PSYCHOLOGICAL STATE OF INDIVIDUALS IN SEEKING THE SELF: A CRITICAL STUDY OF 21ST CENTURY LITERATURE

Abstract

In psychology, personality crisis is the inability in adolescents to establish ego identification. The psychologist Erikson coined the term. Identity unity vs. function ambiguity is the stage of psycho-social growth in which identity conflicts arise. Psychological literary criticism had its base in the psychoanalytical thoughts put forward by Sigmund Freud. After Freud, some theories by Neo-Freudians such as Jung and Adler also became a part of it. Critics, who choose Psychological literary criticism, champion one particular psychological theory and apply it to works of all the authors. Considering this, Fromm's Humanistic Psychoanalysis has a lot of scope to be used as a theory for Psychological literary criticism. The current study aims to fill this gap in the psychological literature, linking Maslow’s theory to contemporary theory and research on personality and well-being.