What Major Identity Conflict Do Humans Face As They Go Throughout Their Lives

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Erikson
What major identity conflict do humans face as they go throughout their lives? Psychologist Erick Erickson had a profound impact on the field of Psychology by studying this very issue. His early life was a strong contributing factor to his passion and area of focus as a psychologist. As he grew into adulthood his professional experiences also helped shape his work. His later years and the development of his family enabled Erikson to refine this passion and focus his research. All of the development throughout his life contributed to his theories of development and ultimately help to change the field of psychology forever.
Erikson’s early life can help one to understand his work. Born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1902 Erickson was raised …show more content…

His most influential finding was those focused-on identity and development. Erikson took a Neo-Freudian approach to psychology ("Erik Erikson"). This means he believed some of the fundamental ideas of Freudian theory while adapting the theory to better line up with his beliefs and research findings. At the center of Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development is the Epigenetic principle. This principle insisted that everyone goes through specific stages of development throughout their lives. Surrounding each stage was a different identity crisis that must be successfully resolved to ensure psychological equilibrium throughout their life. ("Mcleod, 2017"). Erikson’s eight stages can be compared to that of Sigmund Freud because both psychologists believed humans developed in stages that must be resolved throughout life, but Erikson’s beliefs mark the begging of a change in the field of psychology from two core beliefs held by Freud. Erikson’s theory is one of the first to mark a shirt away from the psychosexual theory of Freud by emphasizing the influence of social experiences throughout life and not just during childhood development. Freud also believe that development simply halts at the end of childhood and wherever one ends up at that time they will remain until the end of their life. However, Erikson found that development takes place consistently throughout one’s life ("Mcleod, 2017"). These two changes to Freudian theory that may seem obvious to modern psychologists were cutting edge during Erikson’s time. His beliefs and research continue to affect Psychology to this