Emotional Development: Erikson's Theory

• Emotional development covers Erikson's theory, temperament, attachment, lifespan emotional changes, and love.

Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development

• Operates within the psychosocial/socioemotional domain.
• Consists of 8 stages.
• Each stage presents a psychosocial crisis.

Erikson's Stages

• 0-1 year: Trust vs. Mistrust, with Hope as the virtue.
• 1-3 years: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt, with Will as the virtue.
• 3-6 years: Initiative vs. Guilt, with Purpose as the virtue.
• 6-11 years: Industry vs. Inferiority, with Competence as the virtue.
• 11-20 years: Identity vs. Identity confusion, with Fidelity as the virtue.
• 20-40 years: Intimacy vs. Isolation, with Love as the virtue.
• 40+ years: Generativity vs. Stagnation, with Care as the virtue.

Stage 1: Trust vs. Mistrust (0-1 year)

• Centers on hope and the relationship with a primary parent.
• Resolved when the baby is lovingly and sympathetically cared for.
• Resolution leads to confident, adventurous infants.

Stage 2: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt (1-3 years)

• Centers on will and relationships with parents.
• Negativism, or doing the opposite of what others want, emerges.
• Infant uses phrases like "No!", "Mine!", and "Do it myself!".
• Resolution occurs when parents use suitable guidance and choices.
• Resolution creates independent infants.

Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt (3-6 years)

• Centers on purpose and relationships with family.
• Focuses on a child's newfound freedom versus guilt when getting in trouble.

Stage 4: Industry vs. Inferiority (6-11 years)

• Centers on competence and relationships with school.
• Children develop a sense of competence with useful skills and tasks.
• A child either discovers their own capabilities or has little confidence in their ability to do things well.

Stage 5: Identity vs. Identity/Role Confusion (11-20 years)

• Centers on fidelity and relationships with peers.
• Explores concepts of occupation, values, and sexual identity.
• Involves developing/constructing an identity or becoming directionless because society limits choices.

Stage 6: Intimacy vs. Isolation (20-40 years)

• Centers on love and relationships with friends, partners.
• Focuses on a young person's feelings and thoughts about making a permanent commitment to a partner.
• Involves the attainment of intimacy or being alone.

Stage 7: Generativity vs. Stagnation (40-65 years)

• Centers on care and relationships with workmates and family.
• Reaching out to others to guide the next generation through commitment to family, community, and society and continuity of children, ideas, products, & arts.
• Can involve becoming self-centered and self-indulgent, being more worried about what can be gotten than what can be given.

Stage 8: Ego-Integrity vs. Despair (65+ years)

• Centers on wisdom and relationships with people.
• Reflecting back on life, with concern about happiness or regrets.

Temperament

• Early-appearing, stable individual differences in reactivity and self-regulation.
• Reactivity refers to the intensity of emotional arousal, attention, and motor activity.
• Self-regulation refers to strategies to modify reactivity.

Temperament Classifications

• Easy child: 40% establish regular routines, have a cheerful mood, and adapt easily to new experiences.
• Difficult child: 10% have irregular routines, are moody, and react negatively and intensely to new experiences.
• Slow-to-warm-up child: 15% have mild and low-key reactions to routine, have a negative mood, and adjust slowly to new experiences.
• 35% have a blend of temperaments.

Attachment

• A reciprocal, positive, enduring emotional tie between an infant and caregiver, such as in Harlow’s Attachment Study.

Attachment Styles

• Secure (66%): Use the parent as a secure base, cry when the parent leaves, and seek them when they return.
• Avoidant (20%): Unresponsive to the parent when around and show no response when the parent leaves or returns.
• Resistant (10-15%): Show they do not want the parent to leave and are both distressed when the parent leaves and angry when they return.
• Disorganized/Disoriented (5-10%): Show the greatest insecurity and display confused, contradictory behaviors.

"Goodness of Fit"

• Temperament and environment together produce a favorable outcome.
• A child-rearing environment that recognizes a child's temperament encourages adaptive functioning.

Emotional Development in Infancy & Toddlerhood

• Emotions serve to communicate needs and facilitate exploration.
• 0-6 months: Infants react to internal processes and stimulation, smiling reflexively.
• 6+ months: Infants react to meaningful events, smiling socially.
• Primary emotions/universal facial expressions include joy, happiness, surprise, sadness, anger, fear, and disgust.
• Self-awareness develops around 18-24 months, assessed through the Rouge Test.
• Involves social referencing, stranger anxiety, and separation anxiety.

Emotional Development in Preschool Age

• Increased understanding of emotions and emotional self-regulation.
• Children begin to exhibit prosocial behavior through the family modeling.
• Aggression may surface via instrumental aggression, overt aggression, and relational aggression/social bullying.

Emotional Development in Middle Childhood

• Self-esteem is based on adult judgments and conditional self-esteem.
• Emotional self-regulation develops.
• Culture's display rules dictate how people express emotions in different social contexts.
• Parenting and emotional development involve emotion-coaching and emotion-dismissing parents.

Emotional Development in Adolescence

• Adolescent rebellion is not typical.
• Self-esteem is lower for girls, racial minorities, and those with a low socioeconomic status (SES).

Emotional Development in Adulthood

• Attachment styles in infancy may influence future relationships.

Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love

• Passion: Physical attraction.
• Intimacy: Emotional connection.
• Commitment: Cognitive decision to maintain the relationship.