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This article is about a scientist. For other people with similar names, see Eric Erickson.

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Erik Homburger Erikson (June 15, 1902 – May 12, 1994) was a Jewish German developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst known for his theory on social development of human beings, and for coining the phrase identity crisis.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Erikson's theory of personality 3 Scientific Support of Erikson's Theories 4 Bibliography 4.1 Major works 4.2 Collections 4.3 Related works 5 See also 6 References

Erik Erikson's lifelong interest in psychology of identity may be traced to his childhood. He was born as a result of his mother's extramarital affair and the circumstances of his birth were concealed from him in his childhood. His mother, Karla Abrahamsen, came from a prominent Jewish family in Copenhagen [1], [2]. Her father, Josef, was a merchant in dried goods; her mother Henrietta died when Karla was only 15. Karla's older brothers Einar, Nicolai, and Axel were active in local Jewish charity and helped maintain a free soup kitchen for indigent Jewish immigrants from Russia [3].

Erik Erikson believed that every human being goes through a certain number of stages to reach his or her full development. According to his theory, there are 8 stages, that a human being goes through from birth to death. (Childhood and Society-Erik Erikson) {Fact}}

Since Karla Abrahamsen was officially married to Jewish stockbroker Waldemar Isidor Salomonsen at the time, her son, born in Germany, was registered as Erik Salomonsen. There is no more information about his biological father, except that he was a Dane and his given name probably was Erik. It is also suggested that he was married at the time that Erikson was conceived^{[citation needed]}. Following her son's birth, Karla trained to be a nurse, moved to Karlsruhe and in 1904 married a Jewish pediatrician Theodor Homburger. In 1909 Erik Salomonsen became Erik Homburger and in 1911 he was officially adopted by his stepfather.

The development of identity seems to have been one of his greatest concerns in Erikson's own life as well as in his theory. During his childhood and early adulthood he was known as Erik Homburger, and his parents kept the details of his birth a secret. He was a tall, blond, blue-eyed boy who was raised in the Jewish religion. At temple school, the kids teased him for being Nordic; at grammar school, they teased him for being Jewish.

As a youth, Erikson was a student and teacher of art. While teaching at a private school in Vienna, he became acquainted with Anna Freud, the daughter of Sigmund Freud. Erikson underwent psychoanalysis, and the experience made him decide to become an analyst himself. He was trained in psychoanalysis at the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute and also studied the Montessori method of education, which focused on child development.^[1]

Following Erikson’s graduation from the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute in 1933, the Nazis had just come to power in Germany, and he emigrated with his wife, first to Denmark and then to the United States, where he became the first child psychoanalyst in Boston. Erikson held positions at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Judge Baker Guidance Center, and at Harvard’s Medical School and Psychological Clinic, establishing a solid reputation as an outstanding clinician.

In 1936, Erikson accepted a position at Yale University, where he worked at the Institute of Human Relations and taught at the Medical School. After spending a year observing children on a Sioux reservation in South Dakota, he joined the faculty of the University of California at Berkeley, where he was affiliated with the Institute of Child Welfare, and opened a private practice as well. While in California, Erikson also studied children of the Yurok Native American tribe.

After publishing the book for which Erikson is best known, Childhood and Society, in 1950, he left the University of California when professors there were asked to sign loyalty oaths.^[2] He spent ten years working and teaching at the Austen Riggs Center, a prominent psychiatric treatment facility in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where he worked with emotionally troubled young people.

In the 1960s, Erikson returned to Harvard as a professor of human development and remained at the university until his retirement in 1970.

Erikson's greatest innovation was to postulate not five stages of development, as Sigmund Freud had done with his psychosexual stages, but eight. Erikson elaborated Freud's genital stage into adolescence, and added three stages of adulthood. His widow Joan Serson Erikson elaborated on his model before her death, adding a ninth stage (old age) to it, taking into consideration the increasing life expectancy in Western cultures.

Erikson is also credited with being one of the originators of Ego psychology, which stressed the role of the ego as being more than a servant of the id. According to Erikson, the environment in which a child lived was crucial to providing growth, adjustment, a source of self awareness and identity.

His 1969 book Gandhi's Truth, which focused more on his theory as applied to later phases in the life cycle, won Erikson a Pulitzer Prize and a U.S. National Book Award.

Main article: Erikson's stages of psychosocial development

Although Erikson always insisted that he was a Freudian, he is better described as a Neo-Freudian. Subsequent authors have described him as an "ego psychologist" studying the stages of development, spanning the entire lifespan. Each of Erikson's stages of psychosocial development are marked by a conflict, for which successful resolution will result in a favourable outcome, for example, trust vs. mistrust, and by an important event that this conflict resolves itself around, for example, meaning of one's life.

Favourable outcomes of each stage are sometimes known as "virtues", a term used, in the context of Eriksonian work, as it is applied to medicines, meaning "potencies." For example, the virtue that would emerge from successful resolution. Oddly, and certainly counter-intuitively, Erikson's research suggests that each individual must learn how to hold both extremes of each specific life-stage challenge in tension with one another, not rejecting one end of the tension or the other. Only when both extremes in a life-stage challenge are understood and accepted as both required and useful, can the optimal virtue for that stage surface. Thus, 'trust' and 'mis-trust' must both be understood and accepted, in order for realistic 'hope' to emerge as a viable solution at the first stage. Similarly, 'integrity' and 'despair' must both be understood and embraced, in order for actionable 'wisdom' to emerge as a viable solution at the last stage.

The Erikson life-stage virtues, in the order of the stages in which they may be acquired, are:

1. hope- Basic Trust vs. Mistrust
2. will- Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
3. purpose- Initiative vs. Guilt
4. competence- Industry vs. Inferiority
5. fidelity- Identity vs. Role Confusion
6. love (in intimate relationships, work and family)- Intimacy vs. Isolation
7. caring- Generativity vs. Stagnation
8. wisdom- Ego Integrity vs. Despair

Ego Identity Versus Role Confusion - Ego identity enables each person to have a sense of individuality, or as Erikson would say, "Ego identity, then, in its subjective aspect, is the awareness of the fact that there is a self-sameness and continuity to the ego's synthesizing methods and a continuity of one's meaning for others" (1963) Role Confusion however, is, according to Barbara Engler in her book Personality Theories (2006), "The inability to conceive of oneself as a productive member of one's own society" (158). This inability to conceive of oneself as a productive member is a great danger; it can occur during adolescence when looking for an occupation.

Most empirical research into Erikson's theories has stemmed around his views on adolescence and attempts to establish identity. His theoretical approach was studied and supported, particularly regarding adolescence, by James Marcia ^[3]. Marcia's work extended Erikson's; distinguishing different forms of identity, and there is some empirical evidence that those people who form the most coherent self-concept in adolescence are those who are most able to make intimate attachments in early adulthood. This supports Eriksonian theory, in that it suggests that those best equipped to resolve the crisis of early adulthood are those who have most successfully resolved the crisis of adolescence.

Erikson's psychosocial crisis stages

• (syntonic v dystonic)

- Freudian psycho- sexual stages + Life stage / issues / relationships ~ Basic virtue > Maladaptation / malignancy (potential negative outcomes)

1. *Trust v Mistrust - Oral + Infant / mother / feeding and being comforted, teething, sleeping ~ Hope and Drive > Sensory Distortion / Withdrawal

2. *Autonomy v Shame & Doubt - Anal + Toddler / parents / bodily functions, toilet training, muscular control, walking ~ Willpower and Self-Control > Impulsivity / Compulsion

3. *Initiative v Guilt - Phallic + Preschool / family / exploration and discovery, adventure and play ~ Purpose and Direction > Ruthlessness / Inhibition

4. *Competency v Inferiority - Latency + Schoolchild / school, teachers, friends, neighborhood / achievement and accomplishment ~ Competence and Method > Narrow Virtuosity / Inertia

5. *Identity v Role Confusion - Puberty and Genitality + Adolescent / peers, groups, influences / resolving identity and direction, becoming a grown-up ~ Fidelity and Devotion > Fanaticism / Repudiation

6. *Intimacy v Isolation - (Genitality) + Young adult / lovers, friends, work connections / intimate relationships, work and social life ~ Love and Affiliation > Promiscuity / Exclusivity

7. *Generativity v Stagnation + Mid-adult / children, community / 'giving back', helping, contributing ~ Care and Production > Overextension / Rejectivity

8. *Integrity v Despair + Late adult / society, the world, life / meaning and purpose, life achievements ~ Wisdom and Renunciation > Presumption / Disdain Late adulthood is dominated by the multiplicity of social change which inevitably takes place during this stage of life. The loss of a marital partner, developments of unfamiliar single hood, ever changing relationships, dependent living situations and limited activities have a huge impact on the physical and psychological well being of an individual in the late adulthood stage. The degree to which an individual successfully navigated through his or her prior seven stages of life determines how the final stage is piloted. Experiencing hope, cultivating a strong will, living with purpose and competence, experiencing fidelity, love, care, and ultimately seeking wisdom sets an individual on a path to acceptance. Evolving together within a society and sharing life experiences within a cohabitant culture, formed by a couple, leads us to evaluate the roles that we play and the responsibilities we have. Addressing dominant stereotypes and ending of ageism through the utilization of inclusive opportunities offers increased opportunities for change. During old age the experience of loss is familiar to all. The death of a spouse, the loss of friends, family members and even children plague this final stage of life. The dilemmas of senior single hood are awkward to many; dating and remarriage prove to be a voyage for commonality; searching for the common similarities that old age brings. Relationships are extremely valued and of high importance during this stage of life. I chose to focus upon late adulthood due to my positive relationships with family members and members of society, while they lived and died during their final stage of life. Growing up, my family placed a great value and worth upon respecting and including the elderly within our daily lives. Most of my childhood was spent sharing and working aside grandparents, great aunts and uncles and their peers. I have always considers myself open to new ideas and willing to learn from the suggestions of others (Feeney, Freeman, 2005, p. xxiv). Their impact on my life was so great, that I could never image how empty my childhood would have been without their influence. The majority of my happiest childhood memories are connected to events and experiences that were shared with elderly members of my family. I now cherish every moment and lesson that I learned from these wise individuals, and even from those that did not consider themselves wise at all. The balance of “living each day to its fullest, understanding the wisdom necessary to being empathic while not condoning selfishness, being helpful while not being intrusive, and being proud but not smug” is what I strive to achieve, yet look forward to old adulthood to actually possess (Erikson, Erikson, & Kivnick, 1986, p. 58). Due to the loss or changes to physical and physiological functions independent living situations rapidly change. The day to day activities of life become more intellectual in nature, when compared to past physical forms entertainment. Older individuals begin to mistrust their own capabilities as they realize their bodies are becoming weak. Their once strong will and intense ambition bleeds into doubt, rebellion and at some points stubbornness. The aging learn to avoid being overzealous in order to avoid the guilt that accompanies poor decisions. The extreme lack of energy forces some to accept their new inadequacies, feeling that age is belittling them and forcing them into incompetence. With these doubts of competency, older individuals begin to question their status, or role they now play within society; their older values may be crumbling before their eyes. Individually, if love and intimacy was not recognized in earlier stages, one tends to focus all their energies upon the career or educational endeavors that were central to their lives. They are left without romantic memories to reminisce about. The Late Adulthood stage is usually composed of long spans of caring for others and in turn being cared for. Now, due to their failing health the elderly are forced into the role of need; they are no longer able to care take, but now need caretakers. In this final stage, one would hope to feel wise and driven by integrity; ultimately being at peace with life and the world which surrounds them. Joan Erikson illustrated how the 8th Stage of development related to the other 7 stages.  Trust vs. Mistrust (Hope): Mistrust own capabilities, body weakens  Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (Will): Will weakens, Rebellion, stubborn  Initiative vs. Guilt (Purpose): Avoid being over-zealous, guilt accompanies poor decisions  Industry vs. Inferiority (Competence): Lack of energy, accept inadequacies, No competence, aging belittling  Identity vs. Identity Confusion (Fidelity): Uncertain about status and role, older values are vague and crumbling  Intimacy vs. Isolation (Love): If this period is not realized, left without memories to reminisce about, focuses on work and school  Generativity vs. Stagnation (Care): Longest period, caring for others and others caring for them. When needs care feels useless  Integrity vs. Despair, Disgust (Wisdom): “Wisdom = capacity to see, look, and remember, as well as to listen, hear and remember.” (Erikson, 1997, p.106-113). Ageism is particularly prevalent in the American culture. Negative stereotypes persist that continue to affect the 8th stage of life; the notions that older adults are useless, weak, slow, helpless, burdensome and dependent damage the societal connections that foster hope and value. These social stigmas of inutility, incompetence, and dependence are bitter concepts that are frustrating, unwanted and unnecessary (Turnbull, 1983, 225). Many simply do not realize what ageism looks like or feels like; in turn believe that it does not exist. While self evaluating and reflecting on what ageism means, one should ask themselves a variety of questions like: “In the past 10 years what changes have you experienced in regards to appearance, behaviors, and attitudes? How do you feel about these?” (Eliopoulos, 2005) Has anyone witnessed ageism taking place or been a victim themselves? Answering these questions truthfully may in fact create an apparent image of what ageism really is. Ways to lessen or eliminate ageism and bias related to Erikson’s 8th stage of life are easily accessible. Planning and providing inclusive opportunities were concepts Joan Erikson envisioned as a solution to this form of exclusion and bias. The wife of Erik Erikson felt that within each neighborhood park, there should be a centralized residential care facility that actively fostered interaction and relationship building contributions between community members and the elderly residents (Erikson, 1997, p.118). Relationships and the feeling of inclusion are vital to Erikson’s 8th stage of life, by centralizing the elderly within a key youth oriented recreational mecca; an educational relationship could be developed. The elderly would then teach the young and the young would then teach and motive the elderly; theoretically killing two birds with one stone. Other American examples of inclusion are corporations like Wal-Mart hiring elderly greeters, hospitals welcome “cuddlers” to volunteer their time holding and caressing premature infants. Joan Erikson also discussed the importance of human touch in the lives of individuals within the 8th stage of life (Erikson, 1997, p. 121). As humans we should realize the important roles that touch plays within our lives. Researchers have linked massage therapy to benefits like strong immune systems, positive psychological well being, increased mobility, muscle strength and control, improved posture, reduction in elevated blood pressure, and so on. Erikson had strong beliefs that separated “maintenance touches” from “communicative touch” (Erikson, 1997, p. 121). In definition a maintenance touch is one that is required when providing services for “hygiene and management (wiping, lifting, and feeding)”, while communicative touch was more about rubbing, holding hands or lovingly caressing (Erikson, 1997, p. 121). With each accessible human link and continued human connection, purpose and meaning are added to life, in turn perpetuating the positive attributes found within each of Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Development. References Eliopoulos, C. (2005) Gerontological Nursing. 6th Ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott, ` William & Wilkins Erikson, E.H., Erikson, J.M. & Kivnick, H.Q. (1986). Vital Involvement in Old Age. New York: Norton Erikson, J.M. (1997). The Life Cycle Completed. New York: Norton Feeney, S., Freeman, N.K. (2005). Ethics and the Early Childhood Educator: Using the NAEYC Code. Washington, DC: NAEYC Turnbull, C.M. (1983). The Human Cycle. New York: Simon & Schuster

• Childhood and Society (1950)
• Young Man Luther. A Study in Psychoanalysis and History (1958)
• Identity: Youth and Crisis (1968)
• Gandhi's Truth: On the Origin of Militant Nonviolence (1969)
• Adulthood (edited book, 1978)
• Vital Involvement in Old Age (with J.M. Erikson and H. Kivnick, 1986)
• The Life Cycle Completed (with J.M. Erikson, 1987)

• Identity and the Life Cycle. Selected Papers (1959)
• A Way of Looking at Things: Selected Papers 1930-1980 (Editor: S.P. Schlien, 1995)
• The Erik Erikson Reader (Editor: Robert Coles, 2001)

• Erikson on Development in Adulthood: New Insights from the Unpublished Papers (Carol Hren Hoare, 2002)
• Erik Erikson, His Life, Work, and Significance (Kit Welchman, 2000)
• Identity's Architect: A Biography of Erik H. Erikson (Lawrence J. Friedman, 1999)
• Erik H. Erikson: The Power and Limits of a Vision, N.Y., The Free Press (Paul Roazen, 1976)
• "Everybody Rides the Carousel" (documentary film) (Hubley, 1976)
• Erik H. Erikson: the Growth of His Work (Robert Coles, 1970)
• Ideas and Identities: The Life and Work of Erik Erikson (Robert S. Wallerstein & Leo Goldberger, eds., [IUP, 1998])

• Erikson Institute - graduate school in child development in Chicago, Illinois

1. ^ Erikson Erik (1902-1979), Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology, 2nd ed. Gale Group, 2001
2. ^ C. George Boeree, Erik Erikson, 1902 - 1994 page at Shippensburg University
3. ^ Marcia, J. E., (1966), Development and validation of ego identity status, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 3, pp. 551-58

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Erik and Joan Erikson psychosocial development theory 1950-97

1. ^ Erikson Erik (1902-1979), Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology, 2nd ed. Gale Group, 2001
2. ^ C. George Boeree, Erik Erikson, 1902 - 1994 page at Shippensburg University
3. ^ Marcia, J. E., (1966), Development and validation of ego identity status, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 3, pp. 551-58