risky at first: the toddler may feed (or use the toilet, dress themselves, etc.) clumsily and ineffectively. The child's caregiver risks overprotecting the child by criticizing their early efforts unnecessarily, causing the child to feel shame for even trying.[1] Erikson believed that toddlers should be allowed to explore their environment as freely as safety permits, fostering their understanding of independence that later grows self-esteem, initiative, and overall confidence. If denied the opportunity to act on their environment (within developmentally appropriate measures), toddlers may begin to doubt their abilities, leading to low self-esteem and feelings of shame (Berger, 2005). Hopefully, the new crisis resolves in favor of autonomy through the combined efforts of the child to assert independence and of the caregiver to support the child.
About the time a child is of preschool age (3-5 years old) the autonomy exercised during the previous period becomes more elaborate, extended, and focused on objects and people other than the child. The child at an early education center, for example, may now undertake to build the "biggest city in the world" out of all available unit blocks, even if other children want some of the blocks for themselves. The child's projects and desires create a new crisis of initiative and guilt because the child soon realizes that acting on impulses or desires can sometimes negatively affect others: more blocks for one child may mean fewer for someone else. As with the crisis over autonomy, caregivers must support the child's initiatives whenever possible without making the child feel guilty for desiring to have or do something that affects others' welfare. By limiting behavior where necessary—but not limiting internal feelings—caregivers demonstrate support of this newfound ability to take the initiative. Expressed in Erikson's terms, the crisis resolves in favor of initiative.[1]