serves as one factor determining the outcome of later stages. Each stage thus relates to every other stage (Whitbourne & Weinstock, 1986, 13).
In these eight stages, each critical encounter with the environment will dominate at a particular period in the life cycle. The conflicts are not completely separated--all eight conflicts are present in the individual at birth, and each of the conflicts continues to play a role, if a minor one, throughout life. The first stage is basic trust versus mistrust as the infant must develop sufficient trust to let its mother out of sight without anxiety. The second stage is that of autonomy versus shame and doubt, and this sense is usually developed through bladder and bowel control and parallels the anal stage of traditional psychoanalytic theory. The third stage is that of initiative versus guilt, the last conflict experienced by the preschool child and occurring during what Freud called the phallic stage. The child now must learn to appropriately control feelings of rivalry for the mother's attention and develop a sense of moral responsibility. The fourth stage is industry versus inferiority, the conflict beginning with school life or the onset of formal socialization. The child must apply himself to his lesson, begin to feel some sense of competence relative to peers, and face his own limitations if he is to emerge as a healthy individual. The fifth stage is identity versus role confusion. Identity here refers to the confidence that others see us as we see ourselves, and if an identity is not formed, role confusion may occur, often characterized by an inability to select a career or to further educational goals. The sixth stage is that of intimacy versus isolation. It occurs in young adulthood when people are expected to be ready for true intimacy and when they must develop cooperative social and occupational relationships with others and select a mate. The seventh stage is that of ...