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Who can I trust?
In Erickson's first stage trust v. mistrust, we learn this concept as an infant. In this stage the infant, though not aware, is looking for someone to trust. They are looking for trust in one (parent or caregiver) to feed them, cloth them and love them. An example event could be feeding the infant at their scheduled feeding. Or bathing them a couple times a week. The infant is expecting to be taken care of and needs someone that they can trust. -
Who am I?
Erickson's 5th stage is a stage called Identity v. role confusion. This is a stage that occurs around the late teens. In this stage, individuals are trying to find out who they are. They are still trying to learn their place in the world. Independence is explored and a sense of self is confronted. An example of this could be that Josey doesn't know what she wants to do when she gets older. She knows that college is around the corner but cant seem to figure out who she is or who she wants to be. -
How did I do?
In the eighth and last Erickson stage, integrity v. despair we have the elderly individual who is looking back on their life wondering if they lived a meaningful one. Was it what they wanted? Do they have any regrets? Did they get everything they wanted out of it? The question their reflections. An example of this stage would be Jack has just learned that he has end stage leukemia and spends his remaining days looking back on his life. He relives every memory and questions his decisions.