© McGraw-Hill Theories of Personality Klein Chapter 5 © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

© McGraw-Hill Outline Overview of Object Relations Theory Biography of Klein Introduction to Object Relations Theory Psychic Life of the Infant Positions Psychic Defense Mechanisms Internalizations Cont’d

© McGraw-Hill Outline Later Views on Object Relations Psychotherapy Related Research Critique of Object Relations Theory Concept of Humanity

© McGraw-Hill Overview of Object Relations Theory Built on Observations of Young Children Infant’s Drives are Driven by Objects –Breast is prototype for later relations Role of Fantasy in Interpersonal Relationships

© McGraw-Hill Biography of Klein Born in Vienna in 1882 Youngest of Four Children Complex Family Relationships Met Sandor Ferenczi in 1909 Read On Dreams in 1914 Became an analyst by being psychoanalyzed and through a study of psychoanalysis Was First in Freud’s Circle to Psychoanalyze Children Directly Her The Psycho-Analysis of Children was published in 1932 Died in England in 1960

© McGraw-Hill Introduction to Object Relations Theory Related to Freud’s Instinct Theory but Differs in Three Important Ways: –Emphasizes consistent patterns of interpersonal relationships –Stresses intimacy and nurturing (maternal) –Relatedness as prime motive of human behavior

© McGraw-Hill Psychic Life of the Infant Fantasies –Infants possess an active fantasy life –Most basic fantasies are of what is “good” and “bad” (e.g., good and bad breast) Objects –Drives have an object –Objects are introjected or taken into child’s fantasy world and have a life of their own

© McGraw-Hill Positions Paranoid-Schizoid Position –Organizing experiences in way that includes both feelings of persecution and splitting of internal and external objects into the good and the bad Depressive Position –Anxiety over losing a loved object –Sense of guilt for wanting to destroy loved object

© McGraw-Hill Psychic Defense Mechanisms Introjection Projection Splitting Projective Identification

© McGraw-Hill Internalizations Aspects of the External World That Are Organized Internally into a Psychologically Meaningful Framework –Ego –Superego –Oedipus Complex Male Oedipal Complex Female Oedipal Complex

© McGraw-Hill Later Views of Object Relations Margaret Mahler’s View – Observed infant/mother interaction during the first three years of infants’ lives – Examined change from security to autonomy – Children pass through a series of three major developmental stages: 1.Normal autism (birth through 3-4 weeks) 2.Normal symbiosis (4 th week-5 th month) 3.Separation-individuation (5 th -36 th month)

© McGraw-Hill Later Views of Object Relations Heinz Kohut’s View – Emphasized the process of development of the self – In caring for infants’ physical and psychological needs, adults or self-objects treat them as if they had a sense of self – Self is the “center of the individual’s psychological universe” – Early self is characterized by two narcissistic needs: To exhibit the grandiose self To acquire an idealized image of parents

© McGraw-Hill Later Views of Object Relations John Bowlby’s View – Tried to Integrate with Evolutionary Theory – Childhood was the Starting Point – By studying human and other primate infants, he observed three stages of separation anxiety: Protest, Despair, & Detachment – Two fundamental assumptions Caregiver must create a secure base of child Bonding relationship becomes internalized and acts as model for future relationships

© McGraw-Hill Later Views of Object Relations Mary Ainsworth was influenced by Bowlby – Developed Strange Situation technique for measuring attachment style – Found three basic styles: Secure, Anxious-resistant, & Anxious-avoidant

© McGraw-Hill Psychotherapy Klein Thought all Children Should be Psychoanalyzed Substituted Play Therapy for Dream Work Goal of Kleinian Psychotherapy: –To reduce depressive anxieties and persecutory fears, and to lessen the harshness of internalized objects

© McGraw-Hill Related Research Object Relations and Eating Disorders –Huprich et al. (2004) Disturbed object relations associated with eating disorders Attachment Theory and Adult Relationships –Hazan & Shaver (1987) Those with secure attachments experience more trust, closeness, and positive emotions in relationships –Rholes et al. (2007) Avoidant individuals seek less information about their romantic partners while anxious individuals seek more –Davidovitz et al. (2007) Attachment styles and information seeking in leadership: Military officers and their soldiers: Lower well-being in units with avoidant officers; lower instrumental functioning, but higher socioemotional functioning, in units with anxious officers

© McGraw-Hill Critique of Object Relations Theory Attachment Theory –High on Practicality, Internal Consistency, and Falsifiability –Moderate on Generating Research –Low on Parsimony (Particularly Kleinian Theory) and Organizing Knowledge

© McGraw-Hill Concept of Humanity Determinism over Free Choice Equal Emphasis on Optimism and Pessimism Causality over Teleology Unconscious over Conscious Social Determinants over Biology Similarity over Uniqueness