TOP ERIK ERIKSON

Theodor Homburger, Valdemar Salomonsen

Erik had multiple conflicting stories about his biological father:

• First, he believed his mother’s husband, (blank) (a physician), was his father.

• Later, he was told that (blank), her mother’s first husband, was his father—though this was unlikely since Salomonsen left 4 years before Erik’s birth.

• Eventually, Erik chose to believe that his father was an aristocratic Danish artist, a story he held onto for most of his life.

German

Despite living in the U.S. for over 60 years, Erik spoke mostly in (blank)—hischildhood language—as he aged.

Identity crisis

• Erik Erikson coined the term (blank), which became central to his theory.

• A turning point in one’s life that may either strengthen or weaken personality

• Not a catastrophe, but an opportunity for growth or maladaptation.

Psychosocial struggle

Post-Freudian Theory

Erikson’s Focus

• (Blank): Expanded development into adolescence, adulthood, and old age.

• Highlighted social and historical influences on personality.

June 15, 1902, Anna Freud, Peter Blos, Joan Serson, Childhood and Society

Biography of Erik Erikson

• Born in (blank) in Germany

• Trained in psychoanalysis under (blank)

• He received a letter from his friend (blank) inviting him to teach children in a new school in Vienna.

• He married (blank), a Canadian-born dancer, artist, and teacher who had also undergone psychoanalysis.

• (blank), a book which became a classic and gave Erikson am international reputation as an imaginative thinker, remains the finest introduction to his post-Freudian personality theory.

Ego, id

Freud compared the (blank) to a rider on horseback, with the (blank) as the powerful horse.

Ego

(blank) is a positive force that creates self-identity ("I").

• It helps individuals adapt to life’s conflicts and maintain individuality despite social pressures.

• Unlike Freud, Erikson saw the (blank) as an active, organizing agency rather than a passive mediator.

Body ego

refers to experiences with our body; a way of seeing our physical self as different from 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

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

Oral personality, anal personality

• Prolonged breastfeeding leads to (blank)

• Strict toilet training leads to (blank)

• These are often seen as neurotic symptoms rather than adaptive traits

Pseudospecies

an illusion perpetrated and perpetuated by a particular society that it is somehow chosen to be the human species

Epigenetic principle

• Borrowed from embryology, the term refers to step-by-step development

• The ego develops progressively in a fixed sequence, much like fetal organs develop in specific stages.

• Each stage builds upon the previous one but does not replace it.

Epigenesis

“(blank) means that one characteristic develops on top of another in space and time”

Interaction of Opposites

Each stage involves a conflict called

syntonic, dystonic

Each stage involves a conflict between:

• A (blank) (harmonious) element.

• A (blank) (disruptive) element.

● Example:

• Infancy: Basic trust (blank) vs. Basic mistrust (blank).

Basic strength (Ego quality/ego strength)

The conflict between dystonic and syntonic elements leads to (blank). E.g. Hope

Core Pathology

• Too little ego strength leads to this

• E.g., lack of hope = withdrawal

psychosocial stages

Erikson focused on (blank) but did not ignore biology.

Infancy, early childhood, play age, school age, adolescence, young adulthood, adulthood, old age

8 psychosocial stages