Psychoanalytic Theory

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Psychoanalytic Theory

• conscious becoming aware of the unconscious

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• Psychoanalytic
• Accepts the importance of early childhood
  experiences and the unconscious mind.

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Important theorists

• Sigmund Freud
• Primitive, Animalistic, Unconscious drives,
  motives and instincts
• Carl Jung
• Analytic psychology with emphasis on
  collective unconscious
• Alfred Adler
• Less emphasis on (freuds) biological
  drives of sex and aggressions and more
  on social relationships.

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Classic Theory Sigmund FreudPsychosexual

• Basic tenets
• Constant struggles between desire to meet
  biological urge and realities of living.
• Unconscious process influence behavior

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Sigmund Freud Father of the Psychoanalytic
Theory

• Born in Moravia, on May 6, 1856
• Lived 78 years practicing in Vienna, Austria and
  established a private practice for the treatment
  of nervous disorders.
• Youngest daughter, Anna, became an important
  child psychoanalyst.
• Died of cancer of the jaw on September 23, 1939,
  in London, England.

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What is Psychoanalytic Theory?

• Psychoanalytic personality theory emphasizes the
  roles of intrapsychic events (processes occurring
  in the mind), unconscious drives and early
  childhood development. (1990, Liebert and
  Spiegler, p. 43)
• Childhood experiences, repressed erotic feelings,
  and unconscious conflicts can affect adult
  behavior. (1999, Friedman and Schustack, p. 62)

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Freuds View of a Person

• Human nature is under the dictatorship of
  instinctual, unconscious, and irrational forces.
• Human organisms are selfish beings, existing in a
  state of external and internal turmoil.
  (displaying aggressive and sexual excesses)
• Dominated by forces outside of conscious control.
• Humans are considered incapable of dealing with
  their own psychological problems.

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Determinism vs Choice

• All behavior is determined or caused by some
  force within the person.
• Behavior has meaning (none occurs by chance).
• Biological determinism vs. Psychological
  determinism - Freud emphasized psychological
  rather than biological consciousness knows
  nothing of. . . neurons.

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Personality Structures

• What lies beneath the surface of the unconscious
  mind??
• ID,
• EGO, and
• SUPEREGO

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The Structure of Personality

• ID
• Operates according to the pleasure principle
• Primitive and unconscious part of personality
• EGO
• Operates according to the reality principle
• Mediates between id and superego
• SUPEREGO
• Moral ideals and conscience

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The ID

• According to Freud
• We are born with our ID
• ID is an important part of our personality ? as
  newborns, it allows us to get our basic needs
  met. 
• ID is based on our pleasure principle ? id wants
  whatever feels good at the time, with no
  consideration for the reality of the situation. 
• When the id wants something, nothing else is
  important.
• The ID is the reservoir of instincts powered
  by libido sexual desire in the broadest sense.

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The EGO
You need to get organized ! Im talking to you
ID, are you listening?

• Within the next three years, as the child
  interacts more and more with the world, the
  second part of the personality (EGO) begins to
  develop. 
• EGO ? based on the reality principle. understands
  that other people have needs desires, and that
  sometimes being impulsive or selfish can hurt us
  in the long run. 
• Its the EGO's job to meet the needs of the ID,
  while taking into consideration the reality of
  the situation
• Ego serves as a bridge to reality (not totally
  conscious)
• The ego calls on various defense mechanisms in
  order to regain control over threatening id
  instincts.

No
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The Superego

• By the age of five, or the end of the phallic
  stage of development ? SUPEREGO develops. 
• Superego is the moral part of us and develops due
  to the moral and ethical restraints placed on us
  by our caregivers. 
• Many equate the superego with the conscience as
  it dictates our belief of right and wrong.
• Superegos most important function control id
  impulses, direct energy towards inhibiting ids
  expression of sexual, aggressive and antisocial
  instincts.
• Incorporates the norms and standards of society

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Codes of right wrong in Superego

• Introjection a process by which the personality
  incorporates the norms and standards of its
  culture
• Morality principle -equivalent to conscience
• Guilt an intense feeling of regret over having
  done something wrong
• Ego Ideal pride and self respect through
  positive standards of internal representations of
  idealized parental figures

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Freuds 5 Stages of Psychosexual Development

• ORAL STAGE
• ANAL STAGE
• PHALLIC STAGE
• LATENCY STAGE
• GENITAL STAGE

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According to Freud.

• Human being develop through stages based upon a
  particular erogenous zone.
• During each stage, an unsuccessful completion
  means that a child becomes fixated on that
  particular erogenous zone and either over or
  under-indulges once he or she becomes an adult.

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ORAL STAGEBIRTH ONE YEAR (18 MONTHS)

• Mouth erogenous zone
• Focus on Oral Pleasure sucking
• ID dominant personality structure
• TRAUMA eating/weaning problems not enough or
  too much
• Too much or too little gratification can result
  in an Oral Fixation or Oral Personality which is
  evidenced by a preoccupation with oral
  activities.
• FIXATION OF PSYCHIC ENERGY oral personality
  characteristics (eating, drinking, smoking,
  kissing, sucking on things)
• Oral personality childlike, dependent, gullible
  OR excessively aggressive (biting)

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ANAL STAGE- 3 YEARS

• Anal region erogenous zone
• Pleasure defecation
• EGO plays role in delaying defecation desire
  through TOILET TRAINING (fear). Parent either
  offers praise for successful eliminations or
  punishment for failures
• FIXATION ANAL PERSONALTIY (2 types)
• Anal Expulsive characteristics include being
  messy, cruel, destructive, overtly hostile
• Anal Retentive rigidity, obsessive style, and
  orderliness (reaction against messiness of
  defecating)
• In terms of personality, after effects of an anal
  fixation during this stage can result in an
  obsession with cleanliness, perfection, and
  control (anal retentive)? On the opposite end of
  the spectrum, they may become messy and
  disorganized (anal expulsive).

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Phallic Stage (3-6)

• Pleasure zone switches to the genitals.
• The development of
• Oedipus Complex (for boys)
• Freud believed that during this stage boys
  develop unconscious sexual desires for their
  mother.
• He becomes rivals with his father and sees him as
  competition for the mothers affection.
• During this time, boys also develop a fear that
  their father will punish them for these feelings,
  such as by castrating them.
• Electra Complex (for girls)
• Penis envy
• Female desire for feelings of strength and self
  worth that men have by virtue of their male
  anatomy (penis)

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LATENCY STAGE- 6 -
PUBERTY

• ID, EGO, SUPEREGO (personality structures) are
  fully developed by age 5
• Sexual desires become dormant after resolution of
  the oedipus complex
• Sex instinct is sublimated through school
  activities, hobbies, sports, same sex
  friendships, etc. during this time ? Sexual
  energy is channeled into such activities as going
  to school and making friends.
• Its during this stage that sexual urges remain
  repressed and children interact and play mostly
  with same sex peers.
• Latency involves massive repression of sexual, as
  well as, anal impulses.

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GENITAL STAGEADOLESCENCE - ADULTHOOD

• Erogenous zone adult genital regions
• The final stage of psychosexual development
  begins at the start of puberty when sexual urges
  are once again awakened ? Development of sex-role
  identity
• Through the lessons learned during the previous
  stages, adolescents direct their sexual urges
  onto opposite sex peers.
• Development of adult social relationships
  (heterosexual) if conflicts at all earlier
  stages were resolved and little libido was
  fixated there
• CONFLICT conformity to societal norms, but not
  a big deal and can be resolved through
  sublimation
• Genital personality type finding satisfaction
  in work and love

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Defense Mechanisms

• A defence mechanism is an unconscious way to
  protect the personality from unpleasant thoughts
  which may cause anxiety.
• However, a defence mechanism can also lead to a
  neurosis if it causes a person to adopt
  ineffectual or inappropriate coping strategies.
• Types of Defence Mechanism
• Displacement
• Introjection
• Projection
• Rationalisation
• Reaction Formation
• Regression
• Repression
• Sublimation

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Types of defense mechanism

• Displacement.
• Redirecting emotion from a 'dangerous' object to
  a 'safe' object. For example punching a cushion
  when angry at your partner.
• Introjection.
• When an individual internalises the values or
  characteristics of another person, usually
  someone who is significant to the individual in
  some way.
• Projection.
• The opposite of introjection. Attributing one's
  own emotions or desires to an external object or
  person. For example saying others hate you when
  it's you who hates the others.
• Rationalisation.
• Inventing a logical reason after an emotional act
  is made.

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Types of defense mechanism

• Reaction formation.
• A feeling is converted into its opposite, for
  example turning hate into love.
• Regression.
• Behaviour reverts to a previous age.
• Repression.
• Thoughts unacceptable to the Ego are moved into
  the unconscious where they cannot be easily
  accessed.
• Sublimation.
• A 'healthy' form of displacement, for example
  playing sport to relieve stress or anger.

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Healthy vs Unhealthy Personality

• According to Freud, In a healthy person
• EGO is the strongest so that it can satisfy the
  needs of the ID ? Not upset the SUPEREGO, ? and
  still take into consideration the reality of
  every situation. 
• If the ID gets too strong? impulses and self
  gratification take over the person's life. 
• If the SUPEREGO becomes too strong, the person
  would be driven by rigid morals, would be
  judgmental unbending in his or her interactions
  with the world. 

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Strengths Of the Psychoanalytic Approach

• Emphasizes the effects of patterns established
  early in life on personality development.
• Attempts to understand unconscious forces.
• Considers defense mechanisms as an essential
  aspect of personality.
• Assumes multiple levels are operations in the
  brain.

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Limitations of the Psychoanalytic Approach

• Pessimistic overemphasis on early experiences and
  destructive inner urges
• Relatively unconcerned with interpersonal
  relations or with the individuals identity and
  adaptation throughout life
• Difficult to test empirically
• Many ideas have been discredited by more modern
  research on the brain
• Assumes any deviation from heterosexual relation
  is pathological
• Focuses on male behavior as the norm and female
  behavior as a deviation

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Self Analysis

• Do you think Freuds theory can help you
  understand yourself?
• Do you think Freud really felt that females were
  inferior?
• Do the strengths of Freuds theory outweigh the
  weaknesses?
• Do profound child experiences affect later
  personality development?

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References

• Allen, B.P. (2003). Personality Theories , 4th
  edition. Boston Allyn and Bacon.
• Breger, L. (2000). Freud In the Midst of
  Darkness. New YorkJohn Wiley and Sons, Inc.
• Friedman, H.S. Schustack, M.W. (1999).
  Personality Classic Theories and Modern
  Research. Boston Allyn and Bacon.

Websites

• The Psychoanalytic Theory (Terms and Concepts)
  www.brocku.ca/english/courses/4f70/terms.html
• The Psychoanalytic Theory of Emotions
  http//member.aol.com/donjohnr/sketch.html
• Eddy M. Elmer Psychoanalytic Theory Personality
  Adjustment www.3.telus.net/eddyelmer/Tools/freud3
  .html
• Brief Introduction to Psychoanalysis
  http//homepage.newschool.edu/quiqleyt/vcs/psycho
  analysis.html