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Initiative vs Guilt
Sunny (age 5) tries to make her mom cereal for breakfast one morning, and ends up spilling milk on the floor. Her mother scolds her, and it makes Sunny nervous to try new things in the future. The crisis in this stage is that young children want to start trying things on their own and exploring more independently (initiative), but as they make mistakes, or if they are overly restricted by their parents in not allowing them to try new things, they may be fearful to try new things (guilt). -
Identity vs Confusion
Sunny (age 16) is struggling to know what she wants to pursue as a career after high school. She starts volunteering as a reading tutor and discovers she loves working with kids. She decides she wants to go to college to become some sort of teacher. The crisis in this stage is one's drive to form a clear purpose in life and define the role one fits into (identity), while struggling to find a clear role and taking on different roles at different times to see if any fit (confusion). -
Integrity vs Despair
Sunny (age 70) receives a terminal diagnosis of breast cancer. Sunny does not want to die, but feels satisfaction in how her life has gone, as she has had good relationships with her children and has helped a lot of kids in her teaching career. The crisis in this stage is whether the individual feels that overall their life has had meaning and has been fulfilling (integrity) or whether they feel dissatisfaction or regret in how they have lived their life that is now unfixable (despair)