Identity: Youth and Crisis

Chapter 5 attempts to clarify the meaning of the terms he uses, including by comparison to terms used by other psychologists. First he asks the meaning of the term “identity.” He recalls his usage in Chapter 2 of “ego identity” to mean personal identity in relation to significant others in the immediate community. Another psychoanalyst, Heinz Hartmann, instead advocates the term “self-representation,” where Freud referred to the work of the superego (one’s set of standards and values) and the “ego ideal” (a type of reality testing common to a group and its ideals).

Erikson’s concept of ego identity, by comparison, integrates self-images developed over stages of childhood in light of an ideological climate. It differs from Freud’s ego ideal because the latter’s goals are not attainable. Erikson uses the term “self-identity” when the ego’s task is to integrate a person’s self-images and role images.

Erikson next examines the extremes of identity confusion. He sees in particularly disturbed patients what he calls a “rock-bottom attitude” (212), that is, a surrender to earlier stages of development. Patients in this state often mock therapy and embrace failure. The patient may resort to behaviors such as promiscuity, excessive drinking, or binging on music or reading.