Erik Erikson was a 20th century psychologist who laid the foundations of how personality develops over time in addition to how social influences can have lasting impacts. Furthermore, he articulated his theory of lifestyle stages and coined the term, ‘identity crisis;’ when there is an internal conflict involving issues such as trust, purpose, or intimacy during development stages. Even though his contributions could be seen over half a century ago, he was crucial inspiring new fields of psychology and played a strong role in how people currently view personality. However, much of his literature dates back before the Women’s Rights Movement so previous societal views of women’s inferiority can be seen through his emphasis on male development, which has been a target of critique and revision for its applicability to females.
For the purpose of this essay, I will refrain from being politically correct in saying ‘him/herself’ when referring to people in Erikson’s literature because proceeding critiques have argued his life-cycle stages may apply differently to females. Despite his outdated views towards gender roles, Erik Erikson will not be forgotten for his impact on changing perceptions on psychological development and its socio-cultural influences that are intricately connected.
At such a young age Erikson began to experience problems with his own identity. He was born in Frankfurt, Germany on July 15, 1902 and did not know his biological father. While growing up, he was tall and had blond-hair with blue eyes while his family practiced Judaism. He was consequently taunted in both Jewish and Nordic settings for not appearing to belong to either.
Despite disapproval from his stepfather, he attended art college but soon dropped ...
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...deology by preventing external forces that may define the child and hinder the ability for self-discovery and naturally develop an internal sense of identity. But when looking this issue from a business perspective, creating quick judgments allows you to develop quick fixes, which is usually profitable. Websites sell advertising, psychiatrists want their appointment schedules filled, and your academic standing (and opportunities for elite colleges) can be decided with a single test—that we must purchase. Unfortunately, it seems capitalist interests may impede development of our future generations but I don’t want to sound like a conspiracy-nut. Ultimately, Erikson opened a new way of thinking about psychological development but the socio-cultural forces (business/capitalism/feminism) can affect his influence just like they (parents/teachers) can affect the children.
Erikson believed that personality development happens over the entire course of a persons life. He believed that personality develops in a series of stages. At each stage, challenges are faced and the outcome depends on how people handles these challenges. Erikson’s theory describes the impact of social experiences across the whole lifespan.
Beginning with Erik Erikson’s childhood, our textbook describes, “it is not surprising that the theorist who gave us the concept of the identity crisis experienced several crises of his own.” His first crisis occurred when he found out that his father was not his biological father. Knowing of this information, he kept his father’s last name until he migrated from Germany to the United States then changed his name to Erik Homburger Erikson. As life went on, Erikson experienced other identity crises situations that later gave him the idea of using his experiences to develop a profound theory that would change the world of psychology. At the age of twenty-five, Erik Erikson was offered to teach at a school established for the children of Sigmund Freud’s patients and friends (Schultz). Being taught by Sigmund Freud’s daughter Anna, he decided to approach Freud...
82). As human beings, we are constantly encountering and resolving conflict events, which Erikson called developmental crisis. The approach we take to resolve these crises depends on the influences that are around us and the actions that we take. After examining each stage and my experiences with each one, I feel as if I have a better understanding of how I became the person I am today. My parents, family members, teachers, and coaches, along with all of the other people in my life, have helped me to create an identity for myself as I have moved through the stages of psychosocial development. Analyzing Erikson’s theory in this manner has granted me a better understanding of psychosocial development, which will be invaluable for my future career as an
Erikson’s theory, developed in 1963, supports the idea that early life experiences impact an individual across their lifespan. This theory considers that the growth of an individual is a result of interaction with the environment, biological maturation and societal influences, therefore, allowing for experiences from early life, to influence an individual throughout their lifespan (White, Hayes, and Livesey, 2009). Erikson’s theory focuses on eight different developmental stages within a lifespan and in order to progress from one stage to another, an individual must overcome a potential crisis of two opposing forces at each stage. There are two types of resolution of each stage, successful and unsuccessful. If an individual is
Erik Erikson was heavily influenced by Freud but while Freud was an ID psychologist, Erikson was an ego psychologist. Erikson stressed that the development of the ego depended heavily on personal and social aspects. “According to Erikson, the ego develops as it successfully resolves crises that are distinctly social in nature. These involve establishing a sense of trust in others, developing a sense of identity in society, and helping the next generation prepare for the future” (McLeod, S. 1970). His theory focused on personality development through eight distinct stages. He believed that personality progressed in a stacking or pre-determined manner, this is referred to as the epigenetic principle. One must
Eric Erikson was one of the most famous theorists of the twentieth century; he created many theories. One of the most talked about theories is his theory of psychosocial development. This is a theory that describes stages in which an individual should pass as they are going through life. His theory includes nine stages all together. The original theory only included eight stages but Erikson‘s wife found a ninth stage and published it after his death. The nine stages include: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. identity confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, integrity vs. despair, and hope and faith vs. despair (Crandell and Crandell, p.35-36)).
Erik H. Erikson was a significant psychologist that greatly changed the field of child development. In the 1950’s, Erikson advanced a Freudian approach in development. He viewed that social development as a series of eight challenges that people have to overcome. Each challenge has an outcome that’s either favorable or unfavorable. The outcome drastically affects a person’s personality. For example, in a favorable outcome, the result can leave a positive feeling. With a positive outlook, it’s easier for a person to cope with challenges in life. An unfavorable outcome can leave a person at a disadvantaged for the future. During the first couple challenges, Erikson believed that the caregiver has a great impact on a child’s development (Romero).
Human development is a highly complex lifelong process. Identity is a self-definition or sense of who one is, where one is going, and how one fits into society. It relates to our basic values that dictates the choices we make in life. It is considered that identity formation is a means of finding oneself, by matching one’s talent with available social roles. Crisis is a vital part in one’s development. It occurs in every stage of finding one’s self and without resolution, may lead to tension and role confusion. Dedicated and influential theorists such as Erik Erikson and James Marcia have contributed significantly to the broadening and understanding
“ By the late 1930s, he had outlined four developmental stages-infancy (oral, anal, genital), latency, puberty, and adult heterosexual adjustment.”(Capps, 2004) Erikson wanted to build on Freud's early psychosexual stages by adding psychosocial stages that covered the full life cycle. In Erikson's opinion Shakespeare had risen above Freud in developmental matters because Shakespeare had covered development from infancy till death and he also believed that Shakespeare's stages were represented in social-ethical terms rather than sexual. Erikson wanted to go beyond Freud and Shakespeare in the developmental process. Although without Freuds model of psychosexual stages Erik Erikson believed that he would never have been able to create his own life cycle schema. With the addition of the eighth stage Erik Eriksons original life cycle work was taking on creative new dimensions. Erikson himself thought that he was only beginning to get a sense of the vast complexity of human life and it upset him when people attempted to describe human life in general limited terms. In Eriksons opinion human life was complex and had no limits. In Eriksons life cycle schema he insisted that all stages of development are present from birth and remain thoughout an individuals life time. It was not very clear
Erik Erikson was a psychologist made famous for his ideas on psychosocial development. “Identity crisis” is a term he coined within his career describing what results from an unsuccessful completion of a psychosocial stage of development. In Erikson’s theory, children advance following an order that is predetermined. He focused less on cognitive development and more so on how one relates with others in social interactions. Each stage of Erikson’s theory of development has one of two outcomes. A wholesome identity ensues when completion happens within a stage along with effective communication with others. When a stage is not completed successfully, the individual may become “stuck,” but may complete the stage at a later time. The first stage in Erikson’s theory is trust versus mistrust. A child comprehends the meaning of trust in others by trusting his or her caregiver. This stage begins at birth and lasts to one year of age. In the event that trust successfully develops, he or she attains security within the world and is able to maintain this security even when threatened. If this stage is not completed, it may result in a marked inability to trust and perception that the world is inconsistent, resulting in anxiety, mistrust, and insecurities. Autonomy versus shame and doubt occurs between the ages of one and three. This is when a child begins to assert his or her independence through separation from caregivers, choosing his or her own toy, and making choices about what he or she prefers. If an individual in this stage is supported in his or her increased individuality, he or she will develop secure in his or her survival. If an individual is condemned, excessively controlled, or is not allowed to assert his or her desires, he or...
Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development were complex, but simple. It is something everyone will go through and experiences will always be different. The lack of reinforcement to the positive aspects of his stages can lead to quite a disaster. Surprisingly, previous stages are highly influential to the proceeding stage. The lack of reinforcement to the positive aspects of his psychosocial stages can have a very devastating effect on a person. This is because the effects built up rather than taking the place of one another. The effects are quite horrifying, but with the right environment, experiences and beliefs, everything can go well.
Developmental psychology is an area of research dedicated to the understanding of child-development. Throughout history many theories have been used to attempt to explain the complex process. Two of those theorists, Freud and Erikson, were instrumental in creating a foundation for child-psychology to build on. From a Freudian perspective, human development is centered on psychosexual theory. Psychosexual theory indicates that maturation of the sex drives underlies stages of personality development. Alternatively, Erikson is considered a neo-freudian scholar who developed psychosocial theory. In Erikson models there are eight major conflicts that occur during the course of an individual’s life.
Erik Erikson’s eight Stages of man; politically known as the eight stages of psychosocial development. He promotes social interactions as a motivation to personality development. Erickson studied stages from the beginning of the life cycle to the later stages of life. Erickson was trained under the famous Sigmund Freud. His belief was that it wasn’t only sex that motivated personality development. Social interaction and a growing sense of competence is the key to it all. Because his beliefs differed from the beliefs of Freud, Erikson quickly began to work on his own. Erickson has focused on many different eras of psychological development.
Freud’s psychosexual theory and Erikson’s psychosocial theory are two very renowned developmental concepts. Erikson was persuaded by Freud’s ideas but he elaborated on the theory differently.
This assignment’s main focus will be centred on Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, which consists of eight stages however only the fifth stage ‘identity versus role confusion’ will be discussed. Aspects such as identity crises, exploration of autonomy whilst developing a sense of self, factors that may contribute to identity formation as well as the successful/unsuccessful resolution of this particular stage will be discussed thoroughly. Erikson’s theory was also expanded by James Marcia, who identified certain identity statuses. The discussion will then progress to the psychosocial development of a case study based on Anna Monroe in connection to the difficulties she faced, such as gender, sexuality, peer pressure,