ERIK ERIKSON - POST-FREUDIAN THEORY/ PSYCHOSOCIAL THEORY

#fyp

Ego

• a positive force that creates a self-identity, a sense of “I”

• the center of our personality

• helps us adapt to the various conflicts and crises of life and keeps us from losing our individuality to the leveling forces of society

• Is weak at birth, but gains strength as time goes on

• unifies personality and guards against indivisibility

• a person’s ability to unify experiences and actions in an adaptive manner

Body ego

way of seeing our physical self as different from other people

Ego ideal

represents the image we have of ourselves in comparison with an established ideal

Ego ideal

responsible for our being satisfied or dissatisfied not only with our physical self but with our entire personal identity

Ego identity

the image we have of ourselves in the variety of social roles we play

society

the ego emerges from and is largely shaped by

Pseudospecies

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

Epigenetic principle

a term borrowed from embryology; implies a step-by-step growth of fetal organs

epigenetic principle

First, growth takes place according to the

syntonic; dystonic

Second, in every stage of life there is an interaction of opposites—that is, a conflict between a _______ (harmonious) element and a ______ (disruptive) element

Ego strength

Interaction of opposites produces

Basic strength

the ego quality that emerges from the conflict between antithetical elements in Erikson’s stages of development

Core pathology

psychosocial disorder at any of the eight stages of development that results from too little basic strength

maladaptive tendency

Too much syntonic

malignant tendency (core pathology)

Too much dystonic

Identity Crisis

personality development is characterized by an

Identity Crisis

a turning point, a crucial period of increased vulnerability and heightened potential

Virtues

qualities or strengths that emerge from successful resolution of the crisis

trust vs mistrust

Conflict during infancy

Hope

The Basic Strength of Infancy (trust vs mistrust)

Sensory maladjustment

due to excessive protection, person will be gullible

Withdrawal

due to low trust, become depressed, paranoid or maybe psychotic

Autonomy vs shame & doubt

conflict during early childhood

Will

Basic Strength of Early Childhood

Impulsiveness

jumping into anything without considering the pros and cons

Compulsion

asks help in everything they do to ensure the action being done properly

Initiative Vs. Guilt

Conflict during play age

initiative

encouraged child exploration leads to

guilt

deprived child exploration leads to

Purpose

Basic Strength of the Play Age

Ruthlessness

being initiative with no mercy/feeling

Inhibition

will not try new things

Industry vs Inferiority

conflict during school age

Industry

industrious, being productive; willing to remain busy with something and to finish a job.

Inferiority

feeling of being helpless

Competence

Basic Strength of the School Age

Narrow Virtuosity

only developing one area, neglecting others

Inertia

fearing failure, won’t change or explore new possibilities

Identity vs Identity confusion

conflict during adolescence

Fidelity

loyalty to self; ability to live by societal standards despite their imperfections and incompleteness

Role repudiation

role rejection

Fanaticism

being too involved in a particular role in a society and offering no room for tolerance

Repudiation

rejecting their membership of society; rejecting their identity and forming their own groups that deviate from society

Intimacy Versus Isolation

Conflict during young adulthood

Intimacy

ability to fuse one’s identity with that of another person without fear of losing it.

Isolation

incapacity to take chances with one’s identity by sharing true intimacy

Love

Basic Strength of Young Adulthood

Promiscuity

becoming too intimate too easily and too frequently without any deep intimacy/ commitment

Exclusion

tendency to isolate from relationships and developing certain hatefulness to compensate for one’s loneliness

Generativity Versus Stagnation

conflict during adulthood

Generativity

expected to guide the next generation (likely your children)

Stagnation

when people become too absorbed in themselves, to self indulge

Care

Basic Strength of Adulthood

Rejectivity

unwillingness to take care of certain persons or groups; no longer contributing to society

Overextension

too generative to the point that they have no time to relax or to unwind

Integrity Versus Despair

conflict during old age

Integrity

acceptance of their death (happy go lucky); contented with what they have

Despair

wants to achieve more but now can’t be due to their limitations (e.g age)

wisdom

“informed and detached concern with life itself in the face of death itself”

wisdom

basic strength of old age

Presumption

presumes too much and does not listen to the ideas and views of the younger generation

Disdain

think that they are worthless; hate their lives and all others’ lives

Psychohistory

a controversial field that combines psychoanalytic concepts with historical methods