Erik Homburger Erikson (1902-1994)

A Search for Identity

Erik Erikson: Introduction

• Like Adler, provided some commonly used terms

  • “Identity Crisis”

• Trained by ANNA Freud

• Diverged somewhat from Freud

  • Development covers the lifespan

  • Emphasized ego more than id

  • Introduced impact of culture on individual

Erikson: History

• Several “identity crises”

  • Abandoned by father

    • Mother married pediatrician three years later

    • Told about this MUCH later; changed name at 37

  • School age, he was rejected because of Jewish heritage but Danish look (blond, blue-eyed)

    • Later, converted to Christianity

• Did poorly in school

  • Except in art class!

  • Taught art to Freud’s patients in 1927 (25 years old)

  • Studied psychoanalysis of children

  • 1933, joined Psychoanalytic Institute

• Several “identity crises”

  • Met Canadian woman and immigrated to Boston

    • Treated children at Harvard and Massachusetts Hospital

  • Failed first course at Harvard

  • Failed course at Yale

  • Traveled to CA to work with Sioux and Yurok Indians

    • “Identity Confusion” . . . Sense of “uprootedness”

  • Ultimately, was a professor at University of California at Berkeley

  • Went back to MA at retirement in 1970

    • Performed Psychobiographies

Dr. D’s Guide to the Importance of Erikson!

• Erikson incorporated culture into personality development

  • Answers questions about identity issues between cultures

• Development lasts a lifetime

  • Thank goodness!!!!!!!

Developmental Stages

• Universal – All people encounter them

• But culture organizes the experience of its members

• Cultures not only provide the setting in which crises are encountered but provide continuing support for the ego development that has occurred

  • Especially when threatened in later life

Psychosocial Stages

• Psychosocial refers to union of Freud’s physical yearnings (id) and cultural forces

• Epigenetic Principle – describes the process of development

  • Emerging one on top of another over time

• Resolution depends on the positive to negative ratio

  • Positive outcomes yield “virtues”

Crises

• Rise to the surface when the environment makes demands of us: Called a crisis

  • Involves a shift in perspective —> new strengths can develop

  • Can choose adaptive or maladaptive solutions

    • More adaptive responses lead to “virtues”

• Passage is not automatic, and environment can help or hinder our progress

  • Ritualizations help resolve a conflict

    • E.g., social opportunities to support growth

  • Ritualisms don’t: They are too rigid

    • E.g., elitism

Chart

Stage 1: Trust vs. Mistrust

• Basic trust: The sense that others are dependable and will provide what is needed

  • Food, milk, and sensory stimulation

• Otherwise, basic mistrust is formed

  • Some sense of mistrust is inevitable, as no parent can provide exactly what is needed exactly when it is needed! (Trust me)

Stage 2: Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt

• Child becomes adequate (autonomous) in:

  • Toilet training (emphasized by Freud)

  • Ambulation

  • Interpersonal relationships

• Otherwise, there is shame in Self

  • Some degree of Shame is necessary and good, but a high degree of autonomy should prevail

Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt

• The child begins determining what type of person they are going to be, as they begin to interact more with others (“intruding others’ space”)

• Child develops a conscience (Freudian)

• If the child is supported and acts appropriately, they will have more initiative than guilt

Stage 4: Industry vs. Inferiority

• The child “learns to win recognition by producing things.”

  • If the child perseveres and creates good, quality objects, they will become industrious

  • If not, this leads to a feeling of inferiority

Stage 5: Identity vs. Identity Confusion

• In adolescence, the task is to answer the question, “Who am I?”

  • Must be agreed upon by individual and society

• Identity confusion occurs when a coherent identity cannot be established

• A negative identity may also be established

  • Based on social norms

• A moratorium may be established

  • Adolescents are encouraged to explore possibilities (e.g., change majors, etc.)

• Fidelity: Sustaining loyalties despite possible aversive consequences

Stage 6: Intimacy vs. Isolation

• Cannot occur until identity has been established!

• Intimacy is the fusion or merging of identities with a friend or lover

  • One’s own identity is not threatened, however

• NOT the same as sexual intimacy

• RESEARCH: Intimacy increases during early adulthood (Reis et al., 1993)

Stage 7: Generativity vs. Stagnation

• Generativity is the interest in guiding the next generation

  • Highly involved in their work and the growth of young people

  • Concerned about broad social issues

  • Are able to strike a balance between self-serving and societal-serving needs

  • E.g., parenting, teaching, mentoring

• Alternative is stagnation

Stage 8: Integrity versus Despair

• Integrity

  • Being able to look back and say that one’s life was meaningful and valuable

  • Not wishing that things had been different

• The alternative is despair

Research - Cross-cultural differences in psychosocial stages

• McClain (1975): South African blacks scored lower on identity development than whites

  • To Erikson, an indication of ritualism – namely, racism

Research - Male and Female Identities

• Differences

  • Women emphasize interpersonal issues

  • Men emphasize occupational issues

• Similarities

  • Men and women do not differ in their level of achieved identity

    • It appears that, while the result is the same, the process is different

Erikson Contributions and Limitations

• Contributions

  • Role of culture and lifelong development, as previously discussed

  • Identity is dynamic!

• Limitations

  • Some descriptions are somewhat ambiguous

    • Willpower

    • Wisdom

Erikson: Differences from Freud

• De-emphasized the importance of unconsciousness

  • Focused on psychosocial stages

• Decreased role of sexual stages

• “Fixation” does not cause “stagnation,” generally speaking

  • But identity must be established for intimacy to occur