Interview Questions
What are some of the things you look forward to in future?
What are/ is the biggest goal you plan to achieve on life?
What would you say is the most favorite thing about yourself?
What would you say is the least favorite thing about yourself?
If you had a chance to change the world, what one thing would you change?
If you had a chance to change something about yourself, what would that one thing be?
What are you most afraid of?
What are you good at?
What do you think people think about you?
Which one thing are you not good at?
Interview 1
The first interview was scheduled with a five-year old kid, known as Ian (pseudo) who had already began kindergarten. Ian belongs to the early childhood stage of development, and more specifically, the initiative versus guilt stage of development (4-6 years). This stage of development positions a kid in a space where they try to evaluate whether they are good people or otherwise. At this stage, these children focus more on mastering basic skills and world principles and then use the little knowledge to complete actions with a purpose ( Chung, 2018) . Also, it is at this stage that they experience guilt. Ian was lively at the interview and the environment was set in one of the playing rooms where he could be comfortable answering to the relevant questions. When asked about the least favorite thing about herself, Ian said that it was when he is bad. Ian further explained the bad version of himself was the one that hurt his friend June while playing, to the extent of crying. This response informs on the guilt experience which the kid has begun to identify with when they do something wrong. Furthermore, it confirms that Ian has begun learning the difference between right and wrong, and would always try to choose to do the right thing. In relation to his response, he further stated that he regretted being mean to June and his mum. When asked about what he feared most, Ian mentioned the bears, which he categorically stated that he witnessed them killing a person in movie. This response demonstrated that the kid had begun to understand fear and how to feel it when dreaded, but he was not consumed by it.
Interview 2
The second interview was conducted still in a school setting where a 9 year old girl was asked relevant questions to their case. Sheila (pseudo) identified with excelling at school as her biggest goal, and she was specific about excelling in mathematics. Clearly, Sheila is in the late childhood stage, that is, the industry versus inferiority stage of development. At this stage, children focus more on their competence and what they want to excel at. They become more aware about themselves and establish their focus on doing what is right both in their judgement and from a societal point of view, sharing, and being cooperative with friends and family ( Shaffer & Kipp, 2013) . Sheila's demonstration of her desire to excel on mathematics indicated her alignment to Erikson's description of this stage, that is, desire to learn about more abstract areas. Furthermore, Sheila responded that she was good at science, and was hoping that she does the same with mathematics. When asked about what she would love to change about the world, she said that she would stop people from littering. Sheila's answer was sensitive because it touched on a global issue, which every country around the world is currently struggling with to achieve sustainable development goals. This demonstrated her awareness about her environment and what she stands for.
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Interview 3
The third interview was conducted on a 17 year old adolescent. Luke was in a stage called Fidelity, or identity versus role confusion development stage. Adolescents in this stage of development mostly focus on what people think about them and mostly try to understand their identity, what they stand for, and where they are heading in life ( Rathus, 2013 and Tisdall, 2019) . Luke said that he was looking forward to join college and get a good degree and job thereafter. Based on his response, he was ambitious about pursuing business studies in college and achieve his dream of being an accountant in Hollywood. Evidently, Luke had identified the path he would like to follow and achieve. This indicates that the adolescent was trying to find more about his strengths and his future. When asked about his goal, he said that all he desired is to be satisfied and contented with what he achieved in life, and only feared not enjoying his work. Clearly, Luke had identified his purpose in life and was ready to put himself in a strategic position where he could enjoy his life, that is, a good degree and a job that he will enjoy doing.
Interview 4
The last interview was conducted with a 58 year old man, who based on Erikson's development stages belonged to the middle adulthood, also, generation versus stagnation stage. Grealish was happy about the life he had lived so far. Grealish had three children, all who had gotten into successful marriages, had good jobs and businesses, and two of them already had kids. Grealish and his wife had successfully run a family business in construction and had taken early retirement to celebrate their milestones and successes. Grealish only looked forward to a peaceful world in future where he could comfortably enjoy his retirement. Grealish was alarmed at so much hate going in around the world, racism, gender stereotypes, and social constructions. Grealish insisted that if he could change anything, then it would be establishing a new society where real social democracy and equality is practiced unconditionally. Surprisingly, he was not afraid of death as he felt he had lived a good life. All Grealish feared was failure: he said that he had worked so hard over the years to build the business empire for his family and everyday he was scared of seeing it go down the drain. Also, he just wanted to see his family happy. In this stage, Erikson states that a person is more focused about their parenting, education, and social involvement (Dunkel & Harbke, 2017 and Letissier , 2014). These issues are reflected in Grealish's desire to get a peaceful world where every person would thrive, and the passion he demonstrated about his family and children.
Comparing and Contrasting
Adolescent stage and the late childhood stages are similar since both of them are stages for self-identification of an individual. Both stages involve the individual trying to assess what they stand for and how best to position themselves for their future. However, the adolescent stage has a more distinct and stable identification of self compared to the late childhood which is more of a transition stage to adulthood (Coen and Coen, 1987). The middle adulthood stage is completely different from the two since it contains more of contentment than pursuit of ambitions and identity.
Conclusion
The four interviews demonstrated four key stages in Erikson's development stages model, which shape a person's life. Based in the interviews, it east easy to see how the interaction between people and their environment, whether other people such as family, and educations shapes their development.
References
Chung, D. (2018). The eight stages of psychosocial protective development: Developmental psychology. Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science , 8 (06), 369.
Letissier , H. (2014). CHRISTINE & THE QUEENS, lyrics, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWjBbACk9SU
Dunkel, C. S., & Harbke, C. (2017). A review of measures of Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development: Evidence for a general factor. Journal of Adult Development , 24(1), 58-76.
Coen, J., and Coen, E. (1987). Raising Arizona film, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AIfVoGUs6c
Rathus, S. A. (2013). Childhood and adolescence: Voyages in development . Cengage Learning.
Shaffer, D. R., & Kipp, K. (2013). Developmental psychology: Childhood and adolescence . Cengage Learning.
Tisdall, L. (2019). Stages of development, educational psychology and child-centred education . Manchester University Press.
