Erikson, Rogers, Frankl

You’ve got three theorists: . Erikson, Rogers, FranklHere’s your ultra‑concise, understandable summary for each.

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## Erik Erikson – Quick Notes

### View of the person

- People develop inherent potential by knowing/accepting themselves and fitting into social environment.

### Structure of personality

- Less rigid than Freud – id/ego/superego are intertwined.

- Ego develops throughout life, guided by a genetic ground plan + social demands.

### Dynamics (motive)

- Striving for identity is the basic motive.

### Development – Epigenetic Principle

- Characteristics emerge in a fixed sequence at certain ages.

- Crisis at each stage = choice between two opposites. Solving it gives an ego strength.

### 8 Stages (remember: crisis → virtue)

| Age | Crisis | Virtue (Ego strength) |

|-----|--------|------------------------|

| 1st year | Trust vs Mistrust | Hope |

| 2nd year | Autonomy vs Shame/Doubt | Willpower |

| 3–6 years | Initiative vs Guilt | Purpose |

| 6–12 years | Industry vs Inferiority | Competence |

| 12–25 years | Identity vs Role Confusion | Reliability |

| Early adult | Intimacy vs Isolation | Love |

| 25–65 years | Generativity vs Stagnation | Care |

| 60–70+ years | Ego Integrity vs Despair | Wisdom |

### Pathology

- Negative poles of crises = basis of mental illness (e.g., lack of basic trust = schizophrenia).

### Quick tip for case study

> Look for a person struggling with age‑related choice (e.g., teen confused about who they are = identity vs role confusion).

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## Carl Rogers – Quick Notes

### View of person

- Humanistic‑phenomenological: People are inherently good, forward‑moving, architects of their own lives.

- Phenomenological = reality is how you perceive it (your internal frame of reference).

### Freedom

- We are free to choose, but most people lose freedom by following conditions of worth (rules from others).

- Unconditional positive regard = being accepted as you are → you become free to change.

### Structure of personality

- Organism = the whole person (body + psyche).

- Phenomenal field = everything you experience (your world).

- Self‑concept = the part of phenomenal field labelled “I” or “me” (fluid, not fixed).

- Ideal self = who you wish you were.

### Basic motive

- Actualising tendency = the biological push to grow and reach your full potential.

- Also need for positive regard (love from others) and positive self‑regard (self‑love).

### Congruence vs Incongruence (most important)

- Congruence = your self‑concept matches your actual experience → open, honest, healthy.

- Incongruence = gap between self‑concept and real experience → caused by conditions of worth (“I’m only lovable if I’m perfect”).

- Defences: Denial (block it out) or Distortion (twist it to fit).

### Fully functioning person (7 traits)

1. Open to experience

2. Living in the now (existential lifestyle)

3. Trusts their own gut (organismic trusting)

4. Feels free and responsible

5. Creative

6. Reliable and constructive (basic goodness)

7. Lives a rich, full life (all emotions intense)

### Pathology

- Anxiety = alarm when experience threatens self‑concept.

- Defences keep self‑concept intact.

- Severe incongruence = breakdown (psychosis).

### Quick tip for case study

> Look for someone acting against their real feelings to please others (e.g., “I should be a doctor” when they love art) = incongruence + conditions of worth.

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## Viktor Frankl – Quick Notes

### View of person

- Humans are more than animals – we have a spiritual dimension (noogenic).

- We have freedom to be responsible – the last human freedom is choosing your attitude.

- Transhuman dimension = ultimate meaning (God or higher order).

- Every person is highly personalised – unique mission.

### Three dimensions of personality (know these)

1. Biological (body)

2. Psychological (mind)

3. Spiritual (noogenic – where meaning and freedom live)

### Freedom of will vs Will to meaning

- Freedom of will = we are not pushed by drives; we choose.

- Will to meaning = primary motive – the search for meaning is stronger than pleasure or power.

### Three ways to find meaning

1. Creative values – what you give to life (work, art, contribution).

2. Experiential values – what you receive from life (beauty, love, nature).

3. Attitudinal values – your attitude toward unavoidable suffering.

### Development

- Spiritual core is present at birth – you are your own “life’s work.”

- Maturity = freedom, responsibility, search for meaning.

- Immaturity = still stuck on pleasure (Freud) or power (Adler).

### Optimal development (spiritually mature person)

Characteristics:

- Self‑determining action (no blaming fate)

- Realistic perception + humour (can laugh at self)

- Self‑transcendence (focused on something outside self)

- Future‑directed

- Work as vocation (not just money)

- Appreciates beauty, truth, goodness

- Respects others

- Can find meaning in suffering – highest peak

### Psychopathology – Noogenic Neurosis

- Caused by frustrated will to meaning → existential vacuum (emptiness).

- Symptoms of collective neurosis: unplanned existence, fatalism, conformism, totalitarianism.

- Human dignity = spiritual core is indestructible – everyone deserves dignity regardless of illness.

### Quick tip for case study

> Look for someone who feels empty, bored, or anxious despite having everything – that’s existential vacuum. Or someone suffering who finds purpose in it = attitudinal values.

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## Last‑minute comparison (if they ask to contrast)

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