Freud Vs Erikson Research Paper

Erik Erikson believed behavior as more related to feelings than mind. He stated that “feelings are the major focus of people who follow the psychoanalytical theory of development"(Erikson 1902-1994). Erik Erikson was a student to Sigmund Freud, and the concerned were with what 's hidden deep in the psyche and in the inner recesses of the heart. Erikson though he focused on feelings in psychoanalytic tradition also believed in the effect of culture on development.

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 was a psychologist who was greatly influenced by Freud. Although influenced by Freud there are some differences in there developmental stages. Erikson believed that development in an individual was molded by society, culture, and environment. While Freud’s belief was that development is in some way is influenced by the fixation of sexual interest of different areas of the body. The stages in Erikson’s development theory outline how important social experiences can shape us. While Freud’s theory is mainly based on ones sexuality. Additionally the other significant difference between Erikson’s and Freud’s theories is the outcome of a particular stage. Erikson believed that the outcome of a certain stage was not permanent and that it could be changed later on in life. While Freud presumed that if an individual became fixated on a stage problems associated with that stage would be carried on through life.

In 1905 Sigmund Freud theorized that childhood development happens in stages, which are called “Psychosexual Development Stages.” In 1950 Erik Erikson developed “Psychosocial Stages,” which are greatly influenced by Freud’s theories. Freud’s theory centers on psychosexual energy or the libido. Erickson’s theory centers on issues and tasks being met at specific ages. Even though we are sexual beings, our developmental stages do not focus entirely on sexual pleasures. Both theories do show that personality develops in stages. Although, Erickson’s theory is the better theory.

There is another similarity seen at another period in each theorist’s stages of development. Freud’s last stage is called the Genital Stage and takes place from puberty onward. This stage is described as “a time of sexual reawakening” and the young adult looks outside the family in search of sexual pleasure. After some time the person will be able to become an independent adult and will involve themselves in a mature, loving relationship. Freud has a stage similar to Freud’s genital stage, although he believed this developmental part of a person’s life occurred later than at the onset of puberty. He called this stage Intimacy versus Isolation and believed it happened during early adulthood when a person is in their twenties or thirties. Similar to Freud, Erikson saw this stage as a time when a person will start attempting to form intimate relationships with others. Unlike Freud however, Erikson did not believe the person’s motivation would necessarily be

Erikson’s main contribution to psychology was his developmental theory. He developed eight psychosocial stages of development and believed that each stage presents

Sigmund Freud's psychosexual theory and Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory are two important psychoanalytic theories on human development

Developmental psychology is an area of research dedicated to the understanding of child-development. Throughout history many theories have been used to attempt to explain the complex process. Two of those theorists, Freud and Erikson, were instrumental in creating a foundation for child-psychology to build on. From a Freudian perspective, human development is centered on psychosexual theory. Psychosexual theory indicates that maturation of the sex drives underlies stages of personality development. Alternatively, Erikson is considered a neo-freudian scholar who developed psychosocial theory. In Erikson models there are eight major conflicts that occur during the course of an individual’s life.

The frameworks of Freud’s Psychosexual Stages are broken down by age and consist of five stages. Along with the Psychosexual Stages, Freud developed a theory outlining personality development consisting of three components. Freud’s believed that a child experiences these Psychosexual Stages and if each stage is not completed a child will struggle with the stages that follow. Freud felt that human beings either have a mental disorder or was mentally healthy/normal. I have chosen Freud’s theories and viewpoints to be most interesting because I have a difficult time agreeing and find challenge in his works, that a child’s developmental psychology can be so black and white. Erikson’s framework of Psychosocial Stages differs from Freud’s because he

Erikson, however, claimed that behavior is motivated by desire for social interactions and that human development continues through the entire lifespan (Santrock, 2012, p.22). Erikson’s ideas take on a lighter, more positive tone because people do far more despicable things to fulfill their sexual desires than they do to fulfill their social ones; also, according to Erikson, people always have room to develop and improve themselves whereas Freud seems to think that people are stuck being the way they are once they hit adulthood. Freud split his stages of development into psychosexual focuses, oral, anal, phallic, et cetera, to represent the changes in sexual fixations that supposedly occur during development. Erikson had similarly split stages as far as (early) age ranges are concerned, but his stages focused more on turning points and forks in the road of life that people face as they go through life. Hoare (2005) adds, “For each stage of life, Erikson thus posed strengths that hold

Erik Erikson is known for his psychoanalytic theory of psychosocial development comprising eight stages from infancy to adulthood. Psychologist Erik Erikson, is a major contributor to developmental psychology, who proposed a comprehensive theory of the ways that individuals develop their identity, a sense of who they are, and society's influence on that development. Erikson stated that people go through crisis at each stage of their lives. The stages each had a developmental task to be mastered. As an individual resolved these various crises an individual would have a better harmony with their social environment that they live in. If an individual could not successfully resolve a crisis, they would be” out of step”, and the individual would have a greater difficulty in their dealing with a crisis in the future. Erikson did however recognize that an individual can develop through a stage negatively and still go on with their life. Erikson stated that each of the psychological stages have a basic conflict and important event leading to growth. The theory was developed from his hundreds of clinical observations in children.

Freud´s psychosexual theory underlines the importance of basic needs and biological forces. Erikson´s psychosocial theory is based upon social and environmental factors. Erikson also expands his theory into adulthood while Freud´s ends at an earlier period.

Erikson's theory followed Freud's and was based on many of Freud's ideas. Because of this, the