social and environmental influences on personality was to argue that
the traditional psychosexual stages that formed the backbone of Freud -
ian personality development were paralleled by psychosocial stages. In
addition to oral conflicts, the infant was faced with the resolution of theissue of basic trust versus mistrust, and each person’s resolution of thisconflict was heavily shaped by the cultural traditions that dictatedmethods of child rearing. Corresponding social issues were postulatedfor anal, phallic, latency , and genital stages.
Having made the transition from sexual to social stages, Erikson
found that he was free to extend the social stages beyond the limit ofsexual development. He hypothesized that the young adult needed notonly genital gratification but also psychological intimacy in order toform the lasting bonds needed for the establishment of family life. He orshe was required to resolve the crisis of intimacy or be left with a per -
vading sense of isolation. In the period of child rearing and adult ca-
reers, a new issue—generativity—became salient. Individuals who donot adopt an orientation that fosters growth in their children and com-munity succumb to a sense of stagnation and meaninglessness. Finally ,in old age the approach of death and the completion of life tasks leavethe individual with the realization that his or her life is over and thatthere will be no second chances. Poorly resolved, this crisis leads to bit-terness and despair; well resolved, it brings about a sense of ego integ-rity and an acceptance of both life and death.
Erikson’s model of development is epigenetic, which means in part
that the resolution of each crisis depends on the outcome of former res -
olutions. The best preparation for ego integrity is a life marked by inti -
macy and generativity (as well as desirable outcomes of the crises of
childhood). But Erikson also admits a considerable element of change -
ability: At each crisis there is a possibility of new success or failure. The
opportunity to redeem a misspent life at any age is one of the more in -
viting aspects of this theory .
Most of the empirical research on Erikson’s stages has been con -
fined to the period of adolescence and the transition to adulthood (e.g.,
Constantinople, 1969; Whitbourne & Waterman, 1979), but occasionalstudies have also been conducted on middle-aged and elderly people(McAdams & de St. Aubin, 1998). Erikson’s ideas have been morewidely adopted, sometimes in modified forms. Certainly the notion ofstages of adulthood has become widespread, and the conception thatorientation to life must change with point in the life course seems un -Facts and Theories of Adult Development 13