Developing Initiative
Eric Erikson's Psychosocial Stages of Development
The most widely known theory of life-span development, the Psychosocial Stages, was formulated by Erik Erikson (1963). He looked at the psychological needs of the individual, conflicting with needs of society. Erikson proposed that at each stage there is a developmental task, or a challenge, that is normative for that period of life. There is an opportunity for steaming ahead, or a danger point for psychological derailment.
Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development: Approximate Age and Developmental Task
0 to 18 months: Basic trust versus mistrust.
1 to 2 years: Autonomy versus shame and guilt.
3 to 6 years: Initiative versus guilt.
7 to 11 years: Industry versus inferiority.
Teenage years (adolescence): Identity versus identity confusion.
20s and 30s (young adulthood): Intimacy versus isolation.
40s to 60s: Generativity versus stagnation.
60s onwards: Integrity versus despair.
Initiative versus guilt
Between the ages of 3 to 6 years are the initiative versus guilt years where children assert themselves more frequently. Initiative enables a child to follow through with ideas and goals. Children who have difficulty with this stage may, in contrast, become highly rigid and constricted to avoid acting on feelings and impulses they have learned to think of as 'bad.'
Initiative is the ability to assess and initiate things independently. It is the power or opportunity to act or take charge before others do. To be enterprising, resourceful and capable.
Industry versus inferiority
The next psychosocial stage is 7 to 11 years, industry versus inferiority, where children develop a sense of competence and industriousness, or of inadequacy. It is during this stage where children begin to develop and practise skills they'll use for a lifetime in productive work. Children enter school during this stage. Their experience of academic and social success or failure shape both their self-concepts and the strategies they use to protect their self-esteem.
At this stage of a child's development if they are encouraged and reinforced for their initiative, they begin to feel industrious, competent, and confident in their ability to achieve goals. If this initiative is not encouraged, if it is restricted by parents or teachers, then the child may begin to feel inferior, doubting his own abilities and therefore may not reach their full potential.
Take opportunities to encourage your three to eleven years old with the development of initiative and industry by encouraging them to come up with ideas and goals, to be resourceful and enterprising, to make decisions and choices, and to practise new skills. In doing this you will be helping your child develop full steam ahead to the next stage with competence, skill attainment, and confidence. As well as, let's not forget, lifelong enriched memories.