Which theory describes eight stages and crisis resolution?

Which theory describes eight stages and crisis resolution?

• A. Maslow's Hierarchy
• B. Piaget's Theory
• C. Kohlberg's Theory
• D. Erikson's Theory

Answer: (D)

Erikson's theory describes psychosocial development across the lifespan through eight stages, each with a central crisis to resolve. How you navigate and resolve each of these crises helps shape your personality and future relationships, building the strengths or virtues that carry into later life. For example, successfully resolving trust versus mistrust in infancy fosters hope, while handling identity versus role confusion in adolescence supports a coherent sense of self, and resolving integrity versus despair in old age contributes to wisdom. Because this framework specifically uses eight stages tied to ongoing crisis resolution, it fits the description perfectly. Other theories describe different patterns: Maslow focuses on a ladder of needs driving motivation, Piaget outlines stages of cognitive development without a lifelong sequence of psychosocial crises, and Kohlberg maps stages of moral reasoning rather than a lifelong process of crisis resolution.

Erikson's theory describes psychosocial development across the lifespan through eight stages, each with a central crisis to resolve. How you navigate and resolve each of these crises helps shape your personality and future relationships, building the strengths or virtues that carry into later life. For example, successfully resolving trust versus mistrust in infancy fosters hope, while handling identity versus role confusion in adolescence supports a coherent sense of self, and resolving integrity versus despair in old age contributes to wisdom. Because this framework specifically uses eight stages tied to ongoing crisis resolution, it fits the description perfectly. Other theories describe different patterns: Maslow focuses on a ladder of needs driving motivation, Piaget outlines stages of cognitive development without a lifelong sequence of psychosocial crises, and Kohlberg maps stages of moral reasoning rather than a lifelong process of crisis resolution.