Human Behavior and Developmental Stages - Mai Esther Dimte (HLD)

Regarding human behavior in the social environment, one can point out many different dimensions. Everywhere we go we will have to face human behavior conflict. It is because no one is born to have the same personality as others. Everyone has a different personality. Some have stronger personalities than others. Some has the sweetest personality. In life, we don’t always get to choose who we want to be friends with or who we want to be around. Instead we have to deal with anything that is lying ahead of us. For instance, if we don’t come from a psychology major in undergrad school, we might have a hard time finding out what exactly the human behavior is and how it can affect us in our field practicum.

There are two different kinds of people. The first kinds of people are good at pretending. So they pretend like they are happy and smile when they are grieving and crying inside. They might avoid conflict just because they don’t want to fight with other people. Or maybe they consider themselves as losers. On the other hand, the other kind of people would be the people who are frank and willing to confront any kind of conflict at any time. A lot of the times our social environment can push us to change our attitude. For example, a three year old boy wants to get more cookies, but his mom tells him “no” several times. He knows exactly that if he cries in public, his mom will give him a cookie. So he is manipulating his mom’s will power. On the other hand, the mom may feel pressured by the looks of people around them. As a result, she will hesitantly give an extra cookie to her son. If we look around our social environment we will see how much we are influenced by other people’s behavior and how much we influence other people as well. Every human being knows how to get things they want from other people. The only difference we may find is that some are willing to do anything to get what they want; whereas, other people hesitate to ask for it. The behavior and attitude that other people have can be very challenging for us in our daily lives. If we take a look at the work of Eric Erickson, who is an ego psychologist, we might be able to find some solutions regarding other people’s behavior.

Eric Erickson has eight developmental stages that cover the life span from birth to death. The first stage is at infancy, which starts from birth to 18 months old. It is about hope, which contains trust versus mistrust. At this stage, we try to know who we can trust and who we can count on. We look for emotional support. Whoever can give us the things we need to automatically become their team members.

The second stage is early childhood, which starts from age 18 months to 3 years old. It is about will, which is the stage of autonomy versus shame and doubt. In this stage, we are trying to be independent. We want to find a way to get around without anybody help. In other words, we are building self-confidence and pride. When I say this I don’t necessarily mean that we stay away from our caregivers. Instead we use our caregivers as our main resource and we go back to them every time we feel weak or when we get lost.

The third stage is about purpose, which contains initiative versus guilt. The stage starts from age 3 to 6 years old. At this stage, we have our way of doing things. We have our own opinions and goals. We explore new things and learn new things from school and from anywhere we are. We feel that we can express our imagination with our own language.

The fourth stage is about competence, which is industry versus inferiority, which starts from age 6 to 12 years old. In this stage, we are like sponges. We absorb everything we can possibly see and experience in our social environment. We learn how to play a fair game. We are aware that we may not receive things from other people all the time in fact; we understand that we may have to give too at some point.

The fifth stage is about fidelity, which is adolescence. It is about identity versus role confusion, which starts from age 13 to 19 years. On this stage, the preteens become actual teenagers. They talk more with their friends or peers than they talk with their parents. They switch the reference they use. They have a sense of personal identity.

The sixth stage is young adulthood. It is about love, which contains intimacy versus isolation. The age groups start from 20 to 24 years. At this stage, we have a solid sense of identity. We firmly understand who we are and whom we belong. We not only care about ourselves but care about other people as well. We start to consider whom we may want to spend the rest of our lives with. We start to plan for our intimate relationship, marriage, and children.

The seventh stage is about care. This stage starts at middle adulthood. The age groups start from 24 to 64 years. This stage is called generativity versus stagnation. At this stage, we try to lead young people instead of following. We start to think about our future generation. We start looking for solutions on how we can best serve or help our children to reach their goals.

The last stage is called old age which is also known as late adulthood. It is about wisdom, which contains ego integrity versus despair. The age group is from 65 to death. When we reach this age, we not only try to accept the death but also consider the legacy we want to leave behind.

To conclude, people not only act differently according to their age groups but also depending on the social environment they are in. If we are not familiar with Erickson’s theory, we might have a difficult time understanding people’s behavior.  As a social worker, it is very important to not take thing personally or to go home with problems at work. If we want to remain professional in our field, we have to be aware of our client’s social environment and the age group they are in. This is not going to be an easy task but it is essential to be able to process human behavior when resolving problems as a future practitioner.