Sigmund Freud “Inner Conflict” Approach To Personality Physician in Vienna, Austria in the late 1800’s Treated patients with no medical explanation.

Sigmund Freud

“Inner Conflict” Approach To Personality Physician in Vienna, Austria in the late 1800’s Treated patients with no medical explanation for the

symptoms Concluded people’s conscious ideas and feelings

occupy only a small part of the brain and a person’s deepest thoughts, fears, and urges remain out of our awareness. They are in our unconscious part of the mind.

Freud’s Methods

Talk Therapy – say whatever pops into the mind Comfortable environments –couch Dream Analysis Hypnosis

Three Basic Psychological Structures of the Mind

IdEgoSuper Ego

“I want what I want, and I want it now!”

Id- Basic Drives – hunger, thirst, sex Demands pleasure through instant

gratification Ignores rules, laws, social customs, or needs

of others Pleasure Principle – the urge for immediate

release of energy or emotion that will bring personal gratification, relief, or pleasure.

“Stands for Reason and Good Sense”

Ego Develops because a child’s demands for instant

gratification cannot be met or because demands may be harmful.

Reality Principle – the understanding that in the real world we cannot always get what we want.

Seeks to satisfy the appetites of the id in ways consistent with reality.

Provides the conscious sense of self Acts as a censor for wild, indecent, or improper

impulses of the id. It tries to repress the impulses.

“It gives us our Moral Sense”

Super Ego Develops throughout early childhood Moral Principle – incorporates the standards and

values of parents and members of the community Acts as our conscious and floods the ego with

feelings of guilt and shame Healthy people find a way to balance the childish

demands of the Id with the warnings of the Super Ego.

Defense Mechanisms

Methods the Ego uses to avoid recognizing ideas or emotions that may cause personal anxiety.

They operate unconsciously.

Repression

Removes anxiety-causing ideas from conscious awareness by pushing them into the unconscious.

Tea Kettle Comparison- peoples urges try to come out like steam from a kettle, but releasing those urges would cause shame and guilt, so a person tries to keep a lid on the urges.

Problem – People “pop their lids” or have extreme outbursts of emotion, such as anger.

Rationalization

The use of self-deception to justify unacceptable behavior or ideas.

Example: I only cheated on a few of the test questions, but I knew most of the material. Therefore, I deserve the grade I got.

Example: I will take this $10.00 from my mom’s wallet, she won’t miss it and she would have given it to me if I had asked.

Displacement

The transfer of an idea or impulse from a threatening or unsuitable object to a less threatening object.

Example: Your mom yells at you to clean your room, so on the way you kick the dog or you yell at a sibling.

Regression

When an individual is under a great deal of stress he or she will return to behavior that is characteristic of an earlier stage of development.

Example: An adult going through a divorce may become very reliant on his or her parents.

Example: An older child may revert to thumb sucking after a traumatic experience.

Projection

People sometimes deal with unacceptable impulses by projecting these impulses outward onto other people.

People see their own faults in others. Example: May think their girlfriend is

cheating on them because of their own impulse to do so.

Example: See others as hostile, rather than admit their own hostility.

Reaction Formation

People act contrary (opposite) to their own genuine feelings in order to keep their true feelings hidden.

Example: You are mad at someone so you behave extremely nice toward them.

Example: You like someone so you are mean to them.

Denial

A person refuses to accept the reality of anything that is bad or unsettling.

Example: “It can’t happen to me” Syndrome Smoking is very bad for your health and

those around you, but you do it anyway. Sex before marriage leads to unwanted

pregnancy, disease, ruined reputation, but you do it anyway.

Sublimation

People can channel their basic impulses into socially acceptable behavior.

Example: A person that has a lot of hostility and aggression could play football or other contact sports.

Effects of Defense Mechanisms

Used in moderation defense mechanisms are normal and useful.

Unhealthy if people ignore the underlying causes of their feelings.

People with a strong ego don’t need them and their presence may indicate inner conflict or personal anxiety.

Psychoanalytic Approach: Stages of Development

The Oral StageThe Anal StageThe Phallic StageThe Latency StageThe Genital Stage

The Oral Stage

Infants explore their world by picking up objects and putting them into their mouths.

The main source of pleasure (food) is received in the mouth.

Infants that do not get the proper adult attention at this stage may become fixated at this stage.

Smoking, Overeating, Excessive Talking, Nail Biting, etc.

The Anal Stage

Occurs between 1 ½ and 2 ½ years of age Children learn that they can control their

own bodily functions Self-control central issue 2 Adult Personality Types

Anal Retentive- excessive self-control and perfectionism

Anal Exclusive- careless and messy

Oedipus Complex

Boys Oedipus – legendary Greek king who

unknowingly killed his father and married his mother.

Boys strong attachment to mother and jealousy of father

Electra Complex

Girls Electra- daughter of the Greek king. She

loved him and sought revenge on his killers – her mother and her lover.

Girls strong attachment to father and jealousy of mother

The Phallic Stage

Begins in the 3rd year of life Children discover physical differences between the

sexes Body Focused Children may develop a strong attachment to parents

of the opposite sex. Daddy’s girl or Momma’s Boy Rivalry with parent of the same sex See case study of Little Hans Depression, guilt and anxiety in later life possible

The Latency Stage

Age 5 or 6 Children retreat from conflict with parents Repress urges or the id Latency means hidden Impulses and emotions are pushed to

unconscious

The Genital Stage

Puberty Adolescent becomes more aware of his or

her own gender identity May see conflicts from the earlier

developmental stages resurface

Carl Jung

Heir to Freud Analytic Psychology – places greater

emphasis on the influences of mysticism and religion on human behavior.

Believed people have not only “personal unconscious”, but also an inherited “collective unconscious”

Collective Unconscious

Store of human concepts shared by all people across all cultures

Archetypes are the basic, primitive concepts of collective unconscious

Archetypes

Ideas and images of the accumulated experience of all human beings The Shadow The Anima or Animus The Divine Couple The Child The Self (See handouts)

Sense of Self

The self is a unifying force of personality that gives people direction and provides a sense of completeness.

Four functions of the mind Thinking Feeling Intuition Sensation

Individuation

The ability to bring together the conscious elements elements of thinking, feeling, intuition or sensation with the unconscious archetypes.

Alfred Adler

Believed that people are basically motivated by a need to overcome feelings of inferiority

Coined phrase “Inferiority Complex” Physical problems Small size

Coined phrase “ Sibling Rivalry” – describes the jealousies found among brothers and sisters.

Creative Self

Believed self-awareness plays a major role in the formation of personality

The “creative self” is self aware and strives to overcome obstacles and develop the individual’s unique potential. Theodore Roosevelt Boomer Esiason

Karen Horney

Believed that childhood experiences play a major role in the development of adult personality. Social Relationships Parent-Child Relationships

Basic Anxiety – When parents treat child with indifference or harshness, child has feelings of insecurity.

Hostility – When parents neglect childRepression- Child hides feelings to avoid driving the

parent away

Erik Erikson

Believed Social Relationships are the most important factor in personality.

Mother-infant Relationship very important People are entirely capable of making real

and meaningful choices. Stages of development named after the traits

people might develop during each of them.

Erikson’s Stages of Development

Trust vs. Mistrust – (0-1) Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt – (2-3) Initiative vs. Guilt – (4-5) Industry vs. Inferiority – ( 6-12) Identity vs. Role Diffusion – (13-18) Intimacy vs. Isolation – (19-30) Generativity vs. Stagnation – (middle adulthood) Integrity vs. Despair – (late adulthood)