Does Erikson’s “industry versus inferiority” psychosocial stage influence feelings of proficiency among young adults?
Introduction
The research seeks to evaluate the influence that the stages of Erikson’s theory of child development have on the feelings of proficiency among young adults. The theory, developed by Erik Erikson, contends that the development of a human being occurs in stages. In each of the stages, a person undergoes a crisis. Depending on how such a crisis is handled, its outcome may be positive or negative. The influence that these crises have on an individual’s behavior arises because they represent the psychological needs of a person. Moreover, they also conflict with an individual’s societal needs; hence, they are psychosocial.
If an individual goes through each of the stages successfully, they develop a healthy personality. Further, they also attain virtues that are consistent with social norms and values. The stages are complementary. It implies that failure to handle one stage successfully may spill over to the other stages. Thus, it may affect a person’s ability to complete the succeeding stages well. While the stages can be addressed later in life, the degree of success in resolving such crises is often lower compared to the situation had they been completed within the timeframe provided in the theory. Therefore, one of the underlying aspects of the theory is that each stage has an impact on the personality of an individual in the future. The aspects of personality affected include a person’s feelings of adequacy and proficiency in a certain skill.
Accordingly, in this research paper, an evaluation of how the stages affect someone’s notion of proficiency will occur. Particularly, the focus will be on the fourth stage “industry versus inferiority.” The study will employ a quantitative research design to gauge the perceptions of young adults on how this stage of their childhood affects their feelings of proficiency.
Background of the Study
The fourth stage in Erikson’s theory of child development, “industry versus inferiority,” occurs between the ages of five and twelve years. At this stage, the primary preoccupation is learning to read and write. Further, the child seeks independence in executing tasks while also becoming proficient in accomplishing a certain skill. Thus, peer groups and other individuals that surround the child have a significant influence on their self-esteem because they offer their stamp of approval on the activities the former seeks to become competent. If the initiatives of the child in this phase are reinforced and encouraged, they would feel proficient. However, in the absence of the reinforcement, perceptions of inferiority prevail; thus, preventing them from attaining their full potential. Yet, this deficiency is not only highlighted during the school-age period but also extends to adulthood.
A study undertaken by Perry et al. (2015) indicates that for individuals whose industry was reinforced during childhood, their industry; hence, competence becomes more pronounced in adulthood. Similarly, if the reinforcement was lacking, then their inferiority will manifest more than their proficiency. This aspect will form the basis of this research paper’s theoretical framework. The envisaged study is survey research where the level of a person’s competence in young adulthood relative to their perceptions of how they remember their experiences during the “industry versus inferiority” stage. The two measurement tools to be used are the Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory (EPSI) identity scale and a tailored survey to gauge how the individuals perceive themselves to be in the ages between five and twelve years. Accordingly, the study hypothesizes that a positive relationship exists between the scores on the tailored survey of memories the adult had during the relevant stage and those on the EPSI identity scale.
Methodology
Research Method
The survey research method will be used in this study. It is defined as “the collection of information from a sample of individuals through their responses to questions” (Ponto, 2015, p. 168). The method is appropriate where one seeks to explain certain behavior within a large population. Accordingly, one of the primary advantages of the method is its extensiveness. For instance, it would be difficult to gauge the influences of Erikson’s fourth stage of development of the entire population of young adults in the country because they are many. Nonetheless, using the survey method makes this outcome possible because it relies on only a sample of the general population.
The other advantage of the survey method is that it is not expensive. The relatively low cost of the approach arises because it is possible to use numerous media. For instance, it is possible to conduct surveys online or over the phone. Consequently, the cost of obtaining data for research using this method is low compared to other data collection methods. The other benefit of using this method is that it is dependable. This aspect arises because the respondent can remain anonymous, a factor that motivates them to provide more honest perspectives regarding survey questionnaires. Accordingly, this aspect raises the level of a study’s validity. A high level of validity for research implies that it is possible to generalize the findings of a study. Essentially, this aspect implies that the findings of this study would be representative of the anticipated outcomes had the same study been conducted on the entire population.
Typically, surveys are easy to administer. This aspect arises because of their delivery relies on mediums that are convenient for the respondent. Additionally, they also take a relatively short time to fill; hence, they are a preferred data collection method by participants. Further, they are flexible for the researcher, especially online ones. The flexibility arises because they can be programmed such that its outcomes can be decoded and analyzed using software applications. It makes the process of research easy, fast, and convenient. For this research paper, online surveys would be applied. The rationale for choosing the internet as the medium for conducting the survey is that it is readily available, convenient, and does not require the respondent to invest significant resources in terms of time and logistics.
Sampling
Convenient random sampling will be the main sampling method used in the research. The main justification for using convenience sampling is that it is easy for the researcher to select participants because it offers them a suitable selection procedure. It helps them to narrow down the most plausible sample from the general population. For instance, concerning this research paper, it is difficult to find an appropriate participant within the wider pool of young adults in the country. Nonetheless, when such as a search is narrowed down to cover the students of this university only, then it becomes practical for a researcher to select the participants. Consequently, in this study, a convenient sample will be drawn from students in this college.
However, the subsequent stages of selection will only employ random sampling. This approach implies that each student in the school has an equal chance of being selected to participate in the study. Accordingly, the researcher will randomly select students to take part in the survey. The advantage of random sampling is that it eliminates the sampling bias but ensuring that each member of a population has an equal probability of being selected in the sample. Nevertheless, one of its major drawbacks is that it is difficult to achieve and requires significant time and resource inputs because of the difficulty in obtaining access to the complete list of individuals that form part of a population. In this study, some of these concerns have been addressed by employing both convenient and random sampling procedures.
The inclusion criterion is as follows: they must be a student in the university, must have access to the internet, and must be of an age that qualifies as a young adult. While the notion of what age bracket a young adult has not been stated expressly in Erikson’s theory, for this study, it would be implied to mean a person between the ages 17 and 25 years. Therefore, persons within this age bracket will qualify for inclusion in this research. The number of participants anticipated for the study is twenty.
Before the onset of the research, a pretest of the tailored survey would take place. The rationale for this view is to ensure that the proposed survey questions provide an accurate portrayal of the information that the scholar desires from the research. According to Hilton (2015), this approach helps to reduce instances of measurement errors in research. additionally, it also helps the researcher to determine whether any research gaps exist in the overall framework of the study. The EPSI identity scale will not require a pretest because it is a standard test.
Data Collection Procedures
Once the prospective participants have been identified, the next step will entail the actual collection of data. During the selection process, the respondents will be asked to provide their email addresses. As an online survey research, electronic mail will be used. Further, they will also be educated on what is expected from the process and how they should fill in the survey questionnaires. Subsequently, an email containing both the Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory (EPSI) identity scale and a tailored survey to gauge how the individuals perceive themselves to be in the ages between five and twelve years will be sent to all the participants. They will be given forty-eight hours to respond to the surveys. The period is adequate to ensure that the respondents have ample time to go through all the issues covered. Once they complete filling the survey questions, they will send back their responses using a similar medium, electronic mail.
Ethics and Human Protection
Ethics is an important element in research. A scholar is expected to maintain high standards of ethics by ensuring confidentiality, obtaining informed consent, not using deceptive means of accessing information, minimizing the risk to participants, and ensuring that they are aware of their rights to withdraw from the study at any stage (Vanclay et al., 2012). In this research, these elements of ethics and human protection will also be observed. Accordingly, before the onset of data collection, all participants will be educated on what the study entails, as well as their responsibilities and rights, including the freedom to cease participating in any step. Subsequently, they would be required to provide the researcher with informed consent. Further, the scholar would guarantee the confidentiality of the participants by ensuring that none of their Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is published in either the intermediate or final publications of the research. Such information includes names and addresses.
Proposed Data Analysis
Data analysis is an integral part of the research process. It entails scrutinizing available data to obtain vital information and inferences that can be used to advance the intellectual discourse of a subject matter. In this research paper, the data analysis approach adopted will be descriptive statistics. This form of statistics provides a summary that indicates patterns that exist within a set of data. In this case, the focus will be on determining the nature of the relationship (positive or negative) that exists between the scores of the Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory (EPSI) identity scale and the tailored survey.
The most preferred descriptive statistics measure for this paper’s scenario is the correlation co-efficiency. It seeks to measure the strength of the relationship between two variables. A positive score and one that inclines towards +1 illustrates a close association between the two pertinent variables exists. On the contrary, a negative score and one that inclines towards -1 indicates that the two relevant variables are not closely related. For this study, the variables will be drawn from the scores of the tailored survey and those of the EPSI identity scale. It is possible to find the cumulative scores for each participant on both surveys because the Likert scale is applicable in the two. It provides a ranked score (between one and five) that makes determining cumulative scores per participant possible.
Collecting and analyzing the data manually is a time-consuming process. Therefore, the researcher will utilize the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). It is a software program that automatically conducts the relevant computations once the relevant data has been fed into it. It can undertake multiple computations, including the correlation coefficient, that is the measure of interest in this study.
Anticipated Results and Discussion
The correlation coefficient is expected to be a figure close to +1. The result indicates that a strong positive relationship exists between the scores on the tailored survey of memories the adult had during the fourth stage of Erikson’s psychosocial development theory and those on the EPSI identity scale. The justification for this view is that the two tools used in data collection, while conceptually different, they measure the same thing. Accordingly, it is critical to evaluate the validity of the EPSI identity scale as a measure of personality.
The EPSI scale measures personal identity. According to Schwartz et al. (2009), it relies on the concepts of self-knowledge, consistency, and synthesis. The authors contend that while personality is contextual, it also remains constant across numerous types of environments that a person engages in their life. Schwartz et al. (2009) give an example using the environment in western societies. They assert that is such societies, a person is expected to maintain the same persona at home, school, and work. Consequently, a high likelihood exists that the experiences that a person underwent as a child will manifest in adulthood. The rationale for this view is that the repetitive personas in all types of environments create identity synthesis (Dimitrova et al., 2019). It refers to the acceptance of one’s perspectives on life without the influence of the external worldview.
Dimitrova et al. (2019) argue that identity synthesis serves as a predictor of social functioning. This factor entails elements such as feelings of self-worth, sufficiency, relationships, and competence. Accordingly, it illustrates that the EPSI identity scale is a valid measure in evaluating personal identity, including the fourth stage in Erikson’s theory of child development, “industry versus inferiority.”
Identity synthesis indicates that a person’s behavior was reinforced positively at each stage of Erikson’s psychosocial development. Nonetheless, in the absence of such synthesis, Dimitrova et al. (2019) hold that an identity crisis would be prevalent. Thus, while strong identity synthesis leads to high scores on the EPSI scale, identity crisis would manifest as low EPSI scores.
Similarly, the tailored survey is likely to evaluate similar paradigms. It assesses how a participant perceives themselves to have been while at the ages of five and twelve years. The perceptions rely on a person’s memory. Like the EPSI scale, the tailored survey also employs a Likert scale. The survey questions are based on variables that are relevant for that stage such as peer influence, teacher encouragement, and the role of parents in shaping the feelings of proficiency in a person. Thus, if the level of reinforcement is high, it is expected that the respondent’s score based on the Likert scale will be high. Further, it will be low if reinforcement was lacking; hence, perceptions of inferiority. A high score on this survey indicates a high extent of identity synthesis and a low score illustrates an identity crisis. These are the same measures that the EPSI scale analyzes. Moreover, both tools rely on an individual’s self-perception and memory.
Accordingly, based on the analysis above, it is highly likely that the relationship between the EPSI scores and those of the survey will close. Therefore, an expectation exists that the anticipated correlation coefficient will be close to +1. Notably, in the tailored survey, confounding variables like age, gender, and ethnicity will be integrated into the study.
Limitations
The proposed study faces several limitations. First, it does not control for other exogenous variables that may affect its validity. Secondly, both the EPSI scale and the tailored survey are self-report measures. This aspect may lead to sentiments that the outcomes are not objective. This aspect is primarily the case considering that both tools rely on the memory of the respondent. In some circumstances, the memory may be unreliable. Additionally, given the nature of self-reports, individuals may choose to share only information that creates a positive perception about them; yet, the selected study design does not have a means of addressing such concerns. Another limitation is that while the tailored survey incorporates confounding variables like age, the EPSI scale does not because it is a standard test applicable to a person of any age. This mismatch is likely to affect the validity of the study. Nonetheless, despite the limitations, the proposed research provides a credible means of assessing how Erikson’s “industry versus inferiority” psychosocial stage influences feelings of proficiency among young adults.
References
Dimitrova, R., Hatano, K., Sugimura, K., & Ferrer-Wreder, L. (2019). The Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory in adolescent samples: Factorial validity and equivalence of identity as measured from the United States and Japan. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 35(5), 680–684. doi:10.1027/1015-5759/a000456
Hilton, C. E. (2015). The importance of pretesting questionnaires: A field research example of cognitive pretesting the Exercise referral Quality of Life Scale (ER-QLS). International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 20(1), 21–34. doi:10.1080/13645579.2015.1091640
Perry, T. E., Ruggiano, N., Shtompel, N., & Hassevoort, L. (2014). Applying Erikson’s Wisdom to Self-Management Practices of Older Adults. Research on Aging, 37(3), 253–274. https://doi.org/10.1177/0164027514527974
Ponto, J. (2015). Understanding and Evaluating Survey Research. Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology, 6(2), 168–171. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4601897/
Schwartz, S. J., Zamboanga, B. L., Wang, W., & Olthuis, J. V. (2009). Measuring Identity From an Eriksonian Perspective: Two Sides of the Same Coin? Journal of Personality Assessment, 91(2), 143–154. doi:10.1080/00223890802634266
Vanclay, F., Baines, J. T., & Taylor, C. N. (2013). Principles for ethical research involving humans: ethical professional practice in impact assessment Part I. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 31(4), 243–253. doi:10.1080/14615517.2013.850307