Erikson was highly influenced by Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytical Theory of Development. Although, at first Freud was limited to childhood based on the phallic stage, Erikson focused on developing a lifespan theory.
According to Erickson (1950) psychological development results from the interaction between maturational processes or biological needs and the societal demands and social forces encountered in everyday life. (Salkind, 2004) As you know Erickson’s theories contains eight stages and in order to move onto the next stage you must have resolved any conflict that may have occurred. Erickson’s theory emphasises on the importance of the ego. The ego is the executor of realistic goal seeking actions between biological urgers of the id and the social constraints of the superego. (Salkind, 2004) Erickson believes that social pressures and environmental forces have even greater impacts.
Eriksons model of development focuses on key challenges that the person needs to meet and overcome in the course of their life. It views them in terms of the significant social relationships they take place within and what the favourable outcomes are of each challenge. The staging according to age/significant social relationship removes the sexualized language of Freud while still recognizing formative periods of development early on. The first three stages follow closely those of Freud but do so without the same limiting to social gender roles. Eriksons viewing of development in terms of psycho-social crisis’ also takes on board Jungs concern for the need of a deeper/meaningful view of human development.
Although Erikson 's theory of identity development is widely cited, there are several social psychological theories providing vital knowledge about identity and its development. The attachment theories emphasize the value of the trust and security that a child learns from his/her mother in infancy. Social learning theories expand the constructs of self concept and self worth as the basis of self description in late childhood. Cognitive development theory describes the age-related processes leading to a child 's limitation before adolescence and competence during adolescence for establishing identity. The foci of these theories are different, reflecting an array of approaches to the issue but all of them present the facets fundamental to human
Initially, they are apt to experience some role confusion mixed ideas and feelings about the specific ways in which they will fit into society and may experiment with a variety of behaviors and activities (e.g. tinkering with cars, baby-sitting for neighbors, affiliating with certain political or religious groups). Erikson is credited with coining the term "Identity Crisis." Each stage that came before and that follows has its own 'crisis ', but even more so now, for this marks the transition from childhood to adulthood. This turning point inhuman development seems to be the reconciliation between 'the person one has come to be ' and 'the person society expects one to become '.
Introduction In this assignment, I will be focusing on Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development. There are eight stages in which 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. James Marcia’s identity statuses will be highlighted. This essay will then progress into a case study based on Anna Monroe in connection to the difficulties she faced namely gender, sexuality, peer pressure, suicide and the experimentation with different identities she encountered.
Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory is one of the best-known theories of personality in psychology. Erikson extended Freud’s work which describe the stages of development to include all of the human lifespan, that is from infancy trough old age. Erikson suggested that there are plenty of the space for us to develop and well developed in our behaviour and learning since birth to death as people will be mature and grow older. One of the important elements of Erikson’s psychosocial theory is the development of ego identity. Ego identity is the conscious sense of self that we developing within the social interaction.
Identification is a principle of Thomas Eriksen’s, which rationalizes his theories of anthropology. This refers to the degree to which people associate and identify with themselves and others. These connections are based on different mechanisms individuals come in contact with. Identities, whether of individuals or groups, are produced, maintained, and transformed. Eriksen discovers various theoretical perspectives that deal with identity formation, including constructions of "the normal."
The id is reflected on the all of your needs and urges. Another theorist Erickson thought that personality developed through a lot of different stages and that specific problem came up at each level. Which he believed that as long as the person overcame the problems then the person would get through level. Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow are psychologies more Humanist theorists. Humanist emphasize on the need of free will and the act of individual life situations.
2.1.2 Erik Erikson Erikson’s two major contributions to psychodynamic thought include a reassessment of the ego and expanding of the developmental stages theory. He is credited for being the pioneer of ego psychology that emphasizes the role of ego as being more than a servant of the id. Erikson suggests that human development and personality are positively driven by the ego. The ego’s main job was to build and maintain a sense of identity. A person with a strong identity will lead a good life while those who have weaker ego will face an identity crisis.