Which Erikson stage precedes Identity vs. Role Confusion?

Which Erikson stage precedes Identity vs. Role Confusion?

• A. Trust vs. Mistrust
• B. Autonomy vs. Shame
• C. Initiative vs. Guilt
• D. Industry vs. Inferiority

Answer: (D)

In Erikson’s framework, each stage builds on the one before it. The stage that comes just before adolescence is Industry vs. Inferiority, typically in middle childhood, roughly ages 6 to puberty. Here, children focus on mastering skills, schoolwork, and social tasks, seeking to gain competence and a sense of productive payoff from their efforts. When children succeed and receive positive feedback, they develop a sense of industry—confidence in their abilities to achieve goals. Struggling or feeling less capable can lead to inferiority, a dampened sense of competence. This foundation of feeling competent and effective is the groundwork that supports later exploration of identity during adolescence. The earlier stages—trust vs. mistrust (infancy), autonomy vs. shame (toddlerhood), and initiative vs. guilt (early childhood)—occur before and set different developmental foci, not the immediate predecessor to identity formation.

In Erikson’s framework, each stage builds on the one before it. The stage that comes just before adolescence is Industry vs. Inferiority, typically in middle childhood, roughly ages 6 to puberty. Here, children focus on mastering skills, schoolwork, and social tasks, seeking to gain competence and a sense of productive payoff from their efforts.

When children succeed and receive positive feedback, they develop a sense of industry—confidence in their abilities to achieve goals. Struggling or feeling less capable can lead to inferiority, a dampened sense of competence. This foundation of feeling competent and effective is the groundwork that supports later exploration of identity during adolescence. The earlier stages—trust vs. mistrust (infancy), autonomy vs. shame (toddlerhood), and initiative vs. guilt (early childhood)—occur before and set different developmental foci, not the immediate predecessor to identity formation.