fei75766_ch07_206-241.indd 228  02/06/20 11:52 AM
Part II    Psychodynamic Theories228
hunters, butby1937, theSioux hadlosttheirgroup identity ashunters andwere
trying halfheartedly toscrape outaliving asfarmers. Child-rearing practices, which 
inthepasthadtrained young boystobehunters andyoung girlstobehelpers and
mothers offuture hunters, werenolonger appropriate foranagrarian society. Asa
consequence, theSioux children of1937 hadgreat difficulty inachieving asense of
egoidentity, especially aftertheyreached adolescence.
Twoyears later, Erikson made asimilar fieldtriptonorthern California to
study people oftheYurok nation, wholived mostly onsalmon fishing. Although the
Sioux andYurok hadvastly divergent cultures, eachtribehadatradition oftrain-
ingitsyouth inthevirtues ofitssociety. Yurok people weretrained tocatch fish,
andtherefore theypossessed nostrong national feeling andhadlittletasteforwar.
Obtaining andretaining provisions andpossessions werehighly valued among people 
oftheYurok nation. Erikson (1963) wasabletoshow thatearly childhood training 
wasconsistent withthisstrong cultural value andthathistory andsociety helped 
shape personality.
Psychohistory
Thediscipline called psychohistory isacontroversial 
fieldthatcombines psychoanalytic concepts with
historical methods. Freud (1910/1957) originated 
psychohistory withaninvestigation ofLeonardo da
Vinci andlatercollaborated withAmerican ambas -
sador William Bullitt towrite abook-length psy-
chological study ofAmerican president Woodrow 
Wilson (Freud &Bullitt, 1967). Although Erikson 
(1975) deplored thislatter work, hetookupthe
methods ofpsychohistory andrefined them, espe-
cially inhisstudy ofMartin Luther (Erikson, 1958, 
1975) andMahatma Gandhi (Erikson, 1969, 
1975). Both Luther andGandhi hadanimportant 
impact onhistory because eachwasanexceptional 
person withtherightpersonal conflict living dur-
ingahistorical period thatneeded toresolve col-
lectively what could notberesolved individually 
(E.Hall, 1983).
Erikson (1974) defined psychohistory as
“thestudy ofindividual andcollective lifewiththe
combined methods ofpsychoanalysis andhistory” 
(p.13).Heusedpsychohistory todemonstrate his
fundamental beliefs thateachperson isaproduct 
ofhisorherhistorical timeandthatthose his-
torical times areinfluenced byexceptional leaders 
experiencing apersonal identity conflict.
Asanauthor ofpsychohistory, Erikson 
believed thatheshould beemotionally involved 
inhissubject. Forexample, hedeveloped astrong 
According toErikson, Mahatma Gandhi developed basic strengths 
from hisseveral identity crises. Ingram PublishingFinal PDF to printer