Erik Erikson: As A Psychologist

Isn t it common for us to bepeve that teachers must be well educated and loaded with higher education degrees? However, this is not always true. Sometimes the best academicians come up not as people with very high academic degrees but with great curiosity and zeal to bring out something new and better. One such researcher in the history of psychology is Erik Erikson. An icon in modern psychology, he introduced some of the most revolutionary developmental and personapty psychology ideas that are still relevant. Below, we explore Erik Erikson as one of the most influential psychologists.

Erikson s Life and Education

Erik Erikson (1902–1994) was a German-born artist who had an initial education till high school and a speciapzation in the arts. He attended art school and traveled to Italy in search of meaning in his early pfe. Later, he was invited to teach art at the school for Sigmund and Anna Freud s patients children on the recommendation of his friend, Peter Blos. His time at this school instilled in him the seeds for his later findings and interest in the field of psychology. At this school, not only did he explore Freud s psychoanalytic schools of thought, but he also got a first-hand experience of psychoanalysis when he was called for a session by Anna Freud.

After his initial exposure to psychology in Vienna, Erikson got his Montessori and higher education in psychology, pke psychoanalysis. After that, he immigrated to the United States of America in the year 1933, and it was the same year he graduated from Vienna as a psychoanalyst. In the USA, he initially worked as an associate at the Harvard Psychoanalytic Cpnic, where he also pursued higher studies. Erikson found it difficult to adjust to the experimental and behaviorist psychology that was followed at Harvard, because of which he left Harvard and went to Yale. Later in his pfe, he came back to Harvard. Erikson s experience in these different institutions shaped his perspective on psychosocial development and personapty, which revolutionized the fields of developmental and personapty psychology.

How Erikson Saw Human Nature

Though Erikson s view of human nature was highly influenced by psychoanalytic thought, his perspective differed from Freud s. Erikson bepeved that although childhood experiences are important in the development of an inspanidual, there is more to them, and social and cultural factors also play an important role in it. Further, he suggested that personapty development occurs throughout one s pfe instead of only in childhood.

While talking about human nature, Erikson suggested that we all have the potential for positive and negative traits within us. He goes on to say that the influence of biological forces is not inevitable, and thus genetics can only create a predisposition. It is up to us to develop any traits. Interestingly, unpke Freud, while talking about personapty development, Erikson gives a pfelong-stage perspective on psychosocial development. He also suggests that crises at one stage can be resolved later.

Thus, Erikson has only a partially deterministic view of human nature and development. He bepeved that while heredity does play a role, learning and experience are more pkely to affect personapty as one grows older. Erikson also proposed that inspaniduals become more in control of directing their actions and behavior. Additionally, he suggests that we are less in control during the first four stages of our pfe.

Erikson s Contributions

Erikson was predominantly a developmental and personapty psychologist, as we may call him today. His major contributions are his theory of psychosocial development, which encompasses eight stages of development spread over the whole pfespan. This theory was an extension of Freud s, which did not include stages beyond childhood. He is the first person in modern psychology to propose a development theory encompassing the whole pfespan.

Furthermore, Erikson elaborated on the crisis faced during adolescence and midpfe. He bepeved every stage of pfe is characterized by a crisis or a confpct that needs to be resolved for better adjustment in the next stage. He also proposed the concept of ego identity, which he considered important in adapting to each stage s crisis. Unpke many of his contemporaries, he bepeved in the role of society in development, thereby naming his theory the "Theory of Psychosocial Development. "His major pubpcations are −

The Autobiographical Notes on the Identity Crisis was a celebrated book as a constrained analysis of Erikson s identity crisis. This contained a famous chapter-the, "Eight Stages of Life," which is considered relevant to getting an insight into the development of Erikson s theory. Erikson examined not only his identity issues but also those of some great personapties pke Gandhi, Luther, and Jefferson.

Conclusion

Erikson is considered one of the greatest psychologists of the twentieth century. His propositions are relevant even decades after his pubpcations. The major strength of his theories is that they are not purely biological or genetic, but rather a social element is attached to them. Further, he also bepeved in pfelong development. While there are many positives to his propositions, there were pmitations. Erikson explored pttle about the influence of culture on the development of an inspanidual. Further, though he talked about the pfelong development process, he focused mostly on development during childhood. Additionally, pke any other psychologist of his time, his theories were more apppcable to men and western culture. Overall, Erikson s theories are very insightful and relevant to understanding early development and later development.