Which stage theory is psychosocial rather than psychosexual?

Which stage theory is psychosocial rather than psychosexual?

• A. Freud's Psychosexual Stages
• B. Erik Erikson's Stages
• C. Piaget's Cognitive Stages
• D. Kohlberg's Moral Stages

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is to recognize which stage theory centers on social and emotional growth across the lifespan versus other kinds of development. Psychosocial development focuses on how people interact with others and form identity over time, with each stage presenting a central social-emotional challenge to resolve. Erikson’s stages are the psychosocial ones. They map eight life periods from infancy to old age and describe how social relationships and personal identity influence development, such as trust vs. mistrust in infancy or identity vs. role confusion in adolescence. Each stage’s challenge involves a social or emotional dimension that ripens with experience and relationships. Freud’s psychosexual stages, by contrast, are about early sexual and aggressive drives and how they are expressed through psychosexual energy at different ages. Piaget’s stages describe changes in thinking and knowledge—cognitive development—rather than social-emotional or identity-related tasks. Kohlberg outlines stages of moral reasoning, which are about how judgments of right and wrong develop, again more cognitive than psychosocial. So, the theory that is psychosocial rather than psychosexual is Erikson’s. Piaget’s cognitive stages are not psychosocial; they focus on how thinking evolves.

The main idea here is to recognize which stage theory centers on social and emotional growth across the lifespan versus other kinds of development. Psychosocial development focuses on how people interact with others and form identity over time, with each stage presenting a central social-emotional challenge to resolve.

Erikson’s stages are the psychosocial ones. They map eight life periods from infancy to old age and describe how social relationships and personal identity influence development, such as trust vs. mistrust in infancy or identity vs. role confusion in adolescence. Each stage’s challenge involves a social or emotional dimension that ripens with experience and relationships.

Freud’s psychosexual stages, by contrast, are about early sexual and aggressive drives and how they are expressed through psychosexual energy at different ages. Piaget’s stages describe changes in thinking and knowledge—cognitive development—rather than social-emotional or identity-related tasks. Kohlberg outlines stages of moral reasoning, which are about how judgments of right and wrong develop, again more cognitive than psychosocial.

So, the theory that is psychosocial rather than psychosexual is Erikson’s. Piaget’s cognitive stages are not psychosocial; they focus on how thinking evolves.