Personifying Erikson's Theory Essay

Michael Jackson once said, “the greatest education in the world is watching the masters at work”. And that saying could be the same for Michael Jackson The King of Pop. And he was right. One of the best ways to learn was watching the master at work, as Michael Jackson had one of the largest impacts in the entertainment industry. Without the influence of Michael Jackson, the R&B and Hip-Hop industry would not have had the artists or music that it has today. He was known as one of the best entertainers of all time, Michael Jackson was the most decorated pop artist. He was a developer in the music industry, thanks to his ground-breaking music, choreography, and music videos. Michael Jackson transformed what it means and takes to be a pop

Erikson’s theory would suggest that Betty’s behavior is externally motivated, being driven by external forces as a child by her parents, and as an adult her husband and her kids. This behavior is motivated by the fact that her parents were unsupportive and condescending and were constantly comparing her to her older brother, who was much more successful in academia. This ultimately led to her dependent lifestyle which needs external forces to drive her behavior. The system of personality primarily involved in the formation of personality is the ego, with a focus on her ego-identity. The ego-identity is how an individual determines who they are and they desire to be. Since Betty is reliant on outside factors to motivate her, in terms of her ego-identity, her ego is impaired.

Psychological development is essential in shaping the personalities, behaviors, and morals of human’s. Many factors influence the development of an individual’s psychological makeup; including heredity and environment. Michael Jackson is quite possibly the most famous person to live during the 21st Century. Born August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana to struggling middle-class parents, Michael learned all too quickly the reality and price of being famous. Although the world adored him from the moment he was a small child as a member of the Jackson Five and throughout the rest of his life, it was difficult to ignore the obvious changes to his physical

In Mark Edmundson’s article Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here, published in the Oxford American on August 22, 2011, he talks about his college experience and what others need to do in college to be successful. Getting an education is hard because there are too many distractions, but find something you enjoy doing or else you’ll be bored and work hard to become that. There are a lot of paths to choose from in life and going to college is one of the best to choose. Edmundson must also agree with this since he is pushing kids to try harder in school. However, Edmundson points out some very key points as to what students need to do.

Eric Erikson was one of the most famous theorists of the twentieth century; he created many theories. One of the most talked about theories is his theory of psychosocial development. This is a theory that describes stages in which an individual should pass as they are going through life. His theory includes nine stages all together. The original theory only included eight stages but Erikson‘s wife found a ninth stage and published it after his death. The nine stages include: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. identity confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, integrity vs. despair, and hope and faith vs. despair (Crandell and Crandell,

He was about to enter the long duration of his “Wacko Jacko” phase in which he would spend most of his time in the company of children at his multi-million dollar Neverland mansion. Michael would lose himself in his own created fantasy world. When he did reappear in the public eye it was to promote one of his records or to film a television commercial for Pepsi Cola. His image would slowly change from the young heartthrob Jackson we came to know and love to the mysterious secluded world- renowned superstar that we often questioned. Not only did his public perception and image change but with all of that his appearance took a drastic change again. His nose was thinner than before, his eyelids were tattooed and the most dramatic change was his skin color (Johnson, 45). Michael has always insisted that the changes in his skin color are the result of a rare dermatological disease and not that of a cosmetic surgery. That could be true, but what cannot be denied is that long ago, his face became his own canvas on which to create an idealized self-image. He was creating an image of self-perfection (Saunders, 4). In time he began to look like no one else in the world. African American’s argued that as his fame grew he became more detached from his African American roots and adopted the image and appearance of the white male. This could be blamed on the media and the perception that an African American male could not achieve the level of

The late Michael Joseph Jackson was a 20th-century African-American singer and songwriter who transformed the face of pop music and popular culture throughout his lifetime (Michael Joseph Jackson ). Debuted in the professional music world in 1968 at the age of 10 as a member of The Jackson 5, Jackson’s rise to fame had been largely influenced by his invaluable contributions to the music, dance and fashion industries (Michael Joseph Jackson). Hailed as the ‘King of Pop’, his solo album “Thriller” remains “the best-selling album of all time”,

A wide variety of theories and methods attempt to explain early childhood learning and development. Erickson and Maslow both have theories that focus on social and personality development, as well as a person’s motivation to learn throughout their lives. Their theories are helpful in understanding Jeannette Walls’ development of self. Erickson and Maslow also help clarify why her mother, father, and living in New York City were such influential factors in the development of Jeanette’s sense of self.

Erikson’s stage that I am choosing to explore is the sixth stage, known as intimacy vs isolation. This is the stage when young people learn to make personal commitment to another spouse, parent, or partner. Throughout this stage, one also tends to seek love. One starts to wonder whether he or she will be loved or will he or she be alone. Ideally, this relates to my own personal life because recently, I tried to pursue a relationship with someone who did not have interest me. These feelings developed based off my interpretation of love. When I venture out to find love, I look for someone who offers me happiness. As a result of my own beliefs, I thought this person liked me back. Little did I know, I was totally wrong. This accusation resulted in me creating

Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget are quite similar in their theories. Jean Piaget’s cognitive theory is only slightly different than Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory. Both theorists use the idea of developmental stages. Although the stages vary in what they entail, the carry the same idea of progressive development. Jean Piaget was born September 16, 1980, in Switzerland. His research found “that the growth of knowledge is a progressive construction of logically embedded structures superseding one another by a process of inclusion of lower less powerful logical means into higher and more powerful ones up to adulthood. Therefore, children 's logic and modes of thinking are initially entirely different from those of adults” (Smith, 2000). On the other hand, there’s the theory of Erikson, born in Germany in 1902. His theory saying, “Developmental progression — from trust to autonomy, initiative, industry, identity, intimacy, generativity, and integrity — was conceived as the sequential reorganization of ego and character structures. Each phase was the potential root of later health and pathology. By focusing on the social as well as the psychological, Erikson’s stages represented a quantum leap in Freudian thought, which had emphasized the psychosexual nature of development” (EI, 2013). Both theories are equally interesting. Although only slightly different, they both advocate for the nurture side of nature versus nurture debate.

Human development is comprised of the changes that occur in a physical, cognitive, social and emotional sense that lasts throughout a person’s life (Editorial Board, 2014). Human emotional and social development was especially important to Erik Erikson, a world renowned theorist, who developed the Psychosocial Stages of Development. Although Erikson was immensely influenced by Freud, due to his training in psychoanalysis with Sigmund Freud’s daughter Anna, Erikson did not share the same psychosexual beliefs as Freudians do (McLeod, 2013). Erikson’s stages were psychosocial based off of his belief that a person’s development is effected by their environment

"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."

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.

One of the most intriguing aspects of psychology is child development, it greatly impacts the rest of our lives and ultimate helps determine who we become as an adult. From a psychoanalytical perspective there are two great theorists, Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson.

For my life journey I have chose to use Eric Erikson’s theory I have decided to use his theory because to me his theory suited my life appropriately. Eric Erikson is a well known theorist from the twentieth century, he has produced many theories. One of his most known and recognized theory is the psychosocial development. This theory describes the steps a person goes through in life. There are nine stages in his theory. Originally his theory only eight steps, but his wife found the last step after his death and published it. The nine stages are: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy and soliditary vs. isolation, generativity vs. self absorption and stagnation, and integrity vs. despair. Although, I have not gone through all of these steps yet due to my age I am only twenty two. I will speak about the steps I have gone through so far.