THEORIES OF THE PERSONALITIES
Erick Erickson
Post-Freudian Theory
BIOGRAPHY
- Born in June 15, 1902
- Jewish
- he has a child with down syndrome
- coined the term “identity crisis”
- He never knew his biological father
- He has no formal training at psychoanalysis
- Undergone psychoanalysis with Anna Freud
- Married to Joan Serson
- In 1950, Erikson published Childhood and
Society, a book that at first glance appears to be
a hodgepodge of unrelated chapters.
POST-FREUDIAN THEORY
OVERVIEW
- Erikson intended his theory of personality to
extend rather than repudiate Freud’s
assumptions and to offer a new “way of looking
at things”.
- His 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—a turning point in
one’s life that may either strengthen or weaken
personality.
- Erikson placed more emphasis on both social
and historical influences.
BASIC ASSUMPTIONS
EGO
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.
● 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 the ego as a person’s ability
to unify experiences and actions in an
adaptive manner.
● identified three interrelated aspects of
ego: the body ego, the ego ideal, and
ego identity.
- BODY EGO : refers to
experiences with our body; a
way of seeing our physical self
as different from other people
- 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 also with our entire personal
identity.
- EGO IDENTITY : is the image
we have of ourselves in the
variety of social roles we play.
- adolescence is ordinarily the time when these
three components are changing most rapidly.
SOCIETY’S INFLUENCE
- 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.
- Erikson, argued that historically all tribes or
nations, including the United States, have
developed what he called a pseudospecies:
that is, an illusion perpetrated and perpetuated
by a particular society that it is somehow chosen
to be the human species.
● Pseudospecies : Technically, this is an
irrational propensity in homogeneous
groups to deny the fact that humankind
is obviously one species
● In past centuries, this belief has aided
the survival of the tribe, but with modern
means of world annihilation, such a
prejudiced perception (as demonstrated
by Nazi Germany) threatens the survival
of every nation. NOTE: BUT
TECHNICALLY SPEAKING, WE
DON’T HAVE A SUBSPECIES, WE
ARE ALL THE SAME SPECIES OF
HUMANKIND, THE HOMOSEPIENS.
EPIGENETIC PRINCIPLE
- Epigenetic development implies a step-by-step
growth of fetal organs.
- it develops, or should develop, according to a
predetermined rate and in a fixed sequence.
- Erikson described the epigenetic
principle by saying that “anything that
grows has a ground plan, and that out of
this ground plan the parts arise, each
part having its time of special
ascendancy, until all parts have arisen to
form a functioning whole”
- Epigenesis means that one
characteristic develops on top of
another in space and time.
- In short, if one development doesn’t succeed,
well it doesn’t grow.
STAGES OF PSYCHOSOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT
ASSUMPTIONS OF PSYCHOSOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT
1. Growth takes place according to the
epigenetic principle.
2. Every stage of life there is an interaction of
opposite conflict between syntonic
(harmonious) and dystonic (disruptive).
3. The conflict between the dystonic and
syntonic elements produces an ego quality or
ego strength, which Erikson referred to as a
basic strength.
4. Too little basic strength at any one stage
results in a core pathology for that stage, in the
element.
6. Events in earlier stages do not cause later
personality development. Ego identity is shaped
by a multiplicity of conflicts and events—past,
present, and anticipated.
7. Adolescence forward, personality
development is characterized by an identity
crisis, which Erikson called “a turning point, a
crucial period of increased vulnerability and
heightened potential”. Thus, during each crisis, a
person is especially susceptible to major
modifications in identity, either positive or
negative
PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
STAGES EARYLY CHILDHOOD 2-3 y/o
(AUTONOMY VS SHAME & DOUBT)
INFANCY 0-1 y/o (Basic Trust vs Basic - To him, young children receive pleasure not
Mistrust) only from mastering the sphincter muscle but
also from mastering other body functions such
- Infancy is a time of incorporation, with infants
as urinating, walking, throwing, holding, and so
“taking in” not only through their mouth but
on. In addition, children develop a sense of
through their various sense organs as well.
control over their interpersonal environment, as
ORAL SENSORY MODE
well as a measure of self-control.
● The oral-sensory stage is
ANAL-URETHRAL-MUSCULAR
characterized by two modes of
● children learn to control their
incorporation—receiving and
body, especially in relation to
accepting what is given. All
cleanliness and Mobility.
sensory organs also “take in”
AUTONOMY (SYNTONIC) VS SHAME
the world.
& DOUBT (DYSTONIC)
BASIC TRUST (syntonic) VS BASIC
● As children stubbornly express
MISTRUST (dystonic)
their anal–urethral–muscular
● If their pattern of accepting
mode, they are likely to find a
things corresponds with
culture that attempts to inhibit
culture’s way of giving things,
some of their self-expression.
then infants learn basic trust. In
● AUTONOMY - Self-expression,
contrast, they learn basic
independence.
mistrust if they find no
● SHAME - is a feeling of self
correspondence between their
consciousness, of being looked
oral sensory needs and their
at and exposed.
environment.
● DOUBT - on the other hand, is
HOPE (Basic Strength)
the feeling of being certain, the
● Infants must experience hunger,
feeling that something remains
pain, and discomfort as well as
hidden and cannot be seen.
the alleviation of these
WILL (Basic Strenth)
unpleasant conditions. By
● This step is the beginning of free will
having both painful and
and willpower—but only a beginning.
pleasurable experiences, infants
Mature willpower and a significant
learn to expect that future
measure of free will are reserved for
distresses will meet with
later stages of development, but they
satisfactory outcomes.
originate in the rudimentary will that
Opposite of withdrawal (Core
emerges during early childhood.
pathology).
COMPULSION (Core pathology)
● Too little will and too much compulsivity
carry forward into the play age as lack of
purpose and into the school age as lack
of confidence.
PLAY AGE 3-5 y/o (Initiative vs Guilt)
- Erikson believed that the Oedipus complex is
but one of several important developments
during the play age. Erikson (1968) contended
that, in addition to identifying with their parents,
preschool-age children are developing
locomotion, language skills, curiosity,
imagination, and the ability to set goals.
GENITAL-LOCOMOTOR MODE
● Oedipus complex is a drama
played out in the child’s
imagination and includes the
budding understanding of such
basic concepts as reproduction,
growth, future, and death.
- The interest that play-age children have in
genital activity is accompanied by their
increasing facility at locomotion. They can now
move with ease, running, jumping, and climbing
with no conscious effort; and their play shows
both initiative and imagination.
INITIATIVE (Syntonic) VS GUILT
(Dystonic)
● Although they begin to adopt
initiative in their selection and
pursuit of goals, many goals,
such as marrying their mother or
father or leaving home, must be
either repressed or delayed.
The consequence of these
taboo and inhibited goals is
guilt.
PURPOSE (Basic Strength)
● They set goals and pursue them
with purpose. Play age is also
the stage in which children are
developing a conscience and
beginning to attach labels such
as right and wrong to their
behavior.
INHIBITION (Core Pathology)
● which is the antipathy of
purpose, constitutes the core
pathology of the play age. if guilt
is the dominant element children
may become compulsively
moralistic or overly inhibited.
SCHOOL AGE 6-12 or 13 y/o (Industry vs
Inferiority)
- at this age, the social world of children is
expanding beyond family to include peers,
teachers, and other adult models. For
school-age children, their wish to know becomes
strong and is tied to their basic striving for
competence.
LATENCY
● Sexual latency is important
because it allows children to
divert their energies to learning
the technology of their culture
and the strategies of their social
interactions.
● As children work and play to
acquire these essentials, they
begin to form a picture of
themselves as competent or
incompetent.
● These self-images are the origin
of ego identity—that feeling of
“I” or “me-ness” that evolves
more fully during adolescence.
INDUSTRY (Syntonic) vs
INFERIORITY (Dystonic)
● Industry, a syntonic quality,
means industriousness, a
willingness to remain busy with
something and to finish a job.
School-age children learn to
work and play at activities
directed toward acquiring job
skills and toward learning the
rules of cooperation.
● but if their work is insufficient to
accomplish their goals, they
acquire a sense of
inferiority—the dystonic quality
of the school age. Earlier
inadequacies can also
contribute to children’s feelings
of inferiority.
- The ratio between industry and inferiority
should, of course, favor industry; but inferiority,
like the other dystonic qualities, should not be
avoided.
COMPETENCE (Basic Strength) ● Identity confusion is a
● That is, the confidence to use syndrome of problems that
one’s physical and cognitive includes a divided self-image,
abilities to solve the problems an inability to establish intimacy,
that accompany school age. a sense of time urgency, a lack
INERTIA (Core pathology) of concentration on required
● the struggle between industry tasks, and a rejection of family
and inferiority favors either or community standards.
inferiority or an overabundance FIDELITY (Basic Strength)
of industry, children are likely to ● After establishing their internal
give up and regress to an earlier standards of conduct, adolescents are
stage of development. no longer in need of parental guidance
but have confidence in their own
ADOLESCENCE 12-18 y/o (Identity vs religious, political, and social ideologies.
Identity Confusion)
- By the end of this period, a person must gain a ROLE REPUDIATION (Core
firm sense of ego identity. Although ego identity Pathology)
neither begins nor ends during adolescence, the ● blocks one’s ability to
crisis between identity and identity confusion. synthesize various self-images
Adolescence, then, is an adaptive phase of and values into a workable
personality development, a period of trial and identity.
error. ● Diffidence is an extreme lack of
PUBERTY self-trust or self-confidence and
● defined as genital maturation, is expressed as shyness or
plays a relatively minor role in hesitancy to express oneself.
Erikson’s concept of ● Defiance is the act of rebelling
adolescence. essentially social against authority.
and can be filled only through a
struggle to attain ego identity.
IDENTITY (Syntonic) vs IDENTITY
CONFUSION (Distruptive)
● The search for ego identity
reaches a climax during
adolescence as young people
strive to find out who they are
and who they are not. With the
advent of puberty, adolescents
look for new roles to help them
discover their identities.
● Identity is defined both
positively and negatively, as
adolescents are deciding what
they want to become and what
they believe while also
discovering what they do not
wish to be and what they do not
believe.
YOUND ADULTHOOD 19-30 y/o (Intimacy
vs Isolation)
- After achieving a sense of identity during
adolescence, people must acquire the ability to
fuse that identity with the identity of another
person while maintaining their sense of
individuality.
GENITALITY
● Can develop only during young
adulthood when it is distinguished by
mutual trust and a stable sharing of
sexual satisfactions with a loved person.
INTIMACY VS ISOLATION
● Intimacy is the ability to fuse
one’s identity with that of
another person without fear of
losing it. Because intimacy can
be achieved only after people
have formed a stable ego, the
infatuations often found in
young adolescents are not true
intimacy.
- Mature intimacy means an ability and
willingness to share a mutual trust.
● Isolation, defined as “the
incapacity to take chances with
one’s identity by sharing true
intimacy”. Some degree of
isolation is essential before one
can acquire mature love.
- Too much togetherness can diminish a
person’s sense of ego identity,
LOVE (Basic Strength)
● Defined love as mature devotion that
overcomes basic differences between
men and women. Although love includes
intimacy, it 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.
EXCLUSIVITY (Core Pathology)
● A person must be able to exclude
certain people, activities, and ideas in
order to develop a strong sense of
identity.
- Exclusivity becomes pathological when it
blocks one’s ability to cooperate, compete, or
compromise—all prerequisite ingredients for
intimacy and love.
\
ADULTHOOD 31-60 y/o (Generativity vs
Stagnation)
- That time when people begin to take their
place in society and assume responsibility for
whatever society produces.
PROCREATIVITY
● refers to more than genital
contact with an intimate partner.
It includes assuming
responsibility for the care of
offspring that result from that
sexual contact. Ideally,
procreation should follow from
the mature intimacy and love
established during the
preceding stage.
GENERATIVITY VS STAGNATION
● Generativity is concerned for
the future generation. People
have a need not only to learn
but also to instruct. This need
extends beyond one’s own
children to an altruistic concern
for other young people.
● During adulthood, one-to-one
intimacy is no longer enough.
Other people, especially
children, become part of one’s
concern.
● For the mature adult, this
motivation is not merely an
obligation or a selfish need but
an evolutionary drive to make a
contribution to succeeding
generations and to ensure the
continuity of human society as
well.
 ● The generational cycle of
productivity and creativity is
crippled when people become
too absorbed in themselves, too
self-indulgent. Such an attitude
fosters a pervading sense of
stagnation.
CARE (Basic strength)
● a widening commitment to take care of
the persons, the products, and the ideas
one has learned to care for”. As the
basic strength of adulthood, care arises
from each earlier basic ego strength
REJECTIVITY (Core pathology)
● is the unwillingness to take care of
certain persons or groups (Erikson,
1982). Rejectivity is manifested as
self-centeredness, provincialism, or
pseudospeciation
OLD AGE 60 y/o to end life (Integrity vs
Despair)
- Erikson's final stage of development is old age,
typically from around age 60 onwards. Despite
the absence of procreation, older individuals can
remain generative and contribute to society. Old
age encompasses both joy and challenges like
senility and depression. The psychosocial crisis
is integrity versus despair, with wisdom as a key
strength.
GENERALIZED SENSUALITY
● Generalized sensuality may also
include a greater appreciation
for the traditional lifestyle of the
opposite sex.
● Men become more nurturant
and more acceptant of the
pleasures of nonsexual
relationships, including those
with their grandchildren and
great-grandchildren.
● Women become more
interested and involved in
politics, finance, and world
affairs.
INTEGRITY VS DESPAIR
● Integrity means 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 is sometimes
difficult to maintain when people
see that they are losing familiar
aspects of their existence: for
example, spouse, friends,
physical health, body strength,
mental alertness,
independence, and social
usefulness.
● Despair literally means to be
without hope. A reexamination
reveals that despair, the last
dystonic quality of the life cycle,
is in the opposite corner from
hope, a person’s first basic
strength. From infancy to old
age, hope can exist.
WISDOM (Basic Strength)
● defined wisdom as “informed and
detached concern with life itself in the
face of death itself”. People with
detached concern do not lack concern;
rather, they exhibit an active but
dispassionate interest. With mature
wisdom, they maintain their integrity in
spite of declining physical and mental
abilities.
DISDAIN (Core pathology)
● defined as “a reaction to feeling (and
seeing others) in an increasing state of
being finished, confused, helpless.”
Disdain is a continuation of rejectivity,
the core pathology of adulthood.
METHODS OF INVESTIGATION
- He employed anthropological, historical,
sociological, and clinical methods to learn about
children, adolescents, mature adults, and
elderly. He studied middle-class Americans,
European children, people of the Sioux and
Yurok nations of North America, and even
sailors on a submarine

ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDIES
● He found that apathy was an expression
of an extreme dependency the Sioux
had developed as a result of their
reliance on various federal government
programs.
● Erikson was able to show that early
childhood training was consistent with
this strong cultural value and that history
and society helped shape personality.

PSYCHOHISTORY
- Freud originated psychohistory with an
investigation of Leonardo da Vinci and later
collaborated with American ambassador William
Bullitt to write a book-length psychological study
of American president Woodrow Wilson.
● Although Erikson deplored this latter
work, he took up the methods of
psychohistory and refined them,
especially in his study of Martin Luther
and Mahatma Gandhi.
● Erikson defined psychohistory as “the
study of individual and collective life with
the combined methods of
psychoanalysis and history”
● In Gandhi’s Truth, Erikson (1969)
revealed strong positive feelings for
Gandhi as he attempted to answer the
question of how healthy individuals such
as Gandhi work through conflict and
crisis when other people are debilitated
by lesser strife.
In searching for an answer, Erikson examined
Gandhi’s entire life cycle but concentrated on
one particular crisis, which climaxed when a
middle-aged Gandhi first used self-imposed
fasting as a political weapon.