Erik Erikson's Personality Theory PDF

Erik Erikson (1902–1994) Between 1939 and 1960 Erikson held various positions in California and Massachusetts. In 1960 Harvard University offered him the position of professor in spite of th...

Erik Erikson (1902–1994) Between 1939 and 1960 Erikson held various positions in California and Massachusetts. In 1960 Harvard University offered him the position of professor in spite of the fact that he had never received a university or college degree. Erikson was a popular speaker at colleges and universities throughout the United States. He died on May 12, 1994, following a brief illness. Erikson extended Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory in four main ways. First, he increased our understanding of the ego, showing how it is a creative problem solver that emerges out of the genetic, cultural, and historical context of each individual. Second, he elaborated on Freud’s stages of development, making explicit a social dimension that was implied in Freud’s theory but never clearly stated. Third, he extended our concept of development to embrace the entire life span, from infancy to old age. Fourth, he explored the impact of culture, society, and history on the developing personality and illustrated this in psychohistorical studies of famous people. AN ENHANCED UNDERSTANDING OF THE EGO While Erikson was training in Vienna, a lively debate was going on between Anna Freud and Heinz Hartmann, another influential psychoanalyst. Whereas Anna Freud tended to restrict the ego’s function to warding off drives, Hartmann was exploring the ego’s adaptive responses to its environment. Even though Anna Freud had been his training analyst, Erikson found himself attracted to Hartmann’s approach. As an educator, Erikson was interested in how one might strengthen and enrich the ego of young children. He found it difficult to conceive of the ego as adaptive if its role was limited to a set of defenses against inner drives. In Erikson’s theory, the ego is the part of the mind that gives coherence to experi- ences, conscious or unconscious. Erikson agreed with Sigmund Freud that many aspects of ego functioning are unconscious, but he believed the ego has an overall unifying pur- pose that leads to consistent behavior and conduct. The ego has the positive role of maintaining effective performance, rather than just a negative role of avoiding anxiety. Its defenses are adaptive as well as maladaptive (1974). Erikson did not believe that we can best reconstruct the ego’s functions from an understanding of its dysfunctions. He elaborated on its adaptive capacities, its ability to deal with stress, to resolve vital conflict, to recuperate, and to contribute to identity for- mation. In the final analysis, Erikson defined the ego as a strong, vital, and positive force: an organizing capacity of the individual that leads to “that strength which can reconcile discontinuities and ambiguities” (1975). The development of the ego is clearly outlined in Erikson’s psychosocial stages of the life cycle. Ideally, at each stage the ego develops certain strengths or basic virtues that enable it to move forward. These ego strengths lay the foundation for a set of ethical rules based on ideals that we can strive for, since Erikson also conceived of the superego and human consciousness in terms of an evolutionary process. THE PSYCHOSOCIAL STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT In his discussion of the psychosexual stages of development, Sigmund Freud concen- trated on their biological character and tended to neglect the social dimension. Neverthe- less, in Freud’s stages children are doing more than coming to terms with their own sexuality. For Erikson, children are trying to understand and relate to the world and to others. In effect, Erikson made explicit the social dimension implied in Freud’s work. Each of Erikson’s psychosocial stages centers on an emotional polarity or conflict that children encounter at certain critical periods. New environmental demands introject positive and negative emotional components into the development of personality. Both emotional components are to some extent incorporated into the emerging person, but if the conflict is resolved satisfactorily, the positive component is reflected to a higher Chapter 6 / Ego Analytic Psychology degree. If the conflict persists or is not adequately resolved, the negative component pre- dominates. Erikson’s first four stages correspond to Freud’s psychosexual stages (oral through latency). Erikson then subdivided the genital stage into four phases that repre- sent growth and development throughout maturity. Erikson’s stages are epigenetic (from the Greek words epi, “upon,” and genesis, “emer- gence”): One stage develops on top of another in a sequential and hierarchical pattern. At each successive level the human personality becomes more complex. Erikson stressed the prospective features of the life cycle, and he amended the logic of psychoanalysis so that early events are seen not only in terms of their contributions to later development but also as themselves directed by potentials that do not flower until later. Erikson’s psychosocial stages do not occur within a strict chronological framework. As in fetal development, however, each aspect of psychosocial development has a critical period of readiness during which, if it does not flourish, it is likely to flounder. In addi- tion, the stages progress in a cumulative rather than a linear fashion. The behaviors of one stage do not disappear with the successive stage (1969). Erikson made psychoanalytic concepts more consistent with contemporary scientific findings. His psychosocial stages are a gradual series of decisive encounters with the environment—interactions between biological development, psychological abilities, cog- nitive capacities, and social influences. Erikson saw the person as a way of being in the world. Thus the first stage, rather than a cathexis of libido onto an oral zone, is a com- plex of experiences centered in the mouth. Each of the eight stages entails its own life crisis, a crucial period in which the indi- vidual cannot avoid a decisive turn one way or the other. Each stage also provides new opportunities for particular ego strengths, or basic virtues, to develop. These psychosocial gains result from the ego’s successful adaptation to its environment and must be nurtured and reaffirmed continuously (see also Berk & Andersen, 2000; Green, Richardson, Lago, & Schatten-Jones, 2001; Pinquart & Sorensen, 2001; Roberts & Del Vecchio, 2000). The emotional duality of trust versus mistrust is the key consideration of the first stage, which corresponds to Freud’s oral, sensory, and kinesthetic one (Erikson, 1963). The basic psychosocial attitude to be learned at this stage is whether or not you can trust the world. For a protracted period of time children are highly dependent on others for their care. Certain frustrations are inevitable and socially meaningful, but too much of either frustration or indulgence may have negative effects. Basic trust implies a perceived correlation between one’s needs and one’s world. If infants receive unreliable, inadequate, or rejecting care, they will perceive their world as indifferent or hostile, and they will develop a high degree of mistrust. The danger lies in the extremes of trust and mistrust. This crisis is not permanently resolved during the first year or two of life, but a founda- tion is laid that influences the subsequent course of development. An appropriate balance of trust and mistrust leads to the development of the ego strength hope, a basic human virtue without which we are unable to survive. Hope repre- sents a persistent conviction that our wishes can be satisfied in spite of disappointment and failures (1964). Hope is the basis of faith, reflected in mature commitments. Erikson’s second psychosocial stage, autonomy versus shame and doubt, arises during the second and third years of life and corresponds to the anal-muscular stage in Freud’s psychosexual scheme (1963). The primary emotional duality here is that of control over the body and bodily activities as opposed to a tendency for shame and doubt. “Just when a  Erik Erikson (1902–1994) child has learned to trust his mother and to trust the world, he must become self-willed and must take chances with his trust in order to see what he, as a trustworthy individual, can will” (Erikson, as cited in Evans, 1967). The struggle for autonomy is not limited to sessions on the toilet but extends to many other areas of life as the ego begins to establish psychoso- cial independence. Toddlers, who are making rapid gains in neuromuscular maturation, verbalization, and social discrimination, begin to explore independently and interact with their environment. The negativism of the two-year-old whose favorite word is no is evi- dence of the child’s struggling attempt at autonomy. A temper tantrum is simply a momen- tary loss of self-control. Cultures have different ways of cultivating or breaking the child’s will, either reinforcing or rejecting the tentative explorations of the child. Doubts about their ability for self-control may give children feelings of inadequacy or shame. Will, the virtue corresponding to this stage, is a natural outgrowth of autonomy. In the toddler years only rudiments emerge, but these will build into a mature sense of will power. Will is an unbroken determination to exercise freedom of choice and self- restraint (1964) and forms the basis for our subsequent acceptance of social laws. The emotional duality that Erikson envisioned for the phallic or genital-locomotor stage of psychosexuality (three to five years) is initiative versus guilt (1963). At this period, children are active in their environment, mastering new skills and tasks. Their dominant social modality is the intrusive mode: Their bodies vigorously intrude into space and onto other people. Their intrusion and curiosity extends not only to sexual matters but to many other specific goals and achievements as well. The characteristic word of pre- schoolers is why? Parental responses to children’s self-initiated activities determine the successful or unsuccessful outcome of this stage. If initiative is reinforced, a child’s behavior will become increasingly goal oriented. Excessive punishment or discourage- ment may lead to feelings of guilt, resignation, and the belief that it is wrong to be curi- ous about the world and ill-advised to be active in it. Immense new faculties develop in children at this time as they begin to imagine goals for which their locomotive and cognitive skills have prepared them. Their use of lan- guage becomes more polished. Children begin to envision themselves as growing up and identify with people whose work and personalities they can understand and admire. Earlier fantasies are repressed or redirected, and the play of preschoolers becomes more realistic and purposeful. They begin to engage in projects. Children are at no time more open to learning than during these years. They are able to work cooperatively and to profit from teachers. Their learning is vigorous, leading away from their own limitations and into later possibilities. Erikson believed that the Oedipus complex is both more and less than what Sigmund Freud made of it. Erikson preferred to call it an early generational complex. From the point of view of evolution, it is the child’s first experience with the unrelenting sequence of generations, growth, and death. The same-sex parent becomes involved in the child’s early genital fantasies at a time when the child’s initiative is ready to turn away from the present situation to new goals. At the same time, the child’s strong imagination and powerful locomotive skills produce gigantic, terrifying fantasies that awaken a sense of guilt and lead to the development of conscience (Evans, 1967). Thus the Oedipal stage results in a moral sense that establishes permissible limits and begins to attach childhood dreams realistically to the various possible goals of one’s technology and culture. The virtue that emerges out of the duality of initiative versus guilt is purpose, a view of the future giving direction and focus to our mutual efforts. Purposefulness slowly enables one to develop a sense of reality that is defined by what is attainable (1964). Chapter 6 / Ego Analytic Psychology The next stage in the child’s life loosely parallels Sigmund Freud’s latency period. Freud gave few clues as to what was happening to personality development during this period apart from suggesting that latency involves a move from premature sexual expression to a nonactive sexual phase. Erikson agreed that during latency certain passionate and imagi- native qualities of earlier years calm down so that the child is free to concentrate on learn- ing. However, he pointed out that learning involves more than just a basic form of striving that takes place throughout the life cycle and undergoes a special crisis during the school years. The focus moves sharply from the id to the ego as the child applies to specific and approved goals the drives that earlier motivated dreams and play. Yet the ego can remain strong only through interaction with cultural institutions. At this time society intervenes in a more formal manner to develop the child’s capacities and potentials. During the school years (six to eleven), the primary emotional duality is industry versus inferiority (1963). The term industriousness might be better than industry because it implies being busy with something, learning to make something and to make it well. Chil- dren in all cultures receive some form of systematic instruction at this time to teach them skills that will be needed in their society and to help them attain a sense of mastery. New demands are placed upon children at this time. They are no longer loved simply for who they are; they are expected to master the technology of their culture in order to earn the respect of their teachers and peers. Their ability to conform and master the tasks of this level depends in large measure on how successfully they have traveled the preceding stages. If children emerge from the preceding stages with a basic sense of trust, autonomy, and initiative, they are ready for the industrious labor that “school” pre- supposes. But if their development has left heavy residues of mistrust, doubt, and guilt, they may have difficulty performing at an optimal level. From a psychoanalytic point of view, the child who has not adequately resolved his or her Oedipal complex may not be ready to fulfill the other demands of his or her society. If potentialities have been permit- ted to develop fully in the earlier stages, the child is in less danger. The peril during this period is that feelings of inadequacy and inferiority will develop. Children begin to make comparisons between themselves and others and to perceive themselves in a more or less favorable light. Children know, or think they know, where they stand. Children at this age are ready to learn to work and need to develop a sense of competence, the ego strength or virtue associated with this stage. Competence entails the ability to use one’s intelligence and skill to complete tasks that are of value in one’s society (1964). For Sigmund Freud, the hallmarks of the genital stage were lieben und arbeiten, “to love and to work.” Erikson agreed with the importance of these accomplishments, but he fur- ther divided Freud’s final stage into four substages to underscore the point that “genital- ity is not a goal to be pursued in isolation” (Evans, 1967). In so doing, Erikson greatly enriched our understanding of adolescence and the adult years. The primary duality during adolescence (twelve to eighteen) is ego identity versus role confusion. The process of forming an ego identity requires that one compare how one sees oneself with how significant others appear to expect one to be. “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” (1963). Ego identity results in a sense of coherent individuality that enables one to resolve one’s conflicts adaptively. If adolescents fail to answer the question “Who am I?” satisfactorily, they will suffer role confusion.  Erik Erikson (1902–1994) © Janine Wiedel Photolibrary/Alamy In contemporary society, scientific experimentation can be an important resource in encouraging children’s sense of competence. Erikson suggested that adolescence is a particularly crucial period. Along with rapid physical growth and changes, new psychological challenges occur. Previous continuities are called into question as young people begin to reconnect the roles and skills that they have developed into a maturer sense of identity. This integration is more than the sum total of previous accomplishments. Erikson often spoke of adolescence as a moratorium between childhood and adulthood, and he considered such a waiting period particularly important in a complex society. The greatest danger at this stage is role confusion, the inability to conceive of oneself as a productive member of one’s society. Erikson pointed out that “a sound ego identity is the only safeguard against the anarchy of drives as well as the autocracy of conscience” (1958). Role confusion frequently arises out of the adolescent’s difficulty in finding an occupational identity, but it may also express a general inability to find a meaningful place in one’s culture. The development of a positive identity depends on support from significant groups. The adolescent who cannot find a meaningful adult role runs the risk of an identity crisis, a transitory failure to establish a stable identity. Some young people may drop out of mainstream society for a short period, as Erikson himself did. Others may adopt a negative identity, one that is opposed to the dominant values of their upbringing. Where support has not been forthcoming and the climate has not been favorable to the development of inner resources, a negative identity may provide the only way of demonstrating mastery and free choice in one’s culture. Negative identifica- tions may result in unfortunate consequences—social pathology, crime, or expressions of prejudice. However, Erikson wanted us to recognize that such developments are an important testimony to the adolescent’s readiness for ideological involvement. It is vitally important that a society present its young people with ideals they can share enthusiastically. The conspicuous absence of a sense of promise in any society, due to economic conditions, population trends, high unemployment, or other problems that thwart the occupational aspirations of young people, means that those adolescents will have a difficult time establishing a clear and positive ego identity. Capps (1996) sug- gests that Erikson’s understanding of identity confusion and its ramifications has helped inform and nurture healing efforts for Vietnam veterans and other survivors of war by providing the therapeutic theory for readjustment and resocialization programs. Chapter 6 / Ego Analytic Psychology The virtue or ego strength developed at this time is fidelity; the adolescent is ready to learn to be faithful to an ideological point of view. Fidelity consists of “the ability to sus- tain loyalties freely pledged in spite of the inevitable contradictions of value systems” (1964). Without a constructive outlet for fidelity, the young person will either have a weak ego and suffer a “confusion of values” or search for a deviant group to be loyal to. Young adulthood (eighteen to twenty-four) is marked by the emotional duality of intimacy versus isolation (1963). Intimacy refers to the ability to develop a close and meaningful rela- tionship with another person. Erikson here applied Freud’s dictum “to love and to work” as the model orientation. Isolation entails self-absorption and an inability to develop deep, com- mitted relationships. Having grown beyond the beginnings of establishing an identity, the young adult is able to overcome the fear of ego loss and form a close affiliation with another individual. The task of young adulthood is to couple genitality with general work produc- tiveness. Clearly, genitality is an inadequate definition of health. On the other hand, an individual’s dedication to work should not be such that she or he loses the capacity to love. Thus it is at this point that the virtue of love emerges as an ego strength (1964). This is not to deny the involvement of love in previous stages, but in young adulthood the individual is able to transform the love received as a child and begin to care for others. Love further represents a mutual devotion that is able to overcome the natural antago- nism involved in any relationship between the sexes. Erikson acknowledged that there are different functions of the sexes, particularly with regard to procreation; however, the capacities of the mature ego can transcend these so that male and female cooperate. The middle years (twenty-five to sixty-four) are characterized by the conflict of generativity versus stagnation (1963). Generativity entails more than parenthood; it is the ability to be pro- ductive and creative in many areas of life, particularly those showing a concern for the welfare of ensuing generations. The adult actively participates in those elements of culture that will ensure its maintenance and enhancement. Failure to do so leads to stagnation, boredom, and interpersonal impoverishment. An indi- vidual who does not have children can fulfill generativity by working with other people’s children or helping to create a bet- ter world for them. A person is generative when making a contribution appropriate to her or his particular potential, be it chil- dren, products, ideas, or works of art. Erikson suggested that because Sigmund Freud stressed early inhibition of the expression of the libido or sexual drive, he underestimated the importance of the procreative desires of human beings. Erikson considered a procreative drive to be instinctual and saw genera- tivity as a further psychosexual stage whose frustration leads to symptoms of self-absorption and indulgence. © Tom Grill/Corbis An elderly person who shares wisdom with younger generations helps to affirm the meaning of the life cycle.  Erik Erikson (1902–1994) The ego strength that emerges during the middle years is care. The adult needs to be needed. Care implies doing something for somebody. Care is also able to overcome the inevitable ambivalent feelings that are involved in the parent-child relationship. Once again, when the mature ego is able to transcend these emotions, the adult can fulfill obligations to youth. Maturity, the final stage of life (sixty-five to death), is marked by ego integrity versus despair (1963). Ego integrity entails the ability to reflect on one’s life with satisfaction even if all dreams are not fulfilled. Death is not feared but accepted as one among many facets of one’s existence. Despair refers to regret over missed and unfulfilled opportunities at a time when it is too late to begin again. Ego integrity represents the fruit of the seven stages that have preceded. The virtue of this stage is wisdom. Wisdom enables an individ- ual to bring life to an appropriate closure. It is the ability to stand back and reflect on one’s life in the face of impending death (1964; see also Pinquart & Sorensen, 2001). As he entered his own eighth stage, Erikson was able to further elaborate on that era, seeing it as a vigorous and active phase of continued generativity and integration rather than a passive one of reflection. Older adults can continue to contribute to the welfare of younger generations through financial assistance, mentoring, and in some cases, active parenting (Erikson, Erikson, & Kivnick, 1986). The wisdom of old age goes beyond self-integration and integrity to embrace other people of other times and places and to convey messages of human dignity and love (Erikson, 1982). In an extended version of The Life Cycle Completed, Erikson’s wife, Joan, who had been an active partner in his intellectual pursuits and was now in her nineties, enlarged on Erikson’s vision of human development by introducing a ninth stage of very old age (Erikson, 1997). She describes the specific challenges presented to elders whose control over their bodies and lives is eroded by the inevitable wages of time. She discusses the important role of faith and hope in continuing to find joy and wisdom in life. Table 6.1 summarizes Erikson’s psychosocial stages, indicates their relationship to Sigmund Freud’s psychosexual stages, and lists their respective ego strengths. ASSESSMENT AND RESEARCH IN ERIKSON’S THEORY As a researcher, Erikson has been described as “the quintessential interdisciplinarian” (Smelser, 1996). He used cultural studies, psychohistories, and inquiries into sex differ- ences in his development of unique methods of assessment. His research is based on TABLE 6.1 THE LIFE CYCLE PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGE PSYCHOSOCIAL STAGE EGO STRENGTH OR VIRTUE Oral sensory and kinesthetic (infancy) Trust versus mistrust Hope Anal-muscular (toddler years) Autonomy versus shame and doubt Will Phallic or genital-locomotor (preschool years) Initiative versus guilt Purpose Latency period (school years) Industry versus inferiority Competence Genital (adolescence) Ego identity versus role confusion Fidelity (Young adulthood) Intimacy versus isolation Love (Adulthood) Generativity versus stagnation Care (Maturity) Ego integrity versus despair Wisdom SOURCE: Based on information in Erik H. Erikson, Childhood and Society (Norton, 1963), and Erik H. Erikson, Insight and Responsibility (Norton, 1964).