Chapter 7 Erikson: Post-Freudian Theory 215and be absorbed with themselves in order to eventually generate new growth.
The interaction of generativity and stagnation produces care, the basic strength
of adulthood.
Care: The Basic Strength of Adulthood
Erikson (1982) defined care as “a widening commitment to take care of the per-
sons, the products, and the ideas one has learned to care for” (p. 67). As the basic
strength of adulthood, care arises from each earlier basic ego strength. One must
have hope, will, purpose, competence, fidelity, and love in order to take care of
that which one cares for. Care is not a duty or obligation but a natural desire
emerging from the conflict between generativity and stagnation or self-absorption.
The antipathy of care is rejectivity, the core pathology of adulthood. Rejectiv-
ity is the unwillingness to take care of certain persons or groups (Erikson, 1982).
Rejectivity is manifested as self-centeredness, provincialism, or pseudospeciation:
that is, the belief that other groups of people are inferior to one’s own. It is respon-
sible for much of human hatred, destruction, atrocities, and wars. As Erikson said,
rejectivity “has far-reaching implications for the survival of the species as well as
for every individual’s psychosocial development” (p. 70).
Old Age
The eighth and final stage of
development is old age. Erikson
was in his early 40s when he
first conceptualized this stage
and arbitrarily defined it as
the period from about age 60 to
the end of life. Old age need not
mean that people are no longer
generative. Procreation, in the
narrow sense of producing chil-
dren, may be absent, yet old
people can remain productive
and creative in other ways. They
can be caring grandparents to
their own grandchildren as well
as to other younger members of
society. Old age can be a time of
joy, playfulness, and wonder;
but it is also a time of senility,
depression, and despair. The
psychosexual mode of old age is
generalized sensuality; the psy-
chosocial crisis is integrity ver-
sus despair, and the basic
strength is wisdom.
Erikson’s stages of development extend into old age.
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