Theories of Personality Freud: Psychoanalysis Chapter 2
2-2 Outline Overview of Psychoanalytic Theory Biography of Freud Levels of Mental Life Provinces of Mind Dynamics of Personality Defense Mechanisms
2-3 Outline Stages of Development Applications of Psychoanalytic Theory Related Research Critique of Freud Concept of Humanity
2-4 Overview of Psychoanalytic Theory What Made This Theory Interesting –Cornerstones: Sex and aggression –Spread by a dedicated group –Brilliant language (Goethe Prize in Literature)
2-5 Biography of Freud Born in Freiberg Moravia (now the Czech Republic) in 1856 Spent most of life (80 years) in Vienna Austria Was the eldest son of eight Studied Medicine, specializing in psychiatry; interested in science Studied hysteria with Charcot & Breuer
Biography (cont’d) Studies on Hysteria (1895) Abandoned seduction theory in 1897 and replaced it with Oedipus Complex In 1900 wrote Interpretation of Dreams After 1900 developed international circle of followers (Adler, Jung, and others) Was driven out of Austria by Nazis in 1938 Died in London in 1939
2-7 Level of Mental Life Unconscious –Beyond awareness Includes drives, urges, or instincts Is known only indirectly –Two sources of unconscious processes Repression Phylogenetic Endowment Preconscious –Not in conscious awareness, but can be Conscious –Mental life that is directly available, plays a minor role
2-8 The Id Pleasure Principle –No contact with reality –unrealistic Primary Process –Id operates through primary process
2-9 The Ego The Reality Principle –Realistic –Contacts with reality and outer world –Comprimization between Id and Superego Secondary Process
2-10 The Superego The Idealistic Principle Conscience –Results from experiences with punishment –Tells us what we should not do Ego-Ideal –Results from experiences with reward –Tells us what we should do Superego controls sexual and aggressive drives through repression –Cannot respress drives but order the ego to do so
2-11 Dynamics of Personality Drives –Libido or Sex Drive –Thanatos or Aggression/Destructive Drive
2-12 Dynamics of Personality Anxiety –Neurotic Anxiety Apprehension about an unknown danger For instance, anxiety in the presence of authority figures Related to childhood experiences
2-13 Dynamics of Personality Anxiety –Moral Anxiety Stems from conflict between the ego and the superego Internalization of parental authority and punitive parental behaviors in childhood
2-14 Dynamics of Personality Anxiety –Realistic Anxiety Related to fear but it does not involve a specific fearful object For instance, driving in unfamiliar city In general, anxiety serves as an ego-preserving (signals danger) and self-regulating (precipitates repression)
2-15 Defense Mechanisms Repression (Bastırma) Reaction Formation (Karşıt tepki oluşturma) Displacement (Yer değiştirme) Fixation (Saplanma) Regression (Gerileme) Projection (Yansıtma) Introjection (İçleştirme) Sublimation (Yüceltme)
2-16 Stages of Development Infantile Period (Birth-5) –Oral Phase –Anal Phase –Phallic Phase Male Oedipus Complex –Castration Complex Female Oedipus Complex (Electra) –Penis Envy Latency Period (5-puberty) Genital Period (puberty-adulthood) Maturity
2-17 Free Association –Transference –Resistance Dream Analysis –Manifest and latent content Freudian or Unconscious Slips (Parapraxes) Applications of Psychoanalytic Theory
2-18 Related Research Unconscious Mental Processing –Automatic, implicit, nonconscious processing Inhibition and the Ego –Limbic system Defense Mechanisms –Neuropsychological underpinnings of repression Research on Dreams –Activation-synthesis theory
2-19 Critique of Freud Did Freud Understand Women? Was Freud a Scientist? –Theories are difficult to test –Generated considerable research –Difficult to falsify –Very loose organizational framework –Not a good guide to solve practical problems –Internally consistent theory
2-20 Freud’s Concept of Humanity Deterministic and Pessimistic Causality over Teleology Unconscious over Conscious Biology over Culture Equal emphasis on Uniqueness and Similarity