Developments of Freudian Theorising Flashcards
Alfred Adler: individual Psychology
focused on the whole person
Stressed the social context more broadly than Freud
Focused on inferiority began from observations from biology of inferior organs
He generalised from this observation of inferiority to the whole organism, and then from the body to the mind, and real to imagined
He notes we all come into the world, as infants inferior to other beings, feeling stays with us
We may become neurotic or overcompensate (masculine protest)
He did not believe that we are slaves to unconscious drives like Freud did.
Ours parents treatment of us determines our style of life - child hood is our destiny
Post (neo)- freudians
all agreed with Freud in some way (unconscious, defence mechanisms)
All disagreed with Freud in other ways (it is not all about sex, wider culture, environment)
Alder’s proposal about birth order:
eldest children - centre of attention, after siblings born they become the dethroned monarch. Best understands the importance of power and authority. Adult characteristics: conservative, support authority, maintain status quo, intellectual activities
Second children - view elder child as competition, development depends on how older child treats them, supportive elder = healthy development. Older child resentful = problems. Adult characteristics: demanding of themself, set unrealistic goals to ensure failure and don’t upset elder
Youngest = remains baby of family, most attention, pampering, spoiling by parents, adult characteristics: high dependency needs, need to excel and need for praise
Only children = no sibling and no sibling model, be pampered, adult characteristics: high need for approval, difficulty handling criticism, intellectually able and high achievers
A neurotic personality according to Adler
vulnerable self-esteem which can be too high or too low
Lack mature social interest - fellow feeling, community adjustment
personality types - Adler
ruling type: narcissistic, power-hungry aggressive high status
Avoiding type - low self esteem, denial, evasion
Getting (also leaning) type: parasitic, passive, lack autonomy (stay out the status race)
Socially useful type: healthy option, positive social interest
Adlerian therapeutic approach
Adlers sources of information that were focus of therapy sessions:
- childhood disorders
- day and night dreams
- nature of the external factor that caused the illness
- earliest childhood recollection
- position of the child in the birth order
Evaluation of Adler’s individual psychology theory
grand idea explaining everything - inferiority/superiority
More testable than Freud as less in the unconcious, birth order is objective
Genetic sources of neurosis
Parsimonious but still uses abstract concepts
Heuristic - has lead to research on birth order, anticipates humanistic psychologists
Foreshadows research on self-esteem and status
Applied value - parenting courses
Jung: analytical psychologist
Broader notion of libido, wasn’t sexual.
Psyche or mind was a complex structure - principles of opposites was that this energy comes out of a tension between different parts of the mind.
Psyche into a harmonious and balanced whole - called individuation. Teleological: goal-orineted. A quest, symbols and myths we’re important in this quest
Activity in one part of the psyche came at the expense of activity in another part : principles o equivalence. Expand energy of being extraverted you will have less energy to spend being intraverted (vice versa). The principle of entropy (drive towards equivalent energy expenditure in different domains to avoid imbalance
Jung: structure of the mind
ego - conscious
Personal unconscious - uncivilised and sexual aggressive instincts as well as positive inclinations
Collective unconscious - full of archetypes (self, animus, anima, shadow and person)
Jung: key archetype
persona - mask (Greek word), the face we show to the world and disguise our inner feelings
Shadow- dark side of the personality, simialr to freuds ID but more complex and colourful, we never truly know this side, evil thoughts
Anima - feminine part of the male soul emotionality, sensitivity, irrationality, vanity and moodiness
Animus - male part of the female soul, reason logic, social insensitivity
Self - archetype we strive to become, a whole balanced and individuated self
Jung personality types:
Note that these personality types can be dominant and combine with introvert vs extrovert to create the types
Sensing- experience stimuli without any everlasting, we register that something is present
Thinking- interpret stimuli using reason and logic
Feeling- evaluating desirability or worth of what has been presented, feel happy and full of anticipation as recognise something
Intuitive- related to the world with a minimum or interpretation and reasoning in stead we form hunches or premonitions
Jung: treatment approach
Neurosis was the result of one sided developments of the psyche - point to restore balance can become individuated
Also used dreams - amplification method to unpack the meaning of dreams
Used art therapy - mandalas
4 stages of therapy:
- confession
- elucidation
- education
- transformation
Evaluation Jung theory
Idiosyncratic- drawing on a lot of mythology
As regard archetype are very hard to demonstrate
Potentially testable - dreams compensatory function
Jung theory of personality - maps onto modern theories of personality
Not parsimonious - lots of theory
Goof heuristic value - lots of ways to take the material and run with it, type theory
Karen Horney
neurosis termed from not successfully processing perverse instinctual drives
Emphasised family, society and culture
Neurotic personality develops in childhood
Poor or inconsistent parenting caused neurosis - basic anxiety to cope and develop defensive attitudes to make the world safer
Compulsive, rigid, indiscriminate, and unconscious
Tyranny of the should - create idealised selves to compensate
Horney’s 10 neurotic needs
- Need for personal achievement
- Need for affection and approval
- Need for self-sufficiency and independence
- Need for power
- Need for personal admiration
- Need for a parter to take over one’s life.
- Need for perfection and unassailability
- Need to exploit others
- Need for social recognition and prestige
- Need to restrict one’s life within narrow boundaries
Horneys defence mechanism
blind spots = denial
Compartmentalisation = double-think
Rationalisation = excuses after the fact
Excessive self-control = superego too active
Arbitrary rightness = just assume they are right
Elusiveness = can pin them down
Cynicism = don’t build up your hope
She called the process of using defence mechanisms as externalisation.
Horneys neurotic personality types
Compliant types - need other people cannot tolerate criticism, need to fit, live within restricted boundaries to feel safe - moving towards people
Aggressive type - need power, social recognition, prestige, admiration and to achieve a, survival of the fittest, unemotional but poor at relationships - moving against people
Detached types - need self-sufficiency, perfection and unassailability. Secretive and solitary - move away from people
Healthy personality - other three but they complement each other as healthy in individuals are flexible - adopt all three styles when appropriate
horneys critique of penis envy
Women do not want a male phallus they may want the opportunities it symbolises: liberty, power efficacy
Some men may envy women capacity to bear children (womb envy)
Horneys theory evaluation
self-contained and testable
Factor analysis of neurotic tendencies
Parisomnious - not as grand as Freud
