Neo-Freudian

Karen Horney1885-1952

Karen Horney

Not a student of Freud’s Indirectly studied Freud’s

work Taught psychoanalysis at

the Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute and the New York Psychoanalytic Institute.

AGREED WITH FREUD regardinga. The unconsciousb. The importance of dreamsc. Attention to childhood

DISAGREED with Freud’s views concerning women – misleading, insulting.

Considered cultural and social influences on personality.

Resigned the NYPI in 1941 and founded her own American Institute for Psychoanalysis.

Contribution to Psychoanalysis

Neurosis

Feminine Psychology

Neurosis

The internal process (an unconscious conflict) that triggers anxiety

Horney’s beliefs

All neurosis is culture dependent: the norms for behaviour are defined by the particular culture.

E.g. Among Native Americans, being extremely passive or aggressive can be considered abnormal or desirable depending on the tribe.

Contrasts with Freudian view: neurotic behaviour described in terms of innate interpsychic connections independent of social setting

Neurosis

Freud = fixated energy, unconscious battles between various personality aspects.

Adler = feelings of inferiority.Horney = role of disturbed interpersonal

relationships during childhood.Parents not providing proper environment

= feelings of anxiety (“the feeling a child has of being isolated and helpless in a potentially hostile world”)

Ways Parents Create Anxiety

“…direct or indirect domination, indifference, erratic behaviour, lack of respect for the child’s individual needs, lack of real guidance, disparaging attitudes, too much admiration or the absence of it, lack of reliable warmth, having to take sides in parental disagreements, too much or too little responsibility, over-protection, isolation from other children, injustice, discrimination, unkept promises, hostile atmosphere, and… I should like to draw special attention in this context [to] the child’s sense of lurking hypocrisy in the environment”

NOTE:

CAUSES, STRATEGIES, SYMPTOMS = all INTERPERSONAL (interactions between individuals)

Styles of interaction

Styles of interacting with others to avoid further anxiety provoking relations

Non-neurotic people can be flexible in their use of the three styles

Neurotic people are characterised by their inflexible reliance on only one of these styles

The THREE styles

MOVING TOWARD PEOPLE MOVING AGAINST PEOPLE MOVING AWAY FROM PEOPLE

MOVING TOWARD PEOPLE

“needs to be liked, wanted, desired, loved; to feel accepted, welcomed, approved of, appreciated; to be needed, to be of importance to others, especially to one particular person; to be helped, protected, taken care of, guided” (Horney, 1945/1966, p.51)

Emphasise one’s helplessness. Extremely dependent on others Compulsively seeking affection

and acceptance Claims a need for love but

incapable of genuine love or of a deep, rewarding relationship.

Clingy; no give, all take.

MOVING AGAINST PEOPLE

Fight! Aggression and hostility to

deal with poor home environment

In adults, hostility aimed at people in general

Need to exploit others, take advantage of weaknesses in others

Need to be in control and to be powerful

Love is silly and sentimental Characterised by

externalisation (similar to Freud’s projection). Belief that all people are hostile and get what they can

Relationships are necessarily shallow, unfulfilling, painful.

MOVING AWAY FROM PEOPLE

Tuning out of the outside world.

Striving for self-sufficiency and independence

Strong desire for privacy Job with little interactionAvoid affection, love,

sympathy and friendship.Emotional attachment

pain; avoid involvement avoid anxiety

NEUROTIC TRENDS PRIMARY MODES OF RELATING TO OTHERS

BASIC ORIENTATIONS TOWARD LIFE

1. Exaggerated need for affection and approval

2. Need for a dominant partner

Moving Toward (compliance): accepting one’s helplessness and becoming compliant

Self-effacing (Not drawing attention to oneself ) solutions: an appeal to be loved

3. Exaggerated need for power4. Need to exploit others5. Exaggerated need for social recognition or prestige6. Exaggerated need for personal admiration7. Exaggerated ambition for personal achievement

Moving against (hostility):Rebelling and resisting others to protect one’s self from a threatening environment

Self-expansive solution: a striving for mastery

8. Need to restrict one’s life within arrow boundaries9. Exaggerated need for self-sufficiency and independence10. Need for perfection and unassailability (not open to attack or assault )

Moving away (detachment): isolating one’s self to avoid involvement with others

Resignation solution: a desire to be free of others

Horney’s Ten Neurotic Trends

FEMININE PSYCHOLOGY

1930s: woman in man’s worldCountered penis envy with womb envy

(men are jealous of women’s ability to bear and nurse children).

Men compensates their inability through achievements in other domains

Concludes each sex has attributes that the other admires.

Horney’s Criticism of Freud

Context: Freud at a time when women were seen as inferior.

If women wished they were men, it’s due to cultural restrictions.

Again emphasises cultural vs. innate influences