COMPARING AND CONTRASTING ERIK ERIKSON’S STAGEES OF PSYCHO-SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND JAMES MARCIA’S IDENTITY STATUS
INTRODUCTION E rik Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development emphasizes the sociocultural determinants of development and presents them as eight stages of psychosocial conflicts (often known as Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development) that all individuals must overcome or resolve successfully in order to adjust well to the environment. According to Erik Erikson’s theory, we all encounter a certain crisis that contributes to our psychosocial growth at each of Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development. Whenever we experience such crisis, we are left with no choice but to face it and think of ways to resolve it. Failure to overcome such crisis may lead to significant impact on our psychosocial development. James E. Marcia: Marcia is the current professor of psychology at Simon Fraser University situated at Vancouver. He has done his P. hd in psychology. He was the one who supported 8 stages of Erikson's theory and presented his own new theory wi...