Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionII. Psychodynamic
Theories- Erikson: Post−Freudian
Theory
(^266) © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2009
leads that person to a psychosocial regression and an inability to face the next de-
velopmental stage. The greater danger, of course, is too much isolation, too little in-
timacy, and a deficiency in the basic strength of love.
Love: The Basic Strength of Young Adulthood
Love,the basic strength of young adulthood, emerges from the crisis of intimacy ver-
sus isolation. Erikson (1968, 1982) defined love as mature devotion that overcomes
basic differences between men and women. Although love includes intimacy, it also
contains some degree of isolation, because each partner is permitted to retain a sep-
arate identity. Mature love means commitment, sexual passion, cooperation, compe-
tition, and friendship. It is the basic strength of young adulthood, enabling a person
to cope productively with the final two stages of development.
The antipathy of love is exclusivity,the core pathology of young adulthood.
Some exclusivity, however, is necessary for intimacy; that is, a person must be able
to exclude certain people, activities, and ideas in order to develop a strong sense of
identity. Exclusivity becomes pathological when it blocks one’s ability to cooperate,
compete, or compromise—all prerequisite ingredients for intimacy and love.
Adulthood
The seventh stage of development is adulthood,that time when people begin to take
their place in society and assume responsibility for whatever society produces. For
most people, this is the longest stage of development, spanning the years from about
age 31 to 60. Adulthood is characterized by the psychosexual mode of procreativity,
the psychosocial crisis of generativity versus stagnation,and the basic strength of
care.
Procreativity
Erikson’s psychosexual theory assumes an instinctual drive to perpetuate the species.
This drive is the counterpart of an adult animal’s instinct toward procreation and is
an extension of the genitality that marks young adulthood (Erikson, 1982). However,
procreativityrefers to more than genital contact with an intimate partner. It includes
assuming responsibility for the care of offspring that result from that sexual contact.
Ideally, procreation should follow from the mature intimacy and love established
during the preceding stage. Obviously, people are physically capable of produc-
ing offspring before they are psychologically ready to care for the welfare of these
children.
Mature adulthood demands more than procreating offspring; it includes caring
for one’s children as well as other people’s children. In addition, it encompasses
working productively to transmit culture from one generation to the next.
Generativity Versus Stagnation
The syntonic quality of adulthood is generativity,defined as “the generation of new
beings as well as new products and new ideas” (Erikson, 1982, p. 67). Generativity,
which is concerned with establishing and guiding the next generation, includes the
260 Part II Psychodynamic Theories