Erikson's Stages Of My Identity Essay

My identity was formed through the experiences I went through growing up. According to Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development people go through many experiences that can attribute to their personal identity. Growing up there have been many emotional and psychological experiences that have shaped who I am. The first stage in Erikson’s psychosocial theory is trust versus mistrust. This stage takes place around the age of infancy to 1.5 years old. According to Saul McLeod from SimplyPsychology.com, this is the stage that infants are uncertain about the world and either trust or mistrust is formed. If mistrust is formed during infancy a child might grow up to have anxiety, insecurities, and mistrust for people (“Erik Erikson”, 2008). I cannot remember the days of infancy. Yet, I can conclude that I developed trust. I have a lot of trust in people and always give people the benefit of the doubt. Having trust as part of my identity really has shaped who I am today. The second stage is autonomy versus shame. During …show more content…
This is the stage of imagination and creativity. Children around the ages of 3 to 5, start to use their imagination when initiating games, planning activities, and playing with others. This is the time to let kids be kids. If a parent criticizes or controls the child to much a sense of guilt may arise in the child. They may feel as if they are being a nuisance and will lack the motivation to be creativity. Some guilt is good because a child can control their conscience (“Erik Erikson”, 2008). I look at myself as a leader. With being a leader one must have initiative and creativity. I succeeded at knowing the line between initiative and guilt. I remember planning magic shows with my friends to perform to our parents. The magic was less than mediocre but our parents never stopped us from doing them. With having parents who knew when to stop my behaviors and when to not, created strong leadership in