Levinson is most well known for his theory of stage-crisis view, however he also made major contributions to the fields of behavioral, social, and developmental psychology.

[1] Greatly influenced by the work of Erik Erikson, Elliott Jaques, and Bernice Neugarten, his stage-crisis view sought to incorporate all aspects of adult development in order to establish a more holistic approach to understanding the life cycle.

[2][3] Although much controversy surrounds his research methods, Levinson interviewed both men and women to uncover concrete patterns that occur within similar age ranges.

[4] Being both simple in nature and open to further investigation, Daniel Levinson's legacy and lasting contributions are mainly to theory and entail profound implications for social as well as behavioral psychology.

[1] While at Harvard, Levinson worked with colleagues including Erik Erikson, Robert White, Talcott Parsons, Gordon Allport, and Alex Inkeles.

Following this, he conducted a similar study for women, and wrote The Seasons of a Woman’s Life shortly before his death in New Haven, Connecticut, on April 12, 1994.

[5] Levinson created his theory of stage-crisis view by conducting extensive interviews of men and women aged 35 to 45 and looking for common patterns throughout their lives.

[4] From his research, Levinson described specific stages of life from childhood to old age, each of which he suggested has a developmental task or crisis that needs to be resolved.

Levinson studied men and women who were all in the same age group, making his results and conclusions subject to cohort effects.

[2] Levinson believed that the main difference between men and women was “The Dream,” which refers to one’s vision for his or her future life, including goals and desires.