He said an important sign of wisdom was generativity , a term used by the psychologist Erik Erikson , who developed an influential theory on stages of the human life span .
In the final years of life , Even the simple activities of daily living may present difficulty and conflict , Joan Erikson wrote in an expanded version of her husband \'s book , The Life Cycle Completed .
Dr. Goleman interviewed Erikson , along with his wife , Joan , in the late 1980s , when both were in their 80s . Erikson \'s theory of human development had initially included eight stages , from infancy to old age .
