Erik Erikson: The Eight Stages of Development

Biography

Although not as famous as Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson was no less influential in the development of 20th century psychology. Like Freud, Erikson viewed human beings as developing through a series of 'stages,' but he broke with Freud in terms of his emphasis on social development, versus sexual development. Erikson was the first major theorist to question Freud's emphasis on the Oedipus Complex and the Electra Complex in respectively influencing a boy's or a girl's development, Erikson conceived of what he called eight 'psychosocial stages,' or conflicts based not solely upon the relationship between parent and child but upon the child and the larger community. The conflicts inherent to the stages were based upon social dynamics of which sexuality was but one factor.

The reason for this different orientation may lie in the fact that Erikson's background was also different from Freud's:...
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