Term
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Definition
| . In the phrase object rela- tions, the “object” is a person.Thus, these theories focus on one person’s relations to others. The core theme derives from Freud’s idea (Eagle, 1984) that the ego develops bonds to external objects to release id energies effectively. Object relations theories focus on these bonds but only for people as objects. In these theories, the point isn’t to satisfy the id. Instead, the bond is a basic ego function. It is personality’s main focus (Fairbairn, 1954). As in many other neoanalytic theories, the emphasis is on the ego, rather than the id |
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Term
| Symbiosis (Margaret Mahler) |
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Definition
| Margaret Mahler believed that newborns begin life in a state of psychological fusion with others.In her view,personality devel- opment is a process of breaking down this fusion, of becoming an individual who’s separate and distinct.The period when the infant is fused with its mother is called symbiosis. |
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Term
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Definition
| The period when the infant is fused with its mother is called symbiosis. Boundaries between mother and self haven’t arisen yet (e.g., the infant doesn’t distinguish its mother’s nipple from its own thumb). At around 6 months of age, the child starts to become aware of its separate existence. Mahler called this process separation–individuation. It involves gradual exploration away from mother. |
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Term
| separation–individuation (2) |
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Definition
| The child experiences a built-in conflict between two pressures during this time. The first is a wish to be taken care of by mother and united with her.The second is a fear of being overwhelmed in a merger with her and a desire to establish one’s own selfhood. Thus, the child strives for individuation and separation but also wants the earlier sense of union.This conflict is important in adult behavior, as well. |
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Term
| separation–individuation (3) |
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Definition
The mother’s behavior during this period is important to the child’s later adjust- ment. She should combine emotional availability with a gentle nudge toward inde- pendence. If the mother is too present in the child’s experience, the child won’t be able to establish a separate existence. If the mother pushes too much toward individu- ation, the child will experience a sense of rejection and loss called separation anxiety. Eventually (at about age 3), the child develops a stable mental representation of its mother. Now, mother will be with the child all the time symbolically. T
You may not be very persuaded by the idea that you relate to others as though they were your mother and father.v |
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Term
| Effectance motivation & competence motivation (Robert White explaining Freuds Ego) |
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Definition
| Robert White (1959, 1963) intro- duced two motivational concepts to discuss the ego. Effectance motivation is the motive to have an effect or an impact on your surroundings. White believed effectance is a basic motive. During early childhood, it’s the major outlet for the ego’s energies. This motive evolves into competence motivation, the motive to be effective in dealing with the environment. This motive underlies adaptive ego func- tioning. |
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Term
| Feelings of inferiority (Alfred Adler explaining Freuds Ego) |
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Definition
Alfred Adler (1927, 1929, 1931), another ego psychologist, also argued that people strive for greater compe- tence, but for different reasons. Adler proposed that whenever a person has feelings of inferiority (any sense of inadequacy), a compensatory process is activated and the person strives for superiority. Adler believed that inferiority feelings and superiority strivings continue to cycle with each other con- stantly. The result is that people keep working to get better, more proficient at what they do. Adler viewed the struggle for increased competence to be an important part of healthy ego functioning, calling it the “great upward drive.” He believed that healthy people continue to function this way through- out life
THus second aspect of adaptation is knowing when to restrain yourself and when to behave more freel |
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Term
| Ego control & Ego Resilience (ego psychologists Jeanne H. Block) |
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Definition
| he first aspect of adaptation ego control. This is the extent to which the person inhibits impulses. At one extreme are people who undercon- trol––who can’t delay gratification, who express their feelings and desires immediately. At the other end are people who overcontrol––who delay gratification endlessly, inhibit their actions and feelings, and insulate themselves from outside distractions. The other aspect of ego functioning is ego resiliency. This is flexibility. It’s the capacity to modify your usual level of ego control—in either direction—to adapt to a given situation. People low in ego resilience can’t break out of their usual way of relating to the world, even when it’s temporarily good to do so. People who are ego resilient are resourceful and adapt well to changing circumstances. |
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Term
| Self Object + Transference (Heinz Kohut) |
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Definition
Heinz Kohut. Because Kohut felt that relationships form the structure of the self, his theory is called self psychology (A. Goldberg, 1985). Despite this label, his theory focuses on experiences that others termed object relations. Kohut began with the idea that people have an essential narcissism: a pattern of self-centered needs that must be satisfied through others. He coined the term selfobject to refer to someone who helps satisfy your needs. In early childhood, selfobjects (parents) are experienced as extensions of the self.
Kohut thought the child acquires a self through interaction with parents. Parents engage in mirroring: giving support to the child and responding in an empathic, accepting way. Mirroring gratifies the child’s narcissistic needs, because it makes the child temporarily the center of the universe.The child’s sense of self is grandiose at first.The illusion of all importance must be sustained to some degree throughout development, to create a sense of self-importance to be carried into adulthood. It also must be tempered, though, so the child can deal with difficulties and frustrations later in life.
Later mirroring involves transference from parents to other selfobjects. This use of the term means that you transfer the orientation you’ve developed to your parents to other people, using it as a frame of reference for them (Andersen & Chen, 2002). In effect, other people become parent substitutes, and you expect them to mirror you as your parents did.This is like Mahler’s idea that the internal object rela- tion corresponding to a parent is used in forming later relationships. |
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Term
| attachment theorist was John Bowlby. |
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Definition
| John Bowlby. He pointed out that the cling- ing and following of the infant serve an important biological purpose:They keep the infant close to the mother.That, in turn, increases the infant’s chances of survival. A basic theme in attachment theory is that mothers (and others) who are respon- sive to the infant create a secure base for the child. Thus, temporary dependence on the caregiver fuels future exploration. |
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Term
| the strange situation (Mary Ainsworth) |
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Definition
the strange situation (Ainsworth et al., 1978). It comprises a series of events involving the infant’s mother and a stranger.
Secure attachment was shown by normal distress when the mother left and happy enthusiasm when she returned.Two main types of insecure attachment were revealed, as well.An ambivalent (or resistant) infant was clingy and became very upset when the mother left.The response to the mother’s return mixed approach with rejection and anger.The infant sought contact with the mother but then angrily resisted all efforts to be soothed. In the avoidant pattern, the infant stayed calm when the mother left and responded to her return by ignoring her. It was as though this infant expected to be abandoned and was retaliating in kind.
Interestingly enough, it’s not always the actions themselves that differ between groups but rather the timing. For example, mothers of secure and avoidant infants don’t differ in how much total time they spend holding their babies. Mothers of avoidant babies, however, are less likely to hold their babies when the babies signal they want to be held. |
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Term
| Attachment in relationships (secure, avoidant, ambivalent) |
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Definition
Secure adults described their most important love relationship as more happy, friendly, and trusting, compared with adults in the other two groups.Their relationships also had lasted longer. Avoidant adults were less likely than the others to report accept- ing their lovers’ imperfections. Ambivalents experienced love as an obsessive preoccu- pation, with a desire for reciprocation and union, extreme emotional highs and lows, and extremes of both attraction and jealousy. These people were also more likely than others to report that a relationship had been “love at first sight.”
Secure adults said, in effect, that love is real and when it comes, it stays. Avoidants were more cynical, saying love doesn’t last. Ambivalents showed their ambivalence:They said falling in love is easy and happens often, but they also agreed that love doesn’t last. |
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Term
| (anxiety and avoidance) Bowlby’s notion of working models |
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Definition
| Bartholomew and Horowitz (1991) started with Bowlby’s notion of working models, and focused on models of self and other.They argued for two dimensions: a positive-versus-negative model of the self (the self is lovable or not) and a positive-versus-negative model of others (others are trustworthy or not).The dimensions that result are termed anxiety and avoidance, respectively (Brennan, Clark, & Shaver, 1998). |
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Term
| Attachment in relationships (secure, avoidant, ambivalent) 2 |
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Definition
Pairings of avoidants with avoidants and of ambivalents with ambivalents are rare (Kirkpatrick & Davis, 1994).This fits with the idea that people with insecure attach- ment patterns steer away from partners who would treat them as they were treated in infancy. Avoidants avoid partners who will be emotionally inaccessible, and ambiva- lents avoid partners who will be inconsistent
Not unsurprisingly, secures are most desired as partners, and they tend to wind up with each other (Collins & Read, 1990). Relationships in which the man is avoidant and relationships in which the woman is ambivalent are unsatisfying to both partners. On the other hand, there’s evidence that avoidant men with ambivalent women tend to be stable pairings (Kirkpatrick & Davis, 1994), despite the dissatis- factions. Why? Avoidant men avoid conflict, which may help the relationship run smoothly; ambivalent women may work harder at holding things together |
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Term
| Attachment Patterns and the Five-Factor Model |
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Definition
| Avoidants are introverted, secures are extra- verted, and ambivalents are high in neuroticism. |
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Term
| Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development |
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Definition
| Erikson adopted Freud’s view that personality develops in a series of stages. However, whereas Freud’s is a theory of psychosexual development, Erikson’s is a theory of psychosocial development. It describes the impact of social phenomena across life. Another difference pertains to the age span involved. The stages that Freud described unfold in the first few years of life. In contrast, Erikson believed that person- ality evolves throughout life, from birth through maturity to death. He also believed no part of life is more important than any other. Erikson was thus one of the first to propose the idea of life-span development. |
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Term
| Erikson’s theory is ego identity |
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Definition
The central theme of Erikson’s theory is ego identity and its development (Erikson, 1968, 1974). Ego identity is the consciously experienced sense of self. It derives from transactions with social reality.A person’s ego identity changes constantly in response to events in the social world.To Erikson, forming and maintaining a strong sense of ego identity is critical.
A second major theme in Erikson’s theory concerns competence and personal adequacy. His stages focus on aspects of mastery. If a stage is managed well, the person emerges with a sense of competence. If not, the person has feelings of inadequacy. This theme in Erikson’s theory—that a desire for competence is a motivating force behind people’s actions |
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Term
| psychosocial crisis, or conflict (Erikson) |
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Definition
kson viewed development as a series of periods in which some issue is promi- nent. In his view, people experience a psychosocial crisis, or conflict, during each stage.The terms crisis and conflict are interchangeable here.They have a special mean- ing, though, that differs from the use of either word in everyday speech. Here, a crisis is a turning point: a period when the potential for growth is high but the person is also quite vulnerable. Each crisis is fairly long (none is shorter than about a year), and some are quite long (perhaps 30 years).
The point isn’t just to acquire the good quality. In fact, it’s important that the ego incorporate both sides of the conflict, at least a little. Having only the quality that seems good creates problems. For example, if you had only basic trust and absolutely no sense of basic mistrust, you’d be unable to deal effectively with a world that’s sometimes not trustworthy. |
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Term
| positive orientation to Eriksons 8 stages |
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Definition
Nonetheless, successful negotiation of a stage does imply that the balance is weighted more toward the positive value than the negative one. If this occurs, the person emerges from the crisis with a positive orientation toward future events con- cerning that conflict. Erikson used several terms to refer to this positive orientation: ego quality, ego strength, and virtue (Erikson, 1964; Stevens, 1983). Once estab- lished, these qualities remain part of your personality.
Erikson was very reluctant to specify age norms for stages. He believed that each person has a unique timetable.Thus, it’s hard to say when each stage will begin and end for a person. |
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Term
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Definition
Stage Psychosocial Crisis Basic Virtue Age
1. Trust vs. Mistrust Hope 0 - 1½
2. Autonomy vs. Shame Will 1½ - 3
3. Initiative vs. Guilt Purpose 3 - 5
4. Industry vs. Inferiority Competency 5 - 12
5. Identity vs. Role Confusion Fidelity 12 - 18
6. Intimacy vs. Isolation Love 18 - 40
7. Generativity vs. Stagnation Care 40 - 65
8. Ego Integrity vs. Despair Wisdom 65+ |
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Term
| 1.Trust vs. Mistrust (hope) (Erikson) |
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Definition
he conflict at this stage—the most fundamental crisis of life—is between a sense of basic trust versus basic mistrust. In this stage, the infant is totally dependent on others to meet its most basic needs. If the needs are met, the infant develops a sense of security and trust. This is reflected by the infant’s feeding easily, sleeping well, and eliminat- ing regularly. Caretakers can leave the infant alone for short periods without causing too much distress, because the infant has learned to trust that they’ll return. Mistrust is reflected by fitful sleep, fussiness in feeding, constipation, and greater distress when the infant is left alone.
A pre- dominance of trust over mistrust gives rise to the ego strength of hope. Hope is an enduring belief that wishes are attainable. It’s optimism about life. |
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Term
| 2. Autonomy vs. Shame (will) (Erikson) |
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Definition
The second stage is early childhood (the second and third years of life), as children focus on gaining control over their actions.The crisis of this stage concerns these efforts. It’s about creating a sense of autonomy in actions versus shame and doubt about being able to act independently.
Erikson agreed with Freud that toilet training is an important event, but for different reasons.To Erikson, acquiring control over bladder and bowels helps create feelings of autonomy (self-direction). Achieving control over these functions means you’re not at the mercy of your body’s impulses. But that’s just one way to gain these feelings. Feelings of autonomy and competence emerge when children interact effec- tively with others. If the efforts lead to failure, ridicule, or criticism—or if parents don’t let children act on their own—the result is shame and self-doubt. Managing this conflict leads to the ego quality of will: a determination to exercise free choice. |
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Term
| 3. Initiative vs. Guilt Purpose (Erikson) |
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Definition
Freud’s depiction as a metaphor for a more extensive power struggle between parents and child, who by now has become willful. Erikson focused on this power struggle. The conflict at this stage concerns initiative versus guilt. Children who take the initiative are seeking to impose their newly developed sense of will on their sur- roundings.They express and act on their curiosity as they explore and manipulate their world and ask about things going on around them.Acts and words can also be perilous, however. Action that’s too powerful can cause others pain (e.g., grabbing a toy you want can distress another child).Asking too many questions can become tire- some to adults. If taking the initiative leads to disapproval, feelings of guilt will result.
If this crisis is managed well, the child emerges with the ego quality of purpose: the courage to pursue valued goals without fear of punishment. |
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Term
| 4. Industry vs. Inferiority Competency 5 - 12 (Erikson) |
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Definition
The next stage corresponds to Freud’s latency period (from about 5 to 11). Erikson held that this period also has a conflict, which he called industry versus inferiority.The term industry reflects the fact that the child’s life remains focused on doing things that have an impact. But now the nature of those efforts acquires a different shade of meaning. It’s no longer enough to take the initiative and assert power. Now there’s pressure to do things that others judge to be good, in two senses. Industriousness isn’t just doing things; it’s doing things that others value. It’s also doing things in ways that others regard as appropriate and commendable. The crisis over this sense of industry begins about when the child enters elemen- tary school.
To emerge from this stage successfully, children must feel they are mastering their tasks in a fashion that’s acceptable to those around them.The danger at this stage is developing feelings of inferiority. Such feelings can arise when children are led by others to view their performance as inadequate or morally wrong. Managing the conflict between industry and inferiority results in the ego quality termed competence: the sense that one can do things that are valued by others. |
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Term
| 5. Identity vs. Role Confusion Fidelity 12 - 18 (Erikson) |
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Definition
Next comes adolescence, a period that begins with the physical changes of puberty and lasts until roughly age 20.This stage is a larger break with the past than any stage up to this point. Part of the sense of separation comes from the physical changes of puberty.
The crisis of this stage is identity versus role confusion. Identity reflects an integrated sense of self. It’s the answer to the question Who am I? The phrase role confusion reflects the fact that every self has many facets that sometimes seem incompatible.The greater the incompatibility, the harder it is to pull the facets together, and the more confused you are. Worse yet, you can even be in a position where no role seems to fit your identity. To emerge from adolescence with a strong sense of identity requires the person to evolve in two ways. First, you must consolidate the self-views from the previous stages, merging them in a way that’s sensible. Second, this integrated self-view must be integrated with the view of you that others hold.This reflects the fact that iden- tity is something you develop in a consensus with the people you relate to. Only by considering both views does a full sense of identity emerge. Thus, from Erikson’s perspective, identity derives from a blending of private and social self-conceptions.The result is a sense of personal continuity or inner congru- ence.
If the person fails to form a consolidated identity, the result is role confusion: an absence of direction in the sense of self.
The virtue associated with successful identity formation is fidel- ity. Fidelity means truthfulness |
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Term
| 6. Intimacy vs. Isolation Love 18 - 40 (Erikson) |
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Definition
The next stage in Erikson’s theory is young adulthood (through the mid-20s).The conflict here concerns the desire for intimacy versus isolation. Intimacy is a close, warm relationship with someone, with a sense of commitment to that person. Erikson saw intimacy as an issue in relationships of all kinds, nonsexual as well as sexual. True intimacy requires you to approach relationships in a caring and open way and to be willing to share the most personal aspects of yourself with others.You also must be open and receptive to others’ disclosures. Intimacy requires the moral strength to live up to a commitment even when it requires sacrifice. Erikson believed people are capable of intimacy only if they have a strong sense of identity.
The opposite pole is isolation: feeling apart from others and unable to make commitments to them.The ego quality associated with the ability to be intimate is love.This is a mutuality that subdues the conflicts of separate identities
Two aspects of it are distinguish- able from each other. Social isolation is a failure to be integrated into a society. In contrast, the failure to have intimacy in your life is termed emotional isolation—more simply, loneliness. |
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Term
| 7. Generativity vs. Stagnation Care 40 - 65 (Erikson) |
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Definition
Young adulthood is followed by adult- hood, the longest of the psychosocial stages, which typically lasts into the mid-60s.Generativity vs. Stagnation
The desire for generativity is the desire to create things in the world that will outlive you (Kotre, 1984)—children, for example. By creating a new life tied to yours, you symbolically ensure your continuation into the future. . It includes creating ideas or objects, teaching young people who aren’t your own children, and anything that influences the future in a positive way (see Table 2). Erikson believed that the desire for generativity reflects a shift in focus from a close relationship with one other person (intimacy) to a broader concern with society as a whole.
Adults who fail to develop this sense of generativity drift into stagnation.Stagnation is an inability or unwillingness to give of oneself to the future.These people are pre- occupied with their own concerns.They have a self-centered or self-indulgent quality that keeps them from deeper involvement in the world around them. Such an absence of generativity is related to poorer psychological well-being (Vandewater, Ostrove, & Stewart, 1997). If there’s a positive balance of generativity, the ego quality that emerges is care. Care is a widening concern for whatever you’ve generated in your life, be it children, something in your work, or something that has emerged from your involvement with other people. |
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Term
| 8. Ego Integrity vs. Despair Wisdom 65+ (Erikson) |
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Definition
| The final stage is maturity, or old age.This is the closing chapter of people’s lives. It’s a time when people look back and review the choices they made and reflect on their accomplishments (and failures) and on the turns their lives have taken.The crisis here is termed ego integrity versus despair. If you emerge from this review feeling that your life has had order and meaning, accepting the choices you made and the things you did, a sense of ego integrity emerges.This is a sense of satisfaction—a feeling that you wouldn’t change much about your life. The opposite pole is despair—the feeling that your life was wasted. It’s a sense of wishing you had done things differently but knowing it’s too late. Instead of accepting your life’s story as a valuable gift, there’s bitterness that things turned out as they did. As Erikson predicted, there’s evidence that people who have greater generativity at age 53 have greater ego integrity at age 62 (Torges, Stewart, & Duncan, 2008). Emerging from this life review with a sense of integrity creates the ego quality of wisdom.Wisdom involves meaning making and benevolence |
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Term
| Narrative (Identity as Life Story) (McAdams) |
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Definition
Dan McAdams. His work focuses partly on motivations that underlie personality and partly on the idea that people construct their identities as narratives, or life stories (McAdams, 1985, 1993, 2001). In his view, your story is not completed until the end of your life. It’s constantly being written. Indeed, it’s constantly under revision, just as your identity is constantly evolving. McAdams thus sees the broad crisis of identity as one that continues to occupy each person throughout life
McAdams and his colleagues have found that highly generative midlife adults often report life stories in which they had early advantages, became aware of the suffering of others, established a personal belief system that involved prosocial values, and com- mitted themselves to benefiting society. McAdams calls these commitment stories. Often, these commitment stories also contain redemption themes, in which a bad situation somehow is transformed into something good |
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Term
| Object Relations, Attachment, and the Focus of Assessment |
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Definition
The psychosocial approach places a greater emphasis than other approaches on assessing the person’s orientation to relationships.
Some measures assess a range of issues pertaining to relationships (Bell et al., 1986). Others focus specifically on the attachments you have to other people in close relationships.
Another facet of the psychosocial view on assessment reflects its emphasis on child- hood experiences as determinants of personality. Because of that, this view deals with child assessment more than others.Assessment of children tends to use play as a tool. It’s often said that children’s play reveals their preoccupations (e.g.,Axline, 1947, 1964; Erikson, 1963; Klein, 1935, 1955a, 1955b). Play lets them express their concerns in ways they can’t do in words |
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Term
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Definition
Psychosocial theories emphasize the idea that personality is intrinsically social and that the important issues of personality concern how people relate to others. Several psychosocial theories focus on early life.Mahler’s object relations theory proposes that infants are psychologically merged with their mothers and that they separate and indi- viduate during the first 3 years of life. How this takes place influences later adjustment. Kohut’s self psychology resembles object relations theory. He said humans have nar- cissistic needs that are satisfied by other people, represented as selfobjects. If the child receives enough mirroring (positive attention) from selfobjects (chiefly, the mother), his or her sense of self develops appropriately. If there’s too much mirroring, the child won’t be able to deal with frustrations. If there’s too little, the development of the self will be stunted.
Some of these ideas are echoed in the work of attachment theorists such as Bowlby and Ainsworth. Secure attachment provides a solid base for exploration.There are also patterns of insecure attachment (ambivalent and avoidant), which stem from inconsistent treatment, neglect, or rejection. |
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Term
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Definition
These theories approach therapy in ways similar to those of ego psychology, but there are additional variations.One of them is play therapy for children.Object relations and attachment theories also suggest that a relationship with a therapist is critical in permitting reintegration of the sense of self or establishing a sense of secure attachment.
Another important theory of the psychosocial group is Erikson’s theory of psy- chosocial development. Erikson postulated a series of crises from infancy to late adulthood, giving rise to ego strengths that influence one’s ego identity: the con- sciously experienced sense of self. Erikson assumed that each crisis becomes focal at one stage but that each is present in a less obvious form throughout life. |
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Term
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Definition
- Attachment An emotional connection to someone else.
- Competence motivation The need to be effective or successful in dealing with the environment.
- Effectance motivation The need to have an impact on the environment.
- Ego control The extent to which a person controls or inhibits impulses.
- Ego identity The overall sense of self that emerges from your transactions with social reality.
- Ego quality (ego strength or virtue) The quality that becomes part of your personality through successful management of a crisis.
- Ego resiliency The ability to flexibly modify your typi- cal level of ego control to adapt to new contexts.
- Epigenesis The idea (adopted from embryology) that an internal plan for future development is present at the beginning of life |
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Term
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Definition
- Feelings of inferiority The feeling that you are defi- cient in some way.
- Life-span development The idea that developmental processes continue throughout life.
- Mirroring The giving of positive attention and sup- portiveness to someone. Narcissism A sense of grandiose self-importance and entitlement.
- Narrative A story you compose for yourself about about life to create a coherent sense of identity.
- Object relations An individual’s symbolized relations to other persons (such as parents).
- Play therapy The use of play as a procedure for con- ducting therapy with children. |
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Term
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Definition
- Psychosocial crisis (or conflict) A turning point in a developmental period when some interpersonal issue is being dealt with and growth potential and vulnerability are both high.
- Self psychology Kohut’s theory that relationships create the structure of the self.
- Selfobject The mental representation of another person who functions to satisfy your needs.
- Separation–individuation The process of acquiring a distinct identity; separating from fusion with the mother.
- Strange situation A procedure used to assess the attachment pattern of the infant to the mother.
- Symbiosis A period in which an infant experiences fusion with the mother.
- Transference The viewing of other people through selfobject representations originally developed for parents. |
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