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COURSE NOTES: Personality

Chapter 5:
Erikson

Based on the following textbook, with supplements and modifications by the author:
Cloninger, S. (2004). Theories of Personality: Understanding Persons (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NY: Prentice Hall.
Instructors who have adopted this text may obtain supplementary Powerpoint presentations from the publisher.

denotes a term that you should know how to define, and to recognize and give examples.

denotes an important person. You should remember this person's name and what (s)he has done.

denotes an important research finding.

denotes an issue that you should be able to discuss or explain.

Chapter 5:

Erikson: Psychosocial Development

psychosocial: Erikson’s approach to development, offered as an alternative to Freud’s psychosexual approach

emphasizing culture
emphasizing trust (instead of oral satisfaction)

The Epigenetic Principle

"that anything that grows has a ground plan, and that out of this ground plan the parts arise, each part having its time of special ascendancy, until all parts have arisen to form a functioning whole."

The Eight Psychosocial Stages

Stage 1: Trust versus Mistrust
Stage 2: Autonomy versus Shame and Doubt
Stage 3: Initiative versus Guilt
Stage 4: Industry versus Inferiority
Stage 5: Identity versus Identity Confusion
- identity confusion
- negative identity
- identity foreclosure
- moratorium
Stage 6: Intimacy versus Isolation
Stage 7: Generativity versus Stagnation
Stage 8: Integrity versus Despair

life span approach

psychosocial stages compared with Freud's psychosexual stages

(See Table 5.2 in Cloninger text, page 132.)

The Role of Culture in Relation to the Eight Stages

The First Stage: Religion (hope)
The Second Stage: Law (will)
The Third Stage: Ideal Prototypes (purpose)
The Fourth Stage: Technological Elements (competence)
The Fifth Stage: Ideological Perspectives (fidelity)
The Sixth Stage: Patterns of Cooperation and Competition (love)
The Seventh Stage: Currents of Education and Tradition (care)
The Eighth Stage: Wisdom (wisdom)

Rituals and ritualisms

Rituals: healthy
Ritualisms: defensive

Racial and Ethnic Identity

pseudospeciation: the exaggerated sense that many groups have, especially national and ethnic groups, that they are different from others, leading to conflict among groups

racial prejudice
religious prejudice

Gender

Children’s Play

Play configurations
Biology or culture?

Male and Female Identity Resolution

Research on Development through the Psychosocial Stages

Identity Status

Identity Status Paradigm
- Identity Achievement
- Identity Diffusion
- Moratorium
- Identity Foreclosure
Identity Status: Descriptions of Stages

Other Psychosocial Stages

Inventory of Psychosocial Balance (Domino & Affonso, 1990)
- I can usually depend on others. (trust)
- I genuinely enjoy work. (industry)
- Sometimes I wonder who I really am. (identity)
- Life has been good to me. (ego integrity)
Scores increase with age.

Correlates of Stages Measures