Erikson, Erik Homburger (1902-1994), was an American psychoanalyst. He became best known for his ideas on how human beings develop a sense of identity—that is, the awareness one has of oneself as a whole person.
Erikson based his ideas on the theories of Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, who emphasized the importance of early childhood for all later development. However, Erikson modified Freud’s ideas, stressing the continual development of human beings throughout an eight-stage life cycle. Freud focused on the psychological and biological aspects of development. Erikson said that social and cultural influences also are significant to development.
Erikson became widely known for his studies of adolescence, chiefly the idea of an adolescent identity crisis. Such a crisis may occur when an adolescent struggles with inner conflicts before gaining a sense of purpose and moving into adulthood. Erikson expressed his central ideas on adolescence in the books Childhood and Society (1950) and Identity: Youth and Crisis (1968).
Erikson also gained praise for biographies that examine the psychological development of well-known historical figures. These books include Young Man Luther (1958), which depicts German religious reformer Martin Luther, and Gandhi’s Truth (1969), which focuses on the Indian spiritual and political leader Mohandas K. Gandhi.
Erikson was born on June 15, 1902, in Frankfurt (am Main), Germany. His parents were of Danish ancestry. In 1933, Erikson graduated from the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute. That same year, he and his family moved to the United States. Erikson taught at Harvard University, Yale University, and the University of California at Berkeley. He died on May 12, 1994.
