Definition Of Integrity Vs Despair

According to erikson a period from late adulthood until death during which we review life s accomplishments and failures.

Definition of integrity vs despair. It begins at ages of 65 and continues till the end of a person s life. Ego integrity versus despair is the eighth stage of. Despair this stage includes a retrospective accounting of one s life to date. Ego integrity and despair form one of the fascinating conceptual pairs that erik erikson coined in his theory of human development across the life span.

Ego integrity versus despair is the eighth stage of erikson s psychosocial stages of development. At this stage of life a person contemplates his gains and losses during his previous life. How much one embraces life as having been well lived as opposed to regretting missed opportunities erikson 1982 p. According to erikson the last psychosocial stage is integrity vs.

Despair some may say what s that all about and some may find this very familiar. According to erikson s theory personality development goes through a series of eight hierarchically ordered stages. This stage is called. The onset of this stage is often triggered by life events such as retirement the loss of a spouse the loss of friends and acquaintances facing a terminal illness and other changes to major roles in life.

According to theorist erik erikson integrity vs. In the first 97 adults 68 women and 31 men aged 65 and older. In contrast to identity versus role confusion kroger 2007 or generativity versus stagnation mcadams 2009 it has not been the subject of intensive empirical research. The integrity versus despair stage begins as the aging adult begins to tackle the problem of his or her mortality.

Integrity versus despair stage definition and meaning. Despair is the final psychological stage of development and life. A new measure of erikson s final psychosocial stage integrity versus despair is presented and validated across two studies. Erikson 1982 represents one of the few personality theorist to examine aging as a stage of development.

Throughout the lifespan the individual is faced with developmental tasks characterized by opposing personality features that must be mastered before successfully moving on to the next stage. Aging gracefully integrity vs. Erikson believes that as we age and mature our goal should be to move successfully from one stage to the next. The present study relates ego integrity and despair to contemporary theories of personality and mental health.