Mrs. dillon had been a teacher in the local public school system for more than 40 years. now retired, she finds herself wondering why she ever took up teaching, and thinking about how she wasted the best years of her life trying to teach ungrateful and lazy students. she wishes that she had chosen another profession when she was younger. according to erikson's theory, mrs. dillon is probably experiencing:

The correct answer is despair.

According to Erikson's theory of psychosocial development, Mrs. Dillon is in the eighth and final stage of psychosocial development known as Ego Integrity vs Despair. During this stage of development, individuals aged 60 years and above either experience a sense of contentment and satisfaction when looking back at their life and contribution to the world, or they experience a sense of regret and lack of fulfillment because they have not accomplished what they hoped to.