mistrust. From what my parents tell me I got along well with pretty much everyone and I warmed up relatively quickly to new friendly faces. Both of my parents played an equal role in raising me, nurturing me, and making me feel safe. During this stage my parents put a lot of importance on earning my trust, showing me love, and affection. The second stage is autonomy vs. shame and doubt. My dad tells me that around the time that I started being potty trained that I started to want more independence. I began to start wanting to walk and wander around the house more and more. The third stage is initiative vs. guilt. My mom tells me that I loved going to preschool and that I would always come home telling them about what all I had learned about. At the age of four my dad let me start playing t-ball and he tells me that he loved watching me play and that I was a natural born athlete. The fourth stage is industry vs. inferiority. In this stage my parents tell me that I still loved school and playing softball. My dad had started coaching me and he encouraged me to always play for fun and not worry about winning or losing. The fifth stage is identity vs. identity confusion. At the beginning of this stage my parents let me start playing basketball and then later volleyball. Both of my parents tell me that sports were probably the best thing for me. They would say that between school and practices I wouldn’t have any time …show more content…
Erikson’s stages go all the way through life, rather than just childhood. With each stage comes new challenges that help each individual develop and learn from their experiences. Erikson focuses on finding one’s self and building relationships with others. “Instead of focusing on cognitive development, however, he was interested in how children socialize and how this affects their sense of self. According to the theory, successful completion of each stage results in a healthy personality and successful interactions with others (Chapter 3).” Comparing my life to Erikson’s theory has made me realize some of the challenges that I faced growing up are normal and are important developmental stages that I needed to go through to find myself. Researching Erikson’s theory has taught me a lot about human development and also about myself. I’ve learned that each stage of development is equally important because each stage fits together like a puzzle. Without all the pieces the puzzle wouldn’t be