Erikson

Analysis of Case Study Six Based on Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages Erik Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development was greatly influenced by Freud; however, whereas Freud focused on the conflict between the id and superego, Erikson’s theory focuses on the conflicts that can take place within the ego itself. Erikson proposed that personality development followed the epigenetic principle, which states that human ego development occurs in eight fixated stages, and people must resolve a crisis in each stage (Olson and Hergenhahn, 2011). These crises at each stage can either be positively resolved, resulting in a strengthened ego, or negatively resolved, resulting in a weakened ego. In the present case study, Betty is a 68-year-old woman who is dissatisfied with her life and wishes to divorce her husband of 40 years, but fears that she would not be able to financially support herself. She has experienced stressful situations during all stages of her life, and according to Erikson’s theory, Betty negatively resolved several of Erikson’s psychosocial stages, which has led her to feel the negativity she currently feels regarding her life. Erikson would suggest that Betty’s behaviors are externally motivated by her parents during childhood and her husband during adulthood. During Betty’s childhood, her parents were not supportive of her and expected her grades to mirror those of her parents and her older brother. Additionally, her father was domineering and would not let her socialize at the all-male academy. During her adulthood, after she married Cole, he took a job that required them to move around and then became only a “weekend-husband” to her and a “weekend-father” to their children. These external forces caused her to feel dependent on others for direction and stability, thus weakening her ego and damaging her ego-identity. We see Betty’s first crisis during the latency stage of her life, in which children either develop a sense of industry or inferiority.

References: Olson, M. H., & Hergenhahn, B. R. (2011). Epigenetic principle, crises, ritualizations, and ritualisms. An introduction to theories of personality (8th ed., pp. 159-161). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.