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