Introduction
In science changes can either occur suddenly, when someone proposes a radical, revolutionary change of the previous way of thinking, or they can consist of an introduction of minor changes, in a situation when a scientist perceives a problem that cannot be solved within the framework of traditional theories (Heisenberg Reference Heisenberg1971). The psycho-social crisis of old age can be perceived as such an unresolved problem. There is no certainty if E. H. Erikson's crisis of integrity versus despair fully reflects the challenges people face in this extremely diversified period of old age, in particular at a time when people live longer in comparison to former generations. Contemporary researchers differentiating the ‘third’ and the ‘fourth age’ provide arguments for the ninth stage of life in the cycle of life (e.g. Baltes Reference Baltes1998; Baltes and Mayer Reference Baltes and Mayer1999; Baltes and Smith Reference Baltes, Smith, Bengtson and Schaie1999, Reference Baltes and Smith2003; Laslett Reference Laslett1991). The proposals distinguishing the young old, the old and the oldest old (e.g. Neugarten Reference Neugarten1974; Suzman, Willis and Manton Reference Suzman, Willis and Manton1992) may appear equally significant.
The basis for the present analysis was E. H. Erikson's book The Life Cycle Completed (1982), with new chapters by J. M. Erikson on the ninth stage of human development (Erikson and Erikson Reference Erikson and Erikson1997). Equally important for the analysis and for the proposal for a modification of E. H. Erikson's theory was the book Vital Involvement in Old Age (Erikson, Erikson and Kivnick Reference Erikson, Erikson and Kivnick1986), in which the authors differentiate between the psychological experience of old age in the third and fourth age, raise the question of the universality of old age and suggest the need to add a ninth stage to the life cycle. E. H. Erikson's theory was developed at a time which to a certain extent excluded a deeper insight into old age, if only because old age was not such a mass phenomenon as nowadays and people had a decidedly shorter life expectancy. E. H. Erikson himself pointed out that the term ‘old age’ needed to be redefined, since the ‘ever-increasing number of old people were found (and found themselves) to represent a mass of elderlies rather than an elite of elders’ (Erikson Reference Erikson1982: 9). Older adults have changed over the years; there are more and larger demands for recognising different ways of life than heretofore. E. H. Erikson sensed this when he wrote ‘the role of old age needs to be reobserved, rethought’ (1982: 62). Therefore, J. M. Erikson's suggestion of a ninth stage in the cycle of life (difficult to foresee at the time when the theory was developed) is considered in the presented analysis as an important turn in the research on old age (Erikson and Erikson Reference Erikson and Erikson1997). J. M. Erikson's suggestion, that it is justified to distinguish a ninth stage in human life, seems therefore reasonable. The question arises, however, whether it is justifiable to add another stage after the crisis of the eighth stage, and describe it as the last one, along with J. M. Erikson's classification. In view of E. H. Eriskson's characteristic of life stages, integrity versus despair is still the crisis of the last stage of life, which becomes the ninth stage of life with the addition of an extra stage. Its virtue is wisdom. Therefore, any questions referring to the ninth stage concern, in fact, stage eight of the new classification (compare with the stage VIII, Figure 1).
The eighth stage of life in E. H. Erikson's theory
The psycho-social development of humans, according to E. H. Erikson, is a process which lasts a lifetime. This theory, based as it is on the epigenetic principle, identifies eight separate stages of development which are characterised by specific psycho-social crises. The first stage is infancy, with the conflict of basic trust versus basic mistrust, and the last stage is late adulthood, in which the achievement of integrity is confronted with despair (Erikson Reference Erikson1963). Throughout its existence, a human being is dependent on three complementary organisational processes:
there is the biological process of the hierarchic organization of organ systems constituting a body (soma); there is the psychic process organizing individual experience by ego synthesis (psyche); and there is the communal process of the cultural organization of the interdependence of persons (ethos). (Erikson Reference Erikson1982: 25–6)
In order to understand Erikson's theory, it is essential to understand the dynamic relationship between the syntonic and dystonic tendencies typical of a given stage of development. In each stage of life, positive feelings are confronted with their ‘dynamic counterpart’, namely negative feelings. The result of the fight between them is, according to Erikson (Reference Erikson1963: 247), a ‘lasting outcome of the “favourable ratios”’, i.e. the strengths or basic virtues, starting with infancy, in which the confrontation between the sense of trust and the sense of mistrust engenders hope, and ending with the period of old age, when, as a result of the struggle between integrity and despair, a human being has the chance to achieve wisdom.
In his book The Life Cycle Completed, Erikson points out the necessity of redefining the role of older people now that reaching old age no longer surprises anyone, and old age has become an ‘averagely expectable’ experience (1982: 63). He defines integrity more synthetically than in his previous publications, where childhood (Erikson Reference Erikson1963) and adolescence (Erikson Reference Erikson1980) were the subject of his scientific investigations. In The Life Cycle Completed, Erikson considers integrity as a ‘sense of coherence and wholeness’, while simultaneously pointing out how this sense is threatened by a ‘loss of linkage’ in the three basic processes of organisation (physical body, psyche, ethos) under terminal conditions.
The threats to integrity that Erikson perceives seem to indicate only the scale of challenges a person faces in the fight for integrity in the last stage of life. These threats do not determine the final result of this fight. It is interesting that, on the one hand, Erikson seems to be aware of the threats and, on the other, open for potential possibilities. What is more, even in view of the historical change concerning the longer life expectancy of humans, he foresees a new meaning of life and a ‘more active anticipation of dying’ (Erikson Reference Erikson1982: 63). The emphasis of wisdom as a strength, which a person gains in his or her struggle with the conflict between integrity and despair in the book The Life Cycle Completed, is considered of particular significance. Erikson defines it as a ‘kind of informed and detached concern with life itself in the face of death itself’ (1982: 61). Recognising the psycho-social crisis of the last stage of life does not mean that one must concentrate exclusively on integrity. This crisis is not about integrity as the ideal state to be achieved (Erikson warned against an ideology of success and focusing only on the positive poles of conflicts), but about the strength of wisdom, the achievement of which is promoted by integrity, but which emerges from the dynamic confrontation of integrity and despair.
Essential from the point of view of old age is the principle of re-experiencing, according to which
the individual is never struggling only with the tension that is focal at the time. Rather, at every successive developmental stage, the individual is also increasingly engaged in the anticipation of tensions that were inadequately integrated when they were focal; similarly engaged are those whose age-appropriate integration was then, but is no longer, adequate. (Erikson, Erikson and Kivnick Reference Erikson, Erikson and Kivnick1986: 39)
For older people undergoing the dynamic struggle of the two opposites – integrity and despair – the most important ways of dealing with this struggle were not reflection, rumination and reminiscence. What was much more important for them was ‘their vital involvement, with life's people, materials, activities, ideas, institutions, and so forth’ (Kivnick and Wells Reference Kivnick and Wells2014: 44).
Erikson's theory is applied by psychologists, sociologists and pedagogues. Special emphasis is laid on its significance in the development not only of psychology but also of other scientific disciplines, both in the past and today (Agronin Reference Agronin2014). Most certainly, the theory needs to be re-interpreted and re-discussed by gerontologists, because it carries, as pointed out by Kivnick and Wells (Reference Kivnick and Wells2014), the promise for engendering a more dynamic interdisciplinarity of gerontology.
The ninth stage of life suggested by Joan M. Erikson
While E. H. Erikson pointed out the necessity to redefine old age, it was J. M. Erikson who opened discussion by describing a ninth crisis in the course of life. She points out that older people in the eighth and ninth decade of life are faced with many problems of everyday life, which are incomparably more difficult than those experienced in the past. According to J. M. Erikson, as one advances into old age, the conflict between syntonic and dystonic elements leads to a prevalence of the dystonic elements. In the ninth developmental stage, it is argued that the previously resolved crisis points are confronted again. The despair in the ninth stage of life is a different experience than the one in the eighth stage, and depends to a large extent on the assessment of one's own life in the eighth stage. It can mean final despair and disgust. At the same time, according to J. M. Erikson, in the ninth stage of life the ability to reflect on one's own life can be lost due to mental disintegration and the loss of the sharpness of the senses, which means that the older person will concentrate on his or her everyday life, regardless of his or her former achievements.
Discussion
J. M. Erikson's suggestion to extend the theory with a ninth stage of life seems justified and in keeping with E. H. Erikson's intuition when pointing out the necessity to redefine old age. It is also consistent with the contemporary research stressing differences between people in their third and fourth age (Baltes and Mayer Reference Baltes and Mayer1999; Baltes et al. Reference Baltes, Mayer, Helmchen and Steinhagen-Thiessen1993).
If there is agreement that there are two crises in old age, in the third and fourth age, respectively, it remained to be resolved which of them is the crisis integrity versus despair, described by E. H. Erikson as the crisis of the eighth stage. It is believed that E. H. Erikson's description of the eighth stage, based on the specificity of the ageing process at the time when the theory was developed, applies to the last stage of life (regardless of the number of stages we differentiate), when people are more often and more evidently confronted with the awareness of the approaching end of their existence. It must also be remembered that in the book Vital Involvement in Old Age (Erikson, Erikson and Kivnick Reference Erikson, Erikson and Kivnick1986), there are suggestions to add a ninth stage to the cycle of life. It is therefore difficult to establish who the originator of the idea of a ninth stage of life really is. It is certain, though, that the description of the ninth stage, as presented by J. M. Erikson after E. H. Erikson's death, is her own.
It is difficult to say how E. H. Erikson would have described the ninth stage. Perhaps he would have developed the idea of ‘some sense or premonition of immortality’. It remains unknown. What is clear is the analysis of earlier thoughts of E. H. Erikson and the discovery of his arguments for or against the definition of a ninth stage therein. J. M. Erikson, however, offers a more in-depth description of the human struggle in the conflict between integrity and despair, with the exception of the progression towards gerotranscendence, as the crisis of the ninth stage. Arguments in defence of this viewpoint are provided by E. H. Erikson himself. Namely when characterising the eighth stage of life, he perceived many of the threats which induced J. M. Erikson to distinguish a ninth stage.
Firstly, according to E. H. Erikson, integrity understood as consistency and completeness under terminal conditions (i.e. allegedly in the ninth decade according to J. M. Erikson), is doubtlessly threatened by disintegration in the three essential spheres of being (physical body, psyche, ethos) (Erikson Reference Erikson1982). It is out of the same conviction that J. M. Erikson writes about new challenges, a change of values and everyday problems in old age, with the difference that for her the range of challenges for the oldest is the basis for the construction of a ninth stage, while for E. H. Erikson this is precisely how the struggle between integrity and despair manifests itself on the way to wisdom in the last life stage. It is interesting that in the book Vital Involvement in Old Age (Erikson, Erikson and Kivnick Reference Erikson, Erikson and Kivnick1986: 37–8) we find an extended definition of wisdom, in comparison with earlier definitions, indicating the possible emergence of the last strength in spite of the limitations in the spheres of physical body and psyche: ‘Wisdom is detached concern with life itself, in the face of death itself. It maintains and learns to convey the integrity of experience, in spite of the decline of bodily and mental functions'. This extension goes all the more to confirm the thesis that the eighth stage as described by E. H. Erikson remains the last stage of life, even if another stage, a ninth stage, is introduced.
Secondly, according to E. H. Erikson, ‘in old age all qualities of the past assume new values that we may well study in their own right and not just in their antecedents – be they healthy or pathological’ (1982: 64). The course of the crisis of the ninth life stage, according to J. M. Erikson, is based on a similar assumption.
Thirdly, E. H. Erikson (Reference Erikson1982), when writing about integrity and despair, points out that in old age (in the eighth life stage), the dystonic element seems more dominant due to the approach of the inevitable end of the cycle of life. Likewise, J. M. Erikson observes: ‘Circumstances may place the dystonic in a more dominant position. Old age is inevitably such a circumstance’ (Erikson and Erikson Reference Erikson and Erikson1997: 106). In her definition of the ninth stage she places the dystonic pole first in order to emphasise its significance and strength.
Another argument in favour of the thesis that the eighth psycho-social crisis of the continuum integrity versus despair defined by E. H. Erikson remains the last crisis, even if an additional stage is introduced in the cycle of life, concerns the connection between the first and last life stages through hope as the first syntonic element which may develop into belief in old age, and despair – the last dystonic element which can be understood as hopelessness. It is not without significance that E. H. Erikson points out the significance of the eighth (last) life stage for stage one.
The final argument, which may be misleading and seem at first in favour of J. M. Erikson's arguments, is the fact that progressive illness makes the preservation of consistency between the three processes of organisation impossible. It needs to be remembered that the assumptions of E. H. Erikson's theory concern a ‘healthy personality’ (1980), so it is difficult to talk about a positive solution of a crisis for people who suffer, for example, from significant cognitive disorders. Other kinds of changes in the physical and mental functioning of a human being mentioned by E. H. Erikson, e.g. memory problems, are the consequence of the human ageing process and bear witness to the drama of human life in the last life stage but do not, as such, exclude the achievement of integrity. Quite the contrary, they stimulate the conflict and create an opportunity to achieve the last, necessary virtue: wisdom. Not without significance for the defence of this viewpoint are the positive qualities observed more and more often by gerontologists, both in the third and in the fourth age (cf. Baltes and Smith Reference Baltes and Smith2003), as well as the conviction of E. H. Erikson (Reference Erikson1982) concerning the potential possibilities enabling a person to deal with a conflict.
Despite the analogies between the ninth life stage according to J. M. Erikson and the eighth life stage according E. H. Erikson, they present an obvious essential difference. According to E. H. Erikson, the strength which can arise from the crisis of stage eight is wisdom. According to J. M. Erikson, it is gerotranscendence. These strengths cannot be equated with each other if we assume that the crisis of stage nine defined by J. M. Erikson represents a more detailed description of E. H. Erikson's definition of stage eight.
In his theory of gerotranscendence, Tornstam suggests that in the final years there occurs a swap in the meta-perspective: from a rational materialistic one to a more cosmic and transcendent one. Although Tornstam identifies wisdom with gerotranscendence, he also considers E. H. Erikson's definition of wisdom vague. He claims that ‘Erikson, without understanding the meta-theoretical shift of paradigm necessary in order to fully comprehend the meaning of gerotranscendence, has come close to it’ (Tornstam Reference Tornstam1989: 60).
The recognition of gerotranscendence by J. M. Erikson (in the meaning of the theory of gerotranscendence by Tornstam Reference Tornstam1989, 1992) as the strength of the last stage may be perceived as a narrowing of the theory of E. H. Erikson, a certain forced restriction of the independence of the individual and a certain kind of turn towards the ideology of success, against which E. H. Erikson warned.
A comparison between gerotranscendence according to Tornstam (Reference Tornstam1992) and wisdom according to E. H. Erikson would, naturally, require a separate discussion, as E. H. Erikson's approach seems to offer more possibilities. The wisdom of the last life stage, connected by E. H. Erikson with a philosophical quality of ritualisation and ethical social ethos, opens a human being to a world of significant existential values. This can, in turn, lead to different ways of ‘life in the world’, even in the face of death itself, not excluding gerotranscendence but also not recognising the necessity to cross the meta-perspective as the only and best way to development in late old age.
Discussing J. M. Erikson's proposal to extend the cycle of life to a ninth stage, reference should be made to the research conducted by C. Brown and M. J. Lowis (Reference Brown and Lowis2003). For the measurement of stage eight, a modified version of the Ego Integrity Scale devised by Lowis and Raubenheimer was used. For the measurement of the ninth stage, an original 20-item questionnaire was constructed, referring verbatim to the statements of Joan Erikson (Erikson and Erikson Reference Erikson and Erikson1997). At the same time, the works of Tornstam were consulted for clarification.
The research by Brown and Lowis (Reference Brown and Lowis2003) revealed that there are grounds for differentiating a ninth stage of life. With regard to stage eight, no differences were noted between the group of participants in their sixties and the ones in their eighties and nineties. As for the ninth stage, the scores for 80- and 90-year-old participants were considerably higher than for participants in their sixties.
Taking into account that life expectancy is longer nowadays, there is a need for further research. People in their sixties and seventies do not yet have to face the challenges connected with the end of life – hence the aforementioned differences – which clearly indicates a need for discussion concerning the ninth life stage. At the same time, there is no explicit support of J. M. Erikson's suggestion, the more so, as the observations with regard to stage nine, selected on the basis of J. M. Erikson's statements, correspond partly to the understanding of the crisis of integrity versus despair according to E. Erikson. An analysis of the statements used by Brown and Lowis (Reference Brown and Lowis2003) for the research of stage nine, such as ‘I have moved beyond the fear of death’; ‘I feel increasingly close to those who have gone before me’; ‘I can accept the changes brought about by aging’; ‘The meaning of life seems more clear to me now’, gives rise to the question of whether these items describe the crisis of integrity versus despair equally well. Likewise, if the existing scales for research of the crisis of integrity versus despair get compared, e.g. the Inventory of Psychosocial Balance (IPB; Domino and Affonso Reference Domino and Affonso1990), some items are very similar to those selected by Brown and Lowis for identification of the crisis of stage nine according to J. M. Erikson: compare ‘There are many things I enjoy in life. Later life has given me a release from the stresses of life’ (IPB; Domino and Affonso Reference Domino and Affonso1990) and ‘I have rediscovered some of the joy and playfulness of my younger days’ (ninth stage by Brown and Lowis Reference Brown and Lowis2003); compare: ‘My religious or spiritual beliefs are stronger now than they have ever been’ (IPB; Domino and Affonso Reference Domino and Affonso1990) and ‘There are new positive spiritual gifts to explore in later life’ (ninth stage by Brown and Lowis Reference Brown and Lowis2003); compare ‘I find little sense in living. I have given serious thought to the meaning of life’ (IPB; Domino and Affonso Reference Domino and Affonso1990) and ‘The meaning of life seems more clear to me now’ (ninth stage by Brown and Lowis Reference Brown and Lowis2003). Even if there are certain differences between the statements, the question arises whether these differences are clearly noticeable for older persons. The results obtained by Brown and Lowis (the difference between the results in the group of people in their sixties and those in their eighties and nineties in the ninth stage) could be interpreted differently if it turned out that part of the items used for the research of the ninth stage could be associated with the last crisis in the theory of E. H. Erikson. Their findings could show that the crisis integrity versus despair takes place no sooner than at the age of 80 or 90, and that the question about the ninth life stage is a question about the (new) eighth stage.
The ninth stage of life – a proposal to modify E. H. Erikson's theory
The increasingly pronounced difference between people in the so-called third and fourth ages on all three processes of organisation (physical body, psyche, ethos) gives rise to questions concerning the ninth life stage. In this article we suggest identifying two psycho-social crises of the old age: one pertaining to the third, the other to the fourth age. If, as assumed by E. H. Erikson, human existence is dependent on complementary processes, then a change in one of the processes may lead to changes in the other two processes. Therefore, changes in the spheres of physical body and psyche (e.g. longer life expectancy, preservation of relatively good health, hidden reserves) should stimulate changes in the social process of the cultural organisation of the interdependence of people (ethos). What E. H. Erikson associated with old age (stage eight) at the time when he developed the theory seems now, in contemporary developed societies, decidedly more applicable to people in the so-called fourth age than to people in the third age. In this case, assuming that the crisis of integrity versus despair constitutes the crisis of stage nine, the crisis of stage eight, which concerns people in the so-called third age, is believed to dominate and fall into a struggle between involvement and resignation (compare with the stage VIII, Figure 1).
The term involvement can be found in the book Vital Involvement in Old Age (Erikson, Erikson and Kivnick Reference Erikson, Erikson and Kivnick1986). According to the authors, vital involvement is necessary throughout one's entire life, at each stage. It depends on the balance between the opposite poles of the conflict, the seemingly contrary syntonic and dystonic dispositions. However, the virtue of wisdom of the last life stage requires ‘truly involved disinvolvement’ (Erikson, Erikson and Kivnick Reference Erikson, Erikson and Kivnick1986: 51). According to the authors, as long as there is no ‘involved disinvolvement’, there is a continuation of care and/or productivity and/or creativity.
The last life stage may be recognised as the one not only involving the continuation of care and/or productivity and/or creativity, but it also is the struggle for a new quality of life. This is a new kind of involvement in life, in which one has to face one's own old age in every dimension: psyche, physical body and ethos. When they retire, older people face completely different challenges to the ones they strove against in stage seven. Even if they succeed in continuing tasks of generativity, they still experience new ways of living in the world or a lack of alternative solutions. They can get involved in life all over again, despite their limitations, beginning with an individual definition of one's old age which, however, will not be free from the cultural pressure of the ideal of old age. Alternatively, they can resign from caring about their life. They can start the ‘battle’ with their own old age, in the sense that they try to find their place in the world, often in defiance of ritualism, following the ethical social ethos, or they can submit, and decide not to change their life.
Before a person takes a decision about involved disinvolvement on the way to wisdom in the last stage of life, they may want to get involved in the increasingly long life they can expect in old age. A well-lived life is also a well-lived old age. However, it must be kept in mind that the psycho-social development of a human being takes place in the context of an essential involvement which ‘requires a self, an outside environment, and a powerful and reciprocal enough interaction that the influence can be truly mutual’ (Kivnick and Wells Reference Kivnick and Wells2014: 46).
Whether contemporary societies are open to the potential of older people involved in life should therefore be the question posed.
A thorough reading of the book Vital Involvement in Old Age reveals that the authors perceive the necessity to approach the increasing diversity concerning individual experience of old age and draw attention to the increase of older people who have become healthier and stronger, the ambiguity of their role, the perspective of many years of unproductive ageing, the hope of older people to become vitally involved in their later years, and the necessity to take appropriate measures so that they will remain an integral part of society in the future. Moreover, the authors observe a difference between early and late old age. They point out the negative social consequences resulting from lack of ideas of how to integrate older people into the social order. All of this seems to indicate that vital involvement in the first period of old age needs to be looked at differently – with more courage and with the belief in the potential of older people, who no longer have to do many things and can still do so much. Thus, a distinction is proposed between two crises in the period of old age. The first concerns the so-called third age and consists of the dynamic balance of involvement and resignation (eighth stage), and the second affects the so-called fourth age and comprises the conflict between integrity and despair (ninth stage) (compare with the stage VIII and the stage IX, Figure 1).
‘Involvement’ can be understood as the choice of one's way of life, aiming at personal development towards the realisation of universal values, in accordance with the ethical dimension of the social ethos, with a sense of acceptance of the changes brought about by the human ageing process. Just as the crisis of integrity versus despair confronts a human being with the end of its existence, the crisis of involvement versus resignation is marked by a confrontation with one's old age in the spheres of physical body, psyche and ethos, where due to the ageing process and the change in circumstances of activity, the changes render the previous ways of life inadequate and require involvement in the form of a search for a new place for oneself. Involvement is not equated with activity, although in some older people it manifests itself in various activities on different levels. Involvement may also be understood as individual formulation of an aim or aims for the future by older people, depending on personal preferences of the individual and the attempt to achieve the aim or aims. This way of thinking may be consistent with other concepts of selective optimisation with compensation (Baltes and Baltes Reference Baltes, Baltes, Baltes and Baltes1990), which assumes that older people can cope with the changes brought about by old age, keeping a positive balance between gains and losses, between increase based on culture and decrease in biological functioning. Making a choice of life aims or lifestyle that are particularly important for a human being (selection) is very important. Just behind it stands the selection of appropriate means and methods that will help achieve the chosen aim (optimalisation). Equally important is the compensation, which should defend from withdrawal from the chosen aim in the situation of loss of means and lack of possibilities. It manifests itself in preserving flexibility and exploring new opportunities to achieve the aims. As a consequence of the chosen strategy, a human being with the appropriate involvement in the realisation of aims important to him or her may lead an effective life irrespective of limiting the scope of their own activity.
‘Resignation’ is understood here as the second pole dynamising the conflict of stage eight, which manifests itself in the fact that the individual neither starts any new activities nor continues the old ones, and at the same time expresses his or her conviction of the senselessness of undertaking any activities for his or her development. This attitude naturally often leads to a negatively judged withdrawal. It is, however, conceivable that there is a kind of withdrawal which is the consequence of a conscious choice and not caused by a sense of resignation. People have the right to narrow the perspective of their own existence to the perspective of the ‘rocking chair’ or ‘watching the world through the window’ if it makes them happy, because it brings them joy to contemplate nature or because they use the time to read a book collection they have built over the years. According to E. H. Erikson, one can ‘be active in a passive manner’ (1982: 89). One can continue to be involved in spite of a certain disengagement. This interpretation helps to explain that resignation is not the same as withdrawal, although some aspects of withdrawal can be a consequence of resignation.
Involvement therefore can, but does not have to, manifest itself in an all-round activity. It can focus on one purpose which is important for the individual. It can constitute the continuation of the creation of objects and ideas (as a result of the value of generativity). It can represent the search for a qualitatively new form of generativity. It can assume different forms of involvement in the present, from contemplation of nature to exploring the world. It can be a search for new challenges or a return to former interests and dreams. The repetition of the word ‘can’ above illustrates the many possible choices for finding one's place in the world which present themselves in the so-called third age in accordance with the ethical dimension of the social ethos and with a sense of acceptance of the changes which constitute the consequence of the human ageing process in the spheres of physical body and psyche.
The dynamism of the crisis of stage eight consists of the struggle between involvement in life and resignation, between the involvement in the creation of one's own life, the completion of one's work and the resignation from life in one's lifetime due to the conviction that life is already over, that it is too late for change. The virtue which can emerge from the constant struggle of an older person between involvement and resignation is courage (compare with the stage VIII, Figure 1). According to E. H. Erikson's theory (1963), each development stage is associated with a virtue, i.e. a kind of strength, possible at the relevant level, which is derived from each respective conflict. In the case of the suggestion concerning the crisis of stage eight, the virtue of stage eight would be courage. Courage only becomes a fundamental, dominating need in the last stage of life, essential for an individual as well as for the whole society.
Involvement in life in the period of old age, when people must face their own biological and mental limitations, their own habits and their environment (which is not always able to accept the decisions of older people concerning their own lives), requires particular courage. Life in old age requires courage; the courage to live in one's unique fashion, even in defiance of social conventions, the courage to find and fulfil oneself, to stand up to discrimination, the courage to change one's life in accordance with acknowledged values, to plan one's future in spite of the shortening time perspective and, on the other hand, the courage to deal with adversities and with the growing limitations in the physical, mental and social spheres. Courage arises from the daily struggle between involvement and resignation. Courage also appears in the ninth life stage when, complemented with wisdom, it enables a human being to face illness, suffering and death, and to come to terms with their own past.
In Figure 1, a diagram of the life stages according to E. H. Erikson including the new proposed stage is presented. The ‘circle of life’ is a commonly used phrase, but the beginning and the end of life can be linked in different ways, without losing the idea but gaining new inspirations. The diagram of the life cycle in the form of an eight can be interpreted as a symbol for the infinity of the cycle of life, in particular with relation to the generational aspect. The central point which inspires the search for an analogy between the crisis of adolescence and the crisis of the first stage of old age is found to be of special interest here. E. H. Erikson's work contains references linking the last stage to the first but also references to the analogies between the period of adolescence and old age.
Figure 1. Diagram of the cycle of life according to E. H. Erikson, in the form of an eight, including the proposed stage VIII, in the case of the cycle of life extended with stage IX.
According to E. H. Erikson (Reference Erikson1963: 242), ‘healthy children will not fear life if their elders have integrity enough not to fear death’. The recognition of two crises in the period of old age would increase this benefit. Children would not be afraid to search for their identity if older people in their families had the courage to live in spite of growing limitations. The courage to express one's individuality in old age is an expression of a complete affirmation of life. The future generations have the chance not to be afraid to have children if they see that after their upbringing they can expect something more than just summing up one's life and preparing for death. The fact that older people realise their dreams, often those dating back to their adolescence, can be of great significance for the young generation. It helps them believe that, if some things cannot be achieved earlier due to the many responsibilities connected with professional life, family or education, there will come a time when it will be possible. With this view in mind, the phrase ‘old age – time to die’ must be replaced with ‘old age – time to live’.
The diagram of the cycle of life presented in Figure 1 illustrates how close youth is to old age. It cannot be ruled out that when people retire, they face problems which are analogical to the ones they dealt with during their adolescence. This crisis can to a certain extent be compared to the crisis of stage five – identity versus role confusion. According to E. H. Erikson, ‘Youth and old age, then, are the times that dream of rebirth, while adulthood is too busy taking care of actual births…’ (1982: 80). In the case of older people, rebirth can be connected with the perspective of the end of their existence but also with the radical change of the life situation in old age. According to E. H. Erikson, ‘adolescence can harbour existential preoccupations of the kind that can “come of age” only in old age’ (1982: 73).
To recapitulate, the current proposal for a modification of E. H. Erikson's theory was inspired by (a) the ideas of E. H. Erikson contained mainly in the book The Life Cycle Completed (1982), (b) by J. M. Erikson's suggestion to amend E. H. Erikson's theory with the addition of a ninth stage (Erikson and Erikson Reference Erikson and Erikson1997) and (c) by the psycho-social experiences of old age portrayed in the book Vital Involvement in Old Age (Erikson, Erikson and Kivnick Reference Erikson, Erikson and Kivnick1986). The presented proposal of courage as the force/virtue of old age leads to the conception of geragogy of courage. Geragogy of courage, based on E. H. Erikson's theory, will hopefully allow new applications in gerontological education and in social work with older people.
In the twenty-first century, older people more and more boldly demand recognition of their place in the world. Adequate education in terms of the coming changes is in demand in order to support the development of older people. It is therefore the task of geragogy, referred to as geragogy of courage here, to prepare people for a courageous approach to old age. The preparation translates into freeing people from all forms of domination, helping older people achieve the ideal of emancipation, focusing on the process of personal development much more than on the process of socialisation, recognising their right to be integrated in different areas of life, as well as the right to activity, making people aware of the diversity of old age and the right of older people to self-determination and, finally, help them with re-experiencing their life.
The world is changing right before our eyes and we are behaving as if everything had to be as it was in the past. Many of the former ways of life in the world have ceased to apply. The conventional threshold of retirement is believed to be one of the strongest cultural mechanisms of resignation, which makes the conflict between involvement and resignation more dramatic, in this way fostering resignation. Arguably, a new ideal of old age is needed, because, as E. H. Erikson wrote, ‘Lacking a culturally viable ideal of old age, our civilisation does not really harbor a concept of the whole of life’ (Erikson and Erikson Reference Erikson and Erikson1997: 114). Society needs the courage of older people and their involvement in the ethical preservation of the world. One of the tasks of geragogy of courage is, therefore, to alert older people to their responsibility for filling the space of freedom they have gained and for creating a new, more promising ideal of old age. Otherwise, various social reformers will come and say what is best for older people, without asking the people concerned for their opinion.
