Personality 2

Slide 1

• The Psychoanalytic Approach
• Freudian Theory
• Ø Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
• Ø Freudian Theory of
• Personality
• o
• Topographic (Iceberg) Model of mind
• o
• Structural Model (Id, Ego, Superego)
• Ø Psychosexual Stages of
• Development
• o
• Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital (O, A, P’s Love Genitals)
• v Life (Eros/Libido) and Death (Thanatos) Drives
• v Ego Defence Mechanisms
• v Parapraxes, humour and dreams
• v Psychoanalytic Therapy
• v Strengths and criticisms of Freud’s Theory
• Freud
• was his mum’s favourite but not Dad, started in medical but explored mind later
• ‘The Interpretation of Dreams” - about
• unconscious, used Free Association and dream interpretation to explore
• unconscious
• Made
• first understandable theory of personality.
• Assumptions
• behind Psychoanalytic Theory
• · Psychic Determination – we are
• determined by our unconscious
• · Unconscious Instinctual
• Urges – driven by urges
• · Structure of Mind – Id,
• Ego, Superego
• · Psychic Conflict – personality
• determined by unconscious conflicts in I,E and SE
• · Psychic energy needed to
• make mind work and energy cannot be destroyed (comes from eros/libido and Thanatos
• (definitions up top ^)
• · Psychoanalytic Therapy –
• need this to free up the energy and access unconscious
• Topographic Model (Iceberg)
• Ø Conscious – current awareness
• (we know it’s there)
• Ø Preconscious – just below
• surface (access if need to)
• Ø Unconscious – not voluntarily
• accessed.
• ^Not
• adequate to describe personality so made structural model of mind.
• · Id = primitive –
• irrational/pleasure principle. ‘want it now’
• · Ego = rational – reality
• principle. Mediates Id and Superego
• · Superego = moral principle.
• ‘that’s not appropriate’ – modifies behaviour to fit social norms.
• Intra-psychic
• conflict causes anxiety. Personality is determined by way unconscious conflicts
• between I, E and SE are resolved.
• EXAMPLE
• – party, want to go to but will miss lecture
• Id = go and have good time “pleasure
• principle”
• Ego = Download notes and get friend to record, come back
• early from party “rational principle”
• Superego = Don’t go, you want to do well “moral principle”
• ^The
• ego has made the compromise
• ^
• But the competing demands resulted in anxiety and made it a difficult decision –
• we deal with this through defence mechanisms.
• Psychoanalysis:
• life and death drives –
• · Freud said sexual and
• aggressive drives are main motivators in human behaviour – he ignores social
• world surrounding our decisions and behaviour
• Psychosexual Stages of Development:
• n Oral (0-18
• months)
• n Anal (18
• months - 3 1/2 years)
• n Phallic (3 1/2
• years - 6 years)
• n Latency (6
• years - puberty)
• n Genital
• (puberty - adulthood)
• ^Three parts to these: physical, psychological and
• adult character type.
• Fixation
• can occur at any stage and this exhibits in character through traits of
• fixation associated with the stage
• Doctrine
• of opposites = can have too much or too little engagement with stage.
• Oral
• o Physical: Mouth
• o Psychological: Dependant
• (feed me)
• o Adult Character: become too
• dependent or independent (push people away OR can’t cope alone)
• § Fixation = biting nails,
• smoking, excessive drinking or eating
• Anal
• o Physical: Anus
• o Psychological: Self-control/obedience
• o Adult Character: High self-control,
• too organised (Anally retentive) OR little self-control, disorganised, hostile
• (anally expulsive)
• § Fixation = potty training
• · High Self-control = military/police
• · Low self-control =
• Phallic
• · Physical: Penis
• · Psychological: Sexual
• identification WITH PARENT (I’m like mum and not dad)
• o Oedipus complex – Little Hans
• (castration fear)
• o Electra Complex -
• · Adult character:
• promiscuous, amoral or sexual
• Latency
• · Latency stage = period of
• calm d
• Genital
• · Physical: Genital
• · Psychological: Sexual
• reproduction, intellectual and artistic creativity
• · Adult character: well-adjusted
• and balanced.
• Ego
• Defence Mechanisms
• -
• Way we deal with anxiety
• o Denial – think anxiety
• provoking stimuli does not exist
• o Repression – push anxiety into
• unconscious
• o Regression – return to
• previous stage of development
• o Reaction formation – take opposite
• belief to what causes anxiety – can be when we are racist/homophobic, go out of
• way to appear accepting which is complete opposite of how you feel.
• -
• More =
• o Projection – place own
• unacceptable impulses onto others (accuse others of being
• homosexual/racist/homophobic)
• o Rationalisation – supply
• logical reason instead of real reason (try and supply evidence and avoid
• emotion)
• o Intellectualisation – avoid
• unacceptable emotions by focusing on intellect instead (similar to above)
• o Displacement – take impulse
• out on less threatening target (shout at cat when annoyed)
• o Sublimation – act unacceptable
• impulse in socially acceptable way (sport – or if you’re more creative than
• physical might start writing new song (e.g.))
• Evidence
• of unconscious
• Þ Revealing unconscious – it leaks
• out in everyday
• o Freudian slips – slip of
• tongue
• § Say what we think rather
• than what we meant to say
• o Humour – controlled leak
• § Essential form of sublimation
• § Most easy form of defence
• to understand – normally around sensitive areas/people.
• o Dreams: ‘royal road to
• unconscious’
• § Provide id impulse with
• stage for expression so unconscious is revealed (dream about scenarios or
• people you put to the ‘back of your mind’)
• Þ Manifest content = what we
• see and remember
• Þ Latent content = what is
• really being said
• o Desires expressed in
• disguised formed, then represented symbolically
• o Unconscious threatening
• impulses expressed and conscious mind not threatened
• o Majority of Freudian dream
• symbols are sexual
• § Male symbols = genitals
• (umbrellas, sticks, pencils, knives in dreams)
• § Female = caves, boxes
• § Sex = dancing, horse
• riding, climbing
• § Freud interprets all dreams
• sexually (is he okay?)
• Psychoanalytic
• Therapy
• Þ Aim = uncover repressed,
• unconscious material to release stored anxiety
• Þ Techniques = dream
• analysis, free association and transference.
• Þ Projective Tests
• o Rorschach inkblot test
• § Ten inkblot cards and you
• describe what you see in the inkblot (ridiculous?)
• o Thematic Apperception Test
• (TAT)
• § Series of ambiguous pics
• and tell stories about each one
• o Human figure drawing test
• § Draw pic for therapist
• Strengths of Freud’s Theory:
• The
• unconscious part of mind can perceive things without conscious awareness
• (Erdelyi, 1974).
• Defense
• mechanisms, in particular, repression appears to occur (Weinberger &
• Davidson, (1994).
• Anal
• characteristics are intercorrelated.
• Oral
• characteristics are intercorrelated (Weston, 1990)
• Catharsis
• is helpful to physical/psychological health (Erdelyi, 1994).
• Laboratory
• studies have demonstrated transference (Andersen & Baum, 1994).
• Criticisms of Freud’s Theory:
• Concepts
• are poorly designed - What is “psychic energy”?
• Difficult
• to test empirically
• Role
• of the environment is overlooked
• Over-emphasis
• on sexual drive, early experiences and destructive inner urges.
• Case-study
• method - data from neurotic, wealthy, European females
• Pessimistic
• - psychic determinism - is there no free will?
• Assumes
• any deviation from heterosexual relations is pathological.
• Focuses
• on heterosexual male behaviour as the norm
• n Eysenck (1952)
• – questions the efficacy of psychotherapy:
• n Survey of 19 studies
• covering over 7000 cases
• n Compared patients who
• received psychotherapy (experimental group) with patients who had been
• hospitalized for neurosis or treated only by their GPs (control groups).
• n Control groups provided a
• baseline of spontaneous recovery (66%).
• n Of patients treated by
• psychoanalysis, 44% recovered.
• n Of patients treated
• eclectically 64% recovered.
• n Patients treated only by
• GPs show 72% recovery.
• n Findings suggest an inverse
• correlation between recovery and psychotherapy: more psychotherapy = smaller
• recovery rate.
• n For an up to
• date review of the status of psychotherapy and its modern application see
• Westen & Morrison (2001).