Erikson, Piaget & Psychology Theories & Concepts Explained

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory in Adolescence: Why Same-Age Teens Differ

Picture two 16-year-olds in the same city. Same grade, similar marks, similar talents. One is certain she will be a doctor because that has always been the plan. The other changes his mind about who he is every few months, and his parents seem fine with it. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory in adolescence offers a way to explain that gap....

Moral Development in Adolescence: Why Some Teens Only Conform

A history test is circulating in the group chat, and nearly everyone in class has the answers. One student refuses to look. Another shares them because everyone else is doing it. A third copies only after the teacher steps out of the room. Same situation, three very different moral responses. Moral development in adolescence helps explain why teens facing the...

Integrity vs Despair: Why Some Age in Peace and Others Don’t

A 78-year-old man opens a shoebox of old photographs. One picture makes him smile. The next one, taken the year his first marriage ended, makes him go quiet for a long time. Erik Erikson believed moments like this sit at the heart of integrity vs despair, the last of his eight psychosocial stages. What happens next depends less on how...

Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development: Why Kids Blame the Cups

A boy named John opens a door and accidentally smashes 15 cups. Another boy, Henry, breaks just one cup while sneaking jam he was told not to touch. Who was naughtier? Many 6-year-olds say John, because he broke more. Most 10-year-olds say Henry. That flip sits at the heart of Piaget’s theory of moral development, and the reasons behind it...

Havighurst vs Erikson: 6 Life Periods vs 8 Stages Compared

A 16-year-old fills out her first job application on Saturday and lies awake on Sunday night wondering who she really is. Robert Havighurst would point to the first scene: a concrete skill her culture expects her to learn right now. Erik Erikson would point to the second: an inner struggle over identity. That split sits at the heart of Havighurst...

Erikson and Bronfenbrenner: Why the Same Child Can Turn Out So Differently

Picture a nine-year-old who tells her parents, “I’m just stupid.” Is she stuck in a developmental stage, or is her classroom failing her? That question sits right where Erikson and Bronfenbrenner meet. Erik Erikson described the psychosocial crises people work through across the lifespan. Urie Bronfenbrenner mapped the settings where those crises actually play out. Students often learn them as...