Career consolidation

Career consolidation is a stage of adult development which involves "expanding one's personal identity to assume a social identity within the world of work.

"[1] This stage was developed by George Vaillant in 1977 and added to Erikson's stages of psychosocial development, between intimacy vs. isolation and generativity vs.

[5] To transform a job or hobby into a career, Vaillant argues that four criteria are necessary: contentment, compensation, competence, and commitment.

[1] Adult Development has demonstrated that intimacy, career consolidation, and generativity are mastered in the order stated, which is the case for both men and women.

[5] Likewise, in order for one to care for others (generativity), they should first love their work (career consolidation).