Personality Psych Exam 2

What is Erikson's theory of psychosocial development focused on?

The integration of biological and psychosocial forces in personality functioning, especially during developmental crises.

How does Erikson's view of the ego differ from Freud's?

Erikson sees the ego as a powerful agency that helps resolve inner conflicts and environmental challenges that ultimately promotes health, while Freud views the ego as weak compared to the id.

What is the main focus of ego psychology?

The development of a strong ego identity as individuals resolve the crises inherent in the developmental process.

What is the epigenetic principle in Erikson's theory?

It states that human development occurs in a genetically determined sequence of stages that is universal and unfolds in a predetermined order.

Erikson maintained that personality develops in a predetermined order through eight stages of psychosocial development, from infancy to adulthood.

Why does Erikson describe developmental crises as psychosocial?

Because they involve psychological needs of the individual which conflict with the needs of society.

According to Erikson, when does psychosocial/ego development occur?

Throughout the entire lifetime.

What does Erikson call the critical points in development?

Crises.

What results from successfully completing each stage in Erikson's theory?

A healthy personality and the acquisition of basic virtues.

What happens through the positive resolution of each crises?

1) Positive resolution of each crises = strengthening of the ego.

2) Positive resolution in one stage increases the chances of positive resolution in later stages.

What happens if a stage in Erikson's psychosocial development is not successfully completed?

It can lead to a reduced ability to complete further stages, resulting in an unhealthy personality and sense of self.

*however, stages can be resolved successfully at a later time.**

What are basic virtues in Erikson's theory?

Characteristic strengths that the ego uses to resolve future crises.

What does ego strength refer to in Erikson's theory?

Ego strength = virtues

Virtues are the human qualities or strengths that emerge from successfully resolving crises at various developmental stages.

What is the first stage of Erikson's psychosocial development?

Oral-sensory stage: Basic trust versus Mistrust, occurring in the first year of life.

What is the ego strength associated with the oral-sensory stage?

Hope.

What does an infant gain by developing a sense of trust in the first year of life?

Hope that as new crises arise, other people will be there as a source of support.

What is the infant's perspective on the world during the oral-sensory stage?

The infant is uncertain about the world and looks to their primary caregiver for stability and consistent care.

What happens if the infant receives consistent, predictable, and reliable care?

They develop a sense of trust that carries over to other relationships, allowing them to feel secure even when threatened.

What happens if the infant's needs are not consistently met?

Mistrust, suspicion, and anxiety may develop.

How does mistrust affect the infant?

The infant will not have confidence in the world around them or in their ability to influence events.

What is the main issue during the muscular-anal stage?

Autonomy Versus Shame and Doubt.

2nd and 3rd years of life.

Children at this stage are focused on developing a sense of personal control over physical skills and a sense of independence.

In the muscular-anal stage, what do children begin to assert?

During this stage children begin to assert their independence, by walking away from their mother, picking which toy to play with, and making choices about what they like to wear, to eat, etc.

What is the main issue in muscular-anal stage?

toilet training, as it forces children to obey and leads to conflict of wills.

Autonomy and self-control takes place in the muscular-anal stage if...

if parents guide children's behavior gradually yet firmly. If to harsh and demanding, shame and doubt occurs.

What ego strength develops during the muscular-anal stage?

Will: a gradual increase in the power to exercise

judgment and decision.

When does the virtue of will develop?

The virtue of Will develops if children in this stage are

encouraged and supported in their increased independence, they become more confident and secure in their own ability to survive in the world.

What happens if children are criticized, overly controlled, or not given the

opportunity to assert themselves?

They begin to feel inadequate in their ability to survive, and may then become overly dependent upon others, lack self esteem, and feel a sense of shame or doubt in their abilities.

What is the third stage of Erikson's psychosocial development?

Locomotor-genital stage: Initiative versus guilt, occurring at ages 4 and 5.

Children assert themselves more frequently through

directing play and other social interaction.

What happens to initiative during Locomotor-genital stage?

Initiative is sparked, and children become more curious about others and can now locomote more freely.

What psychological conflict related to parents occurs in the Initiative vs. Guilt stage?

The Oedipus complex, where the child desires the opposite-sex parent and feels rivalry toward the same-sex parent.

What do children begin to do in the Locomotor-genital stage? What happens when they're given the opportunity?

Children begin to plan activities, make up games, and initiate activities with others. If given this opportunity, children develop a sense of initiative and feel secure in their ability to lead others and make decisions.

What happens if this tendency is squelched?

If this tendency is squelched, either through criticism or control, children develop a sense of guilt. Too much guilt can make the child slow to interact with others and may inhibit their creativity.

Some guilt is, of course, necessary; other wise the child would not know how to exercise self-control or have a conscience.

How does guilt develop?

Parental response determines the outcome. If over-punished or over-criticized, guilt develops. With understanding and redirection, ego strength development.

What is the ego strength of Locomotor-genital stage?

purpose: thinking big, identifying with parents, and beginning a new set of life goals.

What is the fourth stage of Erikson's psychosocial development?

Latency stage: Industry versus inferiority, occurring between ages 6 and 12.

Lull in sexual desires and focus turns from the home to school life.

How do peers and self-esteem develop in the latency stage?

The child's peer group will gain greater significance and will become a major source of the child's self-esteem. The child now strives for a sense of accomplishment and self-esteem based on the values of society.

What is the ego strength in this stage and how is it developed?

Ego strength: Competence.

If children are encouraged and reinforced for their initiative, they begin to feel industrious (competent) and feel confident in their ability to achieve goals.

What happens if a child is not encouraged, and is failure ever necessary?

If their initiative is not encouraged, if it is restricted by parents or teachers, then the child begins to feel inferior, doubting their own abilities, and therefore may not reach their potential.

Some failure may be necessary so that the child can develop modesty. Again, a balance between competence and modesty is necessary.

What is the important event in the Latency stage according to Erikson, and how does it impact development?

The important event at this stage is attendance at school.

- As a student, the children have a need to be productive and do work on their own. They are both physically and mentally ready for it. Interaction with peers at school also plays an imperative role of child development in this stage.

How does Erikson's theory view the resolution of crises?

Crises can be resolved successfully at a later time, not just during the designated stage.

What is the fifth stage of Erikson's psychosocial development?

Adolescence: Identity versus role confusion, ages 13 - 19.

What is the adolescence stage?

Major stage of development where the child has to learn the roles he will occupy as an adult. It is during this stage that the adolescent will re-examine their identity and try to find out exactly who they are.

Also:

1) Have a growing sense of self-identity, though strongly

depends on past stages.

2) Adolescents search for a sense of self and personal identity through an intense exploration of personal values, beliefs, and goals.

What is identity in adolescence?

multifaceted concept that involves knowing who you are and where you are going, as well as what you are not and do not want to be, the unified sense of self as uniquely different from others.

What are the two identities involved in the adolescence stage?

Sexual identity and occupational identity.

What is something normal that occurs during the adolescence stage?

Identity crisis

What is an identity crisis?

A developmental turning point during adolescence where choices need to be made in various areas of life such as career, relationships/mate, and ideology.

Identity crisis is a ___________.

Moratorium: time of exploration during adolescence filled with role confusion as they actively consider life goals and alternatives in their attempts to arrive at decisions.

Experienced during the identity crisis.

Role confusion

concern for who they are and what they will become.

What is the ego strength associated with the adolescence stage?

Fidelity: a sense of loyalty and commitment. According to Erikson, fidelity involves being able to commit oneself to others, on the basis of accepting others, even when there may be ideological differences.

The ability to sustain loyalties to friends and coworkers

freely pledged in spite of the inevitable contradictions

of value systems.

What can result from an unresolved identity crisis?

Negative identity; leading to scorn and hostility toward offered roles, loyalties to those who are destructive to themselves.

Erikson believed pressuring someone into an identity can result in what?

Can result in rebellion in the form of establishing a negative identity, and in addition to this feeling of unhappiness

What is the sixth stage of Erikson's psychosocial development?

Young adulthood: Intimacy versus isolation, ages 20 - 24.

What is the major conflict during young adulthood?

Forming intimate, loving relationships.

We explore relationships leading toward longer-term commitments with someone other than a family member.

What does intimacy involve according to Erikson?

The ability to establish close relationships and abide by commitments, to abide by commitments with significant

compromises and sacrifices necessary.

What happens during the successful completion of Young Adulthood stage

result in happy relationships and a sense of commitment, safety, and care within a relationship.

Gain the Ego strength: Love

Without a healthy capacity for intimacy comes a sense of what?

isolation: the inability to take chances with one’s

identity by showing true intimacy. Involves a fear of

commitment which leads to loneliness, and sometimes

depression.

What is the ego strength associated with young adulthood?

Love.

What is the seventh stage of Erikson's psychosocial development?

Middle adulthood: Generativity versus stagnation, ages 25 - 64.

What does generativity refer to?

Making your mark on the world through creating or nurturing things that will outlast an individual. It's the process of establishing and/or enhancing a creative and productive career and of being concerned with ensuring the well-being of the next generation.

During middle-age, individuals experience a need to what?

Need to create or nurture things that will outlast them, often having mentees, or creating positive changes that will benefit other people.

What can lead to stagnation in middle adulthood?

Lack of productivity, boredom, and interpersonal impoverishment.

What is the ego strength associated with middle adulthood?

Care.

How do we give back to society and develop generativity?

We give back to society through raising our children, being productive at work, and becoming involved in community activities and organizations. Through generativity, we develop a sense of being part of the bigger picture.

What are the outcomes of success or failure in generativity?

Success leads to feelings of usefulness and accomplishment, while failure results in shallow involvement in the world.

What happens to individuals who fail to find a way to contribute?

They become stagnant, feel unproductive, and may feel disconnected or uninvolved with their community and society as a whole.

What is the final stage of Erikson's psychosocial development?

Late adulthood: Ego Integrity versus despair, ages 65 to death.

What occurs during late adulthood?

It is during this time that we contemplate our accomplishments and can develop integrity if we see ourselves as leading a successful life.

- Intense reflection, reminiscence, and recollections.

What is ego integrity?

in the elderly, feeling their lives had positive meaning and have been worth living.

What is despair?

negative outcome involving fear of death, see lives as failures, unable to rectify mistakes do to lack of time remaining

What happens if individuals see their lives as unproductive according to Erikson?

feel guilt about our past, or feel that we did not accomplish our life goals, then we become dissatisfied with life and develop despair, often leading to depression and hopelessness.

What is ego strength in Erikson's theory?

Wisdom: detached concern with life itself in the face of death, life is put into perspective, with acceptance and a deeper insight into one’s own and other’s motives and behavior and having empathy, sympathy and compassion for others.

Wisdom enables a person to look back on their life with a sense of closure and completeness and accept death without fear.

How do wise people experience late life according to Erikson?

They experience both ego integrity and despair as alternating states that need to be balanced.

NO continuous state of ego integrity

What is a positive aspect of Erikson's perspective on personality development?

By extending personality development across the lifespan, Erikson provides a more realistic perspective of personality development.

How has psychology changed its view of middle and late adulthood because of Erikson?

Middle and late adulthood are now considered active and significant times of personal growth, rather than irrelevant periods.

What evidence supports the relevance of Erikson's theory?

Research shows that many people can relate to his theories about the stages of the life cycle through their own experiences.

What is one of the key strengths of Erikson's theory?

Its ability to connect important psychosocial development across the entire lifespan.

What is a criticism of Erikson's theory regarding the causes of development?

Erikson is vague about what kinds of experiences people need to successfully resolve psychosocial conflicts and move from one stage to another; the theory lacks a universal mechanism for crisis resolution.

What aspects of human development does Erikson's theory fail to cover?

It focuses mainly on attitudes toward others and life, but does not address cognitive or emotional development.

How was Erikson's theory influenced by his personal background?

His thinking was shaped by his own experiences and largely based on ethical principles rather than scientific data.

What are other common criticisms of Erikson's theory?

Critics point to ambiguous terminology, incomplete descriptions of psychosocial stages, and weakly supported claims of male-female personality differences based on biological factors.

Who refined and extended Erikson's work on psychosocial development?

James Marcia, who developed four Identity Statuses focusing mainly on adolescent development.

According to Marcia, what determines one's sense of identity?

Identity is largely determined by the choices and commitments made regarding personal and social traits.

What are the two key components of an adolescent's identity in Marcia's theory?

Crisis (a period of reevaluating values and choices) and commitment.

What conflict did Erikson identify as normal in adolescence?

The opposition between identity and role confusion.

How did Marcia expand on Erikson's idea of adolescent identity?

Marcia suggested that adolescence isn’t just identity resolution or confusion, but involves the extent to which one has explored and committed to an identity across life domains like politics, occupation, religion, relationships, friendships, and gender roles.

What did Marcia propose to describe psychological identity development?

Four stages, or Identity Statuses, of psychological identity development.

What are the four Identity Statuses proposed by James Marcia?

Identity diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and identity achievement.

What does identity diffusion refer to?

A lack of firm commitments and not actively being in crisis.

What does foreclosure stage refer to?

Individuals have never experienced a crisis but have made firm commitments to goals, beliefs, and values.

What is the moratorium stage?

A state of crisis where individuals are actively considering alternatives to make decisions.

What does identity achievement entail?

Undergoing a period of crisis and as a result, developing firm commitments.

Who developed a model of Ethnic Identity based on Erikson and Marcia?

Jean Phinney, building on Erikson's theory of development and Marcia's ego-identity theory.

What is ethnic identity according to Jean Phinney?

a sense of belonging and commitment to a group because the individual shares a common heritage, knowledge, attitudes, and values with other members.

What is bicultural identity?

Having positive attitudes toward one's own ethnic group and the majority group.

What 3 major criteria did Jacob Orlofsky use to assess intimacy?

1. Does the person have close relationships with

male and female friends?

2. Does he or she have an enduring heterosexual

relationship?

3. Are the person's close relationships deep or

superficial? (Depth includes openness, affection,

respect, loyalty, a capacity to accept and resolve

differences, and mutuality.)

What are the six intimacy statuses identified by Orlofsky?

1. Intimate individuals:

2. Preintimate individuals:

3. Stereotyped individuals:

4. Pseudointimate individuals:

5. Isolated individuals:

6. Merger individuals:

What is the definition of intimate individuals?

Those with deep relationships with male and female friends and involved in enduring, committed heterosexual relationships.

What characterizes preintimate individuals?

Those with close emotional ties but ambivalent about committing to enduring love relationships.

What is the definition of stereotyped individuals?

Those that have many relationships, but superficial, lack closeness and commitment.

What is the definition of Pseudointimate individuals?

Those that have many relationships, relationships lack depth yet still in enduring heterosexual commitments.

What is the definition of isolated individuals?

those that are withdrawn from social situations and relationships with peers.