23 intact while they experience a mild psychosocial crisis. If children do not develop
basic trust during infancy, they will feel a strong sense of shame and doubt, setting up a serious psychosocial crisis.
3. Play Age: Initiative versus Guilt
This stage happens in play age period at the ages of 3 to 5. Erikson as cited in Feist 2006 explains that in addition to identifying with their parents,
preschool-age children are developing locomotion, language skills, curiosity, imagination, and the ability to set goals. In this stage, children need to begin
asserting control and power over the environment. Children who are successful at this stage feel capable and able to lead others. Those who fail to acquire these
skills are left with a sense of guilt, self-doubt, and lack of initiative.
4. School Age: Industry versus Inferiority
This stage happens in school age at the ages of 5 to 11. Children in this stage need to cope with new social and academic demands. Success leads to a
sense of competence, while failure results in feelings of inferiority. Through social interactions, children begin to develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments
and abilities. Children who are encouraged and commended by parents and teachers develop a feeling of competence and belief in their skills. Those who
receive little or no encouragement from parents, teachers or peers will doubt their abilities to be successful.
24
5. Adolescence: Identity versus Identity confusion
This stage happens in adolescence period between the ages of 12 to 18. This period from puberty to young adulthood is one of the most crucial
developmental stages because by the end of this period, a person must gain a firm sense of ego identity. The search for ego identity reaches a climax during
adolescence as young people strive to find out who they are and who they are not. Teens tend to develop a sense of self and personal identity. Success leads to an
ability to stay true to them, while failure leads to role confusion and a weak sense of self.
Young people frequently reject the standards of their elders, preferring instead the values of a peer group or gang. In any event, the society in which they
live plays a substantial role in shaping their identity. Erikson as cited in Feist 2006 states that
“young people must experience some doubt and confusion about who they are before they can evolve a stable identity
” p. 256.
6. Young Adulthood: Intimacy versus Isolation
This stage happens in young adulthood at the ages of 19 to 30. Young adults should develop mature genitality, experience the conflict between intimacy
and isolation and acquire the basic strength of love. Success leads to strong relationship, while failure results in loneliness and isolation. Successful resolution
of this stage results in the ability to form lasting, meaningful relationships with other people.
25 Erikson as cited in Feist 2006 states that once young people know who
they are and where they are going, the stage is set for the sharing of their life with another. The young adult is now ready to form a new relationship of trust and
intimacy with another individual, a “partner in friendship, sex, competition and cooperation.” This relationship should enhance the identity of both partners
without stifling the growth of either.
7. Adulthood: Generativity versus Stagnation
