Ego integrity was the term given by Erik Erikson to the last of his eight stages of psychosocial development, and used by him to represent 'a post-narcissistic love of the human ego—as an experience which conveys some world order and spiritual sense, no matter how dearly paid for'.[1]
Integrity of the ego can also be used with respect to the development of a reliable sense of self, a reliable sense of other, and an understanding of how those constructs interact to form a person's experience of reality; as well as to the way 'the synthetic function of the ego, though it is of such extraordinary importance, is subject...to a whole number of disturbances'.[2]
Erikson wrote that 'for the fruit of these seven stages I know no better word than ego integrity...the ego's accrued assurance of its proclivity for order and meaning'.[1] Erikson considered that 'if vigor of mind combines with the gift of responsible renunciation, some old people can envisage human problems in their entirety...a living example of the "closure" of a style of life'.[3]
The opposite of ego integrity was despair, as 'signified by fear of death: the one and only life cycle is not accepted as the ultimate of life. Despair expresses the feeling that the time is now too short...to try out alternative roads to integrity'.[1]
'Erikson's hypothesis that maturity involves working through a conflict between integrity and despair over past accomplishments' has received some empirical support: on one measure, 'the resolution of past life stages was more predictive of ego integrity than were other personality variables'.[4]
Analogues
Gail Sheehy termed the later stage of 'Second Adulthood...Age of Integrity (65-85+)'.[5]
The ninth of Loevinger's stages of ego development was the ' Integrated Stage...and ego integrity versus despair are probably Erikson's version of the Integrated Stage'.[6]
Integrity of the ego
In his structural theory, Sigmund Freud described the ego as the mediator between the id and super-ego and the external world. The task of the ego is to find a balance between primitive drives, morals, and reality, while simultaneously satisfying the id and superego. Freudians saw the ego as forming from separate "nuclei": 'A final ego is formed by synthetic integration of these nuclei, and in certain states of ego regression a split of the ego into its original nuclei becomes observable'.[7]
The main concern of the ego is with safety, ideally only allowing the id's desires to be expressed when the consequences are marginal. Ego defenses are often employed by the ego when id behaviour conflicts with reality and either society's morals, norms, and taboos, or an individual's internalization of these morals, norms, and taboos. Freud noted however that in the face of conflicts with superego or id, it was always 'possible for the ego to avoid a rupture by submitting to encroachments on its own unity and even perhaps by effecting a cleavage or division of itself'.[8] In a late, unfinished paper he examined how sometimes 'the instinct is allowed to retain its satisfaction and proper respect is shown to reality...at the price of a rift in the ego which never heals but increases as time goes on...a splitting of the ego'.[2]Lacan would develop this line of thought, and maintain indeed that 'it is in the disintegration of the imaginary unity constituted by the ego that the subject finds the signifying material of his symptoms'.[9]
From another standpoint, Object relations theory has explored 'the encounter with the "other" that threatens the ego's integrity', as when the object in question is lacking in 'its expected function as "container" of excitations'.[10]
The word ego is taken directly from Greek where it is the nominative of the first person singular personal pronoun and is translated as "I myself" to express emphasis—it is a translation of Freud's German term "Das Ich", which in English would be "the I".
Cultural examples
'In Cicero's De Senectute...old age acquires a meaning identified with the achievement of total self-possession, ego-integrity, and wisdom...Erikson's own psychology, on its normative side, is finally only a restatement of Stoic ideals'.[11]
In his late haiku, 'we see Issa the old man—hundreds of years, thousands of years old, the Old Man of Edward Lear. That is our fate too. We have to die, to become nothing, in order to know the meaning of something'.[12]
^Thomas R. Cole/Sally Gadow, What Does It Mean to Grow Old? (1987) p. 19
^R. H. Blyth, A History of Haiku Vol I (Tokyo 1980) p. 403
Further reading
Edward Glover, "A Developmental Study of the Obsessional Neurosis" Int. Jo. of Psychoanalysis XVI 1935
Walaskay, M.; S. Whitbourne; M. Nehrke (1984). "Construction and validation of an ego integrity status interview". International Journal of Aging and Human Development. 18 (1): 61–72. doi:10.2190/RRAT-BL8J-J2U2-XRD3. PMID 6671831. S2CID 34023201.
Salman Akhtar, Comprehensive Dictionary of Psychoanalysis (2009)
January 30, 2023
integrity, term, given, erik, erikson, last, eight, stages, psychosocial, development, used, represent, post, narcissistic, love, human, experience, which, conveys, some, world, order, spiritual, sense, matter, dearly, paid, integrity, also, used, with, respec. Ego integrity was the term given by Erik Erikson to the last of his eight stages of psychosocial development and used by him to represent a post narcissistic love of the human ego as an experience which conveys some world order and spiritual sense no matter how dearly paid for 1 Integrity of the ego can also be used with respect to the development of a reliable sense of self a reliable sense of other and an understanding of how those constructs interact to form a person s experience of reality as well as to the way the synthetic function of the ego though it is of such extraordinary importance is subject to a whole number of disturbances 2 Contents 1 Erikson s formulation 1 1 Analogues 2 Integrity of the ego 3 Cultural examples 4 See also 5 References 6 Further readingErikson s formulation EditErikson wrote that for the fruit of these seven stages I know no better word than ego integrity the ego s accrued assurance of its proclivity for order and meaning 1 Erikson considered that if vigor of mind combines with the gift of responsible renunciation some old people can envisage human problems in their entirety a living example of the closure of a style of life 3 The opposite of ego integrity was despair as signified by fear of death the one and only life cycle is not accepted as the ultimate of life Despair expresses the feeling that the time is now too short to try out alternative roads to integrity 1 Erikson s hypothesis that maturity involves working through a conflict between integrity and despair over past accomplishments has received some empirical support on one measure the resolution of past life stages was more predictive of ego integrity than were other personality variables 4 Analogues Edit Gail Sheehy termed the later stage of Second Adulthood Age of Integrity 65 85 5 The ninth of Loevinger s stages of ego development was the Integrated Stage and ego integrity versus despair are probably Erikson s version of the Integrated Stage 6 Integrity of the ego EditIn his structural theory Sigmund Freud described the ego as the mediator between the id and super ego and the external world The task of the ego is to find a balance between primitive drives morals and reality while simultaneously satisfying the id and superego Freudians saw the ego as forming from separate nuclei A final ego is formed by synthetic integration of these nuclei and in certain states of ego regression a split of the ego into its original nuclei becomes observable 7 The main concern of the ego is with safety ideally only allowing the id s desires to be expressed when the consequences are marginal Ego defenses are often employed by the ego when id behaviour conflicts with reality and either society s morals norms and taboos or an individual s internalization of these morals norms and taboos Freud noted however that in the face of conflicts with superego or id it was always possible for the ego to avoid a rupture by submitting to encroachments on its own unity and even perhaps by effecting a cleavage or division of itself 8 In a late unfinished paper he examined how sometimes the instinct is allowed to retain its satisfaction and proper respect is shown to reality at the price of a rift in the ego which never heals but increases as time goes on a splitting of the ego 2 Lacan would develop this line of thought and maintain indeed that it is in the disintegration of the imaginary unity constituted by the ego that the subject finds the signifying material of his symptoms 9 From another standpoint Object relations theory has explored the encounter with the other that threatens the ego s integrity as when the object in question is lacking in its expected function as container of excitations 10 The word ego is taken directly from Greek where it is the nominative of the first person singular personal pronoun and is translated as I myself to express emphasis it is a translation of Freud s German term Das Ich which in English would be the I Cultural examples Edit In Cicero s De Senectute old age acquires a meaning identified with the achievement of total self possession ego integrity and wisdom Erikson s own psychology on its normative side is finally only a restatement of Stoic ideals 11 In his late haiku we see Issa the old man hundreds of years thousands of years old the Old Man of Edward Lear That is our fate too We have to die to become nothing in order to know the meaning of something 12 See also Edit Psychology portalEdward Glover psychoanalyst Developmental psychology Developmental stage theories Social DevelopmentReferences Edit a b c Erik H Erikson Childhood and Society Penguin 1973 pp 259 260 a b Sigmund Freud On Metapsychology PFL 11 p 462 Erikson quoted in Jane M Ford Patriarchy and Incest from Shakespeare to Joyce 1998 p 60 Matt Jarvis Psychodynamic Psychology 2004 p 155 Gail Sheehy New Passages London 19960 p 14 Jane Loevinger Ego Development London 1976 p 26 and p 78 Otto Fenichel The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis London 1946 p 39 Sigmund Freud On Psychopathology PFL 10 p 217 Jacques Lacan Ecrits London 1997 p 137 Nicole Jeammet Hatred Thomas R Cole Sally Gadow What Does It Mean to Grow Old 1987 p 19 R H Blyth A History of Haiku Vol I Tokyo 1980 p 403Further reading EditEdward Glover A Developmental Study of the Obsessional Neurosis Int Jo of Psychoanalysis XVI 1935 Walaskay M S Whitbourne M Nehrke 1984 Construction and validation of an ego integrity status interview International Journal of Aging and Human Development 18 1 61 72 doi 10 2190 RRAT BL8J J2U2 XRD3 PMID 6671831 S2CID 34023201 Salman Akhtar Comprehensive Dictionary of Psychoanalysis 2009 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ego integrity amp oldid 1065530507, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
