A person who has successfully mastered Erikson's first seven stages would be ready to enter Erikson's final or eight stage.

A person who has successfully mastered Erikson's first seven stages would be ready to enter Erikson's final or eight stage.

• A. Identity Versus Role Confusion
• B. Autonomy Versus Shame
• C. Industry Versus Inferiority
• D. Integrity Versus Despair

Answer: (D)

The idea being tested is how a person progresses through a sequence of psychosocial crises across the lifespan, culminating in late adulthood. The final stage is about reflecting on one’s life and deciding whether it has been lived with integrity or marred by despair. If someone has mastered the earlier stages, they’re equipped to evaluate their life as a coherent, meaningful whole and feel a sense of fulfillment. This leads to integrity, often described as wisdom, acceptance, and peace. If they cannot find that sense of meaning, they may experience despair and regret. So, the best answer corresponds to this late-adulthood challenge: integrating life experiences into a coherent self-narrative and approaching death with a sense of completion. The earlier stages—trust vs mistrust, autonomy vs shame, initiative vs guilt, industry vs inferiority, identity vs role confusion, and intimacy vs isolation—are the foundations that lead into this final stage.

The idea being tested is how a person progresses through a sequence of psychosocial crises across the lifespan, culminating in late adulthood. The final stage is about reflecting on one’s life and deciding whether it has been lived with integrity or marred by despair. If someone has mastered the earlier stages, they’re equipped to evaluate their life as a coherent, meaningful whole and feel a sense of fulfillment. This leads to integrity, often described as wisdom, acceptance, and peace. If they cannot find that sense of meaning, they may experience despair and regret.

So, the best answer corresponds to this late-adulthood challenge: integrating life experiences into a coherent self-narrative and approaching death with a sense of completion. The earlier stages—trust vs mistrust, autonomy vs shame, initiative vs guilt, industry vs inferiority, identity vs role confusion, and intimacy vs isolation—are the foundations that lead into this final stage.