Formation of Identity

Question 1

What are Freud’s psychosexual stages of personality development based on?

Answer 1

the tensions caused by the libido; Freud believed that libidinal energy and the drive to reduce libidinal tension were the underlying dynamic forces that accounted for human psychological processes

Question 2

What causes fixation?

Answer 2

failure at any of Freud’s psychosexual stages of development; fixation causes personality disorders

Question 3

What are Freud’s psychosexual stages of development?

Answer 3

• oral
• anal
• phallic (Oedipal)
• latent
• genital
• based on the erogenous zones that are the focus of each phase of development

Question 4

What do Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development stem from?

Answer 4

conflicts that are the result of decisions we are forced to make about ourselves and our environment at each phase of life:

• trust vs. mistrust
• autonomy vs. shame and doubt
• initiative vs. guilt
• industry vs. inferiority
• identity vs. role confusion
• intimacy vs. isolation
• generativity vs. stagnation
• integrity vs. despair

Question 5

What do Kohlberg’s stages of moral development describe?

Answer 5

approaches of individuals to resolving moral dilemmas

Question 6

What do Kohlberg’s stages consist of?

Answer 6

six stages divided into three main phases:

1. preconventional
2. conventional
3. postconventional

Question 7

What did Vygotsky describe pertaining to development/formation of identity

Answer 7

• development of language, culture, and skills

* zone of proximal development

Question 8

What is the idea of the zone of proximal development?

Answer 8

those skills a child has not yet mastered and require a more knowledgeable other to accomplish

Question 9

What are common ways children learn from others?

Answer 9

imitation and role-taking: children first reproduce the behaviors of role models, and later learn to see the perspectives of others and practice taking on new roles

Question 10

What is a reference group?

Answer 10

the group to which we compare ourselves

*two individuals with the same qualities might see themselves differently depending on how those qualities compare to their reference group

Question 11

What is neurosis?

Answer 11

functional mental disorder that develops in response to anxiety caused by fixation on a particular stage of development

Question 12

Describe the oral stage

Answer 12

• 0 to 1 year
• gratification through putting objects into mouth, biting, sucking
• orally fixed adult would likely exhibit excessive dependency

Question 13

Describe the anal stage

Answer 13

• 1 to 3 years
• gratification is gained through the elimination and retention of waste materials
• toilet training
• fixation would lead to either excessive orderliness (anal-retentiveness) or sloppiness as an adult

Question 14

Describe the phallic/Oedipal stage

Answer 14

• 3 to 5 years
• Oedipal conflict for males, Electra conflict for females
• male child envies his father’s intimate relationship with his mother and fears castration at his father’s hands
• male child wishes to eliminate his father and possess his mother, but feels guilty about these wishes
• male child resolves conflict by identifying with his father, establishing his sexual identity, and internalizing his moral values
• male child de-eroticizes/sublimates his libidinal energy (collecting objects/focusing on schoolwork)
• in the Electra conflict, females do not have castration fear, but are through to have penis envy
• girls are expected to exhibit less stereotypically female behavior and be less morally developed

Question 15

Describe the latency stage

Answer 15

occurs once the libido is sublimated, lasts until puberty

Question 16

Describe the genital stage

Answer 16

beginning in puberty and lasting through adulthood; normal prior development will lead to healthy heterosexual relationships, while unresolved sexual traumas will lead to homosexuality, asexuality, and fetishism

Question 17

How does Erikson’s view of psychosocial development differ from Freud’s?

Answer 17

• not centered on libidinal energy, but on a series of crises that derive from conflicts between needs and social demands
• possible to fail in any given stage; mastery of a stage not required to move on to the next, but completion of a stage imbues an individual with skills and traits carried through subsequent stages

Question 18

Describe trust vs. mistrust

Answer 18

• 0 to 1 year
• EQ: Can I trust the world?
• if resolved successfully, child will come to trust his environments and himself
• if mistrust wins, child will be suspicious of the world

Question 19

Describe autonomy vs. shame and doubt

Answer 19

• 1 to 3 years
• EQ: Is it okay to be me?
• favorable: feeling able to exert control over the world and to exercise choice as well as self-restraint
• unfavorable: sense of doubt and persistent external locus of control

Question 20

Describe initiative vs. guilt

Answer 20

• 3 to 6 years
• EQ: Is it okay for me to do, move, and act?
• favorable: sense of purpose, ability to initiate activities, and ability to enjoy accomplishment
• unfavorable: child so overcome by fear of punishment that child may either unduly restrict himself, or may overcompensate by showing off

Question 21

Describe industry vs. inferiority

Answer 21

• 6 to 12 years
• EQ: Can I make it in the world of people and things?
• favorable: child feels competent, able to exercise abilities and intelligence in the world; able to to affect the world in a way the child desires
• unfavorable: sense of inadequacy, sense of inability to act in a competent manner, low self-esteem

Question 22

Describe identity vs. role confusion

Answer 22

• 12 to 20 years
• EQ: Who am I? What can I be?
• period encompasses physiological revolution
• favorable: fidelity, ability to see oneself as a unique and integrated person with sustained loyalties
• unfavorable: confusion about identity and an amorphous personality that shifts from day to day

Question 23

Describe intimacy vs. isolation

Answer 23

• 20 to 40 years
• EQ: Can I love?
• favorable: love, ability to have intimate relationships with others, ability to commit to another person and to one’s goals
• unfavorable: avoidance of commitment, alienation, distancing oneself from others and one’s ideals; isolated individuals are either withdrawn or capable of only superficial relationships with others

Question 24

Describe generativity vs. stagnation

Answer 24

• 40 to 65 years
• EQ: Can I make my life count?
• favorable: individual capable of being a productive, caring, and contributing member of society
• unfavorable: stagnation, overindulgence, boredom, self-centeredness w/ little care for others

Question 25

Describe integrity vs. despair

Answer 25

• 65 years to death
• EQ: Is it okay to have been me?
• favorable: wisdom (detached concern with life itself, assurance in the meaning of life, dignity, and acceptance of the fact that one’s life has been worthwhile, along with readiness to face death)
• unfavorable: feelings of bitterness about one’s life, a feeling that life has been worthless, and fear over one’s impending death

Question 26

What does Kohlberg’s theory of personality development focus on?

Answer 26

development of moral thinking

Question 27

Describe preconventional morality

Answer 27

• preadolescence
• places emphasis on consequences of moral choice

1. Obedience: avoiding punishment
2. Self-interest: gaining rewards (instrumental relativist stage, based on reciprocity)

Question 28

Describe conventional morality

Answer 28

• early adolescence
• relationships and social rules

3. Conformity: doing what is right to gain approval of others
4. Law and order: maintains the social order in the highest regard (doing wrong will affect others/damage the social order)

Question 29

Describe postconventional morality

Answer 29

• adulthood (if at all; subset of adults with advanced moral reasoning)
• social mores, which may conflict with laws

5. Social contract: moral rules are conventions designed so ensure the greater good, with reasoning focused on individual rights
6. Universal human ethics: decisions should be made in consideration of abstract principles (some things are just inherently wrong)

Question 30

What are limitations of Kohlberg’s theories of moral reasoning?

Answer 30

• postconventional morality may describe views that are more prevalent in individualistic societies and is biased against collectivist cultures
• research was only conducted using male subjects

Question 31

What did Vygotsky focus his work on?

Answer 31

understanding cognitive development; the engine driving cognitive development being the child’s internalization of various aspects of culture: rules, symbols, language, and so on

Question 32

What is role-taking?

Answer 32

children playing ‘house’ or ‘school’

Question 33

What is theory of mind?

Answer 33

ability to sense how another’s mind works

Question 34

What is the looking-glass self?

Answer 34

becoming aware of judgments form the outside world and reacting to them; others reflecting ourselves back to ourselves