PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE 2. AUTONOMY VS. SHAME AND DOUBT (18 mos.

to
2-3 y/o)
PSYCHOSOCIAL THEORY by Erik Erikson
• Children in this stage need to be allowed to
• German born psychoanalyst. 
explore and manipulate their environment in
• theory is focused on social and psychological order to develop a sense of independence.
development in the different life stages.
• If the parents or caretakers come down to
• EGO IDENTITY- how we interact with others is hard on the child for trying to explore their
what affects our sense of self. environment, they will instill in the child a
sense of shame and to doubt their abilities.
EPIGENETIC PRINCIPLE
• The aim has to be “self control without a loss
 personality develops in a predetermined of self-esteem” 
order through eight stages of psychosocial
development, from infancy to adulthood. • Success in this stage will lead to the virtue
of WILL, failure in this stage will lead to
• During each stage, the person experiences a COMPULSION.
psychosocial crisis which could have a
positive or negative outcome for personality 3. INITIATIVE VS. GUILT (3 to 5 y/o)
development.
• The child begins to assert control and power
CONFLICT over their environment by planning activities,
accomplishing tasks and facing challenges.
SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION FAILURE TO MASTER TASKS
• If initiative is dismissed or discouraged, either
SENSE OF COMPETENCE FEELINGS OF
through criticism or control, children develop
INADEQUACY
a sense of guilt.
HEALTHY PERSONALITY UNHEALTHY
• A healthy balance between initiative and guilt
PERSONALITY
is important.

• Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of

purpose, while failure results in a sense of
guilt.

4. INDUSTRY VS. INFERIORITY (5 y/o to 12 y/o)

• child’s peer group will gain greater

significance and will become a major source
of the child’s self-esteem.

• The child is coping with new learning and

social demands.
1. TRUST VS. MISTRUST (Birth to 1 y/o) • Too much industry and a child will develop
• The infant develops a sense of trust when what Erikson called “narrow virtuosity,”
interactions provide reliability, care, and • balance between competence and modesty is
affection. necessary.
• A lack of this will lead to mistrust, suspicion & • Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of
anxiety competence.
• Success in this stage will lead to the virtue 5. IDENTITY VS. ROLE CONFUSION (12 to 18 y/o)
of HOPE.
• According to Erikson, this is important to the
• Failing to acquire the virtue of hope will lead process of forming a strong identity and
to the development of fear and developing a sense of direction in life.
WITHDRAWAL.
 • What should happen at the end of this stage is • Success at this stages leads to feelings of
“a reintegrated sense of self, of what one wisdom, while failure results in regret,
wants to do or be, and of one’s appropriate bitterness, and despair. (Disdain)
sex role”.

• Those who are able to successfully forge a

PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF
healthy identity develop a sense of fidelity.
Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
• Those who do not complete this stage well
may be left feeling confused about their role Alfred Adler’s Individual Psychology
and place in life.
 3 Core Assumptions of the Psychodynamic
6. INTIMACY VS. ISOLATION (19 y/o to 40 y/o) Perspective
• During this period, the major conflict centers  Assumption 1: Primacy of the
on forming intimate, loving relationships with Unconscious
other people.
 Assumption 2: Critical Importance of
• Success leads to strong relationships, while Early Experiences
failure results in loneliness and isolation.
 Assumption 3: Psychic Causality
• Success in this stage will lead to the virtue
of love. Assumption 1: Primacy of the Unconscious

7. GENERATIVITY VS. STAGNATION (approx. 40 y/o to  contend that the majority of psychological
65 y/o) processes take place outside conscious
awareness.
• Generativity refers to "making your mark" on
the world through creating or nurturing things  the activities of the mind (or psyche) are
that will outlast an individual. presumed to be largely unconscious.

• People experience a need to create or nurture Assumption 2: Critical Importance of Early

things that will outlast them, often having Experiences
mentees or creating positive changes that will  posits that early childhood events play a role
benefit other people. in shaping personality
• Success leads to feelings of usefulness and  early experiences—including those occurring
accomplishment, while failure results in during the first weeks or months of life—set
shallow involvement in the world. in motion personality processes that affect us
• Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of years, even decades, later (Blatt & Levy, 2003;
care. McWilliams, 2009)

• By failing to find a way to contribute, we Assumption 3: Psychic Causality

become stagnant and feel unproductive  psychodynamic theory points that nothing in
(Rejectivity) mental life happens by chance—that there is
8. EGO INTEGRITY VS. DESPAIR (beyond 65 y/o) no such thing as a random thought, feeling,
motive, or behavior.
• reflecting on one's life and either moving into
feeling satisfied and happy with one's life or PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY
feeling a deep sense of regret. (Sigmund Freud)

• Erikson described ego integrity as “the Austrian neurologist and the founder of
acceptance of one’s one and only life cycle as psychoanalysis
something that had to be” (1950, p. 268) and LEVELS OF MENTAL LIFE
later as “a sense of coherence and wholeness”
(1982, p. 65). ◎ Freud saw mental functioning as operating on
three levels—
 1. unconscious,  Works with Pleasure Principle

2. preconscious, and  Satisfaction is the ultimate goal

3. conscious.  Its only resource is to form mental images of
what it wants, a process called wish
A. UNCONSCIOUS
fulfillment
◎ The unconscious includes drives and instincts
EGO (“me”)
that are beyond awareness but that motivate
most human behaviors.  Due to constant battle between an id
◎ DRIVE- mental representation of an inner demanding instant gratification and a
bodily source of excitement superego demanding constant restraint

◎ These drives can only become conscious in  Rational and reasonable

disguised or distorted forms such as:  Reality Principle:
◎ Dream Images SUPEREGO (“over-me”)
◎ Slips of the Tongue (Freudian Slip)  Right and wrong
◎ Neurotic Symptoms  Develops at age 5 or 6
B. PRECONSCIOUS
 Learned from others
◎ The preconscious contains images that are
 Moral Ideals and Conscience
not in awareness but that can become
conscious either quite easily or with some  Guides us toward socially acceptable
level of difficulty. behavior through the use of guilt and
anxiety
C. CONSCIOUS
PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
◎ Consciousness plays a relatively minor role in
Freudian theory. • Each stage represents the fixation on different
areas of the body.
◎ Conscious ideas stem from either the
perception of external stimuli (our perceptual • As a person grows physically certain areas of
conscious system) or from the unconscious their body become sources of potential
and preconscious after they have evaded frustration, pleasure or both. (EROGENOUS
censorship. ZONES)
STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY • FIXATION- a person’s libidinal energy may
remain fixed at an earlier stage of
Freud describes the personality in terms of three
development.
constructs:
STAGES OF PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT
the id, the ego, and the superego

◎ Freud emphasizes that the id, ego, and

superego are not separate compartments
within the mind.

◎ They blend together, like sections of a

telescope or colors in a painting.

ID (“it”)

 Raw, unorganized, inborn part of personality

 Primitive desires of hunger, sex, and

aggression
 ◎ Focused on school works, hobbies and
friendships
ORAL STAGE
GENITAL STAGE
◎ BIRTH TO 1 Y/O
◎ Puberty to Adulthood
◎ Erogenous zone: mouth
◎ Physical sexual changes reawaken repressed
◎ Satisfaction comes from putting all sorts of
needs.
things in the mouth.
◎ Restricted by social rules.
◎ Activities are sucking, biting, swallowing.
FOR FREUD:
FIXATIONS IN THE ORAL STAGE
◎ Past experiences are the main determinants
◎ ORAL AGGRESSIVE
of our present behavior.
◉ shouting, nagger, sarcastic,
◎ People have no choice in shaping their
◉ argumentative personality.

◎ ORAL RECEPTIVE ◎ The unconscious is the main source of

motivation of most human behaviors.
◉ overeating, gullible, smoking
INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY
ANAL STAGE (Alfred Adler)
◎ 1 Y/O to 3 Y/O Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and
◎ Erogenous zone: anus founder of the school of individual psychology.

◎ Derives great pleasure in bowel or bladder BRIEF BACKGROUND ON THE THEORY

control. • Adler did not agree on Freud’s view that all
FIXATIONS IN THE ANAL STAGE our present behaviors are determined by our
past experiences.
◎ ANAL-RETENTIVE
• Adler believed that people actively seek to
◉ Obsessive in cleanliness, stingy improve themselves.
◎ ANAL REPULSIVE • Personal values and the desire for social
◉ Messy, lack of commitment involvement should be a central idea in
psychoanalysis.
PHALLIC STAGE
INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY
◎ 3 Y/O to 6 Y/O
• 1. The one dynamic force behind people’s
◎ Erogenous zone: Genitals behavior is the striving for success or
superiority.
◎ Child becomes aware of anatomical sex
differences. • 2. People’s subjective perceptions  shape their
behavior and personality.
◎ Conflict comes from erotic attraction,
resentment, rivalry, jealousy and fear. • 3. Personality is unified and self-consistent.
◎ Oedipus complex while girls experience the • 4. The value of all human activity must be
Electra complex. seen from the viewpoint of social interest.
LATENCY STAGE • 5. The self-consistent personality structure
develops into a person’s style of life.
◎ 6 Y/O to Puberty
 6. Style of life is molded by people’s creative
◎ Latent means “hidden”
power.
INFERIORITY

We are all born with a sense of inferiority which

motivates us to improve ourselves and achieve our
SELF-IDEAL.

• SELF- IDEAL- is an expression of the fictional

goal of the personality, which is an image of
success.

• “persons are always striving to find a situation

in which they excel”.

 INFERIORITY COMPLEX

-excessive feelings of inferiority (overcompensation) STYLES OF LIFE

-unhealthy; produces feelings of helplessness and • the term Adler used to refer to the flavor of a
feelings of hopelessness person’s life. It includes a person’s goal, self-
concept, feelings for others, and attitude
CREATIVE POWER toward the world
• people’s ability to freely shape their behavior • Product of the interaction of the environment,
and create their own personality. heredity and creative power of a person
• By the time children reach 4 or 5 years of age, RULING TYPE
their creative power has developed to the
point that they can set their final goal. • aggressive, dominating.

• FINAL GOAL- to be big, complete, and strong. • people who don't have much social interest or
cultural perception.
SUPERIORITY COMPLEX/ STRIVING FOR SUPERIORITY
GETTING TYPE
•  socially nonproductive attempt to gain
personal superiority. • dependent people who take rather than give

• with little or no concern for others. PAMPERED STYLE OF LIFE (weak social interest)

• Some people create clever disguises for their They expect others to look after them, overprotect
personal striving and may consciously or them, and satisfy their needs. They are characterized
unconsciously hide their self-centeredness by extreme discouragement, indecisiveness,
behind the cloak of social concern. oversensitivity, impatience, and exaggerated emotion,
especially anxiety.
STRIVING FOR SUCCESS
AVOIDING TYPE
• psychologically healthy people who are
motivated by social interest and the success • people who try to escape life's problems and
of all humankind. take little part in socially constructive activity.

• capable of helping others without demanding NEGLECTED STYLE OF LIFE

or expecting a personal payoff, and are able to
• Children who feel unloved and unwanted are
see others not as opponents but as people
likely to burrow heavily from these feelings in
with whom they can cooperate for social
creating a neglected style of life.
benefit.
• No one feels totally neglected or completely
• SOCIAL INTEREST- “social feeling” or
unwanted.
“community feeling,”; it means a feeling of
oneness with all humanity.
SOCIALLY- USEFUL TYPE CARL RANSOM ROGERS (1902 – 1987)

 people with a great deal of social interest and  American Psychologist

activity  Person-Centered Approach to Psychotherapy

FAMILY CONSTELLATION BASIC PREMISE

• consisted of parents, children, and any  Rogers believed that humans are basically
extended family members. good.
 He argued that we have an innate drive to
• birth order in this constellation influences a
reach an optimal sense of ourselves &
person's lifestyle choices.
satisfaction with our lives.
• a child defines self in relation to other  A person who does this is what he calls a
children and how the self is different from or “Fully Functioning Person.”
the same as others in the family.
EMERGENCE OF SELF CONCEPT
• BIRTH ORDER- position among siblings in the
 How I see myself
family.
 As infants grow, they develop the need for
positive regard.
 Positive regard: Acceptance, love and
approval from others

UNCONDITIONAL POSITIVE REGARD

 Approval granted regardless of behavior.

 Eventually grant positive regard to ourselves.
 Child does not receive positive regard fails to
develop actualizing tendency fully.

CONDITIONS OF WORTH

 The emphasis is that love is given

PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE OF THE SELF conditionally.
 Resulted from having conditional positive
 HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE (CARL ROGERS) regard.
 LEARNING THEORIES (BF SKINNER)
OUR TWO SELVES

 REAL SELF
HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE  IDEAL SELF
 A perspective that emphasizes looking at the SELF-ACTUALIZATION
whole individual and stresses concepts such
as free will, self-efficacy, and self-  Real Self and Ideal Self must be in a state of
actualization. congruence.
 Rather than concentrating on dysfunction,
humanistic psychology strives to help people
fulfill their potential and maximize their well- BURRHUS FREDERICK SKINNER (1904 – 1990)
being.  American Psychologist
HUMANISM  Developed the “Skinner Box” or the Operant
Conditioning Chamber
 The fundamental belief of humanistic  Father of Operant Conditioning
psychology is that people are innately good.
 It focuses on helping people live well, achieve
personal growth, and make the world a better
place.
BEHAVIORIST PERSPECTIVE
  The behaviorist perspective is a theory of Positive Punishment – adding an undesirable stimulus
psychology that states that human behaviors to stop or decrease a behavior.
are learned, not innate.
Negative Reinforcement – taking away a pleasant
 The behaviorist approach asserts that
stimulus to decrease or stop a behavior.
personality traits are the result of a person's
environment and the cultural forces that
shape it. 

BASIC PREMISE

Behavior is learned from the environment.

When born our mind is 'tabula rasa' (a blank slate).

Psychology should be seen as a Science.

Behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable

behavior.

Behavior is the result of stimulus-response (S-R)

EXTINCTION

THORNDIKE’S LAW OF EFFECT (1898)  Extinction is a process in which reinforcement

that is provided for problem behavior is
 According to this principle, behavior that is discontinued in order to decrease or eliminate
followed by pleasant consequences is likely to the behavior.
be repeated, and behavior followed by
unpleasant consequences is less likely to be
repeated.
EXISTENTIAL PERSPECTIVE
OPERANT CONDITIONING
Studies how people come to terms with the basic
 Operant conditioning is a method of learning givens of human existence (Yalom, 1980)
that occurs through rewards and punishments
 Freedom and Responsibility
for behavior.
 Through operant conditioning, an individual  Death
makes an association between a particular
 Isolation
behavior and a consequence (Skinner, 1938).
 Meaninglessness
CATEGORIES OF REINFORCEMENT
VIKTOR FRANKL
(1905 – 1997)
Reinforcement Punishment
Positive Positive Extinction  psychiatrist and neurologist
Negative Negative
 Author of the book, “Man’s Search for
Meaning”.

 Founded the school of LOGOTHERAPY.

Positive Reinforcement – strengthens a behavior by
providing a consequence an individual finds
rewarding. FRANKL’s DISCOVERY
Negative Reinforcement – strengthens behavior Life in the concentration camp taught Frankl that our
because it stops or remove an unpleasant experience. main drive or motivation in life is:

• neither pleasure (Freud) nor power (Adler),

PUNISHMENT but meaning!
 • even in the most absurd, painful, and  Create Something
dispiriting of circumstances, life can be given a
 Develop relationships.
meaning, and so too can suffering.
 Find purpose in pain.
LOGOTHERAPY
 Understand that life is not fair.
• Aim is to carry out an existential analysis of
the person, and, in so doing, to help him  Freedom to find meaning.
uncover or discover meaning for his life.
 Focus on others.
• Frankl believed that humans are motivated by
something called a "will to meaning," which  Accept the worst.
equates to a desire to find meaning in life. ROLLO REECE MAY
METHODS OF FINDING MEANING: (1909 – 1994)

• by creating a work or doing a deed  A Pastor

• by experiencing something or encountering  American Psychologist

someone; and  Was diagnosed with Tuberculosis and spent
• by the attitude we take toward unavoidable 18 months in sanatorium
suffering"  Author of several books book:
BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF LOGOTHERAPY o The Meaning of Anxiety
1. BODY, MIND, AND SPIRIT o Love and Will
The human being is an entity that consists of a body o Power and Innocence
(soma), mind (psyche), and spirit (noos).
MAY’s EXISTENTIAL PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY
Frankl argued that we have a body and mind, but the
spirit is what we are, or our essence.  • Existence and freedom were the central
themes of Rollo May’s analyses
2. LIFE HAS MEANING IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES
• He considered that conflict is the very essence
This means that even when situations seem of life.
objectively terrible, there is a higher level of order
that involves meaning. POWERLESSNESS

3. HUMANS HAVE A WILL TO MEANING  The central problem we face, according to

May, is a feeling of powerlessness in the face
meaning is our primary motivation for living and of enormous problems
acting, and allows us to endure pain and suffering.
 This impotence leads to anxiety and
4. FREEDOM TO FIND MEANING repression, leading in turn to apathy, which a
Frankl argues that in all circumstances, individuals form of protection
have the freedom to access that will to find meaning. ANXIETY
5. MEANING OF THE MOMENT • He described the world we live in as an age of
decisions to be meaningful, individuals must respond anxiety.
to the demands of daily life in ways that match the • Refers to “apprehension cued off by a threat
values of society or their own conscience. to some value that the individual holds
essential to his or her existence as a person”.
6. INDIVIDUALS ARE UNIQUE

Frankl believed that every individual is unique and

irreplaceable.

APPLICATION OF LOGOTHERAPY PRINCIPLE TWO KINDS OF ANXIETY

Normal Anxiety • before consciousness of self is born;

• That “which is proportionate to the threat, • characteristic of an infant

does not involve repression, and can be
REBELLION
confronted constructively on the conscious
level” (May, 1967) • the rebellious person wants freedom, but
does not yet have a good understanding of
Neurotic Anxiety
the responsibility that goes with it.
• “a reaction which is disproportionate to the
ORDINARY
threat, involves repression and other forms of
intrapsychic conflict, and is managed by • the normal adult ego learned responsibility,
various kinds of blocking-off of activity and but finds it too demanding, so seeks refuge in
awareness” (May, 1967) conformity and traditional values.
LOSS OF VALUES CREATIVE
 The source of human dilemma lies in the loss • the authentic adult, the existential stage, self-
of the center of values in our society. actualizing and transcending simple
egocentrism
 Along with the loss of the dominant value of
individualism, we lost a sense of the worth
and dignity of the human being.

 The need today is to discover and affirm a

new set of values.

REDISCOVERING SELFHOOD

 May believed that consciousness of self is the

unique mark of the human person

 Self-consciousness must be done consciously

through choice and affirmation

 People need to rediscover their own feelings

and desires

 Moving through 4 stages of consciousness

Stage of
Stage of Ordinary
Rebellion Consciousness
of the Self

Stage of
Stage of Creative
Innocence Consciousness
of the Self
Stages of
Consciousness

INNOCENCE