Case Study #6

1.

Betty is extremely externally motivated. She married Cole because she thought it was expected of her and she did
not think that guys would find her attractive or witty. She really thought Cole was her last chance at getting married.
She lacks a lot of confidence to even think about divorcing her Cole and doing what she wants to do. Betty also let her
parents really dictate what she did even in college. She did not really do things because she wanted to do them,
rather, wait for others to almost decide for her. According to Eriksons theory, Betty is motivated by her ego. She does
things that she does not really want to do (like marrying Cole and quitting her teaching job), but simply doing things to
avoid a consequence. She does things that she thinks she is supposed to do.

2.

The crisis in Eriksons fourth stage of psychosocial development (Industriousness vs. Inferiority) was when Betty
attended school. She did not have a lot of friends and did not do as well in her classes as her parents would have
liked. She got mainly Bs and Cs and her parents were disappointed in her because of that. Her parents believed she
should be doing better in school since her older brother and parents did well in school. Betty really did not resolve this
stage because she did not try to get better grades or be more diligent with her school work. Instead, she seemed to let
her parents scolding affect her. She never really developed the basic strength from this stage (competence), which is
described as exertion of skill and intelligence in pursuing and completing tasks. Throughout her life she never really felt
good enough in pursuing different things. For example, when she was in college, she did not date a lot because she
thought other girls around her were wittier and more attractive. She never was able to resolve this stage, so she had a
more difficult time resolving other conflicts, like her dating life in college and insecurities, later on in life. This is obviously
an unfavorable outcome since she did not really attempt to resolve this crisis.

3.

In Eriksons fifth stage of psychosocial development (Identity Cohesion vs. Role Confusion), Betty experiences the
crisis of being around girls whom she believes are wittier and more attractive than she is. She also was still taking
demands from her father because he forbade her to go to social functions held by another school even though they
were well chaperoned. Betty did not really resolve this crisis. She did eventually fall in love with a guy that she dated in
college, but he did not have the same feelings for her as she did for him. By her not resolving this crisis, she has
developed an identity crisis. She has confusion of belonging, purpose, and direction. Betty also did not really form a
strong sense of self-image since she viewed others as being better than her. Along with that, she did not develop the
basic strength of fidelity, which is described as sincerity, genuineness, and a sense of duty in relationships with others.
This, again, is not favorable since she did not resolve this crisis and does not have a positive outcome from this crisis.

4.

In Eriksons sixth stage of psychosocial development (Intimacy vs. Isolation), Betty experiences the crisis of feeling like
she has to marry and having to try to love her husband. She ended up just marrying Cole because she felt that this
was her only option to get a husband and a potential family. Along with that, she ended up quitting her job because she
thought that is what was expected of her as a wife and a potential mother. Cole had to travel a lot and she was left to
take care of their two kids. She ended up giving her husband very little attention and put all of her focus into her two
kids. She did not really have a social life of any kind because of the feeling like she was the sole caregiver to her child.
The only real form of attention that she did get from her husband was in the form of criticism. She did not really
resolve this stage at all because she did not develop the basic strength of love, which is the mutual devotion in a
shared identity. Along with that, she did not really resolve any of the other stages so it is easy to predict that she will not
really resolve this crisis. She also developed a maladaptive isolation of avoidance of social contacts and rejection of
others. This is not a favorable outcome since she did not resolve this crisis, or the others before this stage.

5.

The Erickson psychosocial development stage of Generativity vs. Stagnation crisis that Betty went through was when
she was trying to figure out what to do with her life then on. She is trying to figure out if she should stay with her

husband as well since she doesnt feel needed by him. Betty wants to move away to be with her kids, but she is afraid
that she will annoy them. She also attended church social events out of boredom, not because she really had a true
passion for it. It sounds like she did some of this to avoid being with her husband at their permanent home as well.
She did not really resolve this stage at all because she really is not doing anything for the betterment of the future
generations, but simply because she has nothing else to do with her time. She has developed the maladaptive
stagnation of boredom, pseudo-intimacy, self-absorption and childlike behaviors. She did not develop the basic
strength of care, which is the broad concern for others and need to teach for others and ones own identity. This is
obviously not a favorable outcome since she did not resolve this crisis.
6.

According to Eriksons theory, we would expect Bettys eight stage of life (Ego Integrity vs. Despair) to have a nonfavorable outcome like the other stages. She did not resolve any of the crisis issues before, so there is no way to say
that she will suddenly have a favorable outcome now. I predict that she will regret marrying her husband, and most of
her life decisions. Along with that, I would think that she will be angry and frustrated with how her life has turned out
and at some of her decisions. I even think that she will begin to have a sense of disgust towards herself. She could
not fulfill any of her wants, and I see her still with her husband until she passes because she does not have the
confidence to leave him. If they do get a divorce, I see her husband making the decision and not Betty. I also do not
see her ever moving out by her two kids because she will think even less of herself and not want to annoy them or
burden them with her problems.

Dia telah berkahwin dengan Cole kerana dia fikir ia diharapkan daripada dia dan dia
tidak berfikir bahawa seorang lelaki akan mencari beliau menarik atau lucu. Dia
benar-benar fikir Cole adalah peluang terakhir pada berkahwin. Dia tidak
mempunyai banyak keyakinan untuk memikirkan tentang menceraikan Cole beliau
dan melakukan apa yang dia mahu lakukan. Betty juga membolehkan ibu bapanya
benar-benar menentukan apa yang dia lakukan walaupun di kolej. Dia tidak benarbenar melakukan sesuatu kerana mahu melakukannya, sebaliknya, menunggu
orang lain untuk hampir memutuskan untuk dia. Menurut teori Erikson ini, Betty
adalah didorong oleh ego beliau. Dia tidak perkara yang dia tidak benar-benar mahu
lakukan (seperti berkahwin Cole dan berhenti kerja mengajar dan), tetapi hanya
melakukan perkara yang perlu dielakkan akibatnya. Dia tidak perkara-perkara yang
dia fikir dia sepatutnya lakukan.