Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionII. Psychodynamic
Theories- Erikson: Post−Freudian
Theory
(^256) © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2009
will develop the antithesis or opposite of hope, namely, withdrawal.Again, each
stage has a potential core pathology.
Fifth, although Erikson referred to his eight stages as psychosocial stages,he
never lost sight of the biological aspect of human development.
Sixth, events in earlier stages do not cause later personality development. Ego
identity is shaped by a multiplicity of conflicts and events—past, present, and antic-
ipated.
Seventh, during each stage, but especially from adolescence forward, person-
ality development is characterized by an identity crisis,which Erikson (1968) called
“a turning point, a crucial period of increased vulnerability and heightened poten-
tial” (p. 96). Thus, during each crisis, a person is especially susceptible to major
modifications in identity, either positive or negative. Contrary to popular usage, an
identity crisis is not a catastrophic event but rather an opportunity for either adaptive
or maladaptive adjustment.
Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development are shown in Figure 9.2.
The boldfaced capitalized words are the ego qualities or basic strengths that emerge
from the conflicts or psychosocial crises that typify each period. The “vs.” separat-
ing syntonic and dystonic elements signifies not only an antithetical relationship but
also a complementary one. Only the boxes along the diagonal are filled in; that is,
Figure 9.2 highlights only the basic strengths and psychosocial crises that are most
characteristic of each stage of development. However, the epigenetic principle sug-
gests that all the other boxes would be filled (as in Figure 9.1), though with other
items less characteristic of their stage of psychosocial development. Each item in the
ensemble is vital to personality development, and each is related to all the others.
Infancy
The first psychosocial stage is infancy,a period encompassing approximately the
first year of life and paralleling Freud’s oral phase of development. However, Erik-
son’s model adopts a broader focus than Freud’s oral stage, which was concerned al-
most exclusively with the mouth. To Erikson (1963, 1989), infancy is a time of in-
corporation,with infants “taking in” not only through their mouth but through their
various sense organs as well. Through their eyes, for example, infants take in visual
stimuli. As they take in food and sensory information, infants learn to either trust or
mistrust the outside world, a situation that gives them realistic hope. Infancy, then, is
marked by the oral-sensorypsychosexual mode, the psychosocial crisis of basic
trust versus basic mistrust,and the basic strength of hope.
Oral-Sensory Mode
Erikson’s expanded view of infancy is expressed in the term oral-sensory,a phrase
that includes infants’ principal psychosexualmode of adapting. The oral-sensory
stage is characterized by two modes of incorporation—receiving and accepting what
is given. Infants can receive even in the absence of other people; that is, they can take
in air through the lungs and can receive sensory data without having to manipulate
others. The second mode of incorporation, however, implies a social context. Infants
not only must get,but they also must get someone else to give.This early training in
interpersonal relations helps them learn to eventually become givers. In getting other
250 Part II Psychodynamic Theories