Ethological Perspective Research Paper

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ERIKSON

An ethological perspective

Erikson and Joan Stevenson-Hinde's "An ethological perspective"

According to Joan Stevenson-Hinde's 1994 study entitled "An ethological perspective," attachment-related behavior is stress-related behavior (such as the crying of a child) that is alleviated when the stressed individual once again retains proximity to another individual, such as a caregiver. Attachment-related behaviors do not directly relate to needs such as food or sex. In other words, the stressed behavior of a hungry customer in a restaurant who is satiated by the food brought by a waiter is not in an attachment-based relationship, unlike the crying child whose suffering is alleviated by a mother. These attachment-based behaviors are not exclusive to the human species, as many other animals manifest attachment-related anxiety.

Within Erikson's theory of development, attachment-related crises form part of his famous 'eight stages' of the human psychological growth cycle. Each stage is characterized by a social conflict the child must resolve to move on to the next stage in a healthy fashion. The first stage (which occurs between birth and age one), that of 'trust vs. mistrust,' is intimately related to the development of attachment-related behavior (Cherry 2012). A child with a competent caregiver that has his or her needs reliably met will learn to trust the world.

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A child who does not will have 'trust issues' and manifest abnormal separation anxiety or other psychological issues related to fear. The second stage of 'autonomy vs. shame and doubt' (preschool age) also relates to attachment-related behavior as the conflict is related to developing a sense of autonomy (Cherry 2012).

However, within most stages of the lifecycle, the need for some sense of purpose and autonomy must be balanced with the need to live in society and satisfy the expectations of others, even when this conflict is not necessarily at the forefront of the stated motivations of the individual's behavior. During the third stage of 'initiative vs. guilt,' the child begins to assert his or her leadership over social interactions and learns to play with others, for example. During the fourth stage, 'industry vs. inferiority,' a child gains a sense of self-mastery over his or her skills, but does so through the support of teachers and parents. The fifth stage of adolescence called 'identity vs. confusion' involves establishing a secure identity, but through identifying with a peer group (Cherry 2012). Even the sixth, seventh,….....

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