Page 1 of 8

Age and Stages

The Seven ages of man

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel,
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lin'd,
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose well sav'd a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Page 2 of 8

Age and Stages

There is a long history of seeing life as divided into different stages (Minois, 1989). For example, ages-of-life schemes in the Middle Ages divided the life course into anything between three and twelve distinct age periods, each of which had its norms for appropriate behaviour.

The scheme Shakespeare depicts in As You Like It with its seven ages, includes the ‘infant, mewling and puking’, the 'whining schoolboy', 'the lover sighing like a furnace', through to the sixth age of 'lean and slippered pantaloon', and the seventh age of 'second childishness and mere oblivion'. There is a depressing circularity in this view of the life cycle, which may have appealed to the medieval mind.

By the seventeenth century however something new had emerged: a view of life as a course - a journey, a spiritual drama, and a sequence of stages: 'It was a small step from the ages to the stages of life…in which each step became a stage for the performance of certain roles' (Cole and Winkler, 1990, p.19).

Page 3 of 8

Age and Stages

This is essentially the same as the modern view of a life course which can be divided into phases and stages.

Life course theories are important in the study of ageing suggesting a flexible biographical approach within a continuously changing social structure. It has been argued, for example, that old age can only be understood broadly in relation to:

  • Other stages of life and how they are accounted for
  • The previous life of old people
  • The relation of older people to other generations following behind them and the attitudes and priorities of the latter (Featherstone and Hepworth, 1989).

Page 4 of 8

Age and Stages

You’re going to explore one of the most influential modern theories which looks at development over the life course. This was devised by Erik Erikson (1963). We have focused on Erikson’s work for two reasons. First, because he is unusual in formulating a stage theory of identity and human development which does not end with the onset of adulthood but includes old age. Second, because Erikson offers us useful insights into mental health in later life.

Like all theories, however, Erikson’s theory of psychosocial identity has its limitations. For example, it has been criticised for being based on studies of white European and North American populations and therefore taking little or no account of other cultures’ approaches to identity development (Robinson, 2002). Indeed Erikson himself acknowledged that his theory may not have universal application as it was largely based on his own clinical practice as a psychoanalyst.

But whilst no theory can fit all situations – reality is too complicated for that – a theory like Erikson’s can still be a very useful tool we can use to unlock some of the complexities of the life course, particularly if we are willing to think about how his insights may apply to issues we all face as we age.

Page 5 of 8

Age and Stages

Explore the Erik Erikson fact file and, as you do, think about the following question:

Fact File

When you have finished exploring the fact file click on Next to continue.

Erik Erickson Fact File

Introduction

Erik Erikson was a German psychoanalyst who worked in the United States from the 1930s. His theory was first published in the 1950s but it continues to be very influential in social work.

Erikson’s theory is unusual for a thinker who was influenced by Freud in being about the whole life course and giving some consideration to later life. Although Erikson only sketched in his view of later life in his original formulation of his theory, he later elaborated on this (see Erikson et al, 1986).

Erikson’s theory involves the idea of development through eight successive age-related stages from infancy to old age. It focuses on how we make sense of our lives and create identity as we move through the life course in our particular society.

Erik Erickson Fact File

Bio-Data

Erik Erikson was born on June 15, 1902 in Frankfurt, Germany. His parents were separated before he was born, and his mother then married Theodor Homberger, the physician who cared for Erik as a baby, and they raised him as Erik Homburger. As a young boy, Erikson experienced some conflict because of his Jewish faith and his Danish appearance. This may have helped to form his long-standing interest in identity as a research area.

Although his family encouraged him to study medicine, he preferred to develop his talents as an artist. After graduating from art school, Erikson taught at a private school in Vienna. He attended the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society where he met Anna Freud. Eventually, he moved with his family to the United States. When he became a US citizen in 1939 he changed his name from Homburger to Erikson.

Erikson held positions at Harvard Medical School, Yale University, and several private appointments prior to returning to Harvard University as a professor of human development. He remained at Harvard until his retirement in 1970.

Among Erikson's most influential books were Childhood and Society (2nd ed., 1963, Norton) and Identity: Youth and Crisis (1968, Norton). Erikson continued to write until his death in 1994.

Erik Erickson Fact File

Theory

He is most famous for his work in refining and expanding Freud's theory of stages. Development, he says, functions by the epigenetic principle.

This principle says that we develop through a predetermined unfolding of our personalities in eight stages. Our progress through each stage is in part determined by our success, or lack of success, in all the previous stages. A little like the unfolding of a rose bud, each petal opens up at a certain time, in a certain order, which nature, through its genetics, has determined. If we interfere in the natural order of development by pulling a petal forward prematurely or out of order, we ruin the development of the entire flower.

Each of the eight stages has its characteristic dilemma (‘crisis’) which has potential for psychological growth or stagnation. The individual has to find a favourable balance before he or she can move on.

Erikson is most famous for the ‘adolescent’ stage of identity versus role confusion, but there also three adult stages. Two of these are concerned with identity in mid-life and later life.

Erikson’s seventh stage - which he locates roughly in the middle years between 40 and 65 – involves the dilemma of generativity versus stagnation.

The eighth stage of old age involves a resolution of ego integrity versus despair.

Erik Erickson Fact File

Erikson’s Stages
Age Stage Crisis Potential virtue Socetal manifestation
I (0-1) Infancy Basic trust vs Basic mistrust Hope Religion and faith
II (1-6) Early childhood Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt Will Law and order
III (6-10)) lay age Initiative vs Guilt Purpose Economics
IV (10-14) School age Industry vs Inferiority Competence Technology
V (14-20) Adolescence Identity vs Role-confusion Fidelity Ideology
VI (20-35) Young adulthood Intimacy vs Isolation Love Ethics
VII (35-65) Maturity Generativity vs Stagnation Care Education, art and science
VIII (65+) Old Age Ego integrity vs Despair and Disgust Wisdom All major cultural institutions

Table taken from Sugarman, 1986.

Generativity

Generativity is defined by Erikson as primarily the interest in influencing and guiding the next generation.

This may take the form of a ‘legacy’, that is, some useful or creative project which will outlive the self. •Generative action is based on a belief that life is worth living, in the future, and the possible betterment of humankind, even in the face of human destructiveness and weakness.

If individuals fail to develop generativity, the danger is that lapse into a state of ‘stagnation’, involving excessive and unhealthy pre-occupation with self, and self-indulgence.

Ego Integrity

Ego integrity Erikson suggests that in late life a process of reflection or life review may take place. The challenge of the last stage of life is to achieve ‘ego integrity’ – a sense of meaning, order and wholeness in one’s life - as opposed to despair, which ultimately leads to a fear of the end of life.

Integrity comprises:

An acceptance of one’s life, the way that it has been lived, and the choices that have been made without feeling too much regret. A willingness, if necessary, to defend one’s own values and beliefs. The abandonment of a self-centred view of life and the movement to a view which transcends the self. Acceptance – and loss of the fear of – death.

Erik Erickson Fact File

Case Study

As you read through the following case study think about how the following account of a footballer’s life displays generativity.

Paul Miller

Paul Miller, now aged 63, is a former professional football whose career ended prematurely. His whole family had been involved with football and he always thought he would be a player or involved oin the game in some capacity. He joined an English third division club at age 14 and went on to play 327 games in the first team.

At age 32 he was playing as well as ever when he was offered a full-time coaching post with the reserve team. He accepted but two years later the reserves were disbanded and he was made redundant. Looking back he feels he made the wrong decision, thinking it would give him a lifetime’s career in football: ‘I loved the club. I wanted to stay in football. It’s been my life…Football’s been my life.’

He has however stayed connected to the game through part-time playing and coaching, through administrative and sales jobs at his old club, and through his sons who became professional and semi-professional players. There have been spells of unemployment and other difficult times but he seems to have sustained his identity as a footballer, enjoying the recognition of local people who remember him as a player, and at age 63 still turning out for charity matches and for his village team. ‘Football’s still my life,’ he says.

Paul’s wife also comes from a family comprising two generations of footballers. The couple have passed their interest on their sons who all played. One of them succeeded at the highest level of the professional game and is now a manager”

Paul Miller appears to have sustained his identity partly through generativity. The legacy of his life in football has been passed on to his sons. As a result and through a generally sustaining family environment, there do not appear to have been any major identity crises in Paul’s story, despite some major setbacks and disappointments in his own career.

Page 6 of 8

Generativity

What is generativity and what might the implications of generativity be for work with older people?

Erikson’s concept invites us to consider how individuals in the second half of their lives can achieve mental health in a broad sense being be offered opportunities to be generative.

This could involve some satisfying paid or voluntary work, a creative project, or political action - anything which would benefit a local community or the wider society, The sharing of life experience, knowledge or skills with another generation - as has been fostered by Age Exchange, for example - is an important aspect of generativity.

Page 7 of 8

Generativity

This, like the ‘legacy’ - the creation and passing on of something which will outlive the self - is a healthy response to the fact that all human lives must eventually end.

Erikson’s model of mid-life identity implies that an examination of one’s self and one’s purpose in life may take place at this stage. This is more profound than the conventional notion of a ‘mid-life crisis’; the concept of generativity offers a way of understanding how identity and mental well-being may be maintained as we age.

Page 8 of 8

Integrity and Older People

Erikson suggests that in late life a process of reflection or life review may take place. The challenge of the last stage of life is to achieve ‘ego integrity’ – a sense of meaning, order and wholeness in one’s life – as opposed to despair, which ultimately leads to a fear of the end of life.

Integrity comprises:

  1. An acceptance of one’s life, the way that it has been lived, and the choices that have been made without feeling too much regret. A willingness, if necessary, to defend one’s own values and beliefs.
  2. The abandonment of a self-centred view of life and the movement to a view which transcends the self.
  3. Acceptance – and the fear - of death.

It is a challenge, suggested by Erikson’s insights, for individuals to connect past, present and future in their lives in a way they and others find coherent and meaningful.

But it can be difficult for older people to achieve generativity and integrity in a rapidly changing, highly technological society culture like ours which does not value their experience and knowledge. One way of addressing these concerns is by listening to older people’s narratives of their past lives.

We consider life stories next.

(By narratives we mean life stories and life histories, autobiographies, diaries, reminiscences and other personal accounts of the past.)