According to Erikson’s theory, human beings go through eight unique development stages from birth to death. At each stage, an individual faces a crisis, which if successfully resolved results in the person developing virtues that enhance his/her psychological well-being (Feldman, 2003 ).
Part A
Compare and Contrast Erickson’s generativity versus stagnation stage with ego integrity versus despair stage for middle and late adulthood. What occurrence can affect positive or negative outcomes? Please use information in your text to support your assertion and provide relevant and meaningful examples.
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Erikson’s generativity versus stagnation stage is associated with middle adulthood. On the other hand, the integrity versus despair stage occurs in late adulthood. Each stage has both negative and positive outcomes that affect how an individual going through the stage thinks or approach different issues in his/her life. According to Feldman (2003 ), during generativity stage, an individual enjoys getting involved in community activities. For instance, a person going through this stage enjoys offering guidance to the youths. At this stage, a person adopts value systems that encourage him/her to look past his/her own desires or needs. On the other hand, the stagnation stage is all about providing security and comfort to oneself. Hence, this stage discourages an individual from challenging him/herself or sacrificing his/her needs for the sake of others (Huddy, Sears, & Levy, 2013) . As such, an individual at the stagnation stage tends to be self-absorbed and self-centered. Unlike in the generativity stage, the stagnation stage discourages a person from seeking to help young persons or engage in any community activities. Additionally, a person going through this stage does not show any interest in improving him/herself (Feldman, 2003).
On the other hand, the integrity versus despair is the eighth stage in the Erikson's theory of psychological development. The main crisis that people going through this stage face revolve around the question of whether or not a person has lived a meaningful and satisfying life. According to Huddy et al., (2013), this stage is usually triggered by events such as terminal illness, the death of one’s friends and family members, retirement, and the loss of a wife or husband.
The major area of comparison between the two stages is how individuals manage generations. During the generativity versus stagnation stage, a person takes charge in offering the necessary guidance to young people. On the other hand, a person in the integrity versus despair stage pays more attention to the successes and failures during his/her earlier life ( Huddy et al., 2013).
The other area of comparison between the generativity versus stagnation stage and ego integrity and despair stage is the positive outcomes achieved at each stage. For instance, the generativity stage achieves positive results as it encourages a person to give back to the society and express more love to those around him/her. As such, during this stage, a person can execute the mandates of adulthood and undertake social responsibility. On the other hand, the integrity stage that a person undergoes when he/she attains late adulthood achieves positive stage as it enables the individual to explore the meaning of life while contemplating about his/her achievements (Feldman, 2003 ).
On the other hand, the outcomes achieved by the stagnation and despair stages are mostly negative. For instance, the feeling that one gets when he/she is going through the stagnation stage results in dissatisfaction followed by lack of or decreased productivity. Besides, when a person looks back at his/her life, he/her may view him/herself as a total failure which triggers the feeling of hopelessness and depression. Additionally, during the despair stage, a person's thought process is limited to the unrealized goals instead of the accomplishments (Huddy et al., 2013) .
Part B
Please describe physical and cognitive changes that occur in late adulthood. Consider how some of these changes may lead to decline and eventual death. Please provide how the process of death and dying can have different outcomes or scenarios depending on choosing different paths using supportive evidence from your text.
During late adulthood, a person experiences cognitive changes such as declining intellectual functions and memory loss (Feldman, 2003). The brain is known to change with age. Some of the changes that occur in the brain as a result of age include the shrinkage or loss of nerve cells. Also, older age is associated with hearing and visual problems. On the other hand, the physical changes include gradual failure of body parts, declining immune system, and weak bones. As a result of the declining physical health, old people tend to be more susceptible to falling as compared to younger persons (Huddy et al., 2013).
The above physical and cognitive changes that occur when an individual is in his/her late adulthood result in the decline of life expectancy and eventual death. Also, these changes influence a person’s approach towards life. For instance, people who suffer from memory loss tend to disengage or stay away from other members of the community. This is because of the feeling that they are a burden to their children and grandchildren (Feldman, 2003). Additionally, elderly people who are dying may get the message that they no longer add any value to the society by being described as “dying” instead of “very sick” ( Feldman, 2003). As such, as an individual approaches late adulthood he/she starts looking forward to the day he/she will die. Besides, the only way the cognitive changes such as memory loss and declining intellectual functions can be prevented or managed is through a person engaging in physical activities such as taking part in sports. However, this is not possible as a result of the physical changes such as weak bones and the decline in the ability of certain body parts to function. When a person cannot manage his/her deteriorating cognitive function, the life expectancy is reduced and finally a person dies (Feldman, 2003) .
Some of the factors that affect how people deal with the reality of their inescapable death include personality traits and cultural beliefs. For instance, according to Feldman (2003), anxious people tend to be more concerned about death. The process of dying differs substantially from one individual to another depending on how the person experiences the integrity versus despair stage. During the integrity stage, individuals who are contented with their accomplishments when they were younger tend to have more hope that they will live longer. Additionally, such people are unlikely to feel as if they are burdens to members of their family. Even when death seems inescapable, a person who is contented with his/her life accepts the process of dying more gracefully (Feldman 2003 ). On the other hand, the despair stage results in persons concentrating more on their unachieved goals; hence death is preceded by a period of depression and hopelessness. At this stage, a person views death as a solution to the mental torture he/she is going through. Additionally, individuals going through despair are likely to engage in a lot of bargaining as they hope that they can be given another opportunity to do some of the things that they never did when they were younger.
In conclusion, Erickson developed one of the most widely accepted developmental theories. His theory consists of eight stages. If a person successfully resolves the crisis that occurs during the generativity versus stagnation stage, he/she gets inspired to nature things that will outlive him/her. During this stage, most of the people involve themselves in nurturing the youths while others engage in community activities such as planting trees. On the other hand, the integrity versus despair stage encourages people to reflect on the successes and failures in their earlier years.
References
Feldman, R. S. (2003). Development across the lifespan . Prentice Hall.
Huddy, L., Sears, D. O., & Levy, J. S. (Eds.). (2013). The Oxford handbook of political psychology . Oxford University Press.
