Question

what connection between Erikson theory and the My virtual life personality questions in Revel and which ones match up to it

Answer 1

The connection between Erikson theory and the my virtual life personality questions regarding Erikson maintained that personality develops in a predetermined order through eight stages of psychosocial development, from infancy to adulthood. During each stage, the person experiences a psychosocial crisis which could have a positive or negative outcome for personality development.

tage 1 - Basic Trust vs. Mistrust

• Developing trust is the first task of the ego, and it is never complete.
• The child will let mother out of sight without anxiety and rage because she has become an inner certainty as well as an outer predictability.
• The balance of trust with mistrust depends largely on the quality of maternal relationship.

Stage 2 - Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

• If denied autonomy, the child will turn against him/herself urges to manipulate and discriminate.
• Shame develops with the child's self-consciousness.
• Doubt has to do with having a front and back -- a "behind" subject to its own rules. Left over doubt may become paranoia.
• The sense of autonomy fostered in the child and modified as life progresses serves the preservation in economic and political life of a sense of justice.

Stage 3 - Initiative vs. Guilt

• Initiative adds to autonomy the quality of undertaking, planning, and attacking a task for the sake of being active and on the move.
• The child feels guilt over the goals contemplated and the acts initiated in exuberant enjoyment of new locomoter and mental powers.
• The castration complex occuring in this stage is due to the child's erotic fantasies.
• A residual conflict over initiative may be expressed as hysterical denial, which may cause the repression of the wish or the abrogation of the child's ego: paralysis and inhibition, or overcompensation and showing off.
• The Oedipal stage results not only in oppressive establishment of a moral sense restricting the horizon of the permissible, but also sets the direction towards the possible and the tangible which permits dreams of early childhood to be attached to goals of an active adult life.

After Stage 3, one may use the whole repetoire of previous modalities, modes, and zones for industrious, identity-maintaining, intimate, legacy-producing, dispair-countering purposes.

Stage 4 - Industry vs. Inferiority

• To bring a productive situation to completion is an aim which gradually supersedes the whims and wishes of play.
• The fundamentals of technology are developed
• To lose the hope of such "industrious" association may pull the child back to the more isolated, less conscious familial rivalry of the Oedipal time
• The child can become a conformist and thoughtless slave whom others exploit.

Stage 5 - Identity vs. Role Confusion (or "Diffusion")

• The adolescent is newly concerned with how they appear to others.
• Ego identity is the accrued confidence that the inner sameness and continuity prepared in the past are matched by the sameness and continuity of one's meaning for others, as evidenced in the promise of a career.
• The inability to settle on a school or occupational identity is disturbing.

Stage 6 - Intimacy vs. Isolation

• Body and ego must be masters of organ modes and of the other nuclear conflicts in order to face the fear of ego loss in situations which call for self-abandon.
• The avoidance of these experiences leads to isolation and self-absorption.
• The counterpart of intimacy is distantiation, which is the readiness to isolate and destroy forces and people whose essence seems dangerous to one's own.
• Now true genitality can fully develop.
• The danger at this stage is isolation which can lead to sever character problems.

Erikson's listed criteria for "genital utopia" illustrate his insistence on the role of many modes and modalities in harmony:

• mutuality of orgasm
• with a loved partner
• of opposite sex
• with whom one is willing and able to share a trust, and
• with whom one is willing and able to regulate the cycles of work, procreation, and recreation
• so as to secure to the offspring all the stages of satisfactory development

Stage 7 - Generativity vs. Stagnation

• Generativity is the concern in establishing and guiding the next generation.
• Simply having or wanting children doesn't achieve generativity.
• Socially-valued work and disciples are also expressions of generativity.

Stage 8 - Ego Integrity vs. Despair

• Ego integrity is the ego's accumulated assurance of its capacity for order and meaning.
• Despair is signified by a fear of one's own death, as well as the loss of self-sufficiency, and of loved partners and friends.
• Healthy children, Erikson tells us, won't fear life if their elders have integrity enough not to fear death

MY VIRTUAL LIFE PERSONALITY

n recent years, whether the life that a person has depended on the personality has sparked a hot debate. Although some people claim that education and economic status play crucial roles in individual's life, others believe that characteristics shaped by life experience and family are more important. In my opinion, I tend to believe that individuals' lives are impacted by all these factors, and I will elaborate throughout this essay.

To begin with, characteristics of a person contribute greatly to individual’s life, due to the fact that it influences a person’s decision-making process, interaction with others and identity. Research conducted by Woolworth have found that extroverted people shop through discussion and communication with sales or friends, whereas introverted individuals use catalogues or ask their family for advice. Also, 73% of extroverted people live near city and prefer to work in office, while 86% of introverted people work at home and enjoy living in country side. Thus, personalities affect the way people choose to achieve their goals and live their lives.

In contrast, evidences also suggest that education and financial factor have significant influences on individual’s life. For example, well-educated people often work in management position and have more choices in their lives, while people without education mostly earn their livings through physical works with limited access to public benefits. Moreover, 85% of students with undergraduate degree have chances to travel aboard, but only 55% of students with high school certificate have similar experiences according to one of the studies which I conducted during universities. Hence, individual’s life is also shaped by their economic status and educational background.

In conclusion, personalities play virtual factor in determining one’s life, however the importance of education backgrounds and economic status shall not be ignored.