Erikson's Emotions In The Movie 'Inside Out'

Riley is 11 years old. According to Erikson’s psychosocial development stages, she is determining her industry vs. inferiority. Children in this stage typically learn independence, or in other words, how to do things on their own. Teachers begin to take an important role in the child’s life, since they teach the child specific skills. In the movie, Riley’s new teacher asks her to perform a task, more specifically, to stand up and talk about her life before she moved. Riley listens to her because she desires to please her teacher. In addition to becoming independent during this stage, a child’s friends will gain greater significance and will become a major source of the child’s self-esteem. During this stage, a child feels the need to attain approval from others and begin to develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments. If children are encouraged and reinforced for their personal motivation, they begin to feel industrious and confident in their ability to set and achieve goals. If this initiative is not encouraged and instead restricted, then the child will most likely feel inferior, doubting their own …show more content…
The sixth universal emotion is surprise, but this emotion is not portrayed in the movie. The happy emotion is represented by Joy, who has a consistently upbeat and optimistic attitude and works to keep Riley happy most of the time. The sad emotion is represented by Sadness, who is mostly dragged around by Joy and serves to make Riley feel sad. The disgust emotion is represented by Disgust, who protects Riley from unappealing foods and smells. The emotion of fear is represented by Fear, who keeps Riley safe from potentially catastrophic events from tripping on an electrical cord to her first day at a new school. Lastly, the emotion of anger is represented by Anger who is usually responsible for Riley’s rash decisions, such as running