Erikson Reviewer - Theories of Personality PDF

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ERIKSON: POST-FREUDIAN THEORY Overview of Erikson's Post-Freudian Theory Erikson postulated eight stages of psychosocial development through which people progress. Although he differed from Freud in his emphasis on the ego and on social influences, his theory is an extension, not a repudiation, of Freudian psychoanalysis. What is the difference between Freud and Erikson? Freud's psychosexual theory emphasizes the importance of basic needs and biological forces, while Erikson's psychosocial theory is based upon social and environmental factors. Erikson also expands his theory into adulthood, while Freud's theory ends at an earlier period. Biography of Erik Erikson When Erik Erikson was born in Germany in 1902 his name was Erik Salomonsen. After his mother married Theodor Homburger, Erik eventually took his step-father's name. At age 18 he left home to pursue the life of a wandering artist and to search for self-identity. He gave up that life to teach young children in Vienna, where he met Anna Freud. While in Vienna, Erikson met and married Joan Serson, a Canadian-born dancer, artist, and teacher who had also undergone psychoanalysis. The Eriksons had four children: sons Kai, Jon, and Neil, and daughter Sue. Still searching for his personal identity, he was psychoanalyzed by Ms. Freud, an experience that allowed him to become a psychoanalyst. Erikson sought his identity through the myriad changes of jobs and places of residence. Lacking any academic credentials, he had no specific professional identity and was variously known as an artist, a psychologist, a psychoanalyst, a clinician, a professor, a cultural anthropologist, an existentialist, a psychobiographer, and a public intellectual. In mid-life, Erik Homburger moved to the United States, changed his name to Erikson, and took a position at the Harvard Medical School. Later, he taught at Yale, the University of California at Berkeley, and several other universities. He died in 1994, a month short of his 92nd birthday. While undergoing analytic treatment, he stressed to Anna Freud that his most difficult problem was searching for the identity of his biological father. However, Ms. Freud was less than empathic and told Erikson that he should stop fantasizing about his absent father. Although Erikson usually obeyed his psychoanalyst, he could not take Freud’s advice to stop trying to learn his father’s name. This early experience helped spark his interest in the formation of identity. He would later explain that as a child he often felt confused about who he was and how he fit into his community. His post-Freudian theory extended Freud’s infantile developmental stages into adolescence, adulthood, and old age. Erikson suggested that at each stage a specific psychosocial struggle contributes to the formation of personality. From adolescence on, that struggle takes the form of an identity crisis—a turning point in one’s life that may either strengthen or weaken personality. The Ego in Post-Freudian Psychology One of Erikson's chief contributions to personality theory was his emphasis on ego rather than id functions. According to Erikson, the ego is the center of personality and is responsible for a unified sense of self, a sense of “I”. It consists of three interrelated facets: the body ego, the ego ideal, and ego identity. The body ego refers to experiences with our body; a way of seeing our physical self as different for other people. We may be satisfied or dissatisfied with the way our body looks and functions, but we recognize that it is the only body we will ever have. The ego ideal represents the image we have of ourselves in comparison with an established ideal; it is responsible for our being satisfied or dissatisfied not only with our physical self but with our entire personal identity. Ego identity is the image we have of ourselves in the variety of social roles we play. Although adolescence is ordinarily the time when these three components are changing

most rapidly, alterations in body ego, ego ideal, and ego identity can and do take place at any stage of life.

Society's Influence The ego develops within a given society and is influenced by child-rearing practices and other cultural customs. All cultures and nations develop a pseudospecies, or a fictional notion that they are superior to other cultures. In past centuries, this belief has aided the survival of the tribe, but with modern means of world annihilation, such a prejudiced perception (as demonstrated by Nazi Germany) threatens the survival of every nation. For example, Erikson (1963) found that prolonged and permissive nursing of infants of the Sioux nation (sometimes for as long as 4 or 5 years) resulted in what Freud would call “oral” personalities: that is, people who gain great pleasure through functions of the mouth. Erikson (1968, 1974) argued that historically all tribes or nations, including the United States, have developed what he called a pseudospecies. Epigenetic Principle The ego develops according to the epigenetic principle; that is, it grows according to a genetically established rate and in a fixed sequence. Epigenetic development implies a step-by-step growth of fetal organs. In similar fashion, the ego follows the path of epigenetic development, with each stage developing at its proper time. One stage emerges from and is built upon a previous stage, but it does not replace that earlier stage. This epigenetic development is analogous to the physical development of children, who crawl before they walk, walk before they run, and run before they jump. Stages of Psychosocial Development Each of the eight stages of development is marked by a conflict between a syntonic (harmonious) element and a dystonic (disruptive) element, which produces a basic strength or ego quality. Also, from adolescence on, each stage is characterized by an identity crisis or turning point, which may produce either adaptive or maladaptive adjustment. Definition  Epigenetic principle of maturation – The idea that human development is governed by a sequence of stages that depend on genetic or hereditary factors.  Crisis – To Erikson, the turning point faced at each developmental stage.  Basic Strength – To Erikson, motivating characteristics and belief that derive from the satisfactory resolution of the crisis at each developmental stage.  Ego identity – The self-image formed during adolescence that integrates our ideas of what we are and what we want to be.  Identity crisis – The failure to achieve ego identity during adolescence. Infancy Erikson's view of infancy (the first year of life) was similar to Freud's concept of the oral stage, except that Erikson expanded the notion of incorporation beyond the mouth to include sense organs such as the eyes and ears. The psychosexual mode of infancy is oral sensory, which is characterized by both receiving and accepting. The psychosocial crisis of infancy is basic trust versus basic mistrust. From the crisis between basic trust and basic mistrust emerges hope, the basic strength of infancy. Infants who do not develop hope retreat from the world, and this withdrawal is the core pathology of infancy. Early Childhood The second to third year of life is early childhood, a period that compares to Freud's anal stage, but it also includes mastery of other body functions such as walking, urinating, and holding. The psychosexual mode of early childhood is anal-urethral-muscular, and children of this age behave both impulsively and compulsively. The psychosocial crisis of early childhood is autonomy versus shame and doubt. The psychosocial crisis between autonomy on the one hand and shame and doubt on the other produces will, the basic strength of early childhood. The core pathology of early childhood is compulsion. Play Age From about the third to the fifth year, children experience the play age, a period that parallels Freud's phallic phase. Unlike Freud, however, Erikson saw the Oedipus complex

as an early model of lifelong playfulness and a drama played out in children's minds as

they attempt to understand the basic facts of life. The primary psychosexual mode of the play age is genital locomotor, meaning that children have both an interest in genital activity and an increasing ability to move around. The psychosocial crisis of the play age is initiative versus guilt. The conflict between initiative and guilt helps children to act with purpose and to set goals. But if children have too little purpose, they develop inhibition, the core pathology of the play age. School Age The period from about 6 to 12 or 13 years of age is called the school age, a time of psychosexual latency, but it is also a time of psychosocial growth beyond the family. Because sexual development is latent during the school age, children can use their energies to learn the customs of their culture, including both formal and informal education. The psychosocial crisis of this age is industry versus inferiority. Children need to learn to work hard, but they also must develop some sense of inferiority. From the conflict of industry and inferiority emerges competence, the basic strength of school age children. Lack of industry leads to inertia, the core pathology of this stage. Adolescence Adolescence begins with puberty and is marked by a person's struggle to find ego identity. It is a time of psychosexual growth, but it is also a period of psychosocial latency. The psychosexual mode of adolescence is puberty or genital maturation. The psychosocial crisis of adolescence is identity versus identity confusion. Psychologically healthy individuals emerge from adolescence with a sense of who they are and what they believe; but some identity confusion is normal. The conflict between identity and identity confusion produces fidelity, or faith in some ideological view of the future. Lack of belief in one's own selfhood results in role repudiation, or an inability to bring together one's various self-images. Young Adulthood Young adulthood begins with the acquisition of intimacy at about age 18 and ends with the development of generativity at about age 30. The psychosexual mode of young adulthood is genitality, which is expressed as mutual trust between partners in a stable sexual relationship. Its psychosocial crisis is intimacy versus isolation. Intimacy is the ability to fuse one's identity with that of another without fear of losing it; whereas isolation is the fear of losing one's identity in an intimate relationship. The crisis between intimacy and isolation results in the capacity to love. The core pathology of young adulthood is exclusivity, or inability to love. Adulthood The period from about 31 to 60 years of age is adulthood, a time when people make significant contributions to society. The psychosexual mode of adulthood is procreativity, or the caring for one's children, the children of others, and the material products of one's society. The psychosocial crisis of adulthood is generativity versus stagnation, and the successful resolution of this crisis results in care. Erikson saw care as taking care of the persons and products that one has learned to care for. The core pathology of adulthood is rejectivity, or the rejection of certain individuals or groups that one is unwilling to take care of. Old Age The final stage of development is old age, from about age 60 until death. The psychosexual mode of old age is generalized sensuality; that is, taking pleasure in a variety of sensations and an appreciation of the traditional lifestyle of people of the other gender. The psychosocial crisis of old age is the struggle between integrity (the maintenance of ego-identity) and despair (the surrender of hope). The struggle between integrity and despair may produce wisdom (the basic strength of old age), but it may also lead to disdain (a core pathology marked by feelings of being finished or helpless). Basic Weakness Similar to the way basic strength arise at each stage of psychosocial development, so may basic weakness – the motivating characteristics that derive from the unsatisfactory resolution of developmental crises.

Erikson coined the term “maldevelopment” – a condition that occurs when the ego consists solely of a single way of coping with conflict. When only the positive, adaptive, tendency is present in the ego, the condition is said to be “maladaptive”. When only the negative tendency is present, the condition is “malignant”. Maladaptations can lead to neuroses; malignancies can lead to psychoses. Erikson believed that both conditions could be corrected through psychotherapy. Maladaptions, which are the less severe disturbances, can also be relieved through a process of re-adaptation, aided by environmental changes, supportive social relationships, or successful adaptation at a later developmental stage. Questions about Human Nature A personality theorist who delineates basic human strengths presents an optimistic view of human nature. Erikson believed that although not everyone is successful in attaining hope, purpose, wisdom, and the other virtues, we all have the potential to do so. Nothing in our nature prevents it. Nor must we inevitably suffer conflict, anxiety, and neurosis because of instinctual biological forces. Erikson’s theory allows for optimism because each stage of psychosocial growth, although centered on a crisis, offers the possibility of a positive outcome. We are capable of resolving each situation in a way that is both adaptive and strengthening. Even if we fail at one stage and develop a maladaptive response or a basic weakness, there is hope for change at a later stage. In general, Erikson believed that personality is affected more by learning and experience than by heredity. Psychosocial experiences, not instinctual biological forces, are the greater determinant. Our ultimate, overriding goal is to develop a positive ego identity that incorporates all the basic strengths. Assessment in Erikson’s Theory Erikson agreed with certain of Freud’s theoretical formulations, but he differed from Freud in his methods of assessing personality. Erikson questioned the usefulness and even the safety of some Freudian techniques, beginning with the psychoanalytic couch. In dealing with his patients, Erikson relied less on formal assessment techniques than Freud. Erikson occasionally used free association but rarely attempted to analyze dreams, a technique he called wasteful and harmful. He believed that assessment techniques should be selected and modified to fit the unique requirements of the individual patient. Erikson's Methods of Investigation Erikson relied mostly on anthropology, psychohistory, and play therapy to explain and describe human personality. Anthropological Studies Erikson's two most important anthropological studies were of the Sioux of South Dakota and the Yurok tribe of northern California. Both studies demonstrated his notion that culture and history help shape personality. Psychohistory Erikson used the framework of his life-span theory of personality to describe the crises and the ways of coping of significant political, religious, and literary figures, such as Gandhi, Martin Luther, and George Bernard Shaw. In those cases, the central figure experienced an identity crisis that produced a basic strength rather than a core pathology. Erikson (1974) defined psychohistory as “the study of individual and collective life with the combined methods of psychoanalysis and history”. He used psychohistory to demonstrate his fundamental beliefs that each person is a product of his or her historical time and that those historical times are influenced by exceptional leaders experiencing a personal identity conflict. Play Therapy For work with emotionally disturbed children and in research on normal children...