Erik Erikson

Erik Erikson (1902-1994)

Big name in developmental psychology. He is famous for coming up with the term “identity crisis.”

He has been classified as a maturationist

as was Freud. It suggests that developmental stages are genetically determined. Maturational counselors try to free positive instincts and give the person self-control over negative ones.

o   The environment provides the external demands; thus, the maturational counselor allows clients to re-live earlier conflicts with the goal being freedom of choice.

His model is

psychosocial as he emphasized the importance of social factors.

His theory is guided by

epigenetic principles or what we call epigenetic development.

o   It means the development proceeds according to predetermined steps or stages.

o   Note: Recently, epigenetic, or above the genes, refers to how lifestyle impacts your life. Thus, a person who smokes has a greater risk of lung cancer than somebody who doesn’t even if they both possess identical genes.

His stages are traditionally categorized by

polarity. Meaning there is a positive pole and a negative pole for each stage. The positive is supposedly indicative of successful development and the negative pole is indicative of unsuccessful development.

he called the unique self

“the ego identity.”

TRUST VS MISTRUST

o   From birth to approximately 1

§  If physical infancy needs are NOT MET, a child will NOT FEEL TRUST.

·       If the needs are not met, there is FEAR or MISTRUST of others in the environment.

§  If they ARE MET, then a person WILL FEEL TRUST.

§  It is theorized that talking, playing, and cuddling with the child will help.

§  This first stage coincides with Freud’s first stage, “the oral stage.”

AUTONOMY VERSUS SHAME AND DOUBT

o   From 1 year to 3 years or the so-called toddler years

§  In this stage the child learns to EXPERIMENT and EXPLORE.

§  If parents or caretakers are OVERPROTECTIVE or INCONSISTENT, the child DEVELOPS DOUBT and may be ASHAMED of their OWN BEHAVIOR.

§  The child develops MOBILITY and CONTROL over BODILY FUNCTIONS.

§  This stage coincides with Freud’s “anal stage.”

INITIATIVE VERSUS GUILT

o   From ages 3 to 6

§  In this stage, the child is ENCOURAGED by the parent to MEET NEW PEOPLE and EXPLORE THE ENVIRONMENT. If this happens, the child will ACHIEVE INITIATIVE or FEELING OF COMPETENCE.

§  If the parents STIFLE this, the child feels GUILTY for TAKING INITIATIVE or TRYING TO BE INDEPENDENT.

§  This is similar to Freud’s “phallic stage”

INDUSTRY VERSUS INFERIORITY

o   Ages 6 to 11-12 or the so-called elementary school years

§  The child learns to GET ALONG WITH AUTHORITY FIGURES like teachers and TO GET ALONG WITH PEERS.

§  The child learns to MANIPULATE OBJECTS and EVENTS by THEMSELVES, thus LEARNING TO SOLVE PROBLEMS to COMPLETE A TASK.

§  The term industry refers to setting and attaining personal goals.

§  The child who is unsuccessful may feel inferior.

§  The Freudian’s call this the “latency period.”

IDENTITY VERSUS ROLE CONFUSION

o   Ages 12 to 18, the adolescent years

§  The MAJOR TASK is to go from CHILDHOOD to ADULTHOOD and CLARIFY LIFE GOALS and ESTABLISH A NEW IDENTITY. This is the stage in which someone finds themselves, so to speak.

§  If they don’t, “find themselves,” the result is what Erikson calls “role confusion.”

§  *Some tests will use Erikson’s term psychosocial moratorium to describe an adolescent who experiments with roles in the quest to understand their true identity.

§  Adolescents go through an egocentrism stage, like the one described by Piaget.

·       Here the adolescent is OVERLY CONCERNED about THEMSELVES and may exhibit EXCESSIVE SELF-INTROSPECTION.

·       The adolescent can also FEEL INVINCIBLE.

§  Adolescents have more emotional difficulties than preschool and preadolescent children.

·       INTIMACY VERSUS ISOLATION

o   Ages 18 to 35, the young adult years

§  INTIMACY and LOVE become the MAJOR ISSUES.

§  When the individual can’t achieve this, the person feels that there is NO ONE ELSE TO RELY OR DEPEND ON.

§  This generates feelings of ALIENATION and ISOLATION.

GENERATIVITY VERSUS STAGNATION

o   Ages 30/35 to approximately 60, the middle adult years – stagnant ass age group

§  Here is where the person experiences the MIDLIFE CRISIS.

§  GENERATIVITY means caring about others, for example, your immediate family or even future generations.

§  The individual who CANNOT ACHIEVE THIS stagnates and becomes self-centered.

§  In older textbooks, this stage may be referred to as “Generativity versus Self-absorption.”

INTEGRITY VERSUS DESPAIR

o   Ages 60 and beyond the late adult years – the final stage

§  If the person can’t LOOK BACK ON THEIR LIFE WITHOUT MAJOR REGRET, then DESPAIR or RESENTMENT would manifest itself.

§  To successfully complete this stage, the person would need to have successfully completed all the previous stages.

§  Btw, Erikson did landmark work in a field we call psychohistory.

·       He used psychoanalysis to analyze great figures such as Martin Luther (a seminal figure in in the Protestant Reformation) and Mahatma Ghandi (an Indian lawyer who advocated non-violent protest methods to create political and social change).

·       He also spent a lot of time discussing the American Indians’ child-rearing practices.

·       Criticisms of Erikson’s Eight-Stage Theory of Psychosocial Development

o   The theory puts more emphasis on infancy and childhood than adulthood.

o   Seems to put more emphasis on boys/men than girls/women.

o   Some experts reject the notion that a person must complete one stage/crisis before going on to another, although Erikson claimed he was misunderstood and that life is not like a prerequisite class for another class. Also, an individual can tackle several conflicts simultaneously.

o   Supports the Freudian notion that the sexes differ because of biology.

o   Hard to know if findings regarding Ghandi and Martin Luther would apply to everybody else.

o   Theory is not really applicable to other cultures. Little emphasis is placed on social and cultural factors.

o   Did not emphasize biological influences and genetics in regard to development.