Which stage involves looking back on life with satisfaction or despair?

Which stage involves looking back on life with satisfaction or despair?

• A. Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt
• B. Industry vs Inferiority
• C. Identity vs Role Confusion
• D. Integrity vs Despair

Answer: (D)

In Erikson’s psychosocial theory, the stage where people look back on their lives and decide they feel either satisfied or disappointed is the one that occurs in late adulthood. Here, the individual reflects on their choices and experiences to determine if their life has held meaning and integrity or if it has left them with regret and despair. When life is viewed as worth something well lived, the sense of integrity brings peace and wisdom about aging. If the reflection yields regret and a belief that life was not well spent, despair can arise, often accompanied by fear of death. The other stages happen earlier: autonomy vs. shame and doubt in early childhood, industry vs. inferiority in middle childhood, and identity vs. role confusion in adolescence, so they don’t center on retrospective life evaluation. This is why the described process fits integrity vs. despair.

In Erikson’s psychosocial theory, the stage where people look back on their lives and decide they feel either satisfied or disappointed is the one that occurs in late adulthood. Here, the individual reflects on their choices and experiences to determine if their life has held meaning and integrity or if it has left them with regret and despair. When life is viewed as worth something well lived, the sense of integrity brings peace and wisdom about aging. If the reflection yields regret and a belief that life was not well spent, despair can arise, often accompanied by fear of death. The other stages happen earlier: autonomy vs. shame and doubt in early childhood, industry vs. inferiority in middle childhood, and identity vs. role confusion in adolescence, so they don’t center on retrospective life evaluation. This is why the described process fits integrity vs. despair.