Chickering's and Erikson's Theories of Student Development Higher Education Understanding student development is a very important part of student affairs. Theories of student development can assist student development officials in understanding students. One type of theory that is particularly helpful to student affairs officials is psychosocial theories. Psychosocial theories of college student development address such issues as how people define themselves, how they define their relationships with others, and how they decide what they want …showed first 75 words of 1508 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1508 total…the basis for new theories. Perhaps the theories are the most similar in that they both believe student development is very important and both theories seek to help describe, predict and explain student behavior. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography** References Chickering, A. W. (1969). Education and Identity. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Chickering, A. W. & Reisser, L. (1993). Education and Identity, Second Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Erikson, E. H. (1959). Identity and the Life Cycle. New York: International Universities Press, Inc.