POST-FREUDIAN

THEORY

Erik Erikson
 Erik Salomonsen: Born June 15, 1902, in southern Germany, Erikson
was brought up by his mother (Jewish and of Danish ancestry) and
stepfather (Jewish pediatrician)
After his mother married Theodor Homberger, he eventually took his
name
At age 18, he left home and pursue the life of a wandering artist
Married to Joan Serson (psychoanalyst) and they had 4 children: sons
Kai, Jon, and Neil, and daughter Sue.
Analyzed by Anna Freud, for three years, and became a “lay analyst”
because of nonmedical training.
In midlife, he moved to US, changed his name to Erikson, and took a
position at the Harvrad Psychological Clinic, under Henry Murray.
Biographical Later he taught at Yale Institute of Human Relations, the University
Summary: of California at Berkeley, Austen Riggs Center at the Berkshires and
Erik Erikson several other universities.
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.
He defined the ego as a person’s ability to unify experiences and actions in an
adaptive manner (Erikson, 1963).
Erikson identified three interrelated aspects of ego:
1. Body ego - experiences with our body; a way of seeing our physical self as different
for other people
2. Ego ideal - represents the image we have of ourselves in comparison with an
established ideal
3. Ego identity - 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 and is largely shaped by society.
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.
 Epigenetic Principle

Erikson believed that the ego develops throughout the various stages of life
according to an epigenetic principle, a term borrowed from embryology.
Epigenetic development 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
FUNDAMENTAL TENETS OF THIS CONCEPT:
1. Growth takes place according to the epigenetic principle
2. In every stage of life there is an interaction of opposites—that is, a conflict between a
syntonic (harmonious) element and a dystonic (disruptive) element.
3. At each stage, the conflict between the dystonic and syntonic elements produces an ego
quality or ego strength called BASIC STRENGTH
4. Too little basic strength at any one stage results in a core pathology for that stage
5. Although Erikson referred to his eight stages as psychosocial stages, he never lost sight of
the biological aspect of human development
6. Events in earlier stages do not cause later personality development
7. During each stage, but especially from adolescence forward, personality development is
characterized by an identity crisis - “a turning point, a crucial period of increased
vulnerability and heightened potential”
Stages of Psychosocial Development

INFANCY Basic Trust vs Basic Mistrust

EARLY CHILDHOOD Autonomy vs Shame & Doubt

PLAY AGE Initiative vs Guilt

SCHOOL AGE Industry vs Inferiority

ADOLESCENCE Identity vs Identity Confusion

YOUNG ADULTHOOD Intimacy vs Isolation

ADULTHOOD Generativity vs Stagnation

OLD AGE Integrity vs Despair

 Stages of Psychosocial Development
Infancy
Time of incorporation, with infants “taking
in” not only through their mouth but
through their various sense organs as well
Oral-Sensory Mode
Characterized by two modes of
incorporation—receiving and accepting
what is given
Basic Trust vs Basic Mistrust
Infants’ most significant interpersonal relations are with their primary caregiver
(mother)
If their pattern of accepting things corresponds with culture’s way of giving things,
then infants learn basic trust. In contrast, they learn basic mistrust if they find no
correspondence between their oral-sensory needs and their environment
Too much trust makes them gullible and vulnerable, whereas too little trust leads to
frustration and hostility
Erikson believed that some ratio of trust and mistrust is critical to people’s ability to
adapt.
Hope emerges from the conflict between basic trust and basic mistrust.
By having both painful and pleasurable experiences, infants learn to expect that
future distresses will meet with satisfactory outcomes.
If infants do not develop sufficient hope during infancy, they will demonstrate the
antithesis or the opposite of hope—withdrawal
 Stages of Psychosocial Development
Early Childhood
Young children receive pleasure not
only from anus but also from mastering other
body functions such as urinating, walking,
throwing, holding, and so on
Children develop a sense of control over
their interpersonal environment, as well as a
measure of self-control
Anal-Urethral-Muscular
Mode
Children learn to control their body,
especially in relation to cleanliness and mobility
This is a time of contradiction,
stubborn rebellion, meek compliance, impulsive
self-expression, compulsive deviance, loving
cooperation and hateful resistance
Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt
As children stubbornly express their anal-urethral-muscular mode, they are likely to
find a culture that attempts to inhibit some of their self-expression
Ideally, children should develop a proper ratio between autonomy and shame and
doubt, and the ratio should be in favor of autonomy
Autonomy grows out of basic trust; and if basic trust has been established in infancy,
then children learn to have faith in themselves, and their world remains intact while they
experience a mild psychosocial crisis
Shame is a feeling of self-consciousness, of being looked at and exposed. Doubt, is
the feeling of not being certain, which can both stem out from basic mistrust
Will is the basic strength in this stage. Mature willpower and a significant measure of
free will are reserved for later stages of development, but they originate in the rudimentary
will that emerges during early childhood
Inadequate will is expressed as compulsion, the core pathology of early childhood.
 Stages of Psychosocial Development
Play Age
Erikson believed that the Oedipus
complex is but one of several important
developments during the play age.
Also, 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
Oedipal situation as a prototype “of
the lifelong power of human playfulness”
The Oedipus and castration
complexes, therefore, are not always to be
taken literally.
Initiative vs Guilt
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.
Unbridled initiative, however, may lead to chaos and a lack of moral principles. On the
other hand, if guilt is the dominant element, children may become compulsively moralistic or
overly inhibited
Inhibition, which is the antipathy of purpose, constitutes the core pathology
of the play age.
The conflict of initiative versus guilt produces the basic strength of purpose.
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. This youthful conscience
becomes the “cornerstone of morality”
 Stages
School Age
The social world of children is
expanding beyond family
In normal development, children
strive industriously to read and write, to
hunt and fish, or to learn the skills required
by their culture.
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.
of Psychosocial Development
Industry vs Inferiority
Although school age is a period of little sexual development, it is a time of tremendous
social growth.
As children learn to do things well, they develop a sense of industry, but if their work
is insufficient to accomplish their goals, they acquire a sense of inferiority
Earlier inadequacies can also contribute to children’s feelings of inferiority.
As Adler pointed out, inferiority can serve as an impetus to do one’s best. Conversely,
an oversupply of inferiority can block productive activity and stunt one’s feelings of
competence.
Here develops the basic strength of competence: that is, the confidence to use one’s
physical and cognitive abilities to solve the problems that accompany school age.
Competence lays the foundation for “co-operative participation in productive adult life”
If the struggle between industry and inferiority favors either inferiority or an
overabundance of industry, children are likely to give up and regress to an earlier stage of
development - inertia - core pathology of this stage
 Stages of Psychosocial Development
Adolescence
One of the most crucial
developmental stages because, by the end
of this period, a person must gain a firm
sense of ego identity
Erikson saw adolescence
as a period of social latency, just as he saw
school age as a time of sexual latency
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
Identity vs Identity Confusion
Adolescents look for new roles to help them discover their sexual, ideological, and
occupational identities and identity strengthens into a crisis.
Identity emerges from two sources: (1) adolescents’ affirmation or repudiation of
childhood identifications, and (2) their historical and social contexts
If we develop the proper ratio of identity to identity confusion, we will have (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, and (4) confidence
in our choice of an eventual occupation
Basic strength s is fidelity, or faith in one’s ideology. The trust learned in infancy is
basic for fidelity in adolescence.
Role repudiation, the core pathology of adolescence blocks one’s ability to synthesize
various self-images and values into a workable identity.
Role repudiation can take the form of either: (1) Diffidence - extreme lack of self-trust
or self-confidence and is expressed as shyness or hesitancy to express oneself, or (2)
defiance - act of rebelling against authority
 Stages of Psychosocial Development
Young Adulthood
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
True 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. Mature intimacy means an ability and willingness to share a mutual trust. It
involves sacrifice, compromise, and commitment within a relationship of two equals.
The psychosocial counterpart to intimacy is isolation, defined as “the incapacity to
take chances with one’s identity by sharing true intimacy”
Love, the basic strength of young adulthood, defined 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.
Exclusivity, the core pathology of young adulthood. Exclusivity becomes pathological
when it blocks one’s ability to cooperate, compete, or compromise—all prerequisite
ingredients for intimacy and love.
 Stages of Psychosocial Development
Adulthood
Time when people begin to take
their place in society and assume
responsibility for whatever society
produces.
For most people, this is the longest
stage of development, spanning the years
from about age 31 to 60
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.
Generativity vs Stagnation
Generativity, defined as “the generation of new beings as well as new products and
new ideas”
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. Generativity grows out of
earlier syntonic qualities such as intimacy and identity
The antithesis of generativity is self-absorption and stagnation. The generational
cycle of productivity and creativity is crippled when people become too absorbed in
themselves, too self-indulgent.
Basic strength is care as “a widening commitment to take care of the persons, the
products, and the ideas one has learned to care for”. Care is not a duty or obligation but a
natural desire emerging from the conflict between generativity and stagnation or self-
absorption.
Rejectivity, the core pathology of adulthood, is the unwillingness to take care of
certain persons or groups. Rejectivity is manifested as self-centeredness, provincialism, or
pseudospeciation: that is, the belief that other groups of people are inferior to one’s own.
 Stages of Psychosocial Development
Old Age
Old age need not mean that people
are no longer generative. Procreation, in the
narrow sense of producing children, may be
absent, yet old people can remain productive
and creative in other ways.
Old age can be a time of joy,
playfulness, and wonder; but it is also a time
of senility, depression, and despair.
Generalized Sensuality
May infer that it means to take
pleasure in a variety of different physical
sensations. May also include a greater
appreciation for the traditional lifestyle of
the opposite sex
Integrity vs Despair
Integrity - feeling of wholeness and coherence, an ability to hold together one’s sense
of “I-ness” despite diminishing physical and intellectual powers. Sometimes difficult to
maintain when people see that they are losing familiar aspects of their existence
Despair literally means to be without hope. From infancy to old age, hope can exist.
Once hope is lost, despair follows and life ceases to have meaning.
Wisdom, the basic strength of old age, defined wisdom as “informed and detached
concern with life itself in the face of death itself ”
With mature wisdom, they maintain their integrity in spite of declining physical and
mental abilities. Wisdom draws from and contributes to the traditional knowledge passed
from generation to generation. In old age, people are concerned with ultimate issues,
including nonexistence
The core pathology of old age is disdain, which Erikson 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.