Erik Erikson developed a psychological on our social development that is divided into eight stages. By looking at these stages closely I have found that I have gone through the first four and I am going through the fifth stage. .
In the first stage of development, trust vs. mistrust, I leaned more towards mistrust. For the first year of my life I received enough babysitting from my siblings that my parents weren't required to give me lots of attention. When I was 18 months old my younger brother was born. This event took away much of the parental attention that I could have been given. I learned that for me to get something like food or a toy I would have to hassle people for it or get it on my own. .
During the autonomy vs. shame stage I learned to be confident in my autonomy and learned good control. I always wanted to try new things and was quick to start walking and ride a bicycle. I was not very strong as a child but my parents tell me that I was constantly trying to show off my muscles and the skills I had mastered. I think this is apparent in my personality today. For example, I learned to ride a unicycle recently and I am proud of it although my peers tease me for it.
In the initiative vs. guilt stage I was trained to be creative and imaginative but I also learned to accept when I was wrong. I did lots of painting and drawing and I always thought that what I did was a masterpiece. If I were to ever make mistakes I would always get stressed about it and try and fix it. I thought that I was the smartest kid in the world and that I could do anything. My great aunt even recalls me introducing myself as "My name is Jesse and I am smart" when I greeted her at an airport.
In the industry vs. diffusion stage I think I discovered pleasure in being productive. I was very successful in all the different activities in school and learned the joy in successfully accomplishing something.