Each human being has a reason as to who you are and why you are that way. Each and every day that you grow older you face experiences whether it’s good or bad, and the way it impacts you and the way you react to it, is how you form your identity. Erik Erikson, was a psychologist who developed one of the most popular and influential theories of development. Erikson’s theory describes how social experiences impact your whole life span. One of the main components of Erikson’s psychosocial stage theory is the development of “ego identity”, which is the conscious sense of self that we develop through social interaction.
He claims that our ego identity is constantly changing throughout our lives as we come across new experiences and information that we obtain in our daily interactions with people. As we face each stage of development, we also face new challenges that may help our development grow farther, or cause difficulties and even delays to it. For instance if you are trying really hard at work to be promoted to a higher job position, and you come across some difficult times in your life that make it harder for you to accomplish your establishment, that could be called a delay. When on the other hand everything’s working out great for you and smoothly and you reach your goals faster.
The way your identity is formed, is something that starts off when you were a child, and becomes important in particular during adolescence, but Erikson believes that it is a process that continues throughout your whole life. Our own personal identity gives us a complete and connected sense of self that remains and continues to grow as we age. Erikson also believes that any competition may motivate your behavior and actions. In Erikson’s theory each stage has some sort of concern having to do with being competitive in an area of life.