Personality – Psychoanalytic

(Psychodynamic) Perspective

RG 10a

Modified PowerPoint from: Aneeq Ahmad -- Henderson State University. Worth Publishers © 2007

Psychodynamic PerspectiveIn his clinical practice, Freud

encountered patients suffering from nervous disorders whose

complaints could not be explained in terms of purely physical causes…referred to

this as hysteria and said there had to be a psychological

cause for the ailments he was seeing.

From this…developed first comprehensive personality

theory ever!

Sigmund Freud

(1856-1939)

Culver

Pictures

Exploring the Unconscious

A reservoir (unconscious mind) of mostly

unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings and

memories. Freud asked patients to say whatever

came to their mind (free association) to tap the

unconscious.

http://

www.english.upenn.edu

Psychoanalysis

The process of free

association (chain of

thoughts) led to painful,

embarrassing

unconscious memories.

Once these memories

were retrieved and

released (treatment:

psychoanalysis) the

patient felt better.

Parts of the MindThe mind is like an iceberg…with the largest

and most important part (unconscious) hidden

from awareness.

conscious

preconscious

unconscious

S & A

S & A

S & A

what you are

currently

aware ofinfo not in

consciousness

, but is

retrievable as

neededOut of

awareness…yet

can dictate

behaviors

Unconscious influences

●Latent content of dreamsosymbolic meaning of dream images = what is

in your unconscious mind

●Freudian slipoSlips of the tongue that

Freud believed were our true,

unconscious thoughts surfacing

Personality StructureId, Ego and Superego

Id unconsciously strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives operating on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.

Largely conscious, ego functions as the “executive” and mediates the demands of id and superego…operates on the reality principleSuperego provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations…operates on the moral principle

Personality Development

Freud believed that personality formed

during life’s first few years divided into

psychosexual stages. During these

stages the id’s pleasure seeking energies

focus on pleasure sensitive body areas

called erogenous zones.

Psychosexual Stages

1.Oral (0-1): obtain pleasure from the mouth

via sucking, biting, swallowing

2.Anal (1-3): pleasure obtained by learning

to control bodily wastes

Psychosexual Stages

1.Phallic (3-5): most crucial stage (according to

Freud) – curious about genitalia and deal

with incestuous feelingsoOedipus Complex: boy has unconscious

desire for mom and jealous/hatred for dad…

fears punishment (castration)

if dad finds out about these feelings

oElectra Complex: the female version of the

Oedipus Complex (added later by Karen Horney and

Freud’s daughter, Anna)

Identification…end of Phallic StageChildren cope with

threatening feelings by

repressing them and by

identifying with the rival

parent…basically the “if you

can’t beat them, join them”

sentiment.

Through this process of

identification their superego

gains strength incorporating

parents’ values.

Psychosexual Stages

1.Latent (5-12): suppress sexual

interest – play mostly with same

sex peers

2.Genital (12 & up): adult sexualityoExpress sexual feelings toward

others

Fixation

If traumatic events occur…one can become “stuck” in that particular stage of

psychosexual development.Oral Fixation…

●seek excessive oral contact through smoking,drinking, eating

●dependence, either passive or biting sarcasm/act tough

Anal Fixation

●anal retentive – controlled and orderly

●anal expulsive – messy and disorganized

Defense Mechanisms

●methods used by ego to unconsciously

protect itself against anxiety caused by

conflict between id’s demands &

superego’s constraints oonly unhealthy when they cause self-defeating

behavior and emotional problems

Defense Mechanisms●Repression – we avoid painful thoughts by

forcing them into the back of our mindoUnderlies ALL other defense mech.

oEX…witness a murder, not remember

the details when asked by police

●Regression – we retreat to behaving or

thinking like a child in order to avoid adult

issuesoThrowing a temper tantrum when you

do not get what you want

Defense Mechanisms●Displacement – divert sexual or aggressive

impulses to a more acceptable person or objectoEX…angry at mom, take out that

anger on the family dog

●Projection – disguise threatening impulses by attributing them to othersoEX…want to break up with bf/gf, accuse

him/her of wanting to break up with you

Defense Mechanisms●Sublimation – we expend energy on

prosocial activities in order to avoid

undesirable activitiesoEX…you like to hit things so take up

boxing as a hobby

Reaction formation – make unacceptable

impulses into their opposite,

acceptable formoEX…you really dislike psychology teacher, but

tell everyone how much you love her

Defense Mechanisms●Rationalization – we try to create logical

explanations of our behavior in order to justify it. EX…want to go to the movies with friends, so justify going instead of studying for exam by stating that you would have failed anyway

●Denial – we refuse to perceive “reality” in order to protect ourselves from itoEX…get rejection letter from college of

choice, but still tell everyone you aregoing there

The Neo-Freudians

Like Freud, Adler

believed in childhood

tensions, however these

tensions were social in

nature and not sexual.

A child struggles with the

inferiority complex during

growth and strives for

superiority and power.

Alfred Adler (1870-1937)

National Library of

Medicine

The Neo-FreudiansLike Adler, Horney believed

in the social aspects of childhood growth and

development…children were trying to overcome a sense of helplessness.

She countered Freud’s assumption that women

have weak superegos and suffer “penis envy.”

Karen Horney (1885-

1952)

The Bettmann Archive/

Corbis

The Neo-Freudians

Jung believed in the

collective unconscious

which contained a

common reservoir of

images derived from our

species’ past.

Archetypes are the universal,

symbolic images that appear

across cultures

in myths, art, stories and

dreams

Carl Jung (1875-

1961)

“Evil “            “Hero”

Assessing Unconscious Processes

Evaluating personality from an unconscious

mind perspective would require a psychological

instrument (projective tests) that would reveal

the hidden unconscious mind.

Two main projective tests used:

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Rorschach Inkblot

Thematic Apperception Test

(TAT)

Developed by Henry

Murray, TAT is a

projective test in which

people express their

inner feelings and

interests through the

stories they make up

about ambiguous

scenes.

Thematic Apperception Test

(TAT)

Thematic Apperception Test

(TAT)

Rorschach Inkblot Test

The most widely used projective test with a set of 10 inkblots was designed by Hermann

Rorschach. It seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the

blots.

Lew Merrim/ Photo Researcher,

Inc.

Projective Tests: Criticisms

Critics argue that projective test lack both

reliability (consistency of results) and validity

(predicting what it is supposed to).

1.Even trained raters evaluating the same

patient come up with different interpretations

(reliability).

2. And projective tests may misdiagnose a

normal individual as pathological (validity).