Fourteen-year-old Greg has begun to challenge many of his parents' values and to express his own set of highly idealistic standards. Compare and contrast the explanations for Greg’s behavior that would be given by Kohlberg and by Erikson.

Erik Erikson and Lawrence Kohlberg are brilliant psychologists who  propounded very relevant theories of psychological development.

Erikson categorized the development of humans in various stages. These stages happen at various ages. In order words, when a child got to a particular age, he or she would or should exhibit certain behaviors. If they didn't, the reason should be investigated as this would help to ensure they developed normally.

The question states that Greg is 14 years.

According to Erikson, Greg is currently at the fifth stage of development which is characterized by confusion between ones role and identity. It means that in challenging his parents' values he is searching for a sense of identity. He is questioning the purpose behind the standards that he is being held to. He is looking to establish his identity and a sense of independence.

While Erikson's' stages of development are 8 in number, Kohlberg, on the other hand, proposed 6 stages of development all of which are based on ethical behavior and moral reasoning. These 6 stages can also be grouped into three.

So according to Kohlberg, Greg is at the Post Conventional level of development. Generally speaking, this level is characterized by a growing understanding that the society and individuals are separate or distinct entities and as a result, that one's point of view is equally as important as the society's view and might even be superior to that of the society. At this stage, adolescents or young adults are most likely to break rules incompatible with their understanding of how principles should work.  

The Conventional Level of Development is categorized into

Stage 5 (Socially Driven Behavior) and

Stage 6 (Universal ethical principles driven behavior)

One similarity between Eriksons' view and that of Kohlberg is that both of them seem to agree that a time would come in a persons development when they would seek self-assertion, question the purpose of principles, and reality as they perceive and identify themselves as distinct from their environment.

One major difference is that Kohlberg postulates that not everyone can attain all the levels of development. Erikson has no such ideas. Another difference is that Erikson believes that psychological development is age specific. Kohlberg simply puts everyone in the various categories based on their current behavior.

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