I'm sitting here on the bleachers at the YU basketball tournament. It's halftime of the DRS vs Northshore game. I was thinking of what I needed to get done for psych class. Then, I had a moment of insight. This is where one spontaneously finds the answer for what one is looking for. So know with my insight, I am writing my blog post.
I wanted to speak about two of Erikson's stages that are being displayed at the tournament. The first is the 1st Erikson stage from age 0-1. This is the trust vs mistrust stage. If not developed by caring parents in childhood, and for example regular feeding patterns as a baby, people grow up being very uptight and not trusting people they normally should. For example, I've seen some guys on our team unnecessarily locking the bathroom door and hiding their stuff.
The next stage prevalent at this tournament is the 2nd stage: autonomy vs shame and doubt, acquired between age 2-3. This is where you either develop independence, or you are very hesitant and doubtful in your decisions, developed early on by things like potty training. For example, a new kid on our team (not saying names) ordered something at Noah's Ark last night but switched his order after 15 minutes. Classic. He may not have totally finished developing during this critical 2nd stage of Erikson development.
Psychology is everywhere, and people you might think are done developing may not actually be totally finished.
It is kinda strange that trust vs. mistrust can be seen in high school basketball players when it is specifically designated for ages 1-2. I guess it goes to show that the stages are continuous over our life spans and that each stage can come back to get us throughout our life. It kinda also reminds me of Freud's idea of fixation, where we can get fixated on a stage and never move on. So when a 60 year old billionaire loses his wealth, he may cry like an infant.
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