Trust, Identity, and Ego Integrity: Modeling Erikson’s Core Stages Over 34 Years

Sneed, Joel R.; Whitbourne, Susan Krauss; Culang, Michelle E.

doi:10.1007/s10804-007-9026-3

Cited by 34 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Also, it is possible that the characteristics associated with Integrity resolution are developed before the ages studied. Both Hannah et al (1996) and Sneed et al (2006) found evidence that resolution of earlier psychosocial stages predicted resolution of later ones. Our participants, themselves, seemed to think that the accumulation of understanding was gradual, with a notable increase, especially in honesty, around age fifty.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between Integrity and Despair: Toward Construct Validation of Erikson’s Eighth Stage

et al. 2011

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A new measure of Erikson's final psychosocial stage, Integrity versus Despair, is presented and validated across two studies. In the first, 97 adults (68 women and 31 men) aged 65 and older responded to this measure: the SelfExamination Interview (SEI). Responses on the SEI were treated both categorically and dimensionally (continuous scores) with respect to four integrity statuses: Integrated, Nonexploring, Pseudointegrated, and Despairing. In Study One, categorical and dimensional Integrity statuses were examined in relation to five convergent measures: the Integrity subscale of the Modified Eriksonian Psychosocial Inventory, Openness to Experience, the Competence subscale of the California Personality Inventory, the Geriatric Depression Scale, and Perceived Health. As hypothesized, Integrated respondents were socially competent and resilient; Nonexploring persons conventional; Pseudointegrated respondents immature; and Despairing persons, demoralized. A subsample of participants took a semi-structured Adult Identity Status Interview. Integrated persons were most often Identity Achieved; Pseudointegrated and Nonexploring persons were most often Foreclosed. Study Two evaluated a new sample of 70 persons (51 women and 19 men) aged 70 and older. It generally confirmed the Integrity statuses developed in Study One, extending them to variables related to complexity and maturity of sociomoral reasoning and thinking style. As expected, the Integrated status was negatively related, and the Nonexploring status positively related, to intolerance for ambiguity. The highest levels of sociomoral reasoning occurred most in the Integrated status group, as did dialectical reasoning. In contrast, the Nonexploring and Despairing statuses had more formisticmechanistic reasoners. Pseudointegrated persons produced the highest number of invalid protocols. The importance of present findings and implications of these studies for future directions in integrity research are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Between Integrity and Despair: Toward Construct Validation of Erikson’s Eighth Stage

et al. 2011

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“…However, most cross-sectional studies did not find differences according to age (Hannah et al, 1996;Ryff & Heincke, 1983;Webster, 2003;see however, Domino & Affonso, 1990). The longitudinal Rochester study also did not find evidence of an increase with age (Sneed, Whitbourne & Culang, 2006;Whitbourne, Sneed, & Sayer, 2009). Hence, ego integrity and despair are more a matter of the resolution of previous dilemmas of human development than of chronological age.…”

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confidence: 87%

The Relation of Ego Integrity and Despair to Personality Traits and Mental Health

Westerhof

Bohlmeijer

McAdams

2015

GERONB

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Objectives: Existing studies in the Eriksonian tradition found that ego integrity and despair are important indicators of life-span development. The present study relates ego integrity and despair to contemporary theories of personality and mental health. Method: A cross-sectional study of Dutch adults aged between 50 and 95 years (N = 218) was carried out, using the Northwestern Ego Integrity Scale, the subscales for neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience of the NEO-FFI, the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale-Short Form. Results: Extraversion and openness to experience have an indirect relation to ego integrity that is mediated by well-being. Neuroticism was related to despair and explained the relationship of depressive symptoms to despair. Chronological age did not moderate these findings. Discussion: Ego integrity appears to be related to fluctuating states of mental health, whereas despair is more an expression of a general trait-like disposition of neuroticism. Implications for further research are discussed.Keywords: Depression-Despair-Ego integrity-Erikson-Mental health-Personality-Well-being Ego integrity and despair form one of the fascinating conceptual pairs that Erik Erikson coined in his theory of human development across the life span. In contrast to identity versus role confusion (Kroger, 2007) or generativity versus stagnation (McAdams, 2009), it has not been the subject of intensive empirical research. Existing studies have mainly been carried out in the Eriksonian tradition, relating ego integrity and despair to the resolution of earlier psychosocial crises, to the acceptance of the past and the finitude of life. The present study addresses ego integrity and despair from recent theories of personality and mental health to bring it closer to contemporary psychology. We use a cross-sectional study of Dutch adults in their second half of life (50-95 years) to assess hypotheses derived from this broader framework. We are especially interested how ego integrity and despair are related to more stable dispositional traits as well as to mental health as a more momentary and fluctuating state.Erikson (1950, 1982) distinguished eight phases in his model of life-span development, each of which is characterized by a particular psychosocial issue. The last phase of life is characterized by the duality of ego integrity versus despair. Erikson described ego integrity as "the acceptance of one's one and only life cycle as something that had to be" (1950, p. 268) and later as "a sense of coherence and wholeness" (1982, p. 65). At the same time, late life brings reasons for experiencing despair, such as aspects of the past, present, and future that are difficult to integrate into a meaningful whole. Late life is therefore characterized by both integrity and despair as alternating states that need to be balanced.

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“…The result was a model in which people might be classified as having explored without commitment (moratorium), committed without exploring (foreclosure), explored and committed (achieved), or neither committed nor explored (diffuse). Later work suggested that developmental progressions from diffusion toward achievement were evident in late adolescence and early adulthood (Kroger, 2003, in press;Sneed, Whitbourne, & Culang, 2006;Waterman, 1982;Whitbourne, Sneed, & Skultety, 2002), although development within a status model was less linear and stagelike than the conceptual framework might imply (see, e.g., Kroger, in press). Recent meta-analyses by Kroger (reviewed in Kroger, in press) suggest a lot of room for further development in adulthood, consistent with Erikson's broader theorizing.…”

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confidence: 99%

Identity: Commentary: Identity Development: Dialogue Between Normative and Pathological Developmental Approaches

Pasupathi¹

2014

Journal of Personality Disorders

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This commentary places the article by Feenstra and colleagues (in press) within the frameworks and findings of normative identity development research. Points of overlap between the way identity is conceptualized by Feenstra and colleagues and the way identity is conceptualized in normative work are outlined. In addition, areas where juxtaposing psychopathology and normative developmental findings could yield new insights for researchers working in both areas are briefly highlighted.

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Trust, Identity, and Ego Integrity: Modeling Erikson’s Core Stages Over 34 Years

Cited by 34 publications

References 22 publications

Between Integrity and Despair: Toward Construct Validation of Erikson’s Eighth Stage

Between Integrity and Despair: Toward Construct Validation of Erikson’s Eighth Stage

The Relation of Ego Integrity and Despair to Personality Traits and Mental Health

Identity: Commentary: Identity Development: Dialogue Between Normative and Pathological Developmental Approaches

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