Erik Erikson

Question 1

Erikson vs Freud

Answer 1

Extended/elaborated on stages of development
▪ More emphasis on ego
▪ Importance of culture
Studied child rearing practices
among Sioux Indians

Question 2

Ego psychology

Answer 2

▪ NOT just mediator of conflict
▪ independent, central component of personality

Question 3

Beliefs

Answer 3

Personality & identity are dynamic–who we are changes over time.

Responsibility: “If everything ‘goes back’ to
childhood, then everything is somebody else’s fault, and trust in one’s own power of taking responsibility for oneself may be undermined.”

Question 4

Realization

Answer 4

Through observing Sioux and Yurok Indians, realized Freud’s ideas about sexual influences were not universal
but a progression through stages of identity seemed to be universal

Question 5

Psychosocial Development

Answer 5

Believed people had the same basic needs

• The development of the Ego (or self) occurs in a
  response to those needs.
• Development proceeds in stages. -
• Epigenetic: stages are genetically predetermined and
  occur in a specific sequence; each stage builds on the
  others before it
• Each stage is characterized by a psychosocial crisis or
  challenge that presents an opportunity for growth.

Question 6

Psychosocial Development

Answer 6

• Each stage involves being pulled by opposite forces.
• Although all people pass through all stages, the rate and
  intensity may vary among individuals
• No one permanently resolves a crisis. Each conflict
  exists in some form throughout life but is at a critical
  period at its specific stage. Resolving crisis at each stage
  prepares the person for the next stage.

– People do not remain at a certain stage if the crisis at that
stage isn’t positively resolved.

Question 7

Psychosocial Development

Answer 7

● Less than ideal resolutions of crises at
particular stages leave individuals with
personality imperfections or glitches

● The effectiveness of the conflict resolution
at each stage determines the overall
health of an individual’s personality

Question 8

Resolution of crises is never absolute or complete

Answer 8

Favorable Ratio: to resolve crisis, must experience a greater magnitude of the positive pole relative to the negative pole
the more favorable the ratio, the more people display the virtue of that stag