You will prepare and submit a term paper on The Sixth Stage of Psychosocial Development, Intimacy vs. Isolation. Your paper should be a minimum of 1750 words in length. Erik Erikson was a German-born psycho-analyst credited with the theory of human psychosocial development. His contributions to psychology with his developmental theory can be compared to Freud’s theory in their claims that the development of humans occurs in stages. However, while recognizing the fundamental concepts of Freud’s theory, he was of the opinion that the latter misjudged essential dimensions of development. While Freud contended that human personality is shaped by the time one is 5 years of age, Erikson posited that humans continue to develop over their entire lifespan (Newman & Newman, 2012). In his theory of psychosocial development, he proposed that the failures and achievements of humans in their earlier developmental stages had a significant influence on the later stages. In addition, the latter stages also transform and modify earlier phases of development. He developed eight stages of human development, in which sexual, instinctual, cognitive, and physical changes come together to trigger internal crises. The ability of each individual to resolve the crises that result in either psychosocial growth or regression, as well as the development of particular virtues (Newman & Newman, 2012).

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&nbsp.Being Erikson’s sixth stage in the psychosocial development theory, this phase occurs between the ages of nineteen and forty, which is young adulthood. In this time period, the fundamental conflict faced by the individual is centered on the formation of loving and intimate relationships with others (Newman & Newman, 2012). Although psychosocial development theory is posited as a neatly defined series of sequential steps, crucially, it is important to recognize the importance of the preceding stages on the next. For instance, full resolution of the earlier stage, identity vs. confusion, results in the formation of a sense of self, which is essential in the formation of intimate relationships (Newman & Newman, 2012).