Psychology 3051 Psychology 305: Theories of Personality Lecture 11.

Psychology 305 1

Psychology 305: Theories of Personality

Lecture 11

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Announcement

Please note that grades for the first exam are now available on the course website. The mean score on the exam was 66% (SD = 16%, range=28-97%).

Sabrina will hold a review session for the midterm exam on Thursday, June 23rd, at 3:30. Please meet Sabrina at her office—room 208 of the Botany Annex. If you are unable to attend the session and would like to review your exam, you may see Sabrina during her office hour or contact Sabrina to schedule an appointment to meet.

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The Psychoanalytic and Neoanalytic Perspectives

Lecture 11

1. What therapeutic methods have emerged from psychoanalytic theory?

2. How do neoanalytic theories differ from psychoanalytic theory?

3. According to Jung’s theory, what are the major components of the mind?

4. What personality types did Jung propose?

By the end of today’s class, you should be able to:

3. discuss the process of “dream work.”

1. identify the therapeutic goal psychoanalysis.

4. compare and contrast psychoanalytic theory and neoanalytic theories.

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2. describe the techniques of psychoanalysis.

7. describe the attitudes and psychological functions assessed by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

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8. identify the practical applications and criticisms of the MBTI.

6. define and generate examples of archetypes.

5. distinguish between the ego, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious.

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What therapeutic methods have emerged from

psychoanalytic theory?

• Freud did propose a method by which adults could “restructure” their personalities: Psychoanalysis

• Goal of psychoanalysis: To bring unconscious conflicts to conscious awareness (i.e., insight).

• Freud primarily used 2 techniques in conducting psychoanalysis:

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(a) Free association

Involves having the patient say, without hesitation, whatever comes to his or her mind.

Described by some as “daydreaming out loud.”

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In beginning free association, Freud (1913, 1958) would instruct his patients as follows:

“You will notice that as you relate things various thoughts will occur to you which you would like to put aside on the grounds of certain criticisms and objections. You will be tempted to say to yourself that this or that is irrelevant here, or is quite unimportant, or nonsensical, so that there is no need to say it. You must never give in to these criticisms, but must say it in spite of them—indeed, you must say it precisely because you feel an aversion to doing so …. Finally, never forget that you have promised to be absolutely honest, and never leave anything out because, for some reason or other, it is unpleasant to tell it.”

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An analyst must interpret the material provided by the patient in order to identify any unconscious conflicts.

Once identified, the analyst reveals the unconscious conflicts to the patient, allowing him/her to resolve it.

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(b) Dream analysis

Involves having the patient recount her or his dreams through free association.

Freud believed that there are 2 types of dream content:

Manifest content: Narrative of the dream that is consciously remembered.

Latent content: Memories, fantasies, forgotten events, unconscious conflicts that give rise to manifest content.

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Freud maintained that the latent content of a dream is transformed into the manifest content of the dream through “dream work.”

Freud described several specific mechanisms that are involved in dream work:

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Condensation: The unconscious compresses several latent elements into a single manifest image.

Displacement: The unconscious shifts emphasis away from an important but threatening image to an image that is less threatening

E.g., Power and hostility are represented by an ax.

E.g., A patient’s abusive father is represented as an old and frail man.

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Symbolism: The unconscious uses a common and acceptable image to symbolize an unacceptable latent element.

Secondary revision: The unconscious synthesizes the disjointed images that have been created through condensation, displacement, and symbolism into a coherent story (e.g., by adding a setting or plot)

E.g., A vagina is represented as a hollow box.

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An analyst must interpret the manifest content of the dream, as described by the patient, in order to identify any unconscious conflicts.

Once identified, the analyst reveals the unconscious conflicts to the patient, allowing him/her to resolve it.

E.g., Freud’s analysis of the Wolfman’s recurrent dream regarding wolves.

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• Similarities between neoanalytic theories and psychoanalytic theory:

How do neoanalytic theories differ from psychoanalytic

theory?

1. Both maintain that early childhood experiences influence personality development.

2. Both maintain that psychological conflicts and the success with which we resolve these conflicts influence personality development.

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• Differences between neoanalytic theories and psychoanalytic theory:

1. Neoanalytic theories place less emphasis on the role that sex plays in personality development.

2. Neoanalytic theories place less emphasis on the id and more emphasis on the ego.

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3. Neoanalytic theories place more emphasis on the role of interpersonal conflicts (vs. unconscious conflicts) in personality development.

4. Neoanalytic theories assume that personality development continues across the lifespan (vs. the first 5 years of life).

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• In class, we will consider 4 neoanalytic theories:

1. Carl Jung’s (1865 – 1961) neoanalytic theory (analytical psychology).

2. Erik Erikson’s (1902 – 1994) neoanalytic theory.

3. Karen Horney’s (1885 – 1952) neoanalytic theory.

4. Attachment theory.

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• Jung believed that the mind is comprised of 3 major components:

1. The ego

According to Jung’s theory, what are the major

components of the mind?

Similar to Freud’s conception of the conscious component of the mind.

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Primary functions:

(b) is responsible for one’s sense of identity and continuity across time.

(c) ensures that daily activities are carried out.

(a) contains information (e.g., thoughts, feelings, perceptions) that an individual is currently aware of.

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2. The personal unconscious

Similar to Freud’s conceptions of the preconscious and unconscious components of the mind.

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Primary functions:

(a) contains information that an individual is not currently aware of but can readily retrieve and bring to conscious awareness.

(b) contains information that an individual has actively repressed and, therefore, cannot readily retrieve and bring to conscious awareness.

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3. The collective unconscious

Does not have an equivalent in Freud's conception of the mind.

The boldest, most mystical, and most controversial concept proposed by Jung.

The most distinct aspect of Jung’s theory.

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Primary function: contains the collective experiences of our ancestors (i.e., the shared experiences,

motivations, fears, and myths of our ancestors);

Is passed down across successive generations of the human species.

Is essentially the same for all humans.

this information is the most difficult to retrieve and bring to conscious awareness.

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In writing about the collective unconscious, Jung stated:

“[It is] the deposit of ancestral experience from untold millions of years, the echo of prehistoric world events to which each century adds an infinitesimally small amount of variation and differentiation ….” (1928, p. 162)

“It is detached from anything personal and is common to all [of us], since its contents can be found everywhere.” (1917/1966, p. 66)

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Jung used the term archetypes to refer to the information stored in the collective unconscious.

According to Jung, archetypes are images of universal experiences contained in the collective unconscious.

These images are emotional symbols that predispose us to react to common, recurring stimuli in predictable ways.

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Jung saw archetypes as the psychic counterpart to instincts. In comparing archetypes to instincts, he wrote:

“As animals of the same kind show the same instinctual phenomena all over the world, man also shows the same [archetypes] no matter where he lives. As animals have no need to be taught their instinctive activities, so man also possesses his primordial psychic patterns and repeats them spontaneously, independently of any kind of teaching.” (1975, p. 152)

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Jung believed that there are an indefinite number of archetypes among humans.

Examples of archetypes: the mother archetype, the anima and animus archetypes, the shadow archetype, the God archetype, and the hero archetype.

Archetypes cannot be identified using traditional quantitative methods. They must be identified through

the study of symbolic communications (e.g., dreams, art, religion, myths).

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What personality types did Jung propose?

• Jung’s personality typology relies on 2 concepts:

1. Attitudes

A “readiness of the psyche to act or react [to experience] in a certain way.” (1921/1971, p. 414)

Jung identified 2 attitudes: Extraversion and introversion.

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2. Psychological Functions

Refer to ways of perceiving and evaluating information.

Jung identified 4 psychological functions: Sensing, intuiting, thinking, and feeling.

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• Jung described sensing and intuiting as irrational functions because they involve perception. He described

thinking and feeling as rational functions because they involve evaluation.

• Jung believed that each person has the capacity for both attitudes and may use all 4 psychological

functions.

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• However, for most people, one attitude and one psychological function become dominant and direct

behaviour. The nondominant attitude and psychological functions remain underdeveloped and

become part of the personal unconscious.

• By combining each of the 2 attitudes with each of the 4psychological functions, Jung identified 8 personality types (i.e., ES, EN, ET, EF, IS, IN, IT, IF).

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• The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a self-report measure that was developed in the 1920’s to

assess Jung’s personality types.

• The measure was originally designed to assess individuals on 3 dimensions derived from Jung’s theory:

Extraversion-Introversion, Sensing-Intuiting, and Thinking-Feeling.

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• This dimension indicates how an individual prefers to react to the information that she or he perceives and evaluates.

• The measure was later modified to allow for the assessment of a 4th dimension: Judging-Perceiving.

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• With the addition of this 4th dimension, the revised MBTI assesses 16 personality types (e.g., ESTJ, ESFJ, ESTP, ESFP).

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• Examples of different personality types:

Madonna: ESTP (Go-getter)

Bob Hope: ESFP (Performer)

Julia Roberts: INFP (Idealist)

Mother Teresa: INFJ (Counselor)

Margaret Thatcher: ENTJ (Leader)

Alfred Hitchcock: ENTP (Big Thinker)

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The Psychoanalytic and Neoanalytic Perspectives

Lecture 11

1. What therapeutic methods have emerged from psychoanalytic theory?

2. How do neoanalytic theories differ from psychoanalytic theory?

3. According to Jung’s theory, what are the major components of the mind?

4. What personality types did Jung propose?