Chapter 7 - Erikson

ERIK ERIKSON “Healthy Children will not fear life if their elders have integrity enough not to fear death”

Overview of Post-Freudian Theory

Erikson intended to extend Freud’s assumptions

  • Extended infantile development into adolescence, adulthood , and old age

  • Life-cycle approach to personality (it changes and develops as we go through predictable stages)

  • Emphasis on social and historical influences

  • Stages of development are characterized by a psychosocial struggle

    • For example, identity crisis- a turning point in one’s life that may either strengthen or weaken personality


Biography of Erikson

  • Born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1902, the son of Jewish mother from Denmark and unknown father

  • As a child, he did not feel accepted by either the Jewish of Gentile communities

  • Left home at 18 to live as an itinerant artist, wandering Europe for seven years

  • In Vienna, was introduced to psychoanalysis by Anna Freud who become his analyst

  • Graduated from Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute

  • Lacking an academic degree, he accepted a position at Harvard Medical School in 1933

  • Published Childhood and Society in 1950

  • Taught at Yale, Berkeley, Harvard, and many other institutions

  • Died in Cape Cod in 1994


The Ego in Post-Freudian Theory

Descriptions of Ego Psychology

  • Ego creates the self-identity, “I”

  • The Three Interrelated aspects of the Ego:

    1. Body Ego: seeing our physical self as different from others

    2. Ego Ideal: our self compared to our ideal self

    3. Ego Identity: image of our self in a variety of social roles

Society’s Influence

  • Ego emerges from and is largely shaped by culture

Epigenetic Principle

  • The ego grows as our organs do, developing sequentially, with certain changes arising at a particular time and with more recent developments built upon previous structures


Stages of Psychosocial Development

Basic Points of the Stage Approach

  • Growth follows the epigenetic principle

  • Every stage has an interaction of opposites (syntonic and dystonic elements)

  • Conflict between these opposites produces ego strength (it can be good for us!)

  • Too little strength at one stage results in core psychopathology at a later stage

  • Although social factors are a key stages are also biological in nature

  • Earlier stages do not cause later personality development

  • From adolescence on, personality development involves identity crisis


Infancy

  • Oral-Sensory Mode

  • Modes of Incorporation: Receiving and Accepting

  • The Crisis is Basic Trust vs. Basic Mistrust

  • Hope is the Basic Strength of Infancy

  • Core pathology is Withdrawal

Early Childhood

  • Anal-Urethral-Muscular Mode

  • The Crisis is Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt

  • Will is the Basic Strength of Childhood

  • Core pathology is Compulsion

Play Age

  • Genital-Locomotor Mode

  • The Crisis is Initiative vs. Guilt

  • Purpose is the Basic Strength of the Play Age

  • Core pathology is Inhibition

School Age

  • Latency

  • The Crisis is Industry vs. Inferiority

  • Competence is the Basic Strength of the School Age

  • Core Pathology is Inertia

Adolescence

  • Puberty

  • The Crisis is Identity vs. Identity Confusion

  • Fidelity is the Basic Strength of Adolescence

  • Core Pathology is Role Repudiation (diffidence or defiance)

Young Adulthood

  • Genitality

  • The Crisis is Intimacy vs. Isolation

  • Love is the Basic Strength of Young Adulthood

  • Core pathology is Exclusivity

Adulthood

  • Procreativity

  • The Crisis is Generativity vs. Stagnation

  • Care is the Basic Principle of Adulthood

  • Core pathology is Rejectivity

Old Age

  • Generalized Snesuality

  • The Crisis is Integrity vs. Despair

  • Wisdom is the Basic Strngth of Old Age

  • Core pathology is Disdain



Erikson’s Methods of Investigation

Anthropological Studies

  • Conducted to show that early childhood training was consistent with strong cultural values

  • Sioux Nation of South Dakota

    • Suggested similarity to Freudian “oral” personality, with some evidence of dependency and difficulty with ego identity

    • Also showed a cultural value of generosity

  • Yurok Nation of Norther California

    • Suggested similarity to Freudian “anal” personality, with tendencies to obtain and hold onto possessions

    • Cultural value of neatness, as well as focus on provisions and possessions

Psychohistory

  • A controversial field, Erikson defined is as “the study of individual and collective life with the combined methods of psychoanalysis and history”

  • People are a product of their times, and historic times are influenced by exceptional leaders who are experiencing a personal identity conflict

  • Including Martin Luther and Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi


Related Research

Identity Preceded Intimacy?

  • Beyers and Seiffge-Krenke (2010)

    • Supported Erikson’s contention the “the condition of twoness is that one must fully become oneself” (1982, p. 101)- identity still seems to precede intimacy with others

Generativity and Parenting

  • Bauer and McAdams (2004)

  • Peterson (2009)

  • Having a sense of generativity is important to effective parenting

Generativity vs.Stagnation

  • Van Hiel et al.(2009)

  • Found that generativity and stagnation can sometimes do operate separately and independently in adult development- A combination of scoring high on both generativity and stagnation tended to be associated with problems in emotional regulation and difficulties with intimacy