Does Lower Self Esteem Force People?

Erikson was a German psychologist and psychoanalyst. He was a student of Freud, and was greatly influenced by his theories of personality development. Similarly to Winnicott, Erikson drew on his experiences as a child analyst, to inform his contributions. Erikson’s theories, like Winnicott, are highly regarded today.

Freud focused on understanding and explaining human behavior, where as Erikson focused on understanding how the self and social aspects influence an individual’s identity. Both Freud and Erikson believe that the self is developing during youth. Also, they both believe that there are causes resulting in an individual to behave in an abnormal way. However, Freud believes that it has to do with confliction in their subconscious mind, and must resolve these problems, although according to Erikson gaps in the personality of the youth, creating an identity

Erik Erikson was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1902. Because his mother was Jewish and his father was not, he was often bullied in school. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, so his Jewish peers mocked him for standing out and being different, and his peers at school teased him simply for being Jewish. His own internal conflict with his identity sparked his interest in identity formation and development. Although he never actually received a degree in medicine or psychology, he became friends with Anna Freud who helped him study psychoanalysis. Erikson supported and was influenced by many of Sigmund Freud’s ideas. Freud had a theory on development, he called it the 5 stages of psychosexual development, this is one of the theories that Erikson

Erikson’s theory of personality is based on his eight stages of development. In each of these eight stages of

Erik Erickson`s view of influence leaned more towards the ego. This to say; that he believed that the society and culture which a person lives plays a large role in development. In this situation Erikson`s stages of development the fourth stage would be prominent; Industry vs inferiority. This stage is when children are beginning to learn things in school like reading, writing and mathematics. At this point in a child`s life friends and their social status begin to mean much more to them than previously and sometimes overcomes what they should start to be responsible for.

I vaguely remember studying Erik Erikson in school and your description of his psychosocial stages helped me get reacquainted so I thank you. His admiration of Sigmund Freud both helped and hindered his professional life (Boeree, 2006). The controversial man contributed to (Boeree, 2006). Erikson incorporates moral and civic character within each stage. Seider identifies a few traits as examples of moral character, these include: integrity, compassion, and respect. Civic character is defined as “the knowledge, skills, virtues, and commitments necessary for engaged and responsible citizenship” (Seider, 2012, p. 164).

Erik Erikson is one of the most influential psychoanalysts of the 20th century. He developed the eight stages of psychosocial development. These stages are trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. doubt/shame, initiative vs guilt, industriousness vs inferiority, identity cohesion vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and ego integrity vs. despair. He focused his study on the crisis that arise in adolescence and adulthood. He explained how certain things must be achieved in different stages of your life in order to be an emotionally normal person. These needs are coincidence with each other but take effect during certain time periods of your life and can affect your future. When analyzing his work, you can definitely see how it is relevant today. Erikson’s theory is compared with Freud’s because Erikson expands on the ideas that Freud already presented. Like any theorist, there are criticism that put restraints on his work.

Erik Erikson is a theorist who came up with the idea of psychosocial development. He elaborated on the different stages in a person’s life and the ways it could result in. From his early life to later on, he shows an interest in the idea of identity. He stays true to his ideas especially in his professional life and focuses on working with child psychosocial development. Erik Erikson’s early life, professional life and psychological finding lead to his legacy.

Erik Erikson is a theorist of the psychodynamic approach who believes that development is a process we go through at different age stages in our lives and that the experiences we have socially can have an impact in how we develop through each stage, Erikson details this through eight stages which he believes depending on whether our experiences are positive or negative this will determine the outcome on how we develop. (SFEU 2007)

His psychosocial theory of development takes in consideration of the impact of external factors, the parents, and society on a personality development from childhood to adulthood. Erikson’s theory says, that every person must pass through a series of eight interrelated stages over their entire life cycle. With this theory, it is more significant to defining a child’s or an adolescent’s development since it breaks down what is going on in the different stages of their life. Depending on factors that can occur at any different time in life, not everyone will experience those same events at the same time in their life. This can affect the way a child develops.

Self-esteem can change over time and between situations. Maintaining a healthy sense of self-esteem is something many people struggle with. It can be especially hard for students, because they are surrounded by different kinds of students who are smart or artistic or athletically gifted or beautiful or whose lives seem like they are so easy.

Theorist Erik Erikson’s developmental theory is best known for its theories on personality. He believed that an individual’s personality is developed in a series of stages impacted by social experiences throughout the whole life span. His model of development was the first offered by a theorist that extended over the entire life span. The massive

1902-1994” Erik Erikson – Erikson changed the way of thinking around the development of children. His theory was that child’s personality develops through the social influences throughout one’s life. His theory was that there are 8 stages in life that people encounter and through these stages, if resolved, one will continue to mature in their social development and one’s personality throughout life, not just through single events.

"Erikson's main contribution was to bridge the gap between the theories of psychoanalysis on the problems of human development, which emphasize private emotions, and the broader social influences that bear upon the individual. He was a strong proponent of the concept that social environment plays a major role in the development of personality. Going beyond the of a child's early life, Erikson concentrated on broader issues of peer culture, school environment, and cultural values and ideals. This led him to study the period of adolescence, in which he documented the interaction of a person's inner feelings and impulses with the world that surrounds the person."

According to Meaghan Ramsey in her TED talk “Why thinking you’re ugly is bad for you” she states that “About six out of ten girls are now choosing not to (do the activities that they like) because they don’t think they look good enough”. If girls are choosing to give up on what they are good at because of their appearance, they might think their whole life they are not good enough for any of their favorite activities, or even what they always dreamed being in the future when they were younger. She next claims that “Thirty-one percent, nearly one in three teenagers are withdrawing from classroom debate. They’re failing to engage in classroom debate because they don’t want to draw attention to the way they look.” Teens are now being afraid of participating in class because of what they think that other people judge them. Students shouldn’t be failing a class because of how they look, or what other people think about them. Students should be proud to know the answer to a question and be able to raise their hand without being afraid. This shows how self-esteem affects your way to success.