POST-FREUDIAN THEORY: ERIK ERIKSON

OVERVIEW
Post-Freudian Theory extended Freud’s infantile developmental stages into adolescence, adulthood and old age.
Erikson suggested that at each stage, a specific psychosocial struggle contributes to the formation of personality.
From adolescence on, that struggle takes the form of an identity crisis turning point in one’s life that may either
strengthen or weaken personality. Same with Freud, Erikson also believed that childhood experiences shape our
personality later in life but the latter holds that personality is still flexible throughout the adult years. He states that
failure at an early stage jeopardizes a full development at a later stage but fulfillment in any one stage does not
automatically guarantee success. Each stage of specific psychosocial struggle contributes to the formation of
personality. The theory was termed ego psychology since Erikson held that ego is a positive force that creates a
self-identity, a sense of “I.” As the center of our personality, our ego helps us adapt to the various conflicts and
crises of life and keeps us from losing our individuality to the leveling forces of society.

BIOGRAPHY
- Born June 15, 1902, in southern Germany, Erikson was brought up by his mother and stepfather, but he
remained uncertain of the true identity of his biological father. Born into a single-parent family, the young boy held
three separate beliefs regarding his origins.

Theodor Homburger- his stepfather.

Valdemar Salomonsen- her mother’s first husband whom she lied that he was his biological father and that he
abandoned her after she became pregnant with Erik. However, Erik didn’t quite believe this second story either
because he learned that Salomonsen had left his mother 4 years before Erik was born.
Erik chose to believe that he was the outcome of a sexual liaison between his mother and an artistically gifted
aristocratic Dane. For nearly the remainder of his life, Erik believed this third story but he continued to search for
his own identity while seeking the name of his biological father.

- He became a teacher in a school built by Anna Freud who as well became not just his employer but also his
psychoanalyst.

- While in Vienna, Erikson met and, with Anna Freud’s permission, married Joan Serson, a Canadian-born
dancer, artist, and teacher who had also undergone psychoanalysis. They had four children: sons Kai, Jon, and
Neil, and daughter Sue. Kai and Sue pursued important professional careers, but Jon, who shared his father’s
experience as a wandering artist, worked as a laborer and never felt emotionally close to his parents.

- According to Erikson, this stage requires a person to take care of children, products, and ideas that he or she
has generated. On this issue, Erikson was deficient in meeting his own standards. He failed to take good care of
his son Neil, who was born with Down syndrome. Erik agreed to place Neil in an institution. Then he went home
and told his three older children that their brother had died at birth. Later, he told his oldest son, Kai, the truth, but
he continued to deceive the two younger children, Jon and Sue. Although his mother’s lie had distressed him
greatly, he failed to understand that his lie about Neil might later distress his other children. In deceiving his
children the way he did, Erikson violated two of his own principles: “Don’t lie to people you should care for,” and
“Don’t pit one family member against another.” He died May 12, 1994, at the age of 91.

THE EGO in POST-FREUDIAN THEORY

Erikson held that our ego is a positive force that creates a self-identity, a sense of “I”. As the center of our
personality, our ego helps us adapt to the various conflicts and crises of life and keeps us from losing our
individuality to the leveling forces of society. During childhood, the ego is weak, pliable, and fragile; but by
adolescence it should begin to take form and gain strength. Throughout our life, it unifies personality and guards
against indivisibility. Erikson saw the ego as a partially unconscious organizing agency that synthesizes
our present experiences with past self-identities and also with anticipated images of self. He defined ego
as a person’s ability to unify experiences and actions in an adoptive manner.

3 INTERRELATED ASPECTS OF EGO

a. BODY EGO- refers to experiences with our body; a way of seeing our physical self as different for
other people. We may be satisfied or dissatisfied with the way our body looks and functions, but we
recognize that it is the only body we will ever have.
b. EGO IDEAL- represents the image we have of ourselves in comparison with an established ideal; it
is responsible for our being satisfied or dissatisfied not only with our physical self but with our entire
personal identity.
c. EGO IDENTITY- is the image we have of ourselves in the variety of social roles we play.

SOCIETY’S INFLUENCE
Although inborn capacities are important in personality development, the ego emerges from is largely
shaped by society. Erikson’s emphasis on social and historical factors was in contrast with Freud’s
mostly biological viewpoint. To Erikson, the ego exists as potential at birth, but it must emerge from
within a cultural environment. Different societies, with their variations in child rearing practices, tend to
shape personalities that fit the needs and values of their culture.
 *Pseudospecies- an illusion perpetrated and perpetuated by a particular society that it is somehow
chosen to be the human species.

EPIGENETIC PRINCIPLE
Erikson believed that the ego develops throughout the various stages of life according to an epigenetic principle,
a term borrowed from embryology. It implies a step-by-step growth of fetal organs. In similar fashion, the ego
follows the path of epigenetic development, with each stage developing at its proper time. One stage emerges
from and is built upon a previous stage, but it does not replace that earlier stage.

STAGES OF PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

INFANT - Babies, whose needs are met, develop a Basic Strength: Hope
Trust vs. Mistrust feeling of trust for the environment. Core Pathology: Withdrawal
(Oral-Sensory Mode)
- If infants have frustration and deprivation,
they learn a basic mistrust for the world that
will stick throughout life.

TODDLER - When toddlers learn to act independently and Basic Strength: Will
Autonomy vs. Shame and to control their bodies (toilet training, walking, Core Pathology: Compulsion
Doubt etc.) they learn self-confidence and a feeling of
(Anal-Urethral-Muscular mode) autonomy.

- Failure leads to feelings of inadequacy and

therefore a sense of basic shame and doubt.

PRE-SCHOOL - The preschooler is ready to take action- in Basic Strength: Purpose

Initiative vs. Guilt play, in imagination, and in running his or her Core Pathology: Inhibition
(Genital-Locomotor mode) life. Success here leads to good self -esteem

- Failure leads to feelings of guilt.

EARLY SCHOOL AGE - The school aged child is ready for learning Basic Strength: Competence
Industry v. Inferiority many new skills and, if successful, will develop Core Pathology: Inertia
(Latency) a sense of industry or being good at things.

- Failures at this stage result in a deep sense

of being no good, of being inferior to others- a
feeling that might carry into adulthood.

ADOLESCENT - An adolescent is beginning to think abstractly Basic strength: Fidelity

Identity vs. Role confusion
(Puberty)
and can conceptualize his or her self-identity Core Pathology: Role
and personality. The Adolescent begins to Repudiation
consider questions of identity such as: who
should I be? What should I value? And what
interests should I have The teen must answer
these to develop a good sense of self- identity.

- Exploration of various roles and personalities

is common in this stage.
YOUNG ADULT - A young adult faces the challenge of Basic Strength:Love
Intimacy vs. Isolation developing close emotional relationships with Core Pathology: Exclusivity
(Genitality) other people. Here the term intimate does not
mean sexuality, but social and emotional
connections with others.

- The opposite result, or those who do not

develop a sense of intimacy, is to become
isolated from social contact.

MIDDLE-AGED ADULT - Middle-aged adults feel an urgency to leave a Basic strength: Care
Generativity vs. stagnation mark on the world, to generate something of Core Pathology: Rejectivity
(Procreativity) lasting value and worth. Finding a purpose in
life is a central theme.

- To fail at generating something significant

means a person becomes stagnant and stops
moving forward; this person become selfish
and selfish absorbed.

OLD ADULT - In old age, it is common to look back on life Basic strength: Wisdom
Integrity vs. Despair and reflect on what was accomplished. People Core Pathology: Disdain
(Generalized sensuality) who feel good about what they have done build
a sense of integrity.

- For those whose evaluations are not so good,

there is despair, the feeling of regret and
remorse for the life they led.
ERIKSON’S EIGHT BASIC VIRTUES/ EGO STRENGTH

1. Hope is the enduring belief in the obtainability of fervent wishes, in spite of the dark urges and rages
which mark the beginning of existence.

2. Will is the unbroken determination to exercise free choice as well as self-restraint, in spite of the
unavoidable experience of shame and doubts.

3. Purpose is the courage to envisage and pursue valued goals uninhibited by the defeat of infantile
fantasies, by guilt and by the foiling fear of punishment.

4. Competence is the free exercise of dexterity and intelligence in their completion of tasks, unimpaired
by infantile inferiority.

5. Fidelity is the ability to sustain loyalties freely pledged in spite of the inevitable contradictions of
value systems.

6. Love is mutuality of devotion forever subduing that antagonism inherent in divided function.

7. Care is the widening concern for what has been generated by love, necessity, or accident; it
overcomes the ambivalence adhering to irreversible obligation.

8. Wisdom is detached concern with life itself, in the face of death itself.

MALADAPTIVE AND MALIGNANT CONDITIONS

In an unbalanced development, the ego consists solely of one attitude, either the maladaptive one.
Erikson labeled this condition maldevelopment. When only the positive, adaptive, tendency is present in
the ego, the condition is said to be “maladaptive”. When only the negative tendency is present, the
condition is said to be “malignant”.

MALADAPTION- can lead to neuroses; malignancies can lead to psychoses. Erikson believed that
both conditions could be corrected through psychotherapy. Maladaptations, which are the less severe
disturbances, can also be relieved through a process of re-adaptation, aided by environment changes,
supportive social relationships, or successful adaptation at a later developmental stage

ERIKSON’S METHODS OF INVESTIGATION

A. Play Therapy- For work with emotionally disturbed children and in research on normal children
and adolescents, Erikson chose play therapy. He provided a variety of toys and observed how
children interacted with them. The form and intensity of play revealed aspects of personality that
might not be manifested verbally because of a child’s limited powers of verbal expression.

B. Psychohistory- Erikson combined the methods of psychoanalysis and historical research to

study several personalities, most notably Gandhi and Luther. In both cases, the central figure
experienced an identity crisis that produced a basic strength rather than core pathology.

C. Anthropological Studies - Erikson's two most important anthropological studies were of the
Sioux of South Dakota and the Yurok tribe of northern California. Both studies demonstrated his
notion that culture and history help shape personality.