Human development is among the most complicated subjects in modern study, due to the contemporaneous and interrelated physical, psychological, and social development. Among the constant bearing factors in these three areas of development is the passage of time. Human development begins at birth, continues in adulthood, and ends in death. Several theorists have developed concepts that seek to explain human development and enable the assessment of human behavior (Newman & Newman, 2017). Among these theories are Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, as developed by Eric Erickson. The theory divides human development into eight stages, which begin at birth and end in old age. Each stage begins and ends at a specific chronological age, with a positive or negative outcome. The outcome of each stage is a bearing factor in the next stages, but the effect is not permanent as the individual can revisit and correct the issue. From a practical perspective, this term paper will apply Erikson's stages of psychosocial development on the character of Tony Stark, a prominent figure in the Marvel Universe (Whedon, 2012). The paper will evaluate the stage that Tony Stark is in during the film Avengers, and use Erickson's theories to explain how he attained this status. The paper will also evaluate whether Stark had a positive or negative outcome in this stage. As this term paper will reveal, in Avengers, Tony Stark is in the Intimacy vs. Isolation and has had several adverse outcomes. Still, through determination and support from others, he manages to attain the positive outcome of intimacy, as opposed to isolation.
Character Overview: Tony Stark in Avengers
Tony Stark is one of the avengers in the Film Avengers, where he is also one of the main characters and main antagonists. The character is presented by Robert Downey Jr., who has played this role in about 11 other films for the Marvel Universe. Stark is in the late thirties, a gifted engineer, and an MIT graduate. He is also the CEO and principal inventor at the Stark Industries, a company started by his father (Whedon, 2012). For clarity, Stark is not a spoilt brat who is entitled to wealth through his parent's money. Instead, he is a gifted corporate leader under whose guidance Stark industries has grown into the premier weapons manufacturer in the world. However, from a psychosocial perspective, his social life does not match his academic and professional success. Stark is still a bachelor who has never been in a serious relationships. He has regular one-night stands with several women but never allows himself to get emotionally entangled with them. Indeed, in most cases, the women-only wake up in the morning to find Stark's assistant ready their laundered clothes ready to show them out. When a journalist who had spent a night with Stark complained, the personal assistant informed her that she was just taking out the trash, a statement that reflected Stark as having used her. The inability to work well with others also reflects in Stark's professional engagements (Whedon, 2012). Stark is initially declined from the avenger's program as the assessment showed that he does not play well with others.
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Theory Overview: Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development
Erikson's stages of psychosocial development stem from the fact that human development is a combination of nature and nurture. Nature is the internal genetic aspect, while nurture is the environmental aspect. Every individual seeks to use the natural factors to navigate over the nurture factors to attain positive outcomes. Erickson's theory has eight stages, each determined by age, the first beginning at birth, while the last one ends at an advanced age (Syed & McLean, 2017). Each stage has two potential outcomes, a positive one or a negative one. A positive outcome increases the proclivity for positive outcomes in the future. Among the bearing factors in these stages of development is relationships. For example, the relationship with parents is an essential factor in the formative stage, while the relationship with a spouse of colleagues is critical during adulthood (Syed & McLean, 2017).
The first stage is the Trust vs. Mistrust stage, that begins at birth and covers early infancy. The main bearing factor in this stage is early support. Successful completion gains the child hope in life (Syed & McLean, 2017). The second stage is Autonomy vs. Shame and entails the stage where the child is learning how to act independently between the ages of two and four. The third stage is the Initiative vs. Guilt, between the ages of four and eight. The child is trying to master the world and learn how to plan before acting, leading to a positive outcome of purpose. The next stage is industry vs. inferiority between the ages of 9 and 12, where the child may gain competence by learning how to successfully carry-out chores (Syed & McLean, 2017).
Identity vs. role confusion is the next stage and covers the adolescent years, with successful completion leading to fidelity. The sixth stage is the intimacy vs. isolation that covers early adulthood until thirty-nine years. Proper navigation of this stage leads to love. The seventh stage is Generativity vs. Stagnation, whose positive outcome is care. At this stage, humans begin to consider their legacies (Newman & Newman, 2017). Finally, there is the ego integrity vs. despair that begins at 60 years, where humans begin to re-evaluate their lives and evaluate their impact in the world. The positive outcome in this last stage is wisdom.
Tony Stark in Stage 6: Intimacy vs. Isolation
A careful evaluation of the age, behavior, and character of Tony Stark reveals that he is in the sixth stage of psychosocial development, the intimacy versus isolation stage. This stage does not seem to be going well for stark, as he is approaching the end of the stage, but he has not learned how to develop loving relationships either intimately or professionally (Whedon, 2012). Beginning with the professional angle, Stark is interested in joining the Avengers, a group of heroes brought together to protect the earth from alien attacks. However, Stark does not qualify because he is not a team player. Nick Fury, who is creating the Avengers, argues that Stark's inability to relate well with others will foment disharmony in the group. Stark is only included in the Avengers because there is an emergency due to the attack by Loki (Whedon, 2012). Even after inclusion into the Avengers team, Stark continues with his lone ranger tactics that almost pull the team apart. Due to his behavior, he almost gets into a physical altercation with Captain America, arguably the most level-headed member of the team.
On the romantic side, Stark also exhibits signs of isolation, as opposed to intimacy. Instead of developing a loving relationship with a potential spouse, Stark hides in a multitude of informal relationships that includes one-night stands. His future wife is already in his life as she works as his administrative assistant (Whedon, 2012). However, instead of showing her affection, Tony keeps on bringing different wives home, from where he runs his office. His administrative assistance has to deal with this women, while stark runs to his only real friends, the computers. The issue of computers also reflects another area of isolation. In most of the film, Stark's closest friend is Jarvis, a form of artificial intelligence system modeled after a butler in Stark's childhood (Whedon, 2012). Fortunately, as the film progresses, Tony is able to overcome his playboy lifestyle and develop functional relationships both personally and professionally. He can work well with others to defeat Loki's army. Similarly, Tony develops a monogamous relationship with his administrative assistant, which eventually leads to marriage.
Whether I Agree With Erickson's Theory
The actual test of any theory is practical application. In the analysis above, I have applied Erikson's stages of psychosocial development to the life of the famous film character, Tony Stark. During the process of applying the theory helped me to understand Stark better. The theory not only created an understanding of how Stark was behaving but also why he was behaving in such a manner. For example, Stark is about to end his thirties, yet he only relates well with computers. Most of his relationships with humans fail, mainly because of his behavior. Erickson's theory explains the potential failure by Stark. His parents met a violent death during his teenage years, a fact that derailed his identity vs. role confusion stage. The negative outcome in this stage then interfered with his Intimacy vs. Isolation causing him to get along better with computers than human beings (Newman & Newman, 2017). Based on the analysis above, I agree with Erickson's theory and the resultant eight stages of psychosocial development.
Conclusion
Based on the research, analysis and commentary above, it is evident that Tony Stark was at the Intimacy vs. Isolation stage during the Avengers films and indeed most of the films where he features in the Marvel Universe. Tony is a genius billionaire and the CEO of the leading weapons manufacturing company on earth. In his genius, he can create powerful weapons, including the Iron Man's suit. However, Stark is unable to develop meaningful relationships with people either professionally or in his personal life. Stark's best friend is a computer named Jarvis, which he created based on a butler at his childhood home. However, events in the films enable Stark to recalibrate hos life, leading to the development of meaningful relationships. Because of the ability to accurately apply to Stark's life, I agree with Erikson's stages of psychosocial development. Human psychosocial development is an exponentially convoluted topic, but Erickson's theory makes the subject easier to comprehend.
References
Newman, B. M., & Newman, P. R. (2017). Development through life: A psychosocial approach . Cengage Learning.
Syed, M., & McLean, K. C. (2017). Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development. IN Sage Encyclopedia of Intellectual and Developmental Disorders .
Whedon, J. (2012). Marvel's The Avengers .
