Erikson's Theory: the Post-Freudian

“ERIKSON: POST-FREUDIAN THEORY”

A Report Prepared By:

Maria Blesila F. Heredia and Monica V. Potistad

from
BS Psychology 211

ERIK ERIKSON – the person who coined the term “identity crisis”; had no college degree of any kind; gained world fame in an impressive variety of fields including psychoanalysis, anthropology, psychohistory and education. ERIKSON'S NAMES: Erik Salomonsen Erik Homburger Erik Homburger Erikson Erik H. Erikson ERIKSON'S THREE SEPARATE BELIEFS REGARDING HIS ORIGINS: Theodor Homburger, a physician and his mother's husband, was his biological father. But he proved that this was incorrect because of some biological proofs which did not match between them. A man named Valdemar Salomonsen, his mother's first husband was his biological father. But he proved this wrong also because he learned that this man left her mother four years before he was born. Lastly, he chose to believe that he was the outcome of a sexual liaison between his mother and an artistically gifted aristocratic Dane. 58 YEARS OLD – Erikson's age when his mother died.

ERIKSON'S BIOGRAPHY

BIRTH DATE: 15 June 1902
BIRTH PLACE: Southern Germany
DEATH: 12 May 1994; 91 years old PETER BLOS – Erikson's friend who sent him a letter inviting him to teach children in a new school in Vienna. ANNA FREUD – one of the founders of the new school and became not only Erikson's employer but his psychoanalyst also. Advised him to stop searching for his father's identity, which he didn't follow. JOAN SERSON – a Canadian-born dancer, artist, and teacher who had also undergone psychoanalysis, became Erikson's wife with Anna Freud's permission. She also became a valuable editor and occasional coauthor of his books. ERIKSON'S CHILDREN: Kai and Sue – pursued important professional careers. Jon – shared his father's experience as a wandering artist, worked as a laborer and never felt emotionally close to his parents. Neil – born with a down syndrome. Erikson decided to put him in an institution's care and then lying to his other children saying that their brother was dead at birth. He died at the age of 20. VIOLATED PRINCIPLES WHEN HE LIED TO HIS CHILDREN: “Don't lie to people you should care for.” “Don't pit one family member against another.” VARIOUS PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY OF ERIKSON: artist psychologist psychoanalyst clinician professor cultural anthropologist existentialist psychobiographer public intellectual 1933 – Erikson's family left Vienna for Denmark to get Danish citizenship. Then he left Copanhagen for United States after the Danish officials refused his request of citizenship. NAME CHANGE FROM HOMBURGER TO ERIKSON – represented a retreat from his earlier Jewish identification. MODIFIED PSYCHOANALYTIC PRACTICE – he set up once he settled in Boston. BECAME A RESEARCHER AT: Massachusetts General Hospital Harvard Medical School Harvard Psychological Clinic 1936 – when Erikson took a position at Yale. But after two and a half years, he moved to University of California at Berkeley. TRIBES HE LIVED WITH: Sioux nation on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota Yurok nation in Northern California “CHILDHOOD AND SOCIETY” - Erikson's book published in 1950 that at first glance appears to be a hodgepodge of unrelated chapters. This was because Erikson himself had a hard time finding a common theme for his book. This became a classic and gave Erikson an international reputation as an imaginative thinker and remains the finest introduction to his post-Freudian personality theory 1949 – University of California officials demanded that faculty members sign an oath pledging loyalty to the United States. Erikson refused to sign although he is not a communist. SENATOR JOSEPH McCARTHY – convinced many Americans that Communists and Communist sympathizers were poised to overthrow the US government. COMMITTEE ON PRIVILEGE AND TENURE – recommended that Erikson retain his position AUSTEN RIGGS – a treatment center for psychoanalytic training and research. Located at Stockbridge, Masachussets and where Erikson worked when he transferred from California 1960 – Erikson returned to Harvard and for the next ten years held the position of professor of human development. ERIKSON'S ACTIVE CAREER AFTER RETIREMENT: writing lecturing seeing a few patients WHERE ERIKSON LIVED DURING THE EARLY YEARS OF HIS RETIREMENT: Marin Country, California Cambridge, Massachusetts Cape Cod “GHANDI'S TRUTH” - one of Erikson's best-known books that won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. ERIKSON'S BEST-KNOWN WORKS: “Childhood and Society” (1950, 1963, 1985) “Young Man Luther” (1985) “Identity: Youth and Crisis” (1968) “Ghandi's Truth” (1969) “Dimensions of a New Identity” (1974) “Life History and the Historical Moment” (1975) “Identity and the Life Cycle” (1980) “The Life Cycle Completed” (1982) STEPHEN SCHLEIN – compiled many of Erikson's papers in “A Way of Looking at Things” (Erikson, 1987)

OVERVIEW OF POST-FREUDIAN THEORY

ERIKSON'S POST FREUDIAN THEORY – this theory is a new “way of looking at things”. It extended Freud's infantile developmental stages into adolescence, adulthood, and old age. PSYCHOSOCIAL STRUGGLE – contributes to the formation of personality IDENTITY CRISIS – formed from the said struggles. It is the turning point in one's life that may either strengthen or weaken personality; a turning point, a crucial period of increased vulnerability and heightened potential; not a catastrophic event but rather an opportunity for either adaptive or maladaptive adjustment. SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL INFLUENCES – Erikson placed more emphasis on his theory.

THE EGO IN POST-FREUDIAN THEORY

EGO(ERIKSON) – positive force that creates a self-identity, a sense of “I”. It is the center of our personality. It helps us to adapt to the various conflicts and crises of life and keeps us from losing our individuality to the reveling forces of society. It also unifies personality and guards against indivisibility. Erikson defined this as a person's ability to unify experiences and actions in an adaptive manner. THE THREE INTERRELATED ASPECTS OF EGO: Body Ego – refers to experiences with our body; away of seeing our physical self as different for other people; we recognize that it is the only body we have. Ego Ideal – represents the image we have of ourselves in comparison with an established ideal; responsible for our being satisfied or dissatisfied not only with our physical self but with our entire personal identity. Ego Identity – image we have of ourselves in the variety of social rules we play. SOCIETY'S INFLUENCE - the ego emerges from and is largely shaped by society. PSEUDOSPECIES – an illusion perpetrated and perpetuated by a particular society that it is somehow chosen to be the human species. EPIGENETIC PRINCIPLE – term borrowed from embryology and implies a step-by-step growth of fetal organs; relating to ego, each stage develops at its proper time; this means that one characteristic develops on top of another in space and time.

STAGES OF PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

BASIC POINTS TO UNDERSTAND FOR THE COMPREHENSION OF ERIKSON'S EIGHT STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT: Growth takes place according to the epigenetic principle. In every stage of life there is an interaction of opposites. At each stage, the conflict between the dystonic and syntonic elements produces an ego quality or ego strength or basic strength. Too little basic strength at any one stage results in a core pathology for that stage. Erikson never lost sight of the biological aspects of human behavior. Events in earlier stages do not cause later personality development. During each stage, but especially from adolescence forward, personality development is characterized by an identity crisis. SYNTONIC – or the harmonious element DYSTONIC – or the disruptive element INTERACTION OF OPPOSITES – conflict between syntonic and dystonic. THE EIGHT PSYCHOSOCIAL STAGES: Infancy – a period encompassing approximately the first year of life and paralleling Freud's oral phase of development; a time of incorporation with infants taking in not only through their mouth but through their various sense organs as well.

psychosexual mode: oral-sensory oral-sensory – a phrase that includes infants' principal psychosexual mode of adapting; characterized by two modes of incorporation: receiving and accepting what is given. psychosexual crisis: basic trust versus basic mistrust basic trust vs. basic mistrust – infants' most significant interpersoal relations are with their primary caregiver, ordinarily their mother; if their pattern of accepting things corresponds with culture's way of giving things, then infants learn basic mistrust while they learn basic mistrust if they find no correspondence between their oral-sensory needs and their environment. basic strength: hope hope – emerges from the conflict between basic trust and basic mistrust. Withdrawal – the core pathology of infancy.

Early Childhood – a period paralleling Freud's anal stage and encompassing approximately the second and third years of life; young children receive pleasure not only from mastering the sphincter muscle but also from mastering other body functions such as walking, throwing, holding, and so on; children develop a sense of control over their interpersonal environment and a measure of self-control.

psychosexual mode: anal-urethral-muscular anal-urethral-muscular – children learn to control their body, especially in relation to cleanliness and mobility; toilet training stage, time of learning to walk, run, hug parents, and hold on to toys and other objects; also display stubborn tendencies; a time for contradiction, stubborn rebellion, meek compliance, impulsive self-expression, compulsive deviance, loving cooperation and hateful resistance. psychosexual crisis: autonomy versus shame and doubt autonomy vs. shame and doubt – children tend to find a culture that attempts to inhibit some of their self-expression; also instill doubt by questioning their children's ability to meet their standards. autonomy – grows out of basic trust. shame – a feeling of self-consciousness, of being locked and exposed. doubt – the feeling of not being certain, the feeling that something remains hidden and cannot be seen. basic strength: will will – or willfulness evolves from the resolution of the crisis of autonomy versus shame and doubt; beginning of free will and willpower but only a beginning; children develop this when their environment allows them some self-expression in their control of sphincters and other muscles compulsion – inadequate will; core pathology of early childhood.

Play Age – a period covering the same time as Freud's phallic phase, roughly ages 3 to 5 years; the Oedipus complex is but one of several important developments during this stage.

psychosexual mode: genital-locomotor genital-locomotor - Erikson saw the Oedipal situation as a prototype “of the lifelong power of human playfulness” psychosexual crisis: initiative versus guilt initiative vs. guilt – children adopt an intrusive head-on mode of approaching the world; begin to adopt initiative in their selection and pursuit of goals. guilt – the consequence of such taboo and inhibited goals. inhibition – antipathy of purpose. basic strength: purpose purpose – produced by the conflict of initiative versus guilt; children now play with a purpose; they set goals and pursue them with a purpose; stage in which children are developing a conscience and beginning to attach labels such as right and wrong to their behavior

School Age – covers development from about age 6 to approximately age 12 to 13 and matches the latency years of Freud's theory; the social world of children is expanding beyond family to include peers, teachers, and other adult models.

psychosexual mode: latency latency – school age; important because it allows children to divert their energies to learning the technology of their culture and the strategies of their social interactions ego identity – when children begin to form a picture of themselves as competent or incompetent; the feeling of “I” or “me-ness” that evolves more fully during adolescence. psychosexual crisis: industry versus inferiority industry vs. inferiority – a time of tremendous social growth; children develop a sense of industry but if their work is insufficient to accomplish their goals, they acquire a sense of inferiority; failure is not inevitable. industry – a syntonic quality meaning industriousness, a willingness to remain busy with something and to finish a job. inferiority – dystonic quality. basic strength: competence competence – the confidence to use one's physical and cognitive abilities to solve the problems that accompany school age; lays the foundation for “co-operative participation in productive adult life” inertia – regression in which children spend most of their time in nonproductive play; the antithesis of competence and the core pathology of the school age.

Adolescence – period from puberty to young adulthood and one of the most crucial developmental stages because, by the end of this period, a person must gain firm sense of ego identity; crisis between identity and identity confusion; period of social latency; an adaptive phase of personality development, a period of trial and error.

psychosexual mode: puberty puberty – defined as genital maturation; plays a relatively minor role in Erikson's concept of adolescence; important psychologically because it triggers expectations of adult roles yet ahead. psychosexual crisis: identity versus identity confusion identity vs. identity confusion – ego identity reaches a climax during adolescence as young people strive to find out who they are and who they are not; they look for new roles to help them discover their sexal, ideological, and occupational identities two sources from which identity emerges: 1. adolescents' affirmation or repudiation of childhood identifications 2. historical and social contexts identity – defined both positively and negatively as adolescents are deciding what they want to become and what they believe. identity confusion – syndrome of problems that includes a divided self-image, an inability to establish intimacy, a sense of time urgency, a lack of concentration on required tasks, and a rejection of family or community standards; necessary part of our search for identity. what we will have if we develop the proper ratio of identity to identity confusion: 1. faith in some sort of ideological principle 2. the ability to freely decide how we should behave 3. trust in our peers and adults who give us advice regarding goals and aspirations 4. confidence in our choice of an eventual occupation basic strength: fidelity fidelity – faith in one's ideology role repudiation – pathological counterpart of fidelity and the core pathology of adolescence that blocks one's ability to synthesize various self-images and values into a workable identity; either diffidence or defiance diffidence – extreme lack of self-trust or self-confidence and is expressed as shyness or hesitancy to express oneself. defiance – the act of rebelling against authority.

Young Adulthood – ability to fuse that identity with the identity of another person while maintaining sense of individuality; a time from about age 19 to 30; circumscribed not so much by time as by the acquisition of intimacy at the beginning of the stage and the development of generativity at the end.

psychosexual mode: genitality genitality – expression of one's search for identity and is basically self-serving; develop only during young adulthood when it is distinguished by mutual trust and a stable sharing of sexual satisfactions with a loved person; chief psychosexual accomplishment of young adulthood and exists only in an intimate relationship. psychosexual crisis: intimacy versus isolation intimacy – the ability to fuse one's identity with that of another person without fear of losing it; can be achieved only after people have formed a stable ego. mature intimacy – means an ability and willingness to share a mutual trust; involves sacrifice, compromise, and commitment within a relationship of two equals. isolation – psychosocial counterpart to intimacy; defined as “the incapacity to take chances with one's identity by sharing true intimacy” basic strength: love love – the basic strength of young adulthood, emerges from the crisis of intimacy versus isolation; Erikson defined it as mature devotion that overcomes basic differences between men and women; also contains some degree of isolation because each partner is permitted to retain a separate identity mature love – means commitment, sexual passion, cooperation, competition, and friendship; enables a person to cope productively with the final two stages of development. exclusivity – the antipathy of love; the core pathology of young adulthood; becomes pathological when it blocks one's ability to cooperate, compete, or compromise.

Adulthood – people begin to take their place in society and assume responsibility for whatever society produces; the longest stage of development spanning the years from about age 31 to 60.

psychosexual mode: procreativity procreativity – refers to more than genital contact with an intimate partner; includes assuming responsibility for the care of offspring that result from that sexual contact. mature adulthood – demands more than procreating offspring; includes caring for one's children as well as other people's children; encompasses working productively to transmit culture from one generation to the next. psychosexual crisis: generativity versus stagnation generativity – defined as “the generation of new beings as well as new products and new ideas; concerned with establishing and guiding the next generation, includes procreation of children, the production of work, and the creation of new things and ideas. self-absorption and stagnation – antithesis of generativity; the generational cycle of productivity and creativity is crippled when people become too absorbed in themselves, too sef-indulgent which fosters a pervading sense of stagnation. basic strength: care care - defined as “a widening commitment to take care of the persons, the products, and the ideas one has learned to care for; care arises from each earlier basic ego strength; not a duty or obligation but a natural desire emerging from the conflict between generativity and stagnation or self-absorption. rejectivity – the antipathy of care; the core pathology of adulthood; it is the unwillingness to take care of certain persons or groups; manifested as self-centeredness, provincialism, or pseudospeciation; Erikson: “has far-reaching implications for the survival of the species as well as for every individual's psychosocial development.

Old Age – period from about age 60 to the end of life; need not mean that people are no longer generative; it can be a time of joy, playfulness, and wonder but it is also a time of senility, depression, and despair.

psychosexual mode: generalized sensuality generalized sensuality – means to take pleasure in a variety of different physical sensations like sights, sounds, tastes, odors, embraces, and perhaps genital stimulation; include a greater appreciation for the traditional lifestyle of the opposite sex; dependent on one's own ability to hold things together, that is, to maintain integrity in the face of despair. psychosexual crisis: integrity versus despair and disgust integrity – a feeling of wholeness and coherence, an ability to hold together one's sense of “I-ness” despite diminishing physical and intellectual powers. ego integrity – sometimes difficult to maintain when people see that they are losing familiar aspects of their existence. despair – literally means to be without hope. basic strength: wisdom wisdom – Erikson: “informed and detached concern with life itself in the face of death itself; draws from and contributes to the traditional knowledge passed from generation to generation. disdain – the antithesis of wisdom and the core pathology of old age; Erikson: “a reaction to feeling and seeing others in an increasing state of being finished, confused, helpless”; a continuation of rejectivity. ninth stage – a period of very old age when physical and mental infirmities rob people of their generative abilities and reduce them to waiting for death.

ERIKSON'S METHODS OF INVESTIGATION

TWO APPROACHES USED TO EXPLAIN AND DESCRIBE HUMAN PERSONALITY: Anthropological Studies Psychohistory 1937 – Erikson made a field trip to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to investigate the causes of apathy among Sioux children APATHY – he found out this to be an expression of an extreme dependency the Sioux had developed as a result of their reliance on various federal government programs. YUROK NATION – in Northern California was the next place for Erikson's field trip two years after he went to Sioux nation. They lived mostly on salmon fishing and thus people possessed no strong national feeling and had little taste for war. PSYCHOHISTORY – a controversial field that combines psychoanalytic concepts with historical methods. Erikson: “the study of individual and collective life with the combined methods of psychoanalysis and history”. He used this to demonstrate his fundamental beliefs that each person is a product of his or her historical time and that those historical times are influenced by exceptional leaders experiencing a personal identity conflict. SELF-IMPOSED FASTING – political weapon used by Ghandi. 02 OCTOBER 1869 – Mahatma Ghandi's birth date. PORBANDA, INDIA – Ghandi's birth place. SATYAGRAHA – is a Sanskrit term meaning tenacious, stubborn method of gathering the truth. Ghandi's technique of passive resistance. 1989 – Ghandi was age 49 when he became the central figure in a workers' strike against the mill owner at Ahmedabad.

RELATED RESEARCH

GENERATIVITY – the generation of new beings as well as products and new ideas. It is typically expressed not only in bringing up children and fostering growth in young people but also in teaching, mentoring, creating, and storytelling activities that bring new acknowledge into existence and pass on old knowledge to the next generation. LOYOLA GENERATIVITY SCALE (LGS) – developed by Dan McAdams and his colleagues to measure generativity.

CRITIQUE OF ERIKSON

CRITERION 1. generate research – Erikson's theory was rated somewhat higher than average. 2. falsifiability – Erikson's theory is limited mostly to developmental stages. It does not adequately address such issues as personal traits or motivation, a limitation that subtracts from the theory's ability to shed meaning on much of what is currently known about human personality. 3. guide to action – Erikson's theory provides many general guidelines, but offers a little specific advice. Compared to other theories discussed in this book, it ranks near the top in suggesting approaches to dealing with middle-aged and older adults. 4. internal consistency – Erikson's theory was rated high here, mostly because the terms used to label the different psychosocial crises, basic strengths, and core pathologies are very carefully chosen. 5. parsimony – or criterion of simplicity, was given a moderate rating. The precision of its terms is a strength, but the descriptions of psychosexual stages and psychosocial crises, especially in the later stages, are not clearly differentiated.