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Erikson

Erik Erikson was a psychoanalyst influenced by Freud who developed one of the most widely accepted theories of psychosocial development. He believed that people pass through eight stages of development from infancy to late adulthood, where they face conflicts that are important for healthy development. At each stage, success leads to a healthy outcome such as trust, autonomy, initiative, competence, identity, intimacy, generativity, and integrity. Erikson's theory stresses the importance of social interactions and culture at each stage of development.

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61 views

Erikson

Erik Erikson was a psychoanalyst influenced by Freud who developed one of the most widely accepted theories of psychosocial development. He believed that people pass through eight stages of development from infancy to late adulthood, where they face conflicts that are important for healthy development. At each stage, success leads to a healthy outcome such as trust, autonomy, initiative, competence, identity, intimacy, generativity, and integrity. Erikson's theory stresses the importance of social interactions and culture at each stage of development.

Uploaded by

Benitez Gherold
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Erik Erikson
Erikson was a student and teacher of arts. While teaching at a private school, he became acquainted with
Anna Freud, the daughter of Sigmund Freud. Erikson underwent psychoanalysis, and the experience
made him decide to become an analyst himself.
Theories of development and the ego
Erikson's book, "The Life Cycle Completed," believed that every human being goes through a certain
number of stages to reach his or her full development, theorizing eight stages that a human being goes
through from birth to death. Erikson elaborated Freud's genital stage into adolescence, and added three
stages of adulthood. His widow Joan Serson Erikson elaborated on his model before her death, adding a
ninth stage (old age) to it, taking into consideration the increasing life expectancy in Western cultures.
Erikson is also credited with being one of the originators of Ego psychology, which stressed the role of the
ego as being more than a servant of the id. According to Erikson, the environment in which a child lived
was crucial to providing growth, adjustment, a source of self awareness and identity. Erikson won a
Pulitzer Prize.
The Developmental Stages of Erik Erikson
Our personality traits come in opposites. We think of ourselves as optimistic or pessimistic, independent
or dependent, emotional or unemotional, adventurous or cautious, leader or follower, aggressive or
passive. Many of these are inborn temperament traits, but other characteristics, such as feeling either
competent or inferior, appear to be learned, based on the challenges and support we receive in growing
up.
The man who did a great deal to explore this concept is Erik Erikson. Although he was influenced by
Freud, he believed that the ego exists from birth and that behavior is not totally defensive. Erikson
became aware of the massive influence of culture on behavior and placed more emphasis on the external
world, such as depression and wars. He felt the course of development is determined by the interaction of
the body (genetic biological programming), mind (psychological), and cultural (ethos) influences.
Erikson's basic philosophy might be said to rest on two major themes: (1) the world gets bigger as we go
along and (2) failure is cumulative.
Erikson was a Neo-Freudian. He has been described as an "ego psychologist" studying the stages of
development, spanning the entire lifespan. Each of Erikson's stages of psychosocial development is
marked by a conflict, for which successful resolution will result in a favorable outcome.
Favorable outcomes of each stage are sometimes known as "virtues", a term used, in the context of
Eriksonian work, as it is applied to medicines, meaning "potencies." Erikson's research suggests that
each individual must learn how to hold both extremes of each specific life-stage challenge in tension with
one another, not rejecting one end of the tension or the other. Only when both extremes in a life-stage
challenge are understood and accepted as both required and useful, can the optimal virtue for that stage
surface. Thus, 'trust' and 'mis-trust' must both be understood and accepted, in order for realistic 'hope' to
emerge as a viable solution at the first stage. Similarly, 'integrity' and 'despair' must both be understood
and embraced, in order for actionable 'wisdom' to emerge as a viable solution at the last stage.
The Erikson life-stage virtues, in the order of the stages in which they may be acquired, are:
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1. hope - Basic Trust vs. Mistrust - Infant stage / 0-1 year. Does the child believe its caregivers to be
reliable?
2. will - Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt - Toddler stage / 2-3 years. Child needs to learn to explore
the world. Bad if the parent is too smothering or completely neglectful.
3. purpose - Initiative vs. Guilt - Kindergarten / 4-6 years - Can the child plan or do things on his
own, such as dress him or herself. If "guilty" about making his or her own choices, the child will
not function well. Erikson has a positive outlook on this stage, saying that most guilt is quickly
compensated by a sense of accomplishment.
4. competence - Industry vs. Inferiority - Around age 7-13. Child comparing self worth to others
(such as in a classroom environment). Child can recognize major disparities in personal abilities
relative to other children. Erikson places some emphasis on the teacher, who should ensure that
children do not feel inferior.
5. fidelity - Identity vs. Role Diffusion - Adolescent / 14 years till mid twenties. Questioning of self.
Who am I, how do I fit in? Where am I going in life? Erikson believes that if the parents allow the
child to explore, they will conclude their own identity. However, if the parents continually push
him/her to conform to their views, the teen will face identity confusion.
6. love (in intimate relationships, work and family) - Intimacy vs. Isolation - Young adult / mid
twenties till early forties. Who do I want to be with or date, what am I going to do with my life? Will
I settle down? This stage has begun to last longer as young adults choose to stay in school and
not settle.
7. caring - Generativity vs. Stagnation - early forties till mid sixties / starts as the Mid-life crisis.
Measure accomplishments/failures. Am I satisfied or not? The need to assist the younger
generation. Stagnation is the feeling of not having done anything to help the next generation.
8. wisdom - Ego Integrity vs. Despair - old age / from mid sixties. Some handle death well. Some
can be bitter, unhappy, and/or dissatisfied with what they have accomplished or failed to
accomplish within their lifetime. They reflect on the past, and either conclude at satisfaction or
despair.
On ego identity versus Role Confusion, ego identity enables each person to have a sense of individuality,
or as Erikson would say, "Ego identity, then, in its subjective aspect, is the awareness of the fact that
there is a self-sameness and continuity to the ego's synthesizing methods and a continuity of one's
meaning for others"

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