Psychosocial theories

Psychosocial theories

Psychosocial theories were initiated to assess infant interaction and the perception of their socialization. The theory explains that childhood activities influence adulthood. There are several theories that explain psychosocial approaches. They are object relations theory, attachment theory, and Erikson`s theory on psychosocial development. These theories are significant in providing information on the precepts of human interaction. The main focus of these theories is regarding childhood experiences in improving adult life. The essay discusses Erikson`s psychosocial theory while providing critical contexts and concepts.

Historical Context

According to Cherry (2018), Erikson’s psychological theory is significant in how it explains the stages of human life cycle development. The approach provides an understanding of human life achievements and challenges that are contributing to life development. Erikson`s theory is ideal in understanding adult life and childhood development. The approach focusses mainly on psychological stages. Batra (2013) posits that Freudian theory had an influence on Erikson`s idea. The reason is that Erikson focused on ego theory while Freud inclined on psychology.

Erikson believed that in each phase of life, an individual would accomplish a critical level, which can either make one achieve amazing qualities or terrible attributes. Erikson contends that a person`s character experiences the development process. He discovered that at the adolescence stage, youngsters are continually confronting new provisions of the existing desires and need to investigate the aptitudes to adjust the latest changes throughout everyday life. This is where there the youngsters need the close and consistent encouragement from their parents or guardians to keep away from the deep sense of the little certainty, inefficiency, and lack of confidence in their capacity to learn. The phase is next to teenage, where they experience difficulties in describing it. Here the kids face the biggest in their life in that, if they fail to meet their objectives, they get frustrated. At the period of the 20s or more, they begin initiating intimate connections even though they to get confused. The earth gets broken because of the poor mate selection and the passionate impact. These individuals then get concerned about their societal contribution in life and make a meaningful contribution to society and leave behind a legacy. Later on, they are fulfilled; they did something significant in their lives in their youthful years.

Key Concepts

As mentioned above, Erikson focused ego theory. The theory centered on the role of society, culture, and conflicts transpire within the human ego. According to the method, the ego hatches and develops and differs socially in nature. These aspects revolve around self-identity in the community, assist the future generations to anticipate life teachings and the creation of trust among people.

Erikson`s theory extends the Freudian ideology by maintaining the componential feature of the ego and capturing the developmental aspects of personality through lifespan development (Dunkel and Harbke, 2017). Erikson proposed a humanistic development lifespan model that encompasses the five stages of adolescence and three stages towards adulthood. With this regard, Erikson outlines the room of growth between childhood and adulthood through anybody`s lifespan. Nonetheless, the primary emphasis is geared towards the adolescent stage since it is imperative in the creation and development of human identity.

Erikson contends that human personality exists in predetermined and pre-orchestrated dimensions and is affected by the stage scheduled after the previous step (Braine and Koper, 2018). Erikson refers to this as the epigenetic principle in that the result of maturation is extended and conjoins the life abilities of independent persons. Contrary to the Freudian focus on sexual development, Erikson focuses more on how children interact and the effect of socialization on oneself.

Strengths and Weakness of Erikson’s Theory

One advantage of this theory is that it helps individual to comprehend the human lifespan develops intellectually and maturely. Besides, people can categorize their life base stage based on their actual age. This means that essential life conflicts are faced in the life span stages of development. Lastly, the theory explains why people who had problems with psychosocial development in their childhood have trouble escalating in their adult life. These individuals are either shy or have confidence issues.

Despite the strengths, there are aspects by which the theory fails to connect. The approaches provided limited detail after college years, especially after graduation. The stage is regarded as a life transition since it ushers in intimacy and identity. The theory majorly focusses on childhood and adolescent stages with no focus on later life. Erikson also fails to acknowledge that genetic contributes to the personality of an individual. Cross-culturally the theory fails to connect. People are different when they interact across cultures.

Conclusion

The theory has a sense of validity through lifespan development. Most individuals can relate to the various stages of their progress on the different stages of the life cycle and lifespan development based on experiences. There is no future direction in the theory since an individual would be concerned about the characteristics they ought to posses at each stage. There is no universal mechanism to ascertain Erikson’s revolving crises. Erikson himself acknowledged his theory lacking a sense of development in describing human emotions and social interaction.