![]() ![]() The optimum virtue in this stage is developing a sense of purpose in one’s life. If the child is not given the space to make these decisions, he/she develops guilt and a lack of confidence. In the preschool phase (3-5 years), the child learns to take initiative by doing things by themselves. In the early childhood phase (1.5-3 years), the child develops willpower on successfully balancing the concepts of complete autonomy and independence as opposed to shame and incompetence. So, an infant who is conditioned optimally in this stage will learn to hope to trust without being naive or distrustful. In the infancy stage (0-1.5 years), the optimum virtue is hope while the two extremes are basic trust and mistrust. However, it is in the adolescent phase that the question of identity crisis occurs so we will first state the previous stages of development in brief. Moreover, he argued that individuals developed their personalities throughout their lives in stages and adolescence was not the climax of development as Freud had stated. However, he emphasised on the social aspect of individual development rather than the sexual aspect as Freud did. In each of these phases, the individual develops certain qualities or virtues if they are able to encounter their circumstances optimally. He laid down eight stages of personality development, the adolescent stage (around 12-18 years of age) being the one most prominent in determining the identity of the individual. Like Sigmund Freud, he too believed in the stagewise development of individual personality. ![]() Erikson’s mother remarried and his original father was never revealed which meant that he always had a troubled identity with regard to his surname until he changed it to Erikson, a surname he created.Įrikson describes identity as a self-image comprising a sameness of character and a strong belief in maintaining that sameness in all social interactions. Erikson is best known for his book ‘Childhood and society’ where he introduces the eight stages of psychosocial development which is an extension of Freud’s theory as well as the concepts of identity crisis and role confusion. He was mentored by Anna Freud, daughter of Sigmund Freud and a psychoanalyst herself. The resolution of this crisis is finally dependent on the subjective actions of the individual though social factors such as social support, peer groups, family and other social institutions play a significant role in channelling self-identity towards particular directions.Įrik Erikson was an American psychologist and psychoanalyst who coined the term ‘identity crisis’. James Marcia developed four identity statuses according to which an individual’s degree of identity formation could be recognized. There are two types of identity crisis- identity deficit and identity conflict. Identity crisis is a phase in this development and usually occurs during the period of adolescence. ![]() He laid down eight phases of psychosocial development of the individual personality. Abstract: The term ‘identity crisis’ was coined by psychoanalyst Erik Erikson who drew experiences from his own life in formulating the theory. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |