Personality an Extension of Classical Psychoanalytic Theories Essay Example

Personality an Extension of Classical Psychoanalytic Theories? Paper Personality can be defined as a set of traits that establish disparities or commonalities of psychological behavior of human being or animals within a diverse socio-cultural and biological spectrum. This paper critically evaluates Erikonian and Freudian theories that explain structure and development of human personality, and techniques in examining personality pathology. Both theories approach the topic of personality from the viewpoint of psychoanalytic theory, however, Erikson theoretically and practically move away from the classical psychoanalysis. He proposes a broader and more comprehensive theory which extends from birth to death and applies to various races of humanity. The essay concludes by asserting that the above discussed diversions support the claim the subject of discussion. Erikson acquired knowledge in psychoanalysis when he started to associate with Anna Freud the daughter of Sigmund Freud in Vienna where he worked as an art teacher. At the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute, he trained in psychoanalysis and also learnt about Montessori Method of education that was based on child development. It was immediately after his graduation that Nazi took over power in Germany and had to flee to the United States for his own safety. He settled in Boston with his wife Joan where he began a career that made him one of the outstanding clinicians and personality theorists of his time. He taught and held many positions in various institutions in America which culminated in publication Childhood and Society in 1950, a book for which he is best known (Sollod, Wilson Monte, 2009). We will write a custom essay sample on Personality an Extension of Classical Psychoanalytic Theories? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Personality an Extension of Classical Psychoanalytic Theories? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Personality an Extension of Classical Psychoanalytic Theories? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Apart from teaching in various American Universities, Erikson studied various many people most notably, the American Natives’ children and also worked in a number of clinics and psychiatric institutions. These experiences helped him establish himself as one of the contemporary psychoanalyst who has influence students of various disciplines much like Sigmund Freud. Erikson could have been regarded as one of the brightest students of Anna Freud who live on to surpass his teacher’s understanding of human development. Borrowing from Freudian theories of development and the ego development, Erikson came up with the greatest innovation of his career with regard to stages of human development. While Sigmund Freud had postulated five stages in his psychosexual analysis, Erikson came up with eight stages. Analyzing human development from birth to death, he believed that human being must go through certain stages in order to fully develop and thus theorized eight stages (Sollod, Wilson Monte, 2009). In his book Childhood and Society, he elaborated Sigmund Freud’s genital stage into adolescence and further added another three stages to Freud’s adulthood stage (Thornburg, Ispa, Adams Lee, 1992). Erikson further developed Freudian classical analysis of the ego and came up with the ego psychology that emphasized the role of the ego away from just being a servant of the ego as was postulated by Sigmund. He believed that environment where a child lives in plays a vital role in his or her development. According to him, environment does not only provide room for growth and adjustment but also a source of self awareness and identity (Eagle, 1997). Probably, his life span model of psychological development which was borrowed from the classical psychoanalytic theories put him as one of the neo-Freudian psychoanalytic theorists. With the help of his wife, Joan, Erikson developed eight stage of human development with each stage identifying specific goals, challenges and concerns (Erikson, 1982/1997). These stages are as follows: the infancy stage deals with basic trust and basic mistrust; early childhood stage is characterized by the conflict between autonomy and shame or doubt; play age stage has to conquer either initiative or guilt; school age stage is characterized by industry and inferiority as the conflicting concerns; adolescence stage is marked by identity and role isolation; young adults would have to make a choice between intimacy and isolation; adulthood stage is marked by concerns of generativity and stagnation; the eighth stage referred to as later adulthood is a period characterized by ego identity and despair (Darling-Fisher Leidy, 1988). What puts Erikson’s theory of personality ahead of the Freudian classical theories of psychoanalysis, is not only the differences in number of stages of human development but his contention that the various stages are interdependent on each other. According to Erikson, unresolved conflicts at one particular stage would inf luence development in the subsequent stages. For example, during the infancy stage, a child’s development of either a trusting or mistrusting relationship with his or her caregiver would influence how the child trust other people in later stages of development (Kroger, 1993). Erikson was regarded as a neo-Freudian because his theory of personality was an extension of earlier works by Sigmund Freud. He earned a new name as one of the originators of ego psychology theory and thus is considered as an ego psychologist because he based his studies of the developmental stages on the entire lifespan of human being (Sollod, Wilson Monte, 2009). However, Erickson’s stages of psychosocial development are characterized by various conflicts upon which a successful resolution would lead to a desirable outcome. He further hypothesized that resolution to such conflicts would be drive by an important event upon which the conflict revolves, for instance, the meaning of life to oneself. He termed the desirable results of each stage of psychosocial development as â€Å"virtues†. This term was derived from Eriksonian works within the context of applied medicine meaning potency (Marcia, Waterman, Matterson, Archer Orlofsky, 1993). In essence, virtues are the outcomes of a successful resolution. Oddly enough, as is postulated by the Erikson’s studies, the individual must learn how to deal with both extremes of the conflict involved in each stage of life development. He argued that an individual cannot reject one of the extremes of the conflicting challenges by simply ignoring one of them, but has to come with away of holding on to each of them so as to create a balance even as a successful resolution is anticipated. According to Erikson, understanding and accepting both sides of the tensions of a particular life stage would provide an opportunity for self-evaluation that would subsequently, give way to optimal virtue (Erikson, 1950). For example, ‘trust’ and ‘mistrust’ must all be understood and accepted so that ‘hope’ can emerge as the realistic and practical solution during the first stage of psychosocial development. Similarly, during the last stage of psychosocial development, both ‘integrity’ and ‘despair’ must be understood and accepted so as to have an actionable ‘wisdom’ as the most viable solution (Wallerstein Goldberger, 2000). He went beyond Freudian theories of psychoanalysis by focusing on dysfunctional behaviors in order to understand how the normal self can function successfully. In particular, he contributed to the understanding of Freudian classical psychoanalytic theories by including the effects of culture and society on one’s psychological development. This particularly led to emergence of psychosocial perspective which has long been associated with him. This was developed during his extensive studies involving the Native American children which incorporated anthropological examination and clinical analysis based on the history of the tribe and the economical situation (Meeus, 1996). He also applied psychoanalysis in developing detailed biographical histories of important personalities who contributed to the development in society and the world through resolution of conflict. For example, he gave lectures about Thomas Jefferson, wrote books about the lives of Martin Luther (Young Man Luther: A Study In Psychoanalysis And History) and Mahatma Gandhi (Gandhi’s Truth: On The Origins Of Militant Nonviolence). In these great works, Erikson used clinical analysis to give an account of how leaders come out of difficult situations to develop new identity not only for themselves but also for other citizens. Erikson extends Freudian psychoanalysis to develop understanding of conflict resolution and how those solutions or outcomes affect not only individual’s standing in society but also the general well-being of the citizens in a society. For example, he borrowed from Freudian classical analysis to study psychoanalysis and history in his book Young Man Luther (1958). He treated Martin Luther as a very innovative psychologist whose religious teachings complemented the classical Freudian analysis (Wallerstein Goldberger, 2000). Unlike Freud whose main focus was on early childhood development, Erikson goes further to emphasized adolescence and adulthood as important stages of psychosocial development. In his analysis of life-stages, Erikson introduces important concepts of identity and identity crisis. He particularly used these concepts to explain both the social and psychological complexities met by adolescents or young people when trying to fit into a particular place and time in a society. According to Erikson, adolescent stage of development therefore presents a complex solution to the question of â€Å"who am I† and needs an organization of one’s drives, beliefs, abilities and history into the understanding of oneself. Erikson’s own life experiences might have contributed to the development of identity and identity crisis theory (Thornburg, Ispa, Adams Lee, 1992). He personally wandered a lot as a young adult; from being a teacher, to analyst, to a writer. Erikson was very much interest in life in nature as well as in people of various ages and different cultures. These are quite predominant in his various thinking and writings. This is probably what makes him one of the most influential scholars of psychoanalytic theories after the classical Freudian theories of personality (Meeus, 1996). While Freud lived and developed his psychoanalysis theory at a time when people were beginning to understand the mentally ill as well as when there was a growing interest in understanding of the universal inner conflict, Eriksson who lived at a time when the western societies were being torn apart by violence and deprecation of values gave a different perspective to the issue human conflict. He borrowed from his understanding of psychoanalysis theories to delve into the subjects of health, strength and â€Å"virtue† which could be understood in the context of the society he lived in. This is seen in his later works where he anticipated the needs of rebellious youths who repudiated the falsehood in politics as well as the materialism of the capitalist world. In his understanding of these underlying problems in the western world, Erikson called for sincerity among leaders, peace, love and adoption of humane values (Smelser, 1996). Erikson’s concept of ego identity provided an understanding of psychoanalytic theory a way from the libido approach associated with Sigmund Freud. According to Erikson, society is the constructive source of the ego strength. Erikson put much emphasis on the cultural demands place on children during various stages of development in life. This marked a shift from the Freudian analysis of maturation as an important element in the child’s cognitive development (Sollod, Wilson Monte, 2009). For instance, the potty training at a very early age was influenced culturally in a number of industrialized nations where children would go to day care centers or pre-schools, where toilets are more preferred to changing diapers. While Freud explained potty training as a natural progression in skills as a result of maturation and the need to attend to the requirements involving anal psychosexual conflict, Erikson would downplay maturation as having any importance in toilet training. According to him, toilet training is matter that is culturally influenced (Wallerstein Goldberger, 1998). He also developed the idea of psychohistory which was in line with his efforts of bringing into the modern social sciences the understanding of psychoanalysis. Although he was trained in psychoanalysis, Erikson did not narrow his studies to the psychoanalysis alone. In his works which included about fourteen books, Erikson studied and researched on various disciplines that transcended variety of topics in culture, history as well as individuals. Psychoanalysis however, was particularly applied in understanding anthropological, historical and religious concerns. In addition, it was used to develop comprehensive and detailed stages of psychological development which has been considered as life span model (Sollod, Wilson Monte, 2009). Erikson also delved into the topics of ethics and moral responsibility, which was illustrated in his book the Insight and Responsibility. Erikson developed eight set of virtues which corresponded with the eight stages of development – hope, will, purpose, competence, fidelity, love, care and wisdom (Wallerstein Goldberger, 2000). According to him, it is these virtues that determine the successful resolution of conflicts at each and every stage of human development. Moreover, Erikson introduced a new concept that he termed pseudospeciation which illustrates the destructive mechanism that result into human aggression, war and conflict in the society. Pseudospeciation simply means the arrogant placing of an individual’s culture, race, nation and/or society before others’ and the failure by one to recognize that humanity is one species. In essence, groups of people are represented neither as humans nor pseudo-species. Just like in his other writings, Erikson used this concept to understand the human psychology within the wider context of culture and history (Wallerstein Goldberger, 1998). From the analysis above, it is clear that Erikson’s theory of personality theoretically and practically moves away from the classical psychoanalytic theories. He not only provides a broader and comprehensive theory that encompasses life development from birth to death but also applies universally to all human races. Erikson also employed more empirically superior evaluation techniques than Sigmund Freud in his studies. It can therefore be concluded that above mentioned diversions support the claim that Erikson’s personality theories are successful extension of the classical psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud. References: Darling-Fisher, C. S. , Leidy, N. K. (1988). Measuring Eriksonian Development in the Adult: The Modified Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory. Psychological Reports, 62(3), 747- 754. Eagle, M. (1997). Contributions of Erik Erikson. Psychoanalytic Review, 84(3), 337-347. Erikson, E. (1950). Childhood and society. New York: Norton. Erikson, E. (1982/1997). The Life Cycle Completed. Norton: New York. Kroger, J, (1993). Discussions on Ego Identity. Lawrence Erlbaum: Hillsdale, NJ. Marcia, J. E. , Waterman, A. S. , Matterson, D. R. , Archer, S. L, Orlofsky, J. L. (1993) Ego Identity: A Handbook for Psychological Research. Springer-Verlag: New York. Meeus, W. (1996). Toward A Psychosocial Analysis of Adolescent Identity: An Evaluation Of The Epigenetic Theory (Erikson) and the Identity Status Model (Marcia), In K. Hurrelmann and S. F. Hamilton (Eds. ), Social Problems and Social Contexts In Adolescence: Perspectives across Boundaries. (Pp. 83-104). Smelser, N. J. (1996). Erik Erikson as Social Scientist. Psychoanalysis Contemporary Thought. 19(2), 207-224. Sollod, R. N. , Wilson, J. P. , Monte, C. F. (2009). Beneath The Mask: An Introduction To Theories of Personality (8th ed. ). John Wiley Sons: Hoboken, NJ. Thornburg, K. R. , Ispa, J. M. , Adams, N. A. , Lee, B. S. (1992). Testing the Simplex Assumption Underlying the Erikson Psychosocial Stage Inventory. Educational Psychological Measurement, 52(2), 431-436. Wallerstein, R. S. , Goldberger, L. (2000). Ideas and Identities: The Life Work of Erik Erikson. Psychoanalytic Psychology. 17(2), 437-442. Wallerstein, R. S. , Goldberger, L. (1998). Ideas and Identities: The Life and Work of Erik Erikson. 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