Participation in activities and use of language sets the stage for initiative. If parents and teachers take time to answer questions, tendencies toward initiative will be encouraged. If children are made to feel that their activities and questions have no point or are a nuisance, they will feel guilty about acting on their own. Psychosocial attitude is that of producing things. Behavior is dominated by intellectual curiosity and performance.
Child learns to win recognition by producing things.
If child is encouraged to make and do things well, helped to persevere, allowed to finish tasks, and praised for trying, industry results. If child's efforts are unsuccessful or if they are treated as bothersome, a feeling of inferiority results. Children who feel inferior may never learn to enjoy intellectual work and take pride in doing at least one kind of thing really well. Worst case, they may believe they will never excel at anything. If they are unable to establish a sense of stability in various aspects of their lives, role confusion results.