Editing Developmental psychology (section)

=== Indian model of human development ===
An example of a [[non-Western]] model for development stages is the Indian model, focusing a large amount of its psychological research on morality and interpersonal progress. The developmental stages in Indian models are founded by Hinduism, which primarily teaches stages of life in the process of someone discovering their fate or [[Dharma]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last=Kakar |first=Sudhir |date=1968 |title=The Human Life Cycle: The Traditional Hindu View and the Psychology of Erik Erikson |journal=Philosophy East and West |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=127–136 |doi=10.2307/1398255 |jstor=1398255 }}</ref> This cross-cultural model can add another perspective to psychological development in which the West behavioral sciences have not emphasized kinship, ethnicity, or religion.<ref name=":03" />

Indian psychologists study the relevance of attentive families during the early stages of life. The early life stages conceptualize a different parenting style from the West because it does not try to rush children out of dependency. The family is meant to help the child grow into the next developmental stage at a particular age. This way, when children finally integrate into society, they are interconnected with those around them and reach [[Sannyasa|renunciation]] when they are older. Children are raised in joint families so that in early childhood (ages 6 months to 2 years) the other family members help gradually wean the child from its mother. During ages 2 to 5, the parents do not rush toilet training. Instead of training the child to perform this behavior, the child learns to do it as they mature at their own pace.
 
This model of early human development encourages dependency, unlike Western models that value autonomy and independence. By being attentive and not forcing the child to become independent, they are confident and have a sense of belonging by late childhood and adolescence. This stage in life (5–15 years) is also when children start education and increase their knowledge of Dharma.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rangaswami |first=K. |date=1992 |title=Indian Model of Stages in Human Development and Developmental Tasks |journal=Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=77–82 |doi=10.1177/0975156419920112 |doi-access=free }}</ref> It is within early and middle adulthood that we see moral development progress. Early, middle, and late adulthood are all concerned with caring for others and fulfilling Dharma. The main distinction between early adulthood to middle or late adulthood is how far their influence reaches. Early adulthood emphasizes the importance of fulfilling the immediate family needs, until later adulthood when they broaden their responsibilities to the general public. The old-age life stage development reaches renunciation or a complete understanding of Dharma.<ref name=":12" />

The current mainstream views in the psychological field are against the Indian model for human development. The criticism against such models is that the parenting style is overly protective and encourages too much dependency. It focuses on interpersonal instead of individual goals. Also, there are some overlaps and similarities between Erikson's stages of human development and the Indian model but both of them still have major differences. The West prefers Erickson's ideas over the Indian model because they are supported by scientific studies. The life cycles based on Hinduism are not as favored, because it is not supported with research and it focuses on the ideal human development.<ref name=":12" />