Socioemotional Development

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Educational Psychology
Name and describe Erikson's theory of
psychosocial development. Note behaviors
associated with each stage and the implications
of the theory for classroom practice. Evaluate
the theory and compare/contrast it with Bingham
Strykers theory of socioemotional development
for girls.
Developed by W. Huitt, 1999
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Eriksons Theory
Erik Erikson was a follower of Sigmund Freud who
broke with his teacher over the fundamental point
of what motivates or drives human behavior.
For Freud it was biology or more specifically the
biological instincts of life and aggression.
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Eriksons Theory
For Erikson, who was not trained in biology
and/or the medical sciences (unlike Freud and
many of his contemporaries), the most important
force driving human behavior and the development
of personality was social interaction.
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Eriksons Theory
Erikson left his native Germany in the 1930's and
immigrated to America where he studied Native
American traditions of human development and
continued his work as a psychoanalyst.
His developmental theory of the "Eight Stages of
Man" was unique in that it covered the entire
lifespan rather than childhood and adolescent
development.
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Eriksons Theory
Eriksons view was that the social environment
combined with biological maturation provides each
individual with a set of crises that must be
resolved.
The individual is provided with a "sensitive
period" in which to successfully resolve each
crisis before a new crisis is presented.
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Eriksons Theory
The results of the resolution, whether successful
or not, are carried forward to the next crisis
and provide the foundation for its resolution.
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Eriksons Eight Stages
Child develops a belief that the environment can
be counted on to meet his or her basic
physiological and social needs.
Trust vs. Mistrust
Infancy
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Eriksons Eight Stages
Child learns what he/she can control and develops
a sense of free will and corresponding sense of
regret and sorrow for inappropriate use of
self-control.
Autonomy vs. Shame Doubt
Toddlerhood
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Eriksons Eight Stages
Child learns to begin action, to explore, to
imagine as well as feeling remorse for actions.
Initiative vs. Guilt
Early Childhood
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Eriksons Eight Stages
Child learns to do things well or correctly in
comparison to a standard or to others
Industry vs. Inferiority
Middle Childhood
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Eriksons Eight Stages

• Develops a sense of self in relationship to
  others and to own internal thoughts and desires
• social identity
• personal identity

Identity vs. Role Confusion
Adolescence
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Eriksons Eight Stages
Develops ability to give and receive love begins
to make long-term commitment to relationships
Intimacy vs. Isolation
Young Adulthood
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Eriksons Eight Stages
Develops interest in guiding the development of
the next generation
Generativity vs. Stagnation
Middle Adulthood
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Eriksons Eight Stages
Develops a sense of acceptance of life as it was
lived and the importance of the people and
relationships that individual developed over the
lifespan
Ego-integrity vs. Despair
Later Adulthood
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Bingham Strykers Theory
A major criticism of Eriksons theory is that it
is based primarily on work done with boys and men.
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Bingham Strykers Theory
Bingham and Stiker propose five stages of
socioemotional development for girls and women
that parallels those proposed by Erikson, but
places different emphases at important sensitive
time periods.
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Bingham Strykers Theory
Feel in control of own life, committed to
specific activities, look forward to challenge
and opportunity for growth
Developing the Hardy Personality
Through age 8
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Bingham Strykers Theory
Develop steady, durable core of self as person
who is capable of accomplishment in a variety of
areas (e.g., intellectual, physical, social,
potential career)
Form Identity as an Achiever
Age 9-12
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Bingham Strykers Theory
Feeling of being worthy, deserving, entitled to
assert needs and wants confidence in ability to
cope with life
Skill Building for Self-Esteem
Age 13-16
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Bingham Strykers Theory
Sense of responsibility for taking care of
herself and, perhaps, a family based on a sense
of autonomy
Strategies for Self-Sufficiency
(Emotional-Financial)
Age 17-22
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Bingham Strykers Theory
Contentedness in personal accomplishments and
social/personal relationships
Satisfaction in Work and Love
Adulthood
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A Hardy Personality
Suzanne Kobasa Ouellette, a professor at the City
University of New York suggests that a hardy
personality is based on three C's

• control,

• commitment, and

• challenge.

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A Hardy Personality
Ouellette proposes that these can be developed
through the acquisition of eight specific skills

• Recognize and tolerate anxiety and act anyway

• Separate fantasy from reality and tackle reality

• Set goals and establish priorities

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A Hardy Personality
Ouellette proposes that these can be developed
through the acquisition of eight specific skills

• Project into the future and understand how
  today's choices affect the future

• Discriminate and make choices consistent with
  goals and values

• Set boundaries and limits

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A Hardy Personality
Ouellette proposes that these can be developed
through the acquisition of eight specific skills

• Ask assertively for wants and desires

• Trust self and own perceptions.

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Theories Compared
The competencies for developing a hardy
personality seem to be very similar to the to
the outcomes of a satisfactory resolution of
the first three crises proposed by Erikson

• Trust vs. Mistrust

• Autonomy vs. Shame Doubt

• Initiative vs. Guilt

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Theories Compared
What may be different is that these are not the
traditional desired outcomes of infancy and early
childhood for girls.
Rather there may be a tendency to socialize girls
to be more acquiescent and dependent, which is to
their detriment in terms of further development.
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Theories Compared
Eriksons stage of Industry vs. Inferiority
seems to be essentially equivalent to Bingham and
Strykers Form Identity as an Achiever.
For boys, there may be more of an opportunity to
address the issue of any deficiencies in a sense
of accomplishment within the stage of identity
formation.
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Theories Compared
However, it is likely that if girls have not
successfully developed a sense of accomplishment
during middle and late childhood, it may be a
decade or more before there is an opportunity to
again tackle this issue.
This is because as girls attend to the issue of
identity, their natural attention to
relationships produces a different pathway for
identity development .
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Self-Esteem
Another issue is the drop in self-esteem that
occurs naturally as a part of adolescence in
modern society.
The importance of self-esteem for girls in the
adolescent years cannot be overemphasized.
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Self-Esteem
A study by the American Association of University
Women (AAUW, 1991) showed that girls had a
precipitous drop in self-esteem between
elementary and high school.
While boys also showed a decline it was not
nearly as dramatic.
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Self-Esteem
Percentage Responding Positively to the statement
"I am happy the way I am" High
Elementary
School Decrease Boys 67 46
19 White Girls 60 29
31 African-American Girls 65 58
7 Hispanic Girls 68 30 38
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Theories Compared
A major difference between the Erikson and
Bingham-Stryker models occurs in the stages of
adulthood.

• In Erikson's model the crisis of young adulthood
  is intimacy versus isolation.

• In the Bingham-Stryker model the crisis is
  emotional and financial self-sufficiency.

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Theories Compared
The difference may lie in gender expectations.
Men are expected to become self-sufficient the
male crisis is one of establishing intimacy.
Women are expected to establish relationships
the female crisis is autonomy in terms of taking
care of themselves emotionally and financially.
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Theories Compared
Similar differences exist in middle and older
adulthood.

• Erikson considers two separate crises
  Generativity and Ego Integrity.

• Bingham and Stryker hypothesize one crisis for
  adult women Satisfaction in Work and Love

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The End