Comparison Of Erikson And Sigmund Freud

As defined in the Psychology: Perspectives and Connections textbook, “psychology is the scientific study of thought and behavior” (Feist & Rosenberg, 2011). The two psychologists that have impacted society with their concepts and who are going to be explored in this paper are Erik Erikson and Sigmund Freud. They are two well-known psychologists that have both contributed to the field of psychology and, like most psychologists, have originated from different backgrounds. In this case, their early life and careers have laid the foundation for their path towards the contribution of their theories and concepts to science.

To begin with, Erik Erikson was a German-American psychologist and psychoanalyst who was born on June 15, 1902, in Frankfurt,

Other than Erikson’s identity crisis theory, he also contributed his developmental theory, which consisted of eight stages. This included Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt, Initiative vs. Guilt, Industry vs. Inferiority, Identity vs. Role Confusion, Intimacy vs. Isolation, Generativity vs. Stagnation, and Integrity vs. Despair. Erikson believed that in order to move onto the next stage, one must have to resolve the crisis of the one that they are in

He believed that most of our day-to-day experiences happen in the unconscious mind and we cannot see it in the conscious mind. According to Freud, our conscious mind only makes up a part of our personality. He also added a third level to our psyche which is known as the preconscious or subconscious mind. The preconscious or subconscious mind is part of the mind that even though we are not consciously aware, we are still able to retrieve information as well as memories (Jacobson, 2007). McLeod (2013) concludes that “Sigmund Freud emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind, and a primary assumption of the Freudian theory is that the unconscious mind governs behavior to a greater degree than people