Adult Development Essay

Currently, I am an outspoken person who has no problem going for whatever they want in life. On most days I am passionate about everything I do, and I believe in self-care and rewarding myself whenever I need to deserve it. Looking at Erickson’s stages of development I see how his theory may be used to explain how I turned out. The first stage, trust versus mistrust, is all about how a child needs to trust their caregivers. How the bond grows and if the trust is not formed how the child will grow to be mistrustful in future. They told me of one instance where I went to church in my uniform because I had refused to wear anything else to church.

Apparently, they encouraged me through all this and as a result I turned out to be independent, and I believe in myself to this day. The third stage, initiative versus guilt, refers to when the child feels the need to make their own decisions and do things by themselves. Unlike the previous stage in this one, the child feels the need to influence those around him or her and how the people receive the child’s attempts is crucial in how the child turns out. According to my parents, I was quite the authoritative child. I remember at one point we were expected to do a history project on politics. After a few difficulties, I decided to work on a concept that wasn’t creative at all, as others were trying to re-enact certain historical facts I simply did an analysis of the civil war and how it affected the people.

The teacher agreed that the work wasn’t innovative as she had expected but was glad that I knew my limits and that I had produced the best thing I could (Senko and Alexandra 477-488). Though I did not have feelings of inferiority, I believe that according to Erickson the way I turned out as a person who follows the rules is also reflective of his theory. I can easily work under supervision and am able to produce quality work while am at it. I no longer feel alone and isolated since I have my friends. I realized that romantic partners might come and go, but once you got real friends, you could never really be alone. As a young person in this century, I see how the aspect of being alone without friends and a partner can cause one to feel isolated.

This may affect a person’s outlook on just about anything, and it may even lead to depression in most cases. The next two stages are aspects of my life that I haven’t yet reached according to Erickson’s rough estimation of age ranges. My personality in general therefore is, was and will continually be influenced by the fact that the environment and the society have the power to impact me. How the people treat me and how I interpret their actions goes a long way in determining how I turn out in the end. Works Cited Blustein, David L. "THE PSYCHOLOGY OF WORKING: A New Perspective for Career Development. " Career Planning & Adult Development Journal 33. "Are mastery-avoidance achievement goals always detrimental? An adult development perspective.