• Erikson place more importance in social and historical

Erik Erikson influences

Biography Basic Assumptions

Erik Homburger Erikson was born Erik Salomonsen on • Ego - in contrast with Freud's concept of Ego (being a
June 15, 1902, near Frankfurt, Germany. diplomat with no power of its own), Erikson's
conception of Ego is more powerful. It is a positive force
● His mother, Karla Abrahamsen, was from a that creates a self-identity or a sense of "I"
wealthy Jewish family in Copenhagen, Denmark. • Ego helps us adapt to the various conflicts and crises
She had married a man named Valdemar of life and keeps us from losing our individuality to the
Salomonsen, but her husband left Europe within leveling forces of society
a day of their marriage and went to North • During childhood, the ego is weak, pliable, and fragile;
America; she never saw him again and he seems but by adolescence it should begin to take form and gain
to have had no further relationship with her. strength.
• Throughout our life, it unifies personality and guards
against indivisibility.
● A few years later she became pregnant, and in • He defined the ego as a person's ability to unify
order to avoid scandal, she either left or was experiences and actions in an adaptive manner
sent away from Denmark to Germany, where
she would be near relatives. She settled near
Aspects of Ego
Frankfurt, and raised Erikson alone.

• Body ego - refers to experiences with our body; a way

● Shortly after Erikson was born, they received
of seeing our physical self as different for other people.
word that Valdemar Salomonsen had died,
• Ego ideal - represents the image we have of ourselves
making Erikson’s mother a widow. When, at
in comparison with an established ideal; it is responsible
about the age of 3, Erikson became ill, his
for our being satisfied or dissatisfied not only with our
mother took him to the local pediatrician,
physical self but with our entire personal identity.
Theodor Homburger.
• Ego identity - is the image we have of ourselves in the
variety of social roles we play.
● Karla Abrahamsen and Theodor Homburger fell
• Rapid changes in these aspects happen during
in love, got married, and Homburger helped to
adolescence
raise Erikson as his own son. Erikson was 8 years
old when he learned the truth that Homburger
Society's Influence
was not his father, but he still grew up as Erik
Homburger, since his mother never revealed the
• To Erikson, the ego exists as potential at birth, but it
truth about his actual father’s name (Bloland,
must emerge from within a cultural environment.
2005; Coles, 1970; Friedman, 1999).
• Different societies, with their variations in
child-rearing practices, tend to shape personalities that
• He never knew his biological father
fit the needs and values of their culture.
• Speaks mostly German despite speaking English (as
• The Philippine's way of child-rearing is very different
he immigrated to America during the rise of fascism in
from the west therefore the ego develops in a certain
Germany) being his main language for 60 years and at
way that is different from the West.
his house, he has a flag of Denmark.
• Erikson (1968, 1974) argued that historically all tribes
• He has no formal training in Psychoanalysis
or nations, including the United States, have developed
• Undergone psychoanalysis with Anna Freud
what he called a pseudospecies: that is, an illusion
• Had a child with Down Syndrome, told his other
perpetrated and perpetuated by a particular society
children that he died. Only the eldest knew about it.
that it is somehow chosen to be the human species.
When the child died at the age of 20, the other two
children of Erikson were the one who arranged the
Epigenetic Principle
burial of the sibling they never knew existed.

• Epigenetic development implies a step-by step growth

Overview of Psychosocial Development
of fetal organs. The embryo does not begin as a
completely formed little person, waiting to merely
• Erikson was famous for coining the term Identity
expand its structure and form.
Crisis.
• Rather, it develops, or should develop, according to a
• Post-Freudian theory extended Freud's Psychosexual
predetermined rate and in a fixed sequence.
development
• If the eyes, liver, or other organs do not develop
• He suggested that at each stage, a specific
during that critical period for their development, then
psychosocial struggle contributes to the formation of
they will never attain proper maturity.
personality
• In similar fashion, the ego follows the path of • In contrast, they learn basic mistrust if they find no
epigenetic development, with each stage developing at correspondence between their oral sensory needs and
its proper time their environment
• One stage emerges from and is built upon a previous • Hope (Basic Strength) - By having both painful and
stage, but it does not replace that earlier stage. pleasurable experiences, infants learn to expect that
• This implies that failure or success on each stage will future distresses will meet with satisfactory outcomes
contribute greatly to the next stage of development. • Withdrawal (Core Pathology) - With little to hope for,
they will retreat from the outside world and begin the
Stages of Psychosocial Development journey toward serious psychological disturbance.

• Assumptions of Psychosocial Development Stage 2: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt

Early Childhood (2-3 y/o) - Anal Stage
• Growth takes place according to the epigenetic
principle.
• Anal-urethral-muscular mode - Erikson took a broader
view. To him, young children receive pleasure not only
➔ In every stage of life there is an interaction of
from mastering the sphincter muscle but also from
opposites-that is, a conflict between a syntonic
mastering other body functions such as urinating,
(harmonious) element and a dystonic
walking, throwing, holding, and so on.
(disruptive) element
• At this time, children learn to control their body,
especially in relation to cleanliness and mobility. Early
• At each stage, the conflict between the dystonic and
childhood is more than a time of toilet training; it is also
syntonic elements produces an ego quality or ego
a time of learning to walk, run, hug parents, and hold on
strength, which Erikson referred to as a basic strength.
to toys and other objects.
➔ Too little basic strength at any one stage results
• Autonomy (syntonic) vs Shame and Doubt (dystonic)
in a core pathology for that stage.
• Autonomy - Self-expression
• Shame - is a feeling of self-consciousness, of being
• Although Erikson referred to his eight stages as
looked at and exposed
psychosocial stages, he never lost sight of the biological
• Doubt - on the other hand, is the feeling of not being
aspect of human development.
certain, the feeling that something remains hidden and
• Events in earlier stages do not cause later personality
cannot be seen.
development. Ego identity is shaped by a multiplicity of
• As children stubbornly express their
conflicts and events-past, present, and anticipated
anal-urethral-muscular mode, they are likely to find a
• During each stage, but especially from adolescence
culture that attempts to inhibit some of their
forward, personality development is characterized by an
self-expression.
identity crisis, which Erikson (1968) called "a turning
• The "nakakahiya" attitude of child-rearing in the
point, a crucial period of increased vulnerability and
Philippines
heightened potential" (p. 96).

• Will (Basic Strength) - This step is the beginning of

Stages of Psychosocial Development free will and willpower-but only a beginning. Mature
willpower and a significant measure of free will are
Stage 1: Trust vs. Mistrust
reserved for later stages of development, but they
Infancy (0-1 years) — Parallel to Oral Stage
originate in the rudimentary will that emerges during
early childhood.
• Oral sensory-expanded form of oral stage of Freud;
• Compulsion (Core Pathology) - Too little will and too
whereas Freud said that children are focused only in the
much compulsivity carry forward into the play age as
mouth, Erikson said that all sensory organs also "take
lack of purpose and into the school age as lack of
in" the world
confidence.
• They can take in air through the lungs and can receive
sensory data without having to manipulate others Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt
(biological) Play Age (3-6 y/o) - Phallic Stage
• Infants not only must get, but they also must get
someone else to give. This early training in interpersonal • Genital-Locomotor Mode - Erikson believed that the
relations helps them learn to eventually become givers Oedipus complex is but one of several important
(social) developments during the play age
• Erikson (1968) contended that, in addition to
• Basic Trust (syntonic) vs Basic Mistrust (dystonic) - identifying with their parents, preschool age children
Infants' most significant interpersonal relations are with are developing locomotion, language skills, curiosity,
their primary caregiver, ordinarily their mother. imagination, and the ability to set goals
• If they realize that their mother will provide food
regularly, then they begin to learn basic trust;
• Oedipus Complex - is a drama played out in the child's • Competence (Basic Strength) - the confidence to use
imagination and includes the budding understanding of one's physical and cognitive abilities to solve the
such basic concepts as reproduction, growth, future, problems that accompany school age. Competence lays
and death. the foundation for "co-operative participation in
productive adult life"
• Unless sexual interest is provoked by cultural sex play
or by adult sexual abuse, the Oedipus complex produces • Inertia (Core Pathology) - If the struggle between
no harmful effects on later personality development. industry and inferiority favors either inferiority or an
overabundance of industry, children are likely to give up
• The interest that play-age children have in genital and regress to an earlier stage of development. They
activity is accompanied by their increasing facility at may become preoccupied with infantile genital and
locomotion. They can now move with ease, running, Oedipal fantasies and spend most of their time in
jumping, and climbing with no conscious effort; and nonproductive play
their play shows both initiative and imagination.
Stage 5: Identity vs. Confusion
• Initiative (syntonic) vs Guilt (dystonic) - Although they Adolescence (14-18 y/o) - (Identity Crisis Age)
begin to adopt initiative in their selection and pursuit of – Genital Stage
goals, many goals, such as marrying their mother or
father or leaving home, must be either repressed or • ADOLESCENCE - the period from puberty to young
delayed. The consequence of these taboo and inhibited adulthood, is one of the most crucial developmental
goals is guilt. stages because, by the end of this period, a person must
gain a firm sense of ego identity.
• Purpose (Basic Strength) - Children now play with a • Erikson (1982) saw adolescence as a period of social
purpose, competing at games in order to win or to be latency, just as he saw school age as a time of sexual
on top. latency
• Play age is also the stage in which children are • Adolescence is an adaptive phase of personality
developing a conscience and beginning to attach labels development, a period of trial and error
such as right and wrong to their behavior. This youthful • Puberty - defined as genital maturation, plays a
conscience becomes the "cornerstone of morality" relatively minor role in Erikson's concept of
Inhibition (Core Pathology) - if guilt is the dominant adolescence.
element, children may become compulsively moralistic • Puberty is important psychologically because it
or overly inhibited triggers expectations of adult roles yet ahead-roles that
are essentially social and can be filled only through a
Stage 4: Industry vs. Inferiority struggle to attain ego identity
School Age (7-13 y/o) - Latency
• Identity (syntonic) vs Identity Confusion - The search
• At this age, the social world of children is expanding for ego identity reaches a climax during adolescence as
beyond family to include peers, teachers, and other young people strive to find out who they are and who
adult models they are not.
• Latency - Sexual latency is important because it allows • In this search, young people draw from a variety of
children to divert their energies to learning the earlier self-images that have been accepted or rejected.
technology of their culture and the strategies of their • Thus, the seeds of identity begin to sprout during
social interactions. infancy and continue to grow through childhood, the
• As children work and play to acquire these essentials, play age, and the school age.
they begin to form a picture of themselves as
competent or incompetent. • Sources of Identity
• These self images are the origin of ego identity-that • Adolescents' affirmation or repudiation of
feeling of "I" or "me-ness" that evolves more fully during childhood identifications - What they truly want
adolescence. themselves
• Their historical and social contexts, which
• Industry (syntonic) vs Inferiority (dystonic) - Although encourage conformity to certain standards. -
school age is a period of little sexual development, it is a What society demands them to be.
time of tremendous social growth.
• Industry - a syntonic quality, means industriousness, a • Identity is defined both positively and negatively, as
willingness to remain busy with something and to finish adolescents are deciding what they want to become and
a job what they believe while also discovering what they do
• Inferiority-feelings of inadequacy if their work is not wish to be and what they do not believe.
insufficient to accomplish their goals.
• Identity confusion is a syndrome of problems that
includes a divided self-image, an inability to establish
intimacy, a sense of time urgency, a lack of • Isolation - the incapacity to take chances with one's
concentration on required tasks, and a rejection of identity by sharing true intimacy" (Erikson, 1968, p.
family or community standards. 137).
• Although identity confusion is a necessary part of our • Again, some degree of isolation is essential before one
search for identity, too much confusion can lead to can acquire mature love.
pathological adjustment in the form of regression to • Too much togetherness can diminish a person's sense
earlier stages of development. of ego identity, which leads that person to a
• We may postpone the responsibilities of adulthood psychosocial regression and an inability to face the next
and drift aimlessly from one job to another, from one developmental stage.
sex partner to another, or from one ideology to another.
• Conversely, if we develop the proper ratio of identity Love (Basic Strength) - Erikson (1968, 1982) defined
to identity confusion, we will have (1) faith in some sort love as mature devotion that overcomes basic
of ideological principle, (2) the ability to freely decide differences between men and women.
how we should behave, (3) trust in our peers and adults • Mature love means commitment, sexual passion,
who give us advice regarding goals and aspirations, and cooperation, competition, and friendship.
(4) confidence in our choice of an eventual occupation. • Although love includes intimacy, it also contains some
degree of isolation, because each partner is permitted
• Fidelity (Basic Strength) - faith in one's ideology. to retain a separate identity.
• After establishing their internal standards of conduct,
adolescents are no longer in need of parental guidance Exclusivity (Core Pathology)
but have confidence in their own religious, political, and • Some exclusivity, however, is necessary for intimacy;
social ideologies. that is, a person must be able to exclude certain people,
• Role Repudiation (Core Pathology) - blocks one's activities, and ideas in order to develop a strong sense
ability to synthesize various self images and values into of identity.
a workable identity. Role repudiation can take the form • Exclusivity becomes pathological when it blocks one's
of either diffidence or defiance ability to cooperate, compete, or compromise-all
• Diffidence - an extreme lack of self-trust or prerequisite ingredients for intimacy and love
self-confidence and is expressed as shyness or hesitancy
to express oneself.
• Defiance - Defiant adolescents stubbornly hold to
socially unacceptable beliefs and practices simply Stage 7: Generativity vs. Stagnation
because these beliefs and practices are unacceptable Adulthood (31-60 y/o)

Stage 6: Intimacy vs. Isolation • ADULTHOOD - that time when people begin to take
Young Adulthood/Early Adulthood (19-39y/o) their place in society and assume responsibility for
whatever society produces.
• For some people, this stage is a relatively short time, • Procreativity - refers to more than genital contact with
lasting perhaps only a few years. For others, young an intimate partner. It includes assuming responsibility
adulthood may continue for several decades. for the care of offspring that result from that sexual
• Genitality - Much of the sexual activity during contact.
adolescence is an expression of one's search for identity • Ideally, procreation should follow from the mature
and is basically self-serving. intimacy and love established during the preceding
• True genitality can develop only during young stage.
adulthood when it is distinguished by mutual trust and a • Obviously, people are physically capable of producing
stable sharing of sexual satisfactions with a loved offspring before they are psychologically ready to care
person. for the welfare of these children.

• Intimacy (syntonic) vs Isolation (dystonic) • Generativity (syntonic) vs Stagnation (dystonic)

• Intimacy - the ability to fuse one's identity with that of • Generativity - the generation of new beings as well as
another person without fear of losing it. new products and new ideas
• Because intimacy can be achieved only after people • Generativity, which is concerned with establishing and
have formed a stable ego, the infatuations often found guiding the next generation, includes the procreation of
in young adolescents are not true intimacy. children, the production of work, and the creation of
• People who are unsure of their identity may either shy new things and ideas that contribute to the building of a
away from psychosocial intimacy or desperately seek better world
intimacy through meaningless sexual encounters.
• People have a need not only to learn but also to
• Mature Intimacy - involves sacrifice, compromise, and instruct. This need extends beyond one's own children
commitment within a relationship of two equals to an altruistic concern for other young people.
• Generativity grows out of earlier syntonic qualities • Ego integrity is sometimes difficult to maintain when
such as intimacy and identity. As noted earlier, intimacy people see that they are losing familiar aspects of their
calls for the ability to fuse one's ego to that of another existence: for example, spouse, friends, physical health,
person without fear of losing it. body strength, mental alertness, independence, and
social usefulness.
• Self-absorption or Stagnation - The generational cycle • Despair literally means to be without hope; the last
of productivity and creativity is crippled when people dystonic quality of the life cycle, is in the opposite
become too absorbed in themselves, too self-indulgent. corner from hope, a person's first basic strength.
• Some elements of stagnation and self-absorption, • Once hope is lost, despair follows and life ceases to
however, are necessary. Creative people must, at times, have meaning.
remain in a dormant stage and be absorbed with
themselves in order to eventually generate new growth. • Wisdom (Basic Strength) - Erikson (1982) defined
wisdom as "informed and detached concern with life
• Care (Basic Strength) - a widening commitment to itself in the face of death itself " (p. 61)
take care of the persons, the products, and the ideas • Wisdom draws from and contributes to the traditional
one has learned to care for knowledge passed from generation to generation. In old
• One must have hope, will, purpose, competence, age, people are concerned with ultimate issues,
fidelity, and love in order to take care of that which one including nonexistence (Erikson, Erikson, & Kivnick,
cares for. Care is not a duty or obligation but a natural 1986).
desire emerging from the conflict between generativity
and stagnation or self-absorption. • Disdain (Core Pathology) - a reaction to feeling (and
seeing others) in an increasing state of being finished,
• Rejectivity (Core pathology) - the unwillingness to confused, helpless." Disdain is a continuation of
take care of certain persons or groups (Erikson, 1982). rejectivity, the core pathology of adulthood.
• Rejectivity is manifested as self-centeredness,
provincialism, or pseudospeciation: that is, the belief Summary of Life Cycle
that other groups of people are inferior to one's own.
• It is responsible for much of human hatred, • The psychosocial crisis is stimulated by a conflict
destruction, atrocities, and wars. between the predominating syntonic element and its
antithetical dystonic element.
• From this conflict emerges a basic strength, or ego
Stage 8: Integrity vs. Despair quality. Each basic strength has an underlying antipathy
Old Age (60 y/o - death) that becomes the core pathology of that stage.
• Humans have an ever-increasing radius of significant
• Generalized Sensuality - One may infer that it means relations, beginning with the maternal person in infancy
to take pleasure in a variety of different physical and ending with an identification with all humanity
sensations-sights, sounds, tastes, odors, embraces, and during old age.
perhaps genital stimulation.
• Men become more nurturant and more accepting of Critique of Erikson
the pleasures of nonsexual relationships, including
those with their grandchildren and great-grandchildren • Generated a lot of research in Human Development
(Anima rising?) • Average in Falsifiability (unlike Freudian Theories)
• Women become more interested and involved in • Only organized knowledge in a developmental
politics, finance, and world affairs (Erikson, Erikson, & perspective
Kivnick, 1986). (Animus?) • Guide to action is too general (no therapy even)
• A generalized sensual attitude, however, is dependent • Focused more on old age
on one's ability to hold things together, that is, to • Internally consistent
maintain integrity in the face of despair. • Moderate parsimony

• Integrity (syntonic) vs Despair (dystonic) - At the end

Concept of Humanity
of life, the dystonic quality of despair may prevail, but
for people with a strong ego identity who have learned
• Free will and Determinism - Middle
intimacy and who have taken care of both people and
• Pessimism and Optimism - optimistic
things, the syntonic quality of integrity will
• Causality vs Teleology - N/A
predominate.
• Conscious and Unconscious - Mixed
• Social Influence and Biology - Social Influence
• Integrity means a feeling of wholeness and coherence,
• Similarities and Difference - More on differences (per
an ability to hold together one's sense of "I-ness"
culture/society)
despite diminishing physical and intellectual powers.