1. The Psychoanalytic Perspective zFrom Freud’s theory which proposes that childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence personality

2. Personality The Psychoanalytic Perspective

3. Perspectives on Personality Personality is a person’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting. Four major perspectives on personality –Psychoanalytic –Trait –Humanistic –Social cognitive

4. Issues in personality theory Free will or determinism? Nature or Nurture? Past, present, or future? Uniqueness or universality? Equilibrium or growth? Optimism or pessimism?

6. The Psychoanalytic Perspective Psychoanalysis –Freud’s psychoanalytic theory that attributes our thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts –techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

7. The Psychoanalytic Perspective Free Association –in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious –person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

8. The Psychoanalytic Perspective Unconscious –According to Freud- a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings and memories –Contemporary viewpoint- information processing of which we are unaware Preconscious –information that is not conscious, but is retrievable into conscious awareness www.answers.com

9. Personality Structure Id –contains a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy –strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives –operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification www.cbs.columbia.edu

10. Personality Structure Superego –the part of personality that presents internalized ideals –provides standards for judgement and for future aspirations

11. Personality Structure Ego –the largely conscious, “executive” part of personality –mediates among the demands of the id, superego and reality –operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

12. Personality Development Psychosexual Stages –the childhood stages of development during which the id’s pleasure- seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones Oedipus Complex –a boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father www.improbable.com

13. Personality Development Freud’s Psychosexual Stages Stage Focus Oral Pleasure centers on the mouth-- (0-18 months) sucking, biting, chewing Anal Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder (18-36 months) elimination; coping with demands for control Phallic Pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with (3-6 years) incestuous sexual feelings Latency Dormant sexual feelings (6 to puberty) Genital Maturation of sexual interests (puberty on)

14. Personality Development According to Freud, Identification –the process by which children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos. –What we now call gender identity Fixation –a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, where conflicts were unresolved Maladaptive adult behavior arises from the oral, anal, and phallic stages.

15. Defense Mechanisms –the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality Repression –the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness

16. Defense Mechanisms Reaction Formation –defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites –people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings

17. Defense Mechanisms Projection –defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others Rationalization –defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one’s actions

18. Defense Mechanisms Displacement –defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person –as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet

19. Defense Mechanisms Sublimation –defense mechanism by which people rechannel their unacceptable impulses into socially approved activities

20. The Interpretation of Dreams Sigmund Freud- The Interpretation of Dreams (1900) –wish fulfillment –discharge otherwise unacceptable feelings Manifest Content –remembered story line Latent Content –underlying, uncensored meaning

21. Evaluating Freudian Psychology Important within its historical context Researchers find little support that defense mechanisms disguise sexual and aggressive impulses History does not support Freud’s idea that sexual repression causes psychological disorders

23. The Neo-Freudians Accepted basic ideas of Freud Personality structures Importance of unconscious Shaping of personality in children Anxiety and defense mechanisms Challenged ideas of Freud Motives of sex and aggression Conscious mind in interpreting experience and coping with the environment

24. 24 The Neo-Freudians Like Freud, Adler believed in childhood tensions. However, these tensions were social in nature and not sexual. A child struggles with an inferiority complex during growth and strives for superiority and power. Alfred Adler (1870-1937) National Library of Medicine

25. 25 The Neo-Freudians Like Adler, Horney believed in the social aspects of childhood growth and development. She countered Freud’s assumption that women have weak superegos and suffer from “penis envy.” Karen Horney (1885-1952) The Bettmann Archive/ Corbis

26. 26 The Neo-Freudians Jung believed in the collective unconscious, which contained a common reservoir of images derived from our species’ past. This is why many cultures share certain myths and images such as the mother being a symbol of nurturance. Carl Jung (1875-1961) Archive of the History of American Psychology/ University of Akron

27. 27 Assessing Unconscious Processes Evaluating personality from an unconscious mind’s perspective would require a psychological instrument (projective tests) that would reveal the hidden unconscious mind.

28. 28 Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) Developed by Henry Murray, the TAT is a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes. Lew Merrim/ Photo Researcher, Inc.

29. 29 Rorschach Inkblot Test The most widely used projective test uses a set of 10 inkblots and 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.

30. 30 Evaluating the Psychoanalytic Perspective 1.Personality develops throughout life and is not fixed in childhood. 2.Freud underemphasized peer influence on the individual, which may be as powerful as parental influence. 3.Gender identity may develop before 5-6 years of age. Modern Research

31. 31 Evaluating the Psychoanalytic Perspective 4.There may be other reasons for dreams besides wish fulfillment. 5.Verbal slips can be explained on the basis of cognitive processing of verbal choices. 6.Suppressed sexuality leads to psychological disorders. Sexual inhibition has decreased, but psychological disorders have not. Modern Research

32. 32 Evaluating the Psychoanalytic Perspective Freud's psychoanalytic theory rests on the repression of painful experiences into the unconscious mind. The majority of children, death camp survivors, and battle-scarred veterans are unable to repress painful experiences into their unconscious mind.

33. 33 The Modern Unconscious Mind Modern research shows the existence of non- conscious information processing. This involves: 1.schemas that automatically control perceptions and interpretations 2.the right-hemisphere activity that enables the split- brain patient’s left hand to carry out an instruction the patient cannot verbalize 3.parallel processing during vision and thinking 4.implicit memories 5.emotions that activate instantly without consciousness 6.self-concept and stereotypes that unconsciously influence us

34. 34 Evaluating the Psychoanalytic Perspective The scientific merits of Freud’s theory have been criticized. Psychoanalysis is meagerly testable. Most of its concepts arise out of clinical practice, which are the after-the-fact explanation.

35. narcissitic parenting