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Erik erikson theory of personality development
Briefly explain erikson theory of personality development
Erikson theory of personality
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Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson are two theorists that “believed the major determinants of personality are not conscious…[and] are the result of conflict through the various stages of development” (Cloninger 2013). Both theorists described different stages a person goes through during development. Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development were greatly influenced by Freud’s psychosexual stages of development. “Erikson’s theory builds on that of Freud, presuming hat biology provides the motivation of personality through the psychosexual stages that Freud outlined. However biological sexual energy is not the only consideration.” (Cloninger 2013). Rather than focusing on a person’s libido, also known as the person’s sexual-psychic energy, as the driving force behind personality, Erikson described how social influences could have an affect on a person’s personality.
Freud believed that a person’s personality is most influenced by the first three stages of psychosexual development: the oral, anal, and phallic. The development of a person in these three stages occurs between the first five years of his or her life. After he or she go through a latency stage before entering the final stage, also known as the genital stage, which occurs around puberty through adulthood. Erikson agrees with Freud on his theory of infantile sexuality, but disagrees that a person’s personality is only based on that aspect. All of Erikson’s stages are present at birth, in latent form, and gradually unravels according to their social surroundings. According to Manning (1988), “The Identity vs. Role Confusion is the most crucial stage of the developmental process. Adults and peers that the person surrounds themselves with ultimately determines whether or not...
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...ment of the person’s identity. If a person is unable to overcome a crisis in a certain stage, he or she may be stuck in that stage and go through, what is known as an identity crisis. Though, they may focus on different structures of personality, they both agree that a person must overcome a certain obstacle within a stage in order to “move on” or further develop.
I have to agree with Erikson’s theory of development. Though he does have many of Freud’s theories integrated within his own, he further develops Freud’s theories. I do believe that development does not stop at five years old but further develops throughout a person’s life and that it is influenced by his or her experiences and other extrinsic factors. I think that we are constantly experiencing different obstacles, and the strength of our ego from past experiences helps us in overcoming those obstacles.
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
Sigmund Freud first theorized the psychosexual theory after studying a patients mental health. The theory states that a human develops from underlying unconscious motives in order to achieve sensual satisfaction.
In Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, individuals can obtain unhealthy personalities as a result of how they were treated during each stage of their development. These stages are not in chronological order, but essential to development. I agree with Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development because it outlines specific stages everyone goes through in life and attaches a virtue. The theory is specific but not so definite that it cannot appeal to everyone’s personality development in some way. (Engler, 2014). Unlike Freud's stages of psychosexual development, Erikson does not limit these stages to a specific year of life, rather he uses stages such as infancy and
Freud believed that one’s sex instinct was the most determining factor of his or her personality; however, instead of relating sex to the mature class of humanity, he instead targeted infants and children (4). He generated a process of psychosexual stages in which each stage focuses in on a sensual body part and a corresponding time period in life (4). The stages are as followed, starting from birth: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital (4). Furthermore, each stage comes with its own conflict that arises when one is in this stage. He correlates that if this conflict is not solved during the set period of time, it can cause a fixation, thus bringing on personality traits in their adulthood relating back to that certain stage (4). For example, for one who is in the Anal stage (1 to 3 years) the conflict is toilet training. If the child remains too long or too briefly in this stage, later on in the future they could be more excessively cleanly or even destructive and rebellious (4). Perhaps the stage that was targeted with the most criticism, was the Phallic Stage or the Genitals stage occurring from 3 to 5 or 6 years (4). This stage mainly declared that young boys are more drawn to their mother and become more hostile towards their fathers, hinting to the underlying ideas that the young boys are sexually drawn to their mother. In a vice versa scenario,
This approach has become the stimulus for a number of similar theories which share the same assumptions on psychological development, yet differ in detail. (Gross, R, 2007) Erik Erikson, a neo-freudian himself accepted Freud’s theory but whereas the psychodynamic approach focuses on five main stages of development until adulthood, Erikson theorised that development is lifelong and continues throughout life until death. (Psychology for A Level 2000)
During the state that Freud considers the oral stage, Erikson says that babies learn to trust or mistrust someone to care for their needs. Erikson next stage which is paralell to Freud’s anal stage called the autonomy vesus shame and doubt. During this particular time, children either learn to become self sufficent or lack confidence in their own abilities. Next stage is the initiative versus guilt stage. In my opinion, this stage determines the maturity and influence of a person’s parents. With Freuds and Erikson ideas both in mind, the industy vs inferiority stage is similar to the latency. During adolescenes, according to Erikson adolescents try to figure out who they are sexually, politicall and vocationally. The next stages of itimacy versus isolation is a build on from the previous stage. During this time, a person has pretty much accepted who they are and accepted or isolated from others. The next two stages reaches beyond the depth of Freud’s ideas. According to Erikson, generativity versus stagnation develops which occurs during the middle age of adulthood. While in this stage, a person with find a way to be productive or contribute to others or become complacent and stagnate with their lives. The final state in Erikson idea is the integrity versus depair stage. It is in the time that a person
Freud emphasized that early childhood experiences are important to the development of the adult personality, proposing that childhood development took place over five stages; oral, anal. Phallic, latent and genital. The phallic stage is the most important stage which contains the Oedipus complex. This is where the child (age 4 - 6 yrs) posses the opposite sex parent and wants rid of the same sex parent. Freud argued that if the conflict is not resolved in childhood then it could cau...
The two important psychoanalytic theories on human development are psychosexual development theory by Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development theory. Many researchers use these two major approaches to analyze the human development in different stages of life. Since Freud’s approach was the foundation of Erikson’s psychosocial theory, there are many similarities between them. Even though they are both focusing on phases of life, there are still some differences on the definitions and ideas of life stages. In this paper, I will concentrate on Freud and Erikson’s ideas of different stages of human development because these two approaches always come together and they are mostly overlapping. Yet, there are divergences and transformations between all the stages.
Freud emphasizes on the life history of individuals. As a result, he created 3 parts of human personalities. The first one being Id which is the largest portion of the mind. This portion is unconscious which results in being present at birth. The next one is ego; this portion is conscious and begins to emerge in early infancy. Lastly is superego which is the conscience. This part begins to develop from ages three to six. Freud also explains the five psychosexual stages which are oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. “Psychoanalytic theory suggested that personality is mostly established by the age of five.” (Cherry, n.d.). All five psychosexual stages help establish a personality at a young age.
Freud believed that humans develop through stages based on particular erogenous zones. Freud theorized that to gain a healthy personality as an adult, a person would have to successfully complete a certain sequence of five stages. Within the five stages of Freud’s psychosexual development theory, Freud assumed there would be major consequences if any stage was not completed successfully. The stages, in order, were the oral stage, the anal stage, the phallic stage, the latency stage, and the genital stage. In general, Freud believed that an unsuccessful completion of any stage would make a person become fixated on that particular stage. The outcome would lead the person to either over indulge or under indulge the failed stage during adulthood. Freud truly believed that the outcomes of the psychosexual stages played a major part in the development of the human personality. Eventually, these outcomes would become different driving forces in every human being’s personality. The driving forces would determine how a person would interact with the world around them. The results from Freud’s theory about the stages of psychosexual development led Freud to create the concept of the human psyche; Freud’s biggest contribution to
Sigmund Freud developed the psychosexual stages of development to describe the chronological process of development that took place from birth through later adulthood. The stages of psychosexual are oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital. Freud developed that as children grow they progress from self-pleasing sexual activity to reproductive activity. Through this developmental process one will develop adult personality. Freud put much emphasis on sexual context of how ones libido, which is one sexual desires played a role in each stage of development. Freud emphasizes that individuals will strive to obtain pleasures in each stage of development, which becomes the basis of ones personality.
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.
Personality is an individual’s characteristic pattern of feeling, thinking and acting. Psychodynamic theories of personality view human behavior as a dynamic interaction between the conscious mind and unconscious mind, including associated motives and conflicts (Myers & Dewall, pg# 572, 2015). These theories focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences. Psychodynamic theories are descended from Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis, which is his ideology of personality and the associated treatment techniques. Psychoanalysis attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts. This theory also includes the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions. He proposed that childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence personality. Freud’s historically significant psychoanalytic theory became part of the human cultural legacy.
Sigmund Freud is psychology’s most famous figure. He is also the most controversial and influential thinkers of the twentieth century. Freud’s work and theories helped to shape out views of childhood, memory, personality, sexuality, and therapy. Time Magazine referred to him as one of the most important thinkers of the last century. While his theories have been the subject of debate and controversy, his impact on culture, psychology, and therapy is cannot be denied.
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.