The only psychoanalyst who created a developmental theory which encompasses the entire life span was

The only psychoanalyst who created a developmental theory which encompasses the entire life span was

• A. Erik Erikson
• B. Sigmund Freud
• C. Carl Jung
• D. Anna Freud

Answer: (A)

Erik Erikson’s theory is built to cover the whole life, not just early childhood. He mapped eight psychosocial stages from infancy through old age, with a central crisis in each stage that the person must navigate to develop a healthy personality. This lifelong sequence—trust vs mistrust, autonomy vs doubt, initiative vs guilt, industry vs inferiority, identity vs role confusion, intimacy vs isolation, generativity vs stagnation, and integrity vs despair—shows how social relationships and cultural context shape development across the entire lifespan. This is in contrast to Freud’s psychosexual model, which centers largely on early childhood, or Anna Freud’s focus on child development, and Jung’s broad but different life-span ideas. Because Erikson explicitly articulates a stage-by-stage theory that spans from birth to old age, he uniquely fits the description of a developmental theory encompassing the entire life span.

Erik Erikson’s theory is built to cover the whole life, not just early childhood. He mapped eight psychosocial stages from infancy through old age, with a central crisis in each stage that the person must navigate to develop a healthy personality. This lifelong sequence—trust vs mistrust, autonomy vs doubt, initiative vs guilt, industry vs inferiority, identity vs role confusion, intimacy vs isolation, generativity vs stagnation, and integrity vs despair—shows how social relationships and cultural context shape development across the entire lifespan. This is in contrast to Freud’s psychosexual model, which centers largely on early childhood, or Anna Freud’s focus on child development, and Jung’s broad but different life-span ideas. Because Erikson explicitly articulates a stage-by-stage theory that spans from birth to old age, he uniquely fits the description of a developmental theory encompassing the entire life span.