Chapter 5 - The Psychoanalytic Approach

Question 1

What are the neo-Freudians?

Answer 1

Studied under Freud
retained the unconscious as a key determinant of behavior, and childhood causing adulthood events.

Question 2

What were the three disagreements the Neo Freudians had with Freuds thinking?

Answer 2

1. rejected the idea that the adult personality is formed almost in its entirety by experiences in the first 5 or 6 years of life. (Erik Erikson claimed personality developed into old age)
2. challenged Freud’s emphasis on instinctual sources of personality. (Freud failed to appreciate many social and cultural forces) (Karen Horney - claimed culture plays a large role)
3. psychologists disliked the generally negative tone of Freudian theory (Degrading). That people are largely controlled by instincts and unconscious forces (depressing)

Question 3

Who is Alfred Adler?

Answer 3

first member of the psychoanalytic group to break with Freud (ppl left with him too)

Created: individual psychology

Accomplishments:
role of parental influence on personality development, and the effects of birth order.

Question 4

What is one of the key differences between Adler and Freud?

Answer 4

Description of human motivation

Whereas Freud depicted motivation in terms of sexual and aggressive themes, Adler identified a single motivating force he called striving for superiority.

striving for superiority: the person’s effort to overcome feelings of inferiority.

Question 5

What is a inferiority complex?

Answer 5

a belief that they are vastly inferior to everyone else

Question 6

What are two parental behaviors Adler said will lead to problems later in life?

Answer 6

1. First, parents who give their children too much attention run the risk of pampering.
   - Pampering robs the child of independence and adds to feelings of inferiority.
2. Second, neglect their children. Children who receive too little attention from their parents grow up cold and suspicious. As adults, they are incapable of warm personal relationships. They are uncomfortable with intimacy and may be ill at ease with closeness or touching

Question 7

What was Adlers opinion on birth order?

Answer 7

1st child = pampered (first kid so take pictures etc) (Arrival of second child and the first is dethroned)

He suggested among firstborns we find= “problem children, neurotics, criminals, drunkards, and perverts.”

Middle Children= Not be pampered, develop an intense superiority striving
Adler said, middle-born children are the highest achievers.

Last Born Children= Last-born children are pampered throughout their childhood by all members of the family. A spoiled child is a very dependent child—a child without personal initiative.

Question 8

What was Carl Jung’s school of psychology?

Answer 8

analytic psychology

Question 9

Jung claimed we all have a collective unconscious (distinguished from personal unconscious.), what is it?

Answer 9

The part of the unconscious mind containing thoughts, images, and psychic characteristics common to all members of a culture

Ex.
Infants= loving your mother
Children= Scared of dark
Young Adult= Believe in god (lol)

Question 10

Explain Jung and his ‘sides’ thing (?)

Answer 10

The anima is the feminine side of the male; the animus is the masculine side of the female. According to Jung, deep inside every masculine man is a feminine counterpart. Deep inside every feminine woman is a masculine self.

Why? To guide us to a romantic partner
“man, in his love choice, is strongly tempted to win the woman who best corresponds to his own unconscious femininity”

shadow contains the unconscious part of ourselves that is essentially negative (evil side of human kind)

Question 11

What is Jung’s evidence?

Answer 11

Rather than rely on data from rigorous investigations, he turned to sources like mythology, cultural symbols, dreams, and the statements of schizophrenics.

Question 12

What is Erikson’s approach called?

Answer 12

ego psychology,
he principal function of the ego is to establish and maintain a sense of identity. People with a strong sense of personal identity are aware of their uniqueness

(Fun note: Identity crisis comes from his work - confusion and despair we feel when we lack a strong sense of who we are)

Question 13

Explain Erikson’s 8 stages of development:
Trust vs. Mistrust.

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt. …

Initiative vs. Guilt. …

Industry vs. Inferiority. …

Identity vs. Confusion. …

Intimacy vs. Isolation. …

Generativity vs. Stagnation. …

Integrity vs. Despair

Answer 13

Trust vs. Mistrust.
- first year or so of life
- At mercy of those around them
- . The child whose needs are met develops a sense of basic trust. (if not=mistrust)

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt. …
-Second year of life, children want to know who they are relative to the rest of the world.
- If can manipulate / interact with things they encounter = autonomy (and feel powerful)
-If not allowed to explore = shame

Initiative vs. Guilt. …
-Children who seek out playmates and who learn how to organize games and other social activities develop a sense of initiative
- Children who fail to develop a sense of initiative come through this stage with feelings of guilt

Industry vs. Inferiority. …
- before the turmoil of puberty and the teenage years, that we develop either a sense of industry and a belief in our strengths and abilities or a sense of inferiority and a lack of appreciation for our talents and skills.

Identity vs. Confusion. …
-“Who am I?” If the question is answered successfully, they develop a sense of identity
- Unfortunately, many teens fail to develop this strong sense of identity and instead fall into role confusion

Intimacy vs. Isolation. …
- Young men and women search for that special relationship within which to develop intimacy and grow emotionally.
-People who fail to develop intimacy during this stage face emotional isolation.

Generativity vs. Stagnation. …
- Parents find their lives enriched by the influence they have on their children.
-Adults who fail to develop this sense of generativity may suffer from a sense of stagnation—a feeling of emptiness and questioning one’s purpose in life.

Integrity vs. Despair
-Reflections on past experiences and the inevitability of life’s end cause us to develop either a sense of integrity or feelings of despair

Question 14

What did Karen Horney create?

Answer 14

feminine psychology and Neurosis

Question 15

What are all neurotic people fighting in Karen Horney’s analysis?

Answer 15

feelings of inadequacy and insecurity.

she believed children too often grow up in homes that foster feelings of anxiety. (Not unconscious battles like freud)

Question 16

What are the three interaction styles neurotics adopt in their efforts to avoid anxiety-provoking experiences? (Karen Horney)

Answer 16

moving toward people:
- hey may indiscriminately attach themselves to whomever is available, believing that any relationship is better than loneliness and feeling unwanted. (they don’t love, they cling)

moving against people:
-these individuals learned during childhood that people are basically hostile and only interested in themselves. They respond to this perception by doing unto others before others can do unto them

moving away from people:
- The safest way to avoid anxiety is to avoid involvement.

Question 17

Why are so many ppl religious according to Freud?

Answer 17

religious behavior represents a form of neurosis. It begins with the baby’s feelings of helplessness and longing for a powerful protector, presumably the father.

Question 18

Why are so many ppl religious according to Jung?

Answer 18

Jung’s answer was that each of us inherits a God archetype in our collective unconscious

Question 19

Why are so many ppl religious according to Fromm?

Answer 19

“People return to religion … not as an act of faith but in order to escape an intolerable doubt,” Fromm wrote. “They make this decision not out of devotion but in search of security”

Question 20

What are personal narratives?

Answer 20

Assessment procedure that asks individuals to provide autobiographical descriptions of important events in their lives.

ex. high point in their life, a turning point in their life, an important childhood memory, and so on

It is a measure of personality

(But how accurate is personal retellings? who knows, but they’re retelling it in a way that is significant to them)

Question 21

Note on generativity versus stagnation (So freebie)

Answer 21

People this age obtain personal satisfaction and enrichment through the influence they have on the next generation. Erikson and his followers thought of generativity in much broader terms than parents influencing their children. People can obtain a sense of generativity by working directly with youth as an uncle, scout leader, or Sunday school teacher.

Question 22

What are the strengths of Neo - Freudian Theories?

Answer 22

1. Main one: elaboration of important concepts that Freud had ignored or de-emphasized.
2. more optimistic and flattering picture of humankind than Freud had.
3. introduced many new concepts into the psychological literature
4. Optimism paved the way for the humanistic personality theories

In Sum: these theories provide a bridge between Freud’s concepts and many later personality theories.

Question 23

What are the weaknesses of Neo - Freudian Theories?

Answer 23

1. supported with questionable evidence
2. often oversimplified or ignored important concepts