Post on 24-Jan-2016
Personality – Psychoanalytic
(Psychodynamic) Perspective
RG 10a
Modified PowerPoint from: Aneeq Ahmad -- Henderson State University. Worth Publishers © 2007
Psychodynamic PerspectiveIn his clinical practice, Freud
encountered patients suffering from nervous disorders whose
complaints could not be explained in terms of purely physical causes…referred to
this as hysteria and said there had to be a psychological
cause for the ailments he was seeing.
From this…developed first comprehensive personality
theory ever!
Sigmund Freud
(1856-1939)
Culver
Pictures
Exploring the Unconscious
A reservoir (unconscious mind) of mostly
unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings and
memories. Freud asked patients to say whatever
came to their mind (free association) to tap the
unconscious.
http://
www.english.upenn.edu
Psychoanalysis
The process of free
association (chain of
thoughts) led to painful,
embarrassing
unconscious memories.
Once these memories
were retrieved and
released (treatment:
psychoanalysis) the
patient felt better.
Parts of the MindThe mind is like an iceberg…with the largest
and most important part (unconscious) hidden
from awareness.
conscious
preconscious
unconscious
S & A
S & A
S & A
what you are
currently
aware ofinfo not in
consciousness
, but is
retrievable as
neededOut of
awareness…yet
can dictate
behaviors
Unconscious influences
●Latent content of dreamsosymbolic meaning of dream images = what is
in your unconscious mind
●Freudian slipoSlips of the tongue that
Freud believed were our true,
unconscious thoughts surfacing
Personality StructureId, Ego and Superego
Id unconsciously strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives operating on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.
Largely conscious, ego functions as the “executive” and mediates the demands of id and superego…operates on the reality principleSuperego provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations…operates on the moral principle
Personality Development
Freud believed that personality formed
during life’s first few years divided into
psychosexual stages. During these
stages the id’s pleasure seeking energies
focus on pleasure sensitive body areas
called erogenous zones.
Psychosexual Stages
1.Oral (0-1): obtain pleasure from the mouth
via sucking, biting, swallowing
2.Anal (1-3): pleasure obtained by learning
to control bodily wastes
Psychosexual Stages
1.Phallic (3-5): most crucial stage (according to
Freud) – curious about genitalia and deal
with incestuous feelingsoOedipus Complex: boy has unconscious
desire for mom and jealous/hatred for dad…
fears punishment (castration)
if dad finds out about these feelings
oElectra Complex: the female version of the
Oedipus Complex (added later by Karen Horney and
Freud’s daughter, Anna)
Identification…end of Phallic StageChildren cope with
threatening feelings by
repressing them and by
identifying with the rival
parent…basically the “if you
can’t beat them, join them”
sentiment.
Through this process of
identification their superego
gains strength incorporating
parents’ values.
Psychosexual Stages
1.Latent (5-12): suppress sexual
interest – play mostly with same
sex peers
2.Genital (12 & up): adult sexualityoExpress sexual feelings toward
others
Fixation
If traumatic events occur…one can become “stuck” in that particular stage of
psychosexual development.Oral Fixation…
●seek excessive oral contact through smoking,drinking, eating
●dependence, either passive or biting sarcasm/act tough
Anal Fixation
●anal retentive – controlled and orderly
●anal expulsive – messy and disorganized
Defense Mechanisms
●methods used by ego to unconsciously
protect itself against anxiety caused by
conflict between id’s demands &
superego’s constraints oonly unhealthy when they cause self-defeating
behavior and emotional problems
Defense Mechanisms●Repression – we avoid painful thoughts by
forcing them into the back of our mindoUnderlies ALL other defense mech.
oEX…witness a murder, not remember
the details when asked by police
●Regression – we retreat to behaving or
thinking like a child in order to avoid adult
issuesoThrowing a temper tantrum when you
do not get what you want
Defense Mechanisms●Displacement – divert sexual or aggressive
impulses to a more acceptable person or objectoEX…angry at mom, take out that
anger on the family dog
●Projection – disguise threatening impulses by attributing them to othersoEX…want to break up with bf/gf, accuse
him/her of wanting to break up with you
Defense Mechanisms●Sublimation – we expend energy on
prosocial activities in order to avoid
undesirable activitiesoEX…you like to hit things so take up
boxing as a hobby
Reaction formation – make unacceptable
impulses into their opposite,
acceptable formoEX…you really dislike psychology teacher, but
tell everyone how much you love her
Defense Mechanisms●Rationalization – we try to create logical
explanations of our behavior in order to justify it. EX…want to go to the movies with friends, so justify going instead of studying for exam by stating that you would have failed anyway
●Denial – we refuse to perceive “reality” in order to protect ourselves from itoEX…get rejection letter from college of
choice, but still tell everyone you aregoing there
The Neo-Freudians
Like Freud, Adler
believed in childhood
tensions, however these
tensions were social in
nature and not sexual.
A child struggles with the
inferiority complex during
growth and strives for
superiority and power.
Alfred Adler (1870-1937)
National Library of
Medicine
The Neo-FreudiansLike Adler, Horney believed
in the social aspects of childhood growth and
development…children were trying to overcome a sense of helplessness.
She countered Freud’s assumption that women
have weak superegos and suffer “penis envy.”
Karen Horney (1885-
1952)
The Bettmann Archive/
Corbis
The Neo-Freudians
Jung believed in the
collective unconscious
which contained a
common reservoir of
images derived from our
species’ past.
Archetypes are the universal,
symbolic images that appear
across cultures
in myths, art, stories and
dreams
Carl Jung (1875-
1961)
“Evil “ “Hero”
Assessing Unconscious Processes
Evaluating personality from an unconscious
mind perspective would require a psychological
instrument (projective tests) that would reveal
the hidden unconscious mind.
Two main projective tests used:
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
Rorschach Inkblot
Thematic Apperception Test
(TAT)
Developed by Henry
Murray, TAT is a
projective test in which
people express their
inner feelings and
interests through the
stories they make up
about ambiguous
scenes.
Thematic Apperception Test
(TAT)
Thematic Apperception Test
(TAT)
Rorschach Inkblot Test
The most widely used projective test with a set of 10 inkblots was designed by Hermann
Rorschach. It seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the
blots.
Lew Merrim/ Photo Researcher,
Inc.
Projective Tests: Criticisms
Critics argue that projective test lack both
reliability (consistency of results) and validity
(predicting what it is supposed to).
1.Even trained raters evaluating the same
patient come up with different interpretations
(reliability).
2. And projective tests may misdiagnose a
normal individual as pathological (validity).