Vital Involvement in Old Age

by Erik H. Erikson, Joan M. Erikson, Helen Q. Kivnick

Erikson's now-famous concept of the life cycle delineates eight stages of psychological development through which each of us progresses. The last stage, old age, challenges the individual to rework the past while remaining involved in the present. The authors begin this work with their theory of life's stages through old age. In Part two, they discuss their interviews with twenty-nine octogenarians, on whom life history data has been collected for over fifty years. Part three is a discussion of the life history of the protagonist in Ingmar Bergman's film Wild Strawberries . In Part four, "Old age in our society", the authors offer suggestions for "vital involvement." Erik H. Erikson is winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.

Genres: Psychology, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Essays

354 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1986

About the author

Erik Erikson was a German-born American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst known for his theory on psychosocial development of human beings. He may be most famous for coining the phrase identity crisis. His son, Kai T. Erikson, is a noted American sociologist.

Although Erikson lacked even a bachelor's degree, he served as a professor at prominent institutions such as Harvard and Yale.

Reviews

[Vikkat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got it from the library while researching Ingmar Bergman's "Wild Strawberries", which this book has a whole chapter devoted to. I enjoyed the way it was written, so I ended up reading the whole of it...
I would recommend it to anyone seeking a different view on Bergman's great film, and some additional knowledge to back it up.

[John Riselvato · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just turned 30 and I'm in the middle of an existential crisis. The universe knows it and as such, randomly gave me this book in return. I'm hoping what I learned from this read will help me break out of this dark time and give me a leg up entering an age that feels out of place in this tiktok driven world.

[Rae Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Minuteman? Notes in books on aging