The purpose of this study is to try to find a system of ego integrity in Korean society by comparing the process of ego integrity in the senile stage suggested by the Erikson school of thought, with the process?fall and restoration?of the image of God...
The purpose of this study is to try to find a system of ego integrity in Korean society by comparing the process of ego integrity in the senile stage suggested by the Erikson school of thought, with the process?fall and restoration?of the image of God (suggested by the Bible) through qualification analysis.
In this study, I criticized the Erikson school's concept of senile ego integrity by analyzing spiritual and religious experiences, which the Erikson school does not observe, based upon Biblical psychology in order to look for a way to promote a sense of ego integrity. Especially, I refer to Calvin and Hoekema?s theology, which describe the essence and image of God through the process of creation, fall, and redemption. I also make reference to Kirwan?s psychological theory, which analyzes the loss and restoration of personal identity for the senile unified self from on evangelical perspective.
I think it was extremely logical and insightful that Erikson's theory suggests that the stage of ?ego integrity vs despair? is the final and senile stage of the psychosocial developmental process. It seemed that although Erikson realized the fact that it was important to transcend the limits of social or psychological analysis, he could not achieve it due to either his social or psychological approach.
The bible explains that human beings were created in the image of God; However, they have fallen and lost the relationship with and the image of God, and have thereby lost their positive self-identity since the onset of original sin. As a result, human beings have lost the unity within the core of their personalities and have been divided into two negative sections?a needing self and a rejected self?which strongly influence the fallen personality.
When human identity recovers from the history of redemption, the divided identity will be cured. The needing self, which is staggered by the desire to belong, self-esteem, and self-respect will recover by being adopted by God, and the rejected self will be retrieved in the name of Jesus. This is because God?s justification means that Jesus took on our feelings of rejection. In short, human?s unified identity will be recovered from the divided identity.
I inquired into the Erikson school?s three aging issues: The need to claim integrity, the need to affirm autonomy, and the need for generativity throughout the life span?in terms of evangelism. I then compared the inquiry with the field-research data of these three issues.
?The need to claim integrity? is satisfied by the adoption of God, because there is a positive correlation between religious experience and the sense of ego integrity. Therefore, I argue that those who have a closer relationship with God are more satisfied in terms of the need for belonging, and they possess positive self-identity, and positive ego integrity.
?The need to affirm autonomy? can be satisfied when the Holy Spirit ensures resurrection in a human?s mind, and thereby he or she becomes an empowered individual. According to data related to difference in the sense of ego integrity based upon gender and religion, non-Christian females in their seventies have a much smaller sense of ego integrity than Christian females. In the case of Christians in seventies, even though they relatively lose personal power and freedom compared to their prior social status, they have the hope of resurrection. Thus there is a high sense of ego integrity, which is seldom found in non-Christians.
?The need for generativity throughout the life span? appears in two ways: the desire for achievement and competence and for reputation and prestige. These two desires are satisfied through unconditional love, forgiveness, and the infinite concern of Jesus. The data on the differences in the sense of ego integrity according to the ages and religions of females shows that females in their sixties have the highest sense of ego integrity among the participants. More importantly, Christian females have a higher sense of ego integrity than non-Christian females. Actually, most of the Christian female participants actively took part in several activities, such as volunteering, and therefore could fulfil a large part of their desire for achievement, competence, reputation, and prestige through their participation in religious activities. Their high sense of ego integrity is derived from their religious experience. This shows the importance and effectiveness of Christianity and Christian activities in achieving ego integrity.
How can senior citizens achieve ego integrity by overcoming the negative conditions around them? What can we do to live a successful elderly life? Basically, we should adopt Erikson?s stage psychosocial development theory into our lives. Moreover, we can achieve a much higher sense of ego integrity (an even, the higher sense of ego integrity than Erikson expected people are able to achieve) by adopting the processes of faith for ego integrity, such as self-acceptance, conviction concerning our sins, and confession to God as suggested in the Scriptures.
I put forth four suggestions for follow-up studies on this topic. First, pastoral counseling is necessary to unify the divided self: the needing self and rejected self. Second, longitudinal qualification research is required for this topic, which observes how a person can be changed through their journey of Christianity. Third, it is necessary to do research about the relationship between the recovery of ego integrity and Christian doctrines. Fourth, the integrity of theology and psychology is essential for the pastoral counseling. Two methods, Biblical psychology and a psychological approach to Bible Interpretation, are suggested as alternative ways to integrate psychology with theology, and, more research in this field is required.