Developmental Milestones - Free Essay on Human Development

Erik Erikson's developmental theory

By definition, ego quality represents the capacity of an individual to unify their actions and experiences in a manner that is adaptive. This being said, the person makes their ego the master of their experiences and actions. With reference to Erik Erikson's developmental theory, high school students, who are primarily in their early adolescence stage, uphold a prime adaptive ego quality of fidelity to others. Besides, Erikson contends that it in the adolescence stage, which mainly begins with puberty, that individual begin their struggle to find ego identity (Erikson, 1994). In this regards, ego identity is referred to the conscious sense of self, which we by default, develop through social interaction.

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Also, the adolescence stage is characterized by a core pathology of dissociation. Core pathology, in this case, is the opposite of the prime adaptive ego quality. During adolescents, individuals, especially those in the high school age group, experience a psychosocial crisis of identity versus identity confusion. Thus, if this crisis is resolved both positively and efficiently, an individual upholds the prime adaptive ego quality. On the other hand, if the crisis is solved ineffectively, the result is the core pathology. Precisely, persons in the adolescence age group have a core pathology of dissociation, which is characterized by the inability to connect with other people.

In the context of ego quality, these high school students acquire a capacity which enables them to pledge one's loyalty to other people around them freely. This, in essence, will allow individuals in this age group to be in a position to sustain their faithfulness to the commitments and the promises that they make to others. During this developmental stage, this particular prime adaptive ego quality essentially produces an individuals dedication to family, patriotism, and civic pride, among others.

In conclusion, while ego quality emerges at each succeeding stage of life, the adolescence stage is primarily made up of the high school students. Thus, in this stage, individuals undergo personal exploration, which in its deepest essence, depends on the manner in which one is encouraged or reinforced to emerge from the developmental stage. For instance, adolescents who through self-exploration, remain unsure of their beliefs and desires, will always feel insecure and overly confused about their individualism and their future. The vice versa is also true.

References

Erikson,T E.T H. (1994).T Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.