Erick Fromm

ERICK FROMM (1900-1980)

                Erick Fromm was born on March 23, 1990 in Frankfurt Germany and died on March 18, 1980 in Switzerland at the age of 80.

                Today, Erick Fromm is widely regarded as one of the most important psychoanalysts of the 20^th century. He later became part of the group known as neo-Freudians which included Karen Horney and Carl Jung. He was critical of many of Freud’s ideas including the Oedipus complex, the life and death instincts and the libido theory. Erick believed that the society and culture also played a significant role in individual human development.

                Fromm believed that human beings are not generally aggressive. Destructiveness and cruelty cannot be explained in terms of heredity. The desire to destroy emerges only when life forces are frustrated. Destructiveness aggression is a propensity of character rather than an innate learned behavior.

                The major theme of Fromm’s work is the concept of loneliness. To be human is to be isolated. Loneliness represents the basic condition of human existence that separated humans from animals. He called this condition dichotomies, a two-horned problem that has no solution because none of the alternatives is entirely satisfactory. Related with this are his two popular books: Escape from Freedom and The Art  of Loving.

                Fromm also had a major influence on humanistic psychology. Life, Fromm believed, was a contradiction, since humans are both part of nature and separate from it. From this conflict arises basic existential needs including relatedness, transcendence,  rootedness, sense of identity and frame of reference.

                Relatedness refers to being in contact with people and physical nature. This is shown through our relationship with others. It emerged from our need for love, care and affection.

                Transcendence means to rise above animal existence by becoming active creators. In a simpler definition, an individual evolves into something bigger that his initial state. Best example for this is “rags to riches” scenario.

                Rootedness is to have a sense of belonging. One of the appropriate example for this naming a specific property or establishments after the owner’s name. It signifies that you own something.

                Having a sense of identity is to know what one is, a sense of “I” as distinct from others. In this way, individuals are motivated to achieve something in their lives. It can also be removing your own identity by adapting another behavior.

                Lastly, frame of reference which is to have a stable basis of perceiving the world.

                He also established five character types: the receptive type, the exploitative type, the hoarding type, the marketing type and the productive type.

                The receptive type stems from  an orientation wherein the person believes that the source of all things is outside him/herself. This trait shows passivity, lack of character, submissiveness and cowardliness. It is being open to all circumstances that might happen.

                The exploitative type has a negative behavior pattern wherein the person believes that the source of all good things is outside him/herself but does not expect to receive it, so it must be taken forcibly. This is expressed through aggression, conceit and arrogance.

             The hoarding type has the tendency to hold on to what it has. This is expressed through stinginess, possessiveness and stubbornness.

                The marketing type treats oneself as a commodity, obeying the laws of supply and demand. Traits shown are lack of principle, aimlessness and opportunism.

                The productive type values him/herself and others for what they are and experiences security and inner peace. Traits included in this type are open-mindedness, loyalty and flexibility.

                In the actual life, no individual exclusively represents one character type or orientation. It is possible to have various character types. Fromm said that no one exhibits a pure orientation however, a person may manifest one dominant character that subordinates the others.

                Erick Fromm is also the proponent of the escape mechanism, automaton conformity, authoritarianism and destructiveness.

                Escape mechanism explains that nothing happens by accident, everyone has different options to take. Individuals may have alternative plans if something happens unexpectedly.

                With automaton conformity, people in a group tend to conform or follow the behavioral patterns shown by the majority though it is contrary to one’s belief. In this scenario, a particular person is compelled to adapt to the prevailing culture may it be good or bad. This is the result of our instinctive response.

                Authoritarianism from the word itself, shows authority held by a single ruler. That leader dictates what has to be done and decides on all occasions. Examples are the “alpha male and female”. Teaching also displays authoritarianism most of the time.

                Lastly is destructiveness. Every person tends to be destructive and lose order due to some instances being unexpected.

                As an implication, Erick Fromm emphasized the vital role of the society in structuring and shaping personality, in contrast to Freud who attributed the fixation of libido in certain body zones as the basis of future character types.

Erik Erikson

ERIK ERIKSON

                Erikson’s psychosocial theory is very powerful for self-awareness and improvement and for teaching and helping others. It emphasizes the sequential significance of the eight character-forming crisis stages, the concept also asserts that humans continue to change and develop throughout their lives and that the personality is not exclusively formed during early childhood years. This is a helpful and optimistic idea and many believe it is realistic too. It certainly a view that greatly assists encouraging oneself and others to see the future as an opportunity for positive change and development, instead of looking back with blame and regret.

            Before we discuss more theories propagated by Erik Erikson, let me provide a brief biography.  Erik Homburger Erikson was born on  June 15, 1902 in Frankfurt-am-Main Germany to Karla Abrahamsen . His natural father departed before  birth and his mother subsequently married to Dr. Theodor Homberger who is Erikson’s pediatrician.  He is a Dane by parentage and a German by upbringing, he is an American by choice. He spent several  years traveling, trying to “find himsel”, eventually returning home at the age of 25 to settle down and teach art.  Upon the invitation of a friend, Peter Blos, he went to Vienna to teach art, history and various other subjects. In Vienna,he became acquainted with Anna Freud and other prominent psychoanalysis who helped him obtain analytical training.

                He studied the Montessori system which influenced his interest in play therapy and child analysis. The growth of Fascism in Europe led Erikson and his family to leave for the United States. They settled in Boston where he became the city’s first psychoanalyst. He spent the latter part of his life writing books, teaching and researching. He works on in-depth psychological biographies and on child and adult development are essentially psychoanalytic in nature.

                Erikson extends the study of developing child beyond puberty, emphasizing that the ego continue to acquire new characteristics as it meets new situations in life. He selected the ego as the tool by which a person organizes outside information, tests perceptions, selects memories, governs action adaptively and integrates the capabilities of orientation and planning. This positive ego produces a sense of self in a state of heightened well-being. This state of well being is when what one thinks and does is close to what one wishes and feels he or she ought to be and do.

                He propagated the eight stages of the psycho-social development of personality. These are as follows:

1.       Trust vs.  Mistrust ( Birth – 1 year )

The infant will develop a healthy balance between trust and mistrust if fed and cared for and not over-indulged or over-protected. Abuse or neglect or cruelty will destroy trust and foster mistrust. Mistrust increases a person’s resistance to risk-exposure and exploration. If the infant is insulated from all and any feelings of surprise and normality or unfailingly indulged, this will create failure to appreciate reality. Infants who grow up with trust are more able to hope and have faith that things will be ok.

2.       Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt ( 2-3 years old )

Autonomy means self reliance. This is independence of thought and a basic confidence to think and act for oneself. Shame and doubt mean what they say and obviously inhibit self-expression and developing one’s own ideas, opinions and sense of self.

3.       Initiative vs Guilt (4-5 years old)

Initiative is the capability to devise actions or projects and a confidence and belief that it is ok to do so, even with a risk of failure or making mistakes. Guilt results from being admonished or believing that something is wrong or likely to attract disapproval. Initiative flourishes when adventure and game playing is encouraged, irrespective of how daft it seems to the grown up in charge. Suppressing adventure and experimentatio, or preventing young children doing things for themselves because of time, mess or a bit of risk will inhibit the development of confidence to initiate, replacing it instead with an unhelpful fear of being wrong. The fear of being admonished or accused of being stupid becomes a part of personality.

4.       Industry vs Inferiority ( 6-11 years old)

This stage is a systematic instruction, a movement from play to a sense of work. The child needs to do well and develops a sense of work completion and satisfaction in a job well done. Otherwise, the child develops a sense of inferiority and inequality.

5.       Identity vs Identity Confusion (12-20 years old)

The adolescent is likely to suffer from some confusion roles. Doubts about sexual attractiveness and sexual identity are common at this stage. The inability to develop a sense of identification with an individual or cultural role model that gives direction to one’s life can lead to a period of floundering and insecurity. There is also the possibility of over identification with youth-culture heroes or clique leaders leading to a loss of identity.

6.       Intimacy vs. Isolation (20-24 years old)

Without a sense of intimacy and commitment, one may become isolated and be unable to sustain an intimate relationship. If one’s sense of identity is weak and threatened by intimacy, the individual may turn away from or attack the possibility of a relationship.

7.       Generativity vs Stagnation(25-65 years old)

Generativity includes concern for our children and for the ideas and products that we have created. We are teaching as well as learning human beings. Creations are important to ensure the health and maintenance of ideals and principles. Otherwise, we fall into a state of boredom and stagnation.

8.       Ego Integrity vs Despair (65 years to death)

The sense  of ego integrity includes an awareness of the value of other lifestyles including those that are very different from one’s won. Those who have a sense of integrity are ready to defend the dignity of their lifestyles against criticisms and threats.

                Erikson strongly believed that personality development is sequential and consists of critical periods. Each of the eight stages of psychosocial development is characterized by a crisis which can be resolved positively or negatively. If a crisis is resolved positively, a virtue will be gained,  which will strengthen the ego and the person will live his or her later years with hope, purpose, competence, fidelity, love, care and wisdom. The turning point arises from physiological needs, maturation and social demands made upon the person at a particular stage of development.

CARL JUNG

CARL JUNG

                      Carl Jung is the proponent of analytical psychology that rests on the assumption that occult phenomena can and influences the lives of everyone. It provided  a substitute in the form of some general urge in place of sex.  This also explains that each of us is motivated not only by repressed experiences but also by certain emotionally toned experiences inherited from our ancestors. It also talks more about the collective unconscious which tells about inherited images that includes elements that we have never experienced individually but which have come down to us from our ancestors. The highly developed elements of the collective unconscious are the archetypes. Archetype is used for self-realization which can only be attained by achieving balance between various opposing forces of personality.

                    Before we dig deeper on the ideas propagated by Carl Jung, let’s have a look at his biography briefly. He was born on July 26, 1875 in Resswil, a  town in Lake Constance, Switzerland. His parents are Johann Paul Jung who is a sentimental idealist with strong doubts about his religious faith, and Emilie Preiswerk Jung who is a daughter of a theologian. When he was still young, he started to have two views on his mother: first is realistic, practical and warm hearted; the second is unstable, mystical, clairvoyant, archaic and ruthless. He has two siblings, the one preceded him only lived 3 days after being born and his youngest sibling is nine years younger than him. At the age of three, he was separated from his mother who had to be hospitalized. It troubled Jung,  as a result, he felt distrustful about love and still associated woman with unreliability and father  who is reliable but powerless.

                   During his adolescence years, he became aware of his 2 personalities. The no.1 personality he has was he repressed the world of intuitive premonitions; extraverted and in tune to the objective world while the no. 2 personality shows his reflection of something other than himself; an old man long since dead and he’s in touch with feelings and intuitions; introverted and directed inward.

                 Jung and Freud developed a strong, mutual respect and affection for each other but it has changed because of an incident that happened when Jung asked Freud to analyze his dream.

                   In 1944, he became a professor of medical psychology at the University of Basel but poor health forced him to resign from his position the following year. He died on June 6, 1961. At the time of his death,  Jung’s reputation was worldwide, extending beyond psychology to include philosophy, religion and popular culture.

                 Going back to analytical psychology, here are the terms and key concepts included:

v  The personal unconscious is formed by the repressed experiences of  one particular individual and is the reservoir of the complexes (unstated desire).

v  Humans inherit a collective unconscious that helps shape many of their attitudes, behaviours and dreams.

v  Archetypes are contents of the collective unconscious. Typical archetypes include persona, shadow, anima, animus, great mother, wise old man, hero and self

v  The persona represents the side of personality that people show to the rest of the world.

v  The anima is the feminine side of men and is responsible for many of their irrational moods and feelings.

v  The animus is the masculine side of women responsible for irrational thinking and irrational  opinions on women

v  The great mother is the archetype of fertility and destruction

v  The wise old man archetype is the intelligent but deceptive voice of accumulated experience.

v  The hero is the unconscious image of a person who conquers an evil foe but who also has a tragic flow

v  The self is the archetype of completeness, wholeness and perfection

v  Introversion – can be compared to being “lonesome”, and people with this characteristic like to work by themselves. It is also defined as turning inward of psychic energy with an orientation toward the subjective

v  Extraversion – an attitude distinguished by the turning outward of psychic energy so that a person is oriented toward the objective and away from the subjective. People with this attitude tend to be influenced more by their surroundings than by the inner world.

v  Symbols – the symbol is a central part of Jung’s thinking. It refers to a name, term or picture that is familiar in daily life yet has other connotations beside its obvious meaning. It is a key to discovering feelings or preferences of which we are unaware. Dream symbols bring messages from the unconscious to the rational mind.

              As a summary, Jung believed that a human being is inwardly whole but that most of us have lost touch with important parts of ourselves. Through listening to the messages of our dreams and waking imagination, we can contact and reintegrate our different parts. The goal of life is individuation, the process of coming to know, giving expression to and harmonizing the various components of the psyche. If we realize our uniqueness, we can undertake a process of individuation and tap into our true self. Each human being has a specific nature and calling which is uniquely his or her own  and unless these are fulfilled through a union of conscious and unconscious.