Life in the Light of Eriksons Theory of Psychosocial Development - Personal Statement Example

My life in the light of Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development Erik Erikson is a Freudian theorist whose theory of psychosocial development is very popular. Erikson’s theory of development is based on the principle that every person experiences a set of eight stages of development in their life. Development happens according to a predetermined pattern that is determined by genes and nature. Every person experiences a set of developmental tasks in each stage of development. These developmental tasks are termed as crises. There are goals associated with each developmental tasks. If a person manages to achieve that goal in a stage of development, it is termed as success. Failure to achieve the task is termed as failure. Too much positive outcome in a stage of development is termed as maladaptive tendency whereas too much negative outcome in a stage of development is called as malignancy. The maladaptive tendency has its cons as it deprives the individual of any negative sense which in turn makes him/her susceptible to unfavorable results even if his/her approach was extremely positive. On the other hand, malignancy is worse as it deprives the individual of the ability to make the positive approach toward resolving problems. In the ideal case, an individual achieves a right balance between maladaptive tendency and malignancy. An individual who manages to draw that right balance achieves virtue which varies depending upon the stage of development. It is important to note that Erikson’s theory of development projects the effect of success or failure in one stage in all of the stages of development that are to follow throughout the life. In the third stage of development, the outcome of development is either initiative or guilt. A child who is trusted by the parents, friends, and other caregivers takes initiatives and proceeds with his/her plans and intentions safely. On the other hand, a child whose elders and friends treat discourage him/her from taking initiatives develops a sense of guilt and doubt in his/her abilities. In my childhood, I was very spoiled. One reason for this might be that as the youngest child in my family, my parents pampered me too much. I think that I have received more love from my parents than my elder sisters and brothers have. I liked studies and school. I had many friends there. I remember that my parents always encouraged me to participate in the extracurricular activities. In spite of the fact that both of them were working parents, they would try their best to take out time from their extremely busy schedules to attend the functions at school to see me. When I did well in debates and performances, they rewarded me with pets and chocolates. Even if sometimes things did not go very well, they would still support me and teach me how to do better next time. I never felt like I was held back by any of my parents. This inculcated a desire to take initiatives in me. My parents also taught me to take responsibilities for my actions and not run away from the situations if I felt nervous. This consciousness did inculcate some guilt in me also, but overall the initiative always overpowered the guilt. Stage four was one of the most critical stages of development in my life. In fact, today when I reflect on my childhood experiences, most of the memories I can draw out belong in this stage. This was the stage where my parents emphasized on two things primarily; one was studies and other was play. I am blessed to have such parents that placed equal value in both studies and play unlike most parents, who are biased toward one of the two. My parents suggested a schedule for me in which I had enough time to play as well as study. When I was 7 years old, I was not very comfortable about going to school probably because I had changed my school and we had shifted to a new city. I was detached from my old school and friends and I missed them. However, it did not take me very long to make new friends and adjust to the new environment. I wanted success since my childhood in everything. However, initially I was not quite at terms with the process it takes to achieve success. For example, while achieving good grades was my desire, I sometimes found it taxing to do homework. My parents guided me in the studies and taught me that success does not come without investment of time and energy. They taught me that I should be just as happy about trying to achieve success as I get when I achieve success, as life is all about trying and remaining hopeful. Some of my hobbies during this stage of development were hanging out with the friends and playing games with them. I liked to play fair games with rules. I believe that I developed a good capacity for industry without developing any inferiority complex. Stage five was the most critical stage of my development in the sense that it contained a very defining moment of my life, which was the death of my father. I shared a very close bond with my father and his death meant a great loss for me emotionally. His death was also very significant because it awakened me spiritually. I started to think more about life, its purpose, and death. To find answers to my questions, I started studying religion in depth. Reading the Book helped me recompose myself emotionally. I also realized that in order to spend life in a good way, I need to establish a set of moral and ethical principles wherein I love and respect people regardless of how they treat me. I was never conscious of ego identity. I always and knew and fully understood what expectations society had from my gender, race, ethnic origin, and religion. For the most part, I also approved of those standards because men and women need to perform their individualistic roles and responsibilities in order to strike a balance. In my teenage, I had lived in the new city for quite some years. People knew me well and I had started to understand them as well. I came to terms with the norms and vales and culture of the new city and neighborhood. My religious teachings helped me develop my ego identity a lot. Irrespective of which situation I was in or what challenge I confronted, I knew what ethical and moral principles I had to abide by. This made the significance of caste, color, creed, and such other factors even less as the religious teachings apply generally to all and in all sorts of situations. However, it was not all that easy in the start. I come from a religious and conservative family. My family has the perception that love and intimacy can only be between members of the opposite sex and only becomes legit after marriage. On the other hand, I was all the time surrounded by students from different backgrounds in the school that had started to explore relationships and indulge in them. They did not take religion seriously and accordingly, did not feel that they were obliged to abide by the religious teachings on love and relationships. It was hard for me to keep associated with my original culture and yet be a part of that community that associated breaking norms with being modern and cool. This kept me confused and I did not have a very good time when I was 16 or 17 years old. As I progressed toward the end of my teenage, I became more mature and things started to make sense. I realized that just as I am free in making my own decisions and choosing my own course of life, so is everybody else. I have to stick to my own set of principles that would serve as guiding light for me for the rest of my life. My undergraduate studies commenced in the sixth stage of development. Understandably, this was a very critical stage of my academic career as the profession I chose and the grades I received would impact my whole future. For the first two years of my undergraduate study, I remained completely focused on my studies. I became less social in order to dedicate more time to studies than other activities. For the most part, the only interaction I would have with others would be when I needed to conduct group studies or exchange notes and lectures with my class-mates. With respect to hanging out with friends, I was socially excluded in a way. This did help in my studies and I maintained a very good GPA. After the initial two years of my undergraduate studies had expired, I had caught hold of my studies enough to extend my social activities beyond studies. I also realized that while studies were important, I was in the golden period of my life and the moments I could enjoy being with my friends then would never be available to me ever again. While on one hand, I felt more responsible to maintain a high academic profile; on the other hand, I was dealing with the need to strike the right balance between intimacy and isolation. I had reached a stage in my life where people expected me to be in a relationship at least, if not in marriage. I, on the other hand, was looking for the right person to develop the relationship with. I must say that the maladaptive tendency of trust that I had developed in the stage of infancy has caused me some harm in this regard. Throughout my childhood and teenage, I have trusted my friends blindly and not many of them have managed to maintain my trust in them. This was one reason why I was very choosy in making someone my fiancée. I loved a girl and trusted her. While she insisted on getting married immediately, I decided to be engaged to her. This decision primarily came from my consciousness to ensure that she was the right girl for me before I decided to be with her for the rest of my life. During this stage, many incidents happening around me have raised my level of consciousness with respect to love, intimacy, and relationships. Two of my high-school girlfriends have jeopardized their careers as a result of getting freely intimate with anyone. Teenage motherhood not only cost them their academic careers but proved emotionally exhausting and very demanding physically as well as financially. A male friend of mine is facing legal prosecution as a result of being charged with sexual assault on a girl whom he had relationship with for five years since high school. All these incidents made me even more cautious in developing relationships. So by getting prudent in developing relationships, getting engaged before getting married, I have drawn a balance between promiscuity and exclusion. Presently, I am in the stage seven with respect to Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development. Ever since the completion of my studies, I have been in the race of searching a good job. I have also been struck by a deep desire to collect money like everybody else. Today, I am not mature enough to realize what I am doing all this for. However, with the level of consciousness and maturity I have, I can conclude that I am in this race not primarily for myself. If it had all been just about me, I already have enough money to support myself for many years. I am in this race primarily for my children. As of now, I do not have any children as I am not married yet, though the race has already started. I can foresee how much I would love my children when I have them as I am already taking measures to be able to provide them with a good future when they come. My fiancée and I both work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. We are so engaged in our work routines that we often do not find time to spend with each other much. However, as a loving and caring friend, I often prepare meals for her and help her in the work whenever I find time. I can understand that things would be even tougher for her after marriage as she would assume greater responsibility for domestic works than me and yet would have to maintain her professional career. Reflecting on the kind of person I am today, I believe that I have become much more selfless ever since our engagement. We have recently shifted to another city because my fiancée has found job there. It was not easy for me to leave the whole setup behind and take a new beginning in the new city, but I did all this for her. Luckily, I also managed to find a job there in little time. I am also planning about going abroad for higher studies and am looking for some scholarship for that. It is a matter of chance to secure a scholarship as there are more applicants than opportunities. I want to study further in order to be able to secure an even better job so that I am able to provide for my family even more. Today, I have become a much more selfless and responsible person than I have ever been in the past. Taking all this into consideration, I think that I have developed the maladaptive tendency of generativity and have almost no tendency for rejectivity. Read More