Adulthood and Old Age Nostalgic Reactions to Earlier Decisions on Marriage, Education, Parental Advice and Career Decisions: a Review of Erikson’s Theory of Personality Development

Abstract

The research set out to investigate further, Erikson’s theory of personality aspect of progressive resolution of conflicts
at adulthood and old age, in relation to the Nigerian environment. The focus was nostalgic reactions to major education pursuit,
vocation, marriage and parental advice. It adopted the descriptive survey design and it was guided by four research hypotheses.
Questionnaire was used as the instrument for data collection and it was administered to 384 respondents in a population of
about 600,000. The data collected were analysed using the t-test statistics. The results agreed with Erikson’s theory as it
relates to life journey at adulthood and old age. There were indications of nostalgia to early life decisions on education, vocation,
marriage and adherence to parental advice. Possible explanation for the direction of response of participants was discussed
and recommendations were made. The recommendations were that issues relating to adulthood and old age be made part of
the secondary school curriculum, and that issues of marriage be included as part of the curriculum for freshmen at the
University.