Concept
Basic trust
The first achievement of Erikson's life cycle: the infant's sense, grounded in the reliable care of the mother or other caregiver, that the world and one's own body can be relied upon. It is won in the crisis of basic trust versus basic mistrust during the first year, yields the basic strength of hope, and in Erikson's view underlies all later development, with religion as the institution that safeguards it in a society.
- Broader concept
- Psychosocial development
- Introduced by
- Erik Erikson
- Key works
- 1
introduced by
- Erik Erikson 1950 Basic trust versus basic mistrust is the first of the eight ages in Childhood and Society, where Erikson treats the infant's trust as the cornerstone of a healthy personality.