Ego Integrity as a Prerequisite for Psychological Maturity

Abstract

The article analyses one of the provinces of the mind proposed by S. Freud, the ego and its functioning, developmental trajectories and implications for the person’s psychological maturity. These days, the ego is commonly misunderstood and misidentified as implicated in egocentrism, when indeed egocentrism is a trait of a person with a weak and underdeveloped ego and a rampant id. The personality traits of a strong ego are strength of character, high self esteem, inner-directedness, self-determinism, field-independence, the acceptance of a plurality of ideas etc. Also posed is a question whether psychological maturity is a funcion of chronological age. The article compares J. Loevinger’s theory of ego development and E. Erikson’s post-Freudian theory of psychosocial development, focusing on the last stage in both theories (the Integrated Stage in J. Loevinger’s theory and Integrity vs Despair in E. Erikson’s theory). Although the comparison yields many commonalities between the two theories when it comes to the description of the final stage, such as the wholeness, coherence and wisdom achieved, also important are the differences between the two interpretations. In E. Erikson’s theory, people can achieve ego integrity and have the syntonic quality of integrity prevail if they have learned intimacy and have taken care of both people and things. In J. Loevinger’s view, only about 1% of people achieve the final stage of ego development, it is by no means a function of chronological age as most people even in their old age find themselves at earlier stages of ego development. Our contention is that there can hardly be a definite answer to the question whether psychological maturity and wisdom are a function of chronological age, as often individual differences outweigh group differences and it is hardly possible to establish direct links between aging and psychological maturity. What one becomes with age depends on a number of factors such as personal features, resilience, virtues, aspirations as well as a person’s physical and psychological health. KEY WORDS: Loevinger, Erikson, ego, ego integrity, psychological maturity.