The Neopsychoanalytic Approach Karen Horney The Neopsychoanalytic Approach

Neopsychoanalytic Reaction to Freud Humans motivated by need for security and love, not by sex and aggression Influence of gender experience More emphasis on social factors in influencing personality

Safety Need Social forces in childhood, not biological forces influence personality No universal stages of development Childhood is dominated by need for security and freedom from fear Parents foster security by treating the child with warmth and affection Normality of personality development direct function of level of warmth and affection received by parents

Basic Anxiety Pervasive feeling of loneliness and helplessness Foundation of neurosis 4 ways we protect ourselves in childhood from basic anxiety: Securing love and affection Being submissive Attaining power Withdrawing

Neurotic Needs Definition: Irrational defenses against anxiety that become a permanent part of personality and that affect behavior Encompass the 4 ways of protecting ourselves against anxiety

10 Neurotic Needs Affection and approval (gaining affection) A dominant partner (submissive) Power (attaining power) Exploitation (attaining power) Prestige (attaining power) Admiration (attaining power) Achievement or ambition (attaining power) Self-sufficiency (withdrawing) Perfection (withdrawing) Narrow limits to life (withdrawing)

Neurotic Trends 3 categories of behaviors and attitudes toward oneself and others that express a person’s needs Neurotic persons are compelled to act based on one of the neurotic trends Movement toward others (compliant personality) Movement against others (aggressive personality) Movement away from others (detached personality)

Neurotic Trends Affection and approval (mvmt. toward) A dominant partner (mvmt. toward) Power (mvmt against) Exploitation (mvmt. against) Prestige (mvmt against) Admiration (mvmt. against) Achievement or ambition (mvmt against) Self-sufficiency (mvmt away) Perfection (mvmt away) Narrow limits to life (mvmt away)

The Compliant Personality Move toward others Intense need for affection and approval Urge to be loved, wanted Manipulate others to achieve goals Think of self as helpless Suppress desires to control, exploit others

The Aggressive Personality Move against people Survival of the fittest See self as superior Driven to succeed to compensate for feelings of insecurity, anxiety

The Detached Personality Move away from others Strive to become self-sufficient Desire for privacy Maintain emotional distance

Personality types 1 usually dominates, other 2 present to lesser degree Conflict Basic incompatibility of 3 trends Core of neurosis Experience very intense conflict

Idealized Self-Image Normal people: Built on flexible, realistic assessment of one’s abilities Neurotic people: Inflexible, unrealistic self-appraisal Tyranny of the shoulds Used by neurotics to attain the idealized self Deny true self and behave in terms of what we think we should be doing Externalization: Reduce conflict caused by discrepancy between ideal and actual self

Feminine Psychology Revision of psychoanalysis to include psychological conflicts found in the traditional ideal of womanhood and women’s roles

Research and Assessment Used techniques of case study, free association and dream analysis Personality types in childhood appear to continue through to adulthood Tyranny of the shoulds: Those who engaged in tasks because they wanted to versus because they thought they should scored higher on general life satisfaction

Criticisms of Horney Theory of personality not as well constructed as Freudian theory Ignores roles of sociology and anthropology in influencing personality Observations too influenced by middle class America

Contributions of Horney Contribution to feminist psychology Influence on Erikson and Maslow More optimistic view of personality than Freud Accounts for social factors in shaping personality