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Positive outcomes
-Children develop a sense of initiative and feel secure in their ability to lead others and make their own choices
-The child gets a healthy balance of initiative and guilt
Negative outcomes
-Children develop a sense of guilt, through criticism or control
-Too much guilt can make the child slow to interact with others and may inhibit their creativity.

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Initiative is ability to assess things independently while guilt can be something you did that may involve harm or psychological pain and cause you to feel you have violated your ethical or moral code

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Ages 3 to about 5

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Big Questions:

Am I a leader or a follower?

What’s my purpose?

CURIOSITY is key. Challenging and questioning everything. The big “why?” stage.

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It is the third stage in Eriksons theory, occurring around three to five years of age. During this stage, a child is experimenting by initiating activities as an opportunity to develop and understand their interpersonal skills. By initiating activities it allows the child to feel secure in their standing position and ability to lead others. Developing a sense of leadership is a key part of this stage.

However, if this desire is hindered whether it be from being put down or throw control, the child develops a sense of guilt. They will feel inferior and unworthy of leadership and therefore become followers of others initiatives.

During this stage, parents often view this behavior as aggressive and try to control it. However if the child’s initiating is controlled too much it can cause them to feel guilt.