Sigmund Freud and Erik Eriksons Psychoanalytical Theories

This research paper will compare and contrast two of the most influencial psychologists who helped shape the way we understand the development of the human mind; Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson. The paper will focus on the similarities and differences etween Freuds Psycho!se"ual theory# and Eriksons psychosocial theory. Freud was one of the very first influencial psychologists who changed the way we study humans. Erikson recogni$ed Freuds contri utions# and although he felt Freud mis%udged some important dimensions of human development# he was still influenced y Freud# which caused some similarities in their theories. &hen it comes to Erikson and Freud# it would seem that esides eing psychologists# neither one shared any real similarities in their lives or in the theories. Taking a more in depth look you can egin to notice the striking similarities etween their two theories and stages of development. Even though Erikson had eight stages compared to Freuds five# you can see that Erikson's first five stages hold some similarities to Freuds five stages. The first similarity that can e seen is that each stage in oth psychologists theories takes place around appro"imately the same age. First stage takes place from irth to a out one year. Second stage is a out one year to age three. Third stage is age three until appro"imately five or si". Fourth stage is from age si" until the onset of pu erty. (nd the rest of the stages take place from pu erty onward. (fter pu erty is the last of Freud stages while Eriksons continue on to three more stages. The ne"t similarity etween the two theorists can e seen in the fact that oth agree ad e"periences in early childhood can create negative effects which can cause unhealthy adulthood and improper progress through the later stages. Freud called this a fi"ation and says it happens when a child )remains locked in an earlier developmental stage*. ( good e"ample of this can occur when the child is one and a half to three years old during the anal stage. &hile toilet training# if the parents are too strict or punish the child this can have negative effects. +ater on in life the child could grow up to e somewhat o sessive compulsive and could literally take on an anal personality. This same idea is reflected in Eriksons second stage, (utonomy versus shame and dou t# which occurs around the same age as Freuds anal stage -1!. years old/. Erikson elieved that during this age children egin reali$ing that they have a will and they egin to understand that their actions are their own. 0hildren will egin to accept and proclaim their own independence. 1owever# %ust like Freud# Erikson elieved that if parents are too strict with their children# or punished them too harshly this could result with the child having unhealthy feelings of shame and dou t. There is another similarity seen at another period in each theorists stages of development. Freuds last stage is called the 2enital Stage and takes place from pu erty onward. This stage is descri ed as )a time of se"ual reawakening* and the young adult looks outside the family in search of se"ual pleasure. (fter some time the person will e a le to ecome an independent adult and will involve themselves in a mature# loving relationship. Erikson has a stage similar to Freuds genital stage# although he elieved this developmental part of a persons life occurred later than at the onset of pu erty. 1e called this stage 3ntimacy versus 3solation and elieved 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. 4nlike Freud however# Erikson did not elieve the persons motivation would necessarily e physically or se"ually driven. (lthough an intimate relationship is strongly

Sigmund Freud and Erik Eriksons Psychoanalytical Theories

desired# the person will also look to form healthy friendships. 3f the young adult creates these friendships and find a loving intimate relationship# than they have reached intimacy. 3f the young adult does not succeed in their desires# then this will cause feelings of isolation. (lthough there were similarities etween Freuds and Eriksons theories# there are also many important differences. 6ne of the most important differences etween Freuds psycho!se"ual theory and Eriksons psychosocial theory is that Freuds theory focuses highly on se" and pleasure areas of the ody called erogenous $ones. Freuds theory consists of five different pleasure stages of life. 3t egins with the oral stage etween irths to eighteen months. 3n this stage the pleasure centers on the mouth. The ne"t stage in Freuds theory is the anal stage which occurs etween ages eighteen months to three years old# in this stage pleasure centres around the anus. The ne"t stage is the phallic stage# occurs etween ages three to si"# and pleasure focuses on the genitals of the child. The ne"t stage is the +atent stage# which occurs etween ages si" to ten. 7uring this stage all interest in se" is repressed and child egins to develop social and intellectual skills. The final stage in Freuds theory is the genital stage which occurs during pu erty. 7uring this time the individual has a se"ual reawakening# and the main source of se"ual pleasure comes from outside the family. Eriksons psychosocial theory differentiates from this ecause his main focus is on social interactions of the individual which have an affect on their development. Erikson elieved that there are eight very important stages of development that the individual goes through in life. These stages all focus highly on important social interactions# each stage the individual is faced with a new social demand they must overcome. Such as stage one# trust vs. mistrust. This stage occurs during the first year and it is when the a y will e"perience love and care from their parents which is how they learn to trust the care giver. (nother stage which focuses highly on sociali$ation is the fifth stage which is 3dentity vs. 3dentity 0onfusion. This occurs during adolescence and it is when the individual egins e"ploring new social roles to help figure out who they are. (nother important difference etween the two theories is the different num er of stages and how each elieves development ends at different ages. Freuds theory is only five stages# and he feels that all important events that help shape the development of the individual will all e e"perienced earlier in life. The final stage )2enital Stage* occurs at the eginning of pu erty# and ends when the individual is finished e"periencing pu erty. Erik Erikson elieved otherwise. 1e felt that development occurs through out the life# from irth to late adulthood. 3t egins with the first stage Trust vs. 8istrust# which helps the a y develop trust to its care giver. The final stage is 3ntegrity vs. 7espair which occurs during late adulthood which is when the individual egins to evaluate how they lived their life. Through their theories# works and lives we can see many differences and similarities etween these two influential theorists. From Freuds five psycho!se"ual stages to Eriksons eight psychosocial stages# it is easy to see that these two psychologists have created a stepping stone for all psychologists and people to study and look ack on as we develop in our own lives today.