Question

After age 65, most people are attempting to assess their lives and make sense of life and the meaning of their contributions. What is the primary developmental task of this stage?
1) generativity vs. stagnation
2) identity vs. guilt
3) initiative vs. guilt
4) integrity vs. despair

Answer 1

The correct answer is: "integrity vs despair"

The question is refered to Erickson's steps of psychosocial development. This theory appoints that each stage in life poses a challenge. Two opposing forces act over the person, who has to be able to resolve the trade-off, by adopting the positive force (integrity, in this case) and discarding the negative one (despair), in order to sucessfully advance in the development of his/her psychosocial personality. The sucessful fulfilment of one step enables to reach the next step.  

This period in a person's life, after 65 years old, means the beginning of the last stage of psychosocial development in which the person, for the first time, experiences a sense of mortality. Reaching integrity means accepting oneshelf and living in peace the way towards death, which is felt with proximity at this point in life.