KAREN HORNEY

1885-1952

Pioneer in Feminine Psychology

NEO-FREUDIAN(as Adler was also)

• Criticized Freud’s concept of penis envy

• Womb envy

• Debunked Freud’s concept of oedipal complex

PERSONALITY THEORY

• Holistic, humanistic perspective

• Emphasized cultural & social influences, human growth and self-actualization

• Theory of neurotic needs

NEUROSIS

• An attempt to make life bearable

• An interpersonal controlling & coping technique

• Caused by parental indifference

• Child’s perception rather than parent’s intention

• Ten patterns of neurotic needs

10 NEUROTIC NEEDS

1. affection & approval

2. for a partner

3. to restrict one’s life into narrow borders

4. power & control over others

5. to exploit others

6. social recognition & prestige

7. personal admiration

8. personal achievement

9. self-sufficiency & independence

10. perfection

THREE COPING STRATEGIES

• COMPLIANCE – needs 1 - 3

• AGGRESSION - needs 4 - 8

• WITHDRAWAL - needs 9 - 10

FEMININE PSYCHOLOGY

• wrote 14 papers between 1922 & 1937 compiled in a volume entitled “Feminine Psychology

• culture & society encourage women to be dependent on men

• encouraged women in self-analysis

• wrote one of the first self-help books