Eric Erikson Flashcards
adolescence
An important psychosocial stage when ego identity should be formed. Adolescence is characterized by puberty and the crisis of identity versus identity confusion.
adulthood
The stage from about ages 31–60 that is characterized by the psychosexual mode of procreativity and the crisis of generativity versus stagnation.
care
A commitment to take care of the people and things that one has learned to care for.
core pathology
A psychosocial disorder at any of the eight stages of development that results from too little basic strength.
dystonic
the negative element in each pair of opposites that characterizes the eight stages of development.
early childhood
The second stage of psychosocial development, characterized by the anal-urethral-muscular psychosexual mode and by the crisis of autonomy versus shame and doubt.
exclusivity
The core pathology of young adulthood marked by a person’s exclusion of certain people, activities, and ideas
genitality
Period of life beginning with puberty and continuing through adulthood and marked by full sexual identity.
genital-locomotor
term for the preschool child’s psychosexual mode of adapting.
infancy
The first stage of psychosocial development—one marked by the oral-sensory mode and by the crisis of basic trust versus basic mistrust.
Identity crisis
crucial period or turning point in the life cycle that may result in either more or less ego strength. Identity crises can be found in those Eriksonian stages that follow the development of identity, ordinarily during adolescence.
intimacy
The ability to fuse one’s identity with that of another person without fear of losing it. The syntonic element of young adulthood.
isolation
The inability to share true intimacy or to take chances with one’s identity. The dystonic element of young adulthood.
latency
The psychosexual mode of the school-age child. A period of little sexual development
love
The basic strength of young adulthood that emerges from the crisis of intimacy versus isolation.
old age
The eighth and final stage of the life cycle, marked by the psychosocial crisis of integrity versus despair and the basic strength of wisdom.
oral-sensory
the infant’s first psychosexual mode of adapting.
play age
The third stage of psychosocial development, encompassing the time from about ages 3–5 and characterized by the genital-locomotor psychosexual mode and the crisis of initiative versus guilt.
post-Freudian theory
Erikson’s theory of personality that extended Freud’s developmental stages into old age. At each age, a specific psychosocial struggle contributes to the formation of personality.
procreativity
The drive to have children and to care for them.
pseudospecies
The illusion held by a particular society that it is somehow chosen to be more important than other societies.
role repudiation
The inability to synthesize different self-images and values into a workable identity.
school age
The fourth stage of psychosocial development; covers the period from about ages 6–12 or 13 and is characterized by psychosexual latency and the psychosocial crisis of industry versus inferiority.
syntonic
term for the positive element in each pair of opposites that characterize his eight stages of development.
