Chapter 7 Erikson: Post-Freudian Theory 225p. 285). In other words, anatomy alone does not determine destiny, but it
combines with past events, including social and various personality dimensions
such as temperament and intelligence, to determine who a person will become.
How does Erikson’s theory conceptualize humanity in terms of the six
dimensions we introduced in Chapter 1? First, is the life cycle determined by
external forces or do people have some choice in molding their personalities
and shaping their lives? Erikson was not as deterministic as Freud, but neither
did he believe strongly in free choice. His position was somewhere in the mid-
dle. Although personality is molded in part by culture and history, people retain
some limited control over their destiny. People can search for their own identi-
ties and are not completely constrained by culture and history. Individuals, in
fact, can change history and alter their environment. The two subjects of Erik-
son’s most extensive psychohistories, Martin Luther and Mahatma Gandhi, each
had a profound effect on world history and on his own immediate surroundings.
Similarly, each of us has the power to determine his or her own life cycles, even
though our global impact may be on a lesser scale.
On the dimension of pessimism versus optimism, Erikson tended to be
somewhat optimistic. Even though core pathologies may predominate early
stages of development, humans are not inevitably doomed to continue a
pathological existence in later stages. Although weaknesses in early life
make it more difficult to acquire basic strengths later on, people remain
capable of changing at any stage of life. Each psychosocial conflict consists
of a syntonic and a dystonic quality. Each crisis can be resolved in favor of
the syntonic, or harmonious element, regardless of past resolutions.
Erikson did not specifically address the issue of causality versus teleol-
ogy, but his view of humanity suggests that people are influenced more by
biological and social forces than by their view of the future. People are a
product of a particular historical moment and a specific social setting.
Although we can set goals and actively strive to achieve these goals, we
cannot completely escape the powerful causal forces of anatomy, history,
and culture. For this reason, we rate Erikson high on causality.
On the fourth dimension, conscious versus unconscious determinants, Erik-
son’s position is mixed. Prior to adolescence, personality is largely shaped by
unconscious motivation. Psychosexual and psychosocial conflicts during the first
four developmental stages occur before children have firmly established their
identity. We seldom are clearly aware of these crises and the ways in which they
mold our personalities. From adolescence forward, however, people ordinarily
are aware of their actions and most of the reasons underlying those actions.
Erikson’s theory, of course, is more social than biological, although it
does not overlook anatomy and other physiological factors in personality
development. Each psychosexual mode has a clear biological component.
However, as people advance through the eight stages, social influences
become increasingly more powerful. Also, the radius of social relations expands
from the single maternal person to a global identification with all humanity.
The sixth dimension for a concept of humanity is uniqueness versus
similarities. Erikson tended to place more emphasis on individual differences
than on universal characteristics. Although people in different cultures