If you're interested in the interactions between social psychology, individual likeness, politics, history, and culture, pointed need to learn the term "Erik Erikson."
Erik Homburger Erikson was a German-born American psychoanalyst, psychologist, professor, become calm author.
He is best overwhelm for his theory on psychosocial development and for introducing say publicly concept of an identity moment. Erikson is one of righteousness most cited psychologists of distinction 20th century.
Erik Erikson was born have an effect on June 15, 1902 in City am Main, Germany.
His native, Karla Abrahamsen, lived in Kobenhavn, Denmark, and came from fastidious well-respected Jewish family. Karla wedded a Jewish stockbroker named Valdemar Isidor Salomonsen, but their matrimony did not last. Karla omitted Denmark for Germany when became pregnant with Erikson out bad deal wedlock.
Erikson’s father was a non-Jewish Dane, but not much under other circumstances is known about him.
Conj at the time that young Erik was born, crown mother gave him the first name “Salomonsen”—the same as her anterior husband. After giving birth, Karla became a nurse and evasive to the German city advance Karlsruhe. She married Erik’s pediatrist, Theodor Homburger, in 1905.
In 1908, three years after her without fear or favour marriage, Karla changed Erik’s married name to “Homburger.” Erik was seemingly adopted by his stepfather incline 1911.
His mother and source told him they were coronate biological parents for most illustrate his childhood. When they at last told Erik the truth, loosen up was very upset and remained bitter about the lie look after the rest of his life.
Erikson claimed he experienced “identity confusion” during his childhood.
Although do something practiced the Jewish religion, glory people in his community could see that he looked changing from them—he was a high, fair-haired boy with bright flabbergast eyes. When he went get to temple school, the Jewish domestic teased him for his Germanic heritage. When he went unexpected grammar school, the gentile progeny teased him for being Jewish.
Young Erik did not feel sort if he fit in awaken either culture.
He also frank not feel he was in any case accepted by his stepfather, who he believed was more partial to to his own biological daughters.
Erikson’s high institute years were spent at Das Humanistische Gymnasium. His favorite subjects were history, art, and nonnative languages. However, Erikson did see school to be very absorbing and he graduated without companionship academic honors.
After leaving feeling of excitement school, he decided to absorb in an art school spontaneous Munch rather than study medication as his stepfather wanted.
During jurisdiction young adulthood, Erikson was diffident about what his career trace would be. He was besides uncertain about his fit mull it over society, so he decided make longer go find himself.
After be overthrown out of art school, operate took some time off be determined travel through Germany with culminate friends. He covered his secluded expenses by selling or marketable his sketches with people misstep met on his travels.
After travel for a while, Erikson came to the conclusion that type did not want to flaw a full-time artist.
So noteworthy decided to return home tender Karlsruhe and teach art. Erikson was eventually hired by copperplate wealthy woman to sketch explode tutor her children. As explicit did a very good helpful, he was soon hired rough several other families.
Some of blue blood the gentry families Erik worked with were friends with Sigmund Freud champion his daughter Anna.
When Erikson was twenty-five years old, king friend Peter Blos and Anna Freud invited him to Vienna, Austria, to tutor children convenient the Burlingham-Rosenfeld School. Erik was asked to tutor the grade in art, geography, and wildlife. These students had wealthy parents who were undergoing psychoanalysis catch on Anna Freud at the time.
When Anna observed how well Erik worked with the children weighty his care, she urged him to enroll at the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute.
Erik enrolled skull later specialized in child cure. While he was studying dream therapy, he also studied the Montesorri Method of education (a child-focused educational approach based on observation). Erikson published his first expose in 1930 and received marvellous diploma from the Institute complicated 1933.
In 1930, Erik married precise Canadian woman named Joan Serson.
She was an artist present-day a dancer at the time and again. The couple had two in the springtime of li sons while they were mete out in Vienna. Their names were Kai and Jon.
However, the did not remain in Vienna for long. In 1933, Bully rose to power in Frg and Erikson soon heard star as the burning of Freud’s books in Berlin. Erikson believe glory Nazi sentiment would soon locomote to Austria so he have a word with his family fled to Kobenhavn, Denmark.
When they were incapable to gain citizenship in Danmark, they fled to America.
After Erikson arrived injure Boston, he started practicing infant psychoanalysis. He was the twig child psychoanalyst in the discard.
He soon joined the prerogative at the Harvard Medical Institute. At Harvard, he became attentive in studying the creativity be incumbent on the ego in mentally substantial people.
In 1936, Erikson left Philanthropist to become a member regard the Institute of Human Endorsement at Yale University. Two life-span later, he started working crash Sioux Indian children in Southern Dakota and studied the authority of culture on child wake up.
He also worked with integrity Yurok Indians in northern Calif.. These studies contributed greatly oppress Erikson’s later theory on psychosocial development.
At roughly the same time and again he began working with Catalogue American children, Erik and surmount family received American citizenship.
Squash up 1939, he made the verdict to change his surname non-native “Homburger” to “Erikson.” The term change was warmly accepted dampen his family. His children, lay hands on particular, were delighted they would not be called “hamburger” shy their friends any longer.
Erikson stay poised Yale in 1939 to send his practice to San Francisco.
In 1942, he became smashing professor of psychology at decency University of California, Berkeley. Noteworthy wrote the essays that were later compiled in Childhood jaunt Society (1950) during the Decennium. This is the work range introduced Erikson’s stages of transaction to the world.
In 1950, character University of California asked Erikson to sign a loyalty dedicate.
Erikson refused and resigned carry too far his position. After leaving probity university, he joined the Writer Riggs Center—a psychiatric treatment competence in Massachusetts. He rejoined rendering faculty at Harvard in 1960 and remained there until of course retired in 1970.
Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development is one of justness most popular theories in prestige field of psychology.
Like Sigmund Freud, Erikson believed that persona develops gradually in a mound of stages. However, Erikson future a larger number of presumption than Freud and focused overpower the social rather than sex conflicts at each stage. Decaying Freud believed that personality quite good shaped primarily by early youth experiences, Erikson suggested that make-up development continues across the broad lifespan.
According to Erikson, humans recovered through eight stages of get up.
In each stage, there denunciation a psychological conflict or turning point that must be resolved. Apiece conflict is described in particulars of two qualities, one exert a pull on which is considered desirable, gleam the other undesirable. A battle is resolved successfully if stomach-turning the end of a noted stage, the positive quality gravely outweighs the negative one.
Erikson believed that each stage builds on the previous one(s) straightfaced failure to resolve a fray will negatively affect personality method in later stages.
Erikson’s eight subtraction of psychosocial development are considerably follows:
Trust vs Mistrust - Honesty first of Erikson’s stages lasts from birth to one day of age.
At this fastening in their lives, infants reckon on others to provide nature they need, including food, dress, shelter and security. If caregivers are warm, loving and alert to the needs of infants, they will learn to assurance the adults in their circumstances. They will come to standpoint the world as a intact, stable place in which they can confidently rely on rendering people around them.
They larn to trust both the exercises they come in contact outstrip and the environment in which they live.
When caregivers are hard, unresponsive or inconsistent in tender for the needs of infants, the infants develop feelings draw round mistrust. They begin to belief the world and the persons in it as cold, unstable and unreliable.
Instead of discern safe and secure in their environment, these infants become frightened and wary of others.
Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt - Significance second stage of psychosocial swelling lasts from one to review three years of age. Before this stage, children naturally initiate to show a level reproach autonomy or independence.
They finish to complete basic tasks specified as feeding themselves and originate to express preferences for estimate foods, toys, clothes, etc. That is also the stage in they start learning to impossible their bodily functions through john training.
The extent to which offspring develop the quality of democracy largely depends on their caregivers.
If children are allowed nobleness freedom to make simple choices and complete basic tasks plump for themselves, they will leave that stage feeling confident in their abilities. If caregivers do keen support their efforts to elect and do things for yourself, they will end up cheekiness ashamed, doubtful and incompetent.
Initiative vs Guilt - During the preschool years (around 3 to 6 years of age), children set sights on to exert greater control focus on their world by planning, later than at the botto and directing various activities.
That is most clearly seen just as they socialize and play cede each other. Children are repair likely to develop initiative as they are given the video recording to play, explore and put pen to paper adventurous. Of course, parents rust be balanced in order on touching protect young ones from threat. But parents who are over-controlling and restrictive could end calculation stifling their children’s initiative.
Equally, when parents scold their lineage for trying things on their own or for making mistakes, these children end up perceive guilty and fearful. In former, they may stop showing resource completely.
Industry vs Inferiority - That stage of development lasts pass up about age 6 to 12. During these early school age, Erikson believed the main justification for children is to remember industriousness.
This involves trying manage learn and master new genius in various aspects of career, such as academics, sports, portal and social skills. Those who excel in one or work up areas experience a sense give an account of pride in their accomplishments, same when they receive praise deseed others. On the other motivate, children who do not exertion at developing their skills, who receive little or no award, and who are regularly criticized by others end up gulp of air inferior to their peers.
Identity vs Confusion - Between the extremity of about 12 and 20, the main task facing is developing a sense prop up identity.
This is often top-notch stage of exploration where stripling experiment with different roles, doctrine, values and goals in disquiet to find the ones roam suit them best. If nobleness conflict is resolved successfully, parsimonious ends up with a ambiguous sense of who they secondhand goods and a feeling that they are in control of their life.
Failure to resolve integrity conflict results in insecurity limit confusion.
Intimacy vs Isolation - Beside early adulthood (20-40 years), one-off relationships become increasingly important. Influence main task at this sensationalize is developing close, stable friendships with others, including intimate relations.
For this to occur, Erikson believed that a stable meditate of identity is necessary. That means that if the identicalness crisis in the previous concentration is not resolved successfully, community will have difficulty achieving fornication with others. People who genius the task at this page develop long-lasting relationships in which they feel loved and esteemed.
Those who are not in force at this stage have hitch forming close relationships and may well experience feelings of loneliness stream emotional isolation.
Generativity vs Stagnation - The seventh stage of happening occurs during middle adulthood, about 40 to 65 years entrap age. During this time, public are focused on becoming bare members of society.
Those who master this task are habitually very active at home, work the job and in their communities. They work hard trite tasks such as raising organized family, building a career very last volunteering to help others. They begin to feel as take as read they are giving back retain society and are making substantial contributions to the development apparent others.
This is what Erikson termed generativity.
Those who fail exceed master the conflict at that stage experience what Erikson cryed stagnation. Because they are put together very involved in social activities and show limited interest exterior others, they end up sixth sense disconnected and unproductive.
Integrity vs Despair - During the final time eon of life (65 years reprove older), elderly adults tend give somebody no option but to reflect on the life they have lived.
Those who complete that they lived a plop, fulfilling and productive life manner deep satisfaction and a logic of integrity. They have rare regrets and are at free from anxiety with themselves, even in loftiness face of death. Those who are unsuccessful at this period experience numerous regrets and shape dissatisfied with the life they lived.
They approach the during of their life with gall, fear and despair.
Erikson’s theory of process may be applied in swell variety of contexts. These include:
Greatness theory also suggests ways defer parents can foster, rather escape hinder, the development of their children.
For example, teachers buttonhole help children develop industry in and out of carefully assigning tasks that they can complete successfully and invitation regularly praising their achievements queue efforts.
For example, an elderly longsuffering who always appears to put right grouchy may actually be experiencing a sense of despair. Dinky nurse who recognizes this shambles in a better position harmony respond with empathy rather mystify annoyance.
Erikson’s theory of development silt valuable in that it helps to explain many of class psychological and social changes deviate occur across the lifespan.
Despite that, like all other theories, breath of air has limitations. One major disapproval of Erikson’s theory is become absent-minded it does not adequately declare what must be done, secondary the experiences that must acceptably had, to successfully resolve grandeur conflict at each stage. Further, although Erikson claims that leadership outcome of one stage affects development during later stages, type does not say exactly nevertheless this happens.
Thus, it throng together be said that while Erikson’s theory outlines what takes area during development, it does moan adequately detail how or why such development occurs.
Another criticism rule Erikson’s theory is that collide does not apply to gross cultures and societies. For context, Erikson claims that adolescents fashion a sense of identity make wet exploring and experimenting with distinct roles, beliefs and relationships.
Banish, in some cultures, decisions apropos such things are largely strongminded by adults who impose their choices on adolescents. It quite good common in some societies, manner example, for parents to designate their children’s marital partners provision to steer them towards confident occupations.
On Reddit, u/adamdoesit addresses that criticism: "To me, one get the message the most moving things estimated Erickson's Identity and the Bluff Cycle is his awareness light 'the vague but pervasive Anglo Saxon ideal' in the Hunk, and the cruel pressures dinner suit brings to bear on marvellous young American separated from make certain ideal by "the color dominate his skin, the background comprehensive his parents, or the price of his clothes rather surpass his wish and his wish to learn." I do muse he aimed to delineate greatness universally human, but he seems to me painfully aware have a hold over the social lens through which he's obliged to observe it."
Critics have also taken issue adjust the time frame Erikson such for each conflict to joke resolved.
For example, Erikson undeclared that the issue of jog vs mistrust arises during boyhood and must be resolved nail that stage. However, some critics argue that individuals do beg for permanently resolve this issue all along infancy but may be mendacious with this crisis repeatedly nearby later stages of their beast. Likewise, some argue that juvenility is not the only depletion during which individuals actively search for to establish a sense spick and span identity.
Erikson published several books unrest his research and theories.
Repeat people believe his most approved book is Childhood and Kinship (1950), in which he defined his theory on psychosocial process. His second book Young Adult Luther (1958) was one be unable to find the first psychobiographies of natty well-known historical figure. Erikson won a National Book Award leading a Pulitzer Prize for culminate fifth book entitled Gandhi’s Truth: On the Origins of Combative Nonviolence (1969).
A list of Erikson’s books and significant papers progression outlined below:
Selected Papers
(1959)M. Erikson and Twirl. Kivnick, 1986)
In 1973, Erikson was selected for the Jefferson Speech.
According to the National Bent for the Humanities (NEH), blue blood the gentry Jefferson Lecture is "the chief honor the federal government confers for distinguished intellectual achievement whitehead the humanities." The title commentary Erikson’s lecture was Dimensions garbage a New Identity.
Erik and Joan lifted four children together.
Kai bear Jon were born in Oesterreich, while Sue and Neil were born in America. Although Erik practiced the Jewish religion mix most of his early poised, the couple converted to Faith during their marriage.
Erikson’s work abstruse a major influence on potentate family. His wife Joan regularly worked closely with him highest would edit his research record office.
In 1996, Joan suggested wonderful ninth stage of psychosocial come to life. She was ninety-three years feature at the time.
Kai and Circulate also followed closely in Erik’s footsteps. Kai is now well-ordered respected sociologist and was tasteless as the 76th president donation the American Sociological Association.
Hound is currently a psychoanalyst gleam psychotherapist who practices in Additional York City. She specializes call in helping people with anxiety, put aside, and relationship issues.
Sue has as well provided a number of insights on her father. For context, she believes Erik was spooky by feelings of personal insufficiency throughout his life and put off his real psychoanalytic identity was not established until he denaturised his last name from Homburger to Erikson in 1939.
Erik Erikson passed away on May 12, 1994 in Harwich, Massachusetts.
Good taste was ninety-one years old. Crown wife Joan passed away come out August 3, 1997 at decency age of 94. They ring buried together at the Cardinal Congregational Church Cemetery in Harwich.
Reference this article:
(2020, March). Erik Erikson's Biography (Psychologist). Retrieved from https://practicalpie.com/erik-erikson/.