Invitation to Psychology

ChapTer 3 Development Over the Life Span 105

who you are and have an intimate relationship,

will you sink into complacency and selfishness,

or will you experience generativity—creativity

and renewal? Parenthood is the most common

route to generativity, but people can be pro-

ductive, creative, and nurturing in other ways,

in their work or their relationships with the

younger generation.

• Ego integrity versus despair is the final chal-

lenge of old age. As they age, people strive to
reach the ultimate goals of wisdom, spiritual
tranquility, and acceptance of their lives. Just as
the healthy child will not fear life, said Erikson,
the healthy adult will not fear death.
Erikson recognized that cultural and eco-
nomic factors affect people’s progression through
these stages. Some societies make the passages
relatively easy. If you know you are going to be a
farmer like your parents and you have no alterna-
tive, you are unlikely to have an adolescent iden-
tity crisis (unless you hate farming). If you have
many choices, however, as adolescents in urban
societies often do, the transition can become
prolonged (Schwartz, 2004). Similarly, cultures
that place a high premium on independence and

individualism will make it difficult for many of

their members to resolve Erikson’s sixth crisis,

that of intimacy versus isolation.

explore the concept Stage Theory: Erikson

at MyPsychLab

Since Erikson’s time, people’s lives have be-

come less traditional and predictable, and these

psychological issues now often occur in different

order or return after having been resolved. Today,

for instance, an identity crisis is hardly limited to

the teen years. A man who has worked in one job

for 20 years, and then is laid off at 45 and must find

an entirely new career, may have an identity crisis

too. Likewise, competence is not mastered once

and for all in childhood. People learn new skills

and lose old ones throughout their lives, and their

sense of competence rises and falls accordingly.

And people who are highly generative, in terms of

being committed to helping their communities or

the next generation, tend to do volunteer work or

choose occupations that allow them to contribute

to society throughout their lives (McAdams, 2006).

Erikson’s stage theory, therefore, does not ad-

equately describe how adults grow and change, or

remain the same, across the life span. Yet Erikson

was right to show that development does not stop

What is your reaction to these two first-time parents? Adriana Iliescu gave birth at age 66; the young man became a
father at 15. Many people react negatively to individuals who they feel are “off time” for the transition to parenthood.
How young is too young and how old is too old to become a parent?