Aleksandra Bielska- IDENTITY CRISIS

by Aleksandra Bielska

based on Erik Erikson theory

IDENTITY crisis

Erikson says that everyone in their life is going through a psychosocial (identity) crisis in eight stages and depending on the outcome of the, can help a person in the future development or have a completely opposite effect. The stages involve a psychological needs of a person colliding with what is expected of them from the society (that’s why he cal ls it psychosocial). Each stage has two contrasting values, one good and one bad, and depending which way a person went, they can come out with basic strengths that will help with resolving new crises. Make-up represents how every part of the stage is shaping us as people and no matter if it’s good or bad, it build us and make us “whole”.

First stage is trust vs mistrust (0- 18 months old) if the infant is getting care that it needs from its caregivers, it will come out of the stage with hope. Trust is presented by blue, mistrust is orange and hope is yellow.

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Second stage that happens between 18 months old and 3 years old, autonomy vs shame/ doubt. If children are able to discover on their own and be indpendent instead of being controlled and criticized they will come out with the will to learn, discover and try new things. Shame is a red colour, autonomy is a light blue and will is dark blue.

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Third stage is guilt vs initiative, happens between 3 and 5 years old. If the child will be getting punished for initiating games or doing something they will learn that being initiative is bad and they will feel guilty, but if parents will keep encouraging children to be more initiative they will come out of the stage with purpose. Guilt has a red colour, initiative purple and purpose a light green.

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Fourth stage is industry vs inferiority, after successfully finishing the stage a kid aged 5 to 12 years old will come out with competence. If kids that age are being encouraged for their initiative they feel confident in their abilities and they will come out with competence but if they can’t develop some specific skill they might feel that the society is demanding and they might come out with a sense of inferiority. Competence has a turquoise colour, industry brown and the inferiority is dark green.

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Identity vs role confusion is the fifth stage and usually happens between 12 and 18 years old. While becoming adults kids are often struggling with what is expected from them and what they would like to do. In this stage a kid has to learn the roles that he or she will occupy as an adult, if they will adapt the changes and new roles they will come out with the virtue of fidelity. Fidelity has a light blue colour, identity purple and role confusion grey.

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Stage six is intimacy vs isolation, happens between 18 and 40 year old. If a person let’s himself/ herself have strong feelings for someone outside the family it will end with a strong relationship and come out with love out of the stage.

Failing the stage will cause loneliness and isolation. Love is red, intimacy purple and isolation light grey.

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Stage seven generativity vs stagnation, happens between age of 40 and 65, successful fulfil ling the need to leave something behind in the world will lead to the virtue of care, if the person failed in raising children or leaving some accomplishments after them, they will end up with shallow involvement in the world. Care has a pink colour, generativity is pale yellow and the stagnation is dark purple.

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Last eighth stage is after 65 years old and it is about despair vs ego integrity. In this stage people reflect on their life and if it was successful or unproductive, if they are happy with the life they led they will come out with a wisdom that will help them accept death without fear. If they fail in that stage it might lead even to a depression. Wisdom is a dark blue colour, despair is gray and ego integrity is a dark red.

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