Freud Flashcards
what are the 3 aspects of personality according to freud
- id
- ego
- superego
what is the id
- pleasure seeking, species serving
- from birth, impulsive, to explore
what is the ego
- reality seeking, self- serving
- self aware, enviro affects you,
- become increasingly aware of your relationship to the world, tries to control the ID
what is the superego
- perfection seeking, society-serving
- you learn ideals presented by society [a women should be X, a man should be Y]
- influenced by parents, become ‘best’ societal person
what is the topographical model
- conscious
- preconscious
- unconscious
what is the conscious
the current state of awareness eg whats going on now
what is the preconscious
easily accessible
what is the unconscious
operating and affecting us and our exp. of the world but we can’t access it — things that happen prior to development of LTM that can affect our growth/devolpment
what does freud believe about energy and where it stems from
energy can’t be created or destroyed
energy stems from instinct
- states of excitement [tension]
- located at various centres in the body
- according to stages of development
what is trauma according to freud
occurs when instinct expression is [or is threatened to be] harmful to the self — **trauma is the thing we find threatening **
what is anxiety according to freud
reminders of previous trauma, OR things that we fear as can cause harm
what is primary repression according freud
- unwanted material is blocked or disguised before reaching [conscious] awareness
- it may ‘leak’ into consciousness in disguised ways
what is After-explusion/Repression proper according freud
- unwanted material detected is and blocked or disguised [with various degrees of success]
how does repression rank
repression ranked from mature and adaptive [altruism, humour] to pathological [psychotic denial, delusional projection]
what is freudian denial
engaging in a potentially ego-threatening experience or behaviour without conscious awareness of doing so:
- no threat experienced
- HONEST denial of experience —— a genuine belief in what you’re saying despite being untrue
splitting and projecting
FREUD
threatening experiences [thoughts, feelings, actions] are ‘split’ from the ego and seen as located in and coming from ‘bad’ people —
* *eg obsessed with sex but find it ‘bad’, you may view the world as divided amongst sex obsesses and not *
freudian rationalisation
Real but ego-threatening reasons for action or experience are not recognised and are replaced by apparently rational (therefore ego-enhancing) ones
freudian displacement
Impulses that are ego-threatening are not recognised and are re-directed to less threatening targets
what is altruism [when used an a defence mechanism]
When used as a defence mechanism, people seek “pleasure from giving to others what people would themselves like to receive”
types of altrusim
Pseudoaltruism
Aggressive (sadomasochistic) drives from ‘scary’ feelings (e.g., envy, inadequacy) and/or a harsh superego result in defensive ‘altruism’
types of altrusim
Psychotic altruism
Anxieties promote neurotic drives to (often delusional) self-perceptions of serving others
types of altrusim
Protoaltruism
Instinctive, biological, e.g., parental nurturing
types of altrusim
Generative altruism
Non-defensive taking pleasure in helping and/or enjoying others’ improved welfare
types of altrusim
Conflicted altruism
Altruism which is both generative and a defence against anxiety
what does freud believe about the Psycho-‘sexual’ stages
different areas of the body are important at diff stages — we’re born with a ball of energy that’s relevant at different stages e.g oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital
these are erogenous zones; primary sites of energy and instinct satisfication or frustration, leading to pleasure or pain E.G
- pain
- anxiety
- frustration
when is the oral stage
0-1
what is the oral stage
initially ‘all id’
erongenous zone = mouth
- sucking
- feeling
- tasting
- biting
mother as original ‘love object’ —— love object is the thing child likes OR gets love/comfort from
key ‘task’ = weaning
key lesson in this stage = trust in self and world
have no experience of time and experience ‘time’ through food , eg gaps in between feeding + can’t separate self from mother
what is the anal stage
erongenous stage = anus
- passing OR withholding [and playing with] poo
parents as key sources of pleasure or pain in response to the infants actions
key task = toilet training — learns compromise between what I want and whats socially appropriate
key lesson = control
- anally retentive
- anally expulsive
when is the anal stage
1-3
when is the phallic stage
3-5
what is the phallic stage
erogenous zone = genitals
- physical and intellectual stimulation
the original ‘love triangle’
key task = resolution of the Oedipus complex — castration anxiety !!
key lessons = sexual and gender orientation
kid eventually recognises DAD as an ally [men together] and finds a mum ‘replacement’
what is the latency stage
repressed libidinal energy
no special erogenous zones
key task = social interaction outside fam
- what helps us function within society
when is the latency stage
6-12
what is the genital stage
erogenous zone = genitals
- now genuinely sexualised
key task = establishing family
key lesson = identity
what is the personality the result of according to freud
personality and behaviour are the result of interplay between the expression and inhibition of instincts
- instincts are universal, but forms of instant expression and inhibition vary developmentally, situationally, and culturally
we all have desire to have pleasure and avoid pain BUT were all raised differently - despite sharing these aims we may not act all the same, so culture differences, age difference
what does freud say about personality development
As a person moves through the psychosocial stages, social (usually parental) rewards and punishments for particular forms of instinct expression change
- If social treatment is experienced as too harsh (anxiety-evoking) or too comfortable, ‘habitual’ forms of instinct expression can get locked in an immature stage fixation/arrested development) or returned to (regression)
how does experience affect personality
- the ID is what it is [human nature and ind. differences]
- the superego can be harsh [perfectionist and unforgiving] or compassionately liberal and autonomy-supportive
- the ego can be quashed or supported in growth
ultimately its down to the ego
ego strength
what happens when the ego is well adjusted
When well-adjusted, the ego can satisfy the needs of the id, thesuperego, and reality. (Resilient Personality)
what happens when the id is too strong
id is too strong, wanton self-gratification rules. (Under-controlled)
what happens when the superego is too strong
If the superego is too strong, the person is rigidly judgemental.(Over-controlled)
what are the two outcome of the oral stage
- Oral incorporative [over-indulged]
- Oral Aggressive [under-indulged]
Oral incorporative [over-indulged]
- Optimistic
- Gullible
- ‘Swallow anything’
- ‘Sweet’
Oral Aggressive [under-indulged]
- Pessimistic
- Suspicious
- ‘Biting Remarks’
- ‘Bitter’
what is the anal triad
Co-occurring traits relating to:
- orderliness
- Obstinacy
- Parsimony/miserliness
what is anal retentive
ppl who are anal rententives are ‘rigid’ [’tight’ and ‘clenched’] and ‘over-controlled’
- they tend to be stingy, punctilious, meticulous, prissy, ‘up-tight’, perfectionist, inflexible, risk-averse, and rule-loving
what is anal expulsive
They are:
- sadistic
- under-controlled
They tend towards:
- expansiveness
- messiness
- vagueness
- dismissiveness
- carelessness
- disorganization
- rebelliousness
- [maybe even] cruelty
what is the ego culture
trying to satisfy own sensory needs in a way may inhibit/offend other people
- one person’s instinct expression can trigger others anxieties
- ppl therefore attempt to control others’ instinct expressions, thereby causing trauma
- society codifies such processes
key parts of freud
- Much motivation and self-regulation occurs outside conscious awareness. Much may not be subjectively accessible even with efforts
- Psychological processes occur in parallel, not in series. Parallel processes can conflict
- Repeated or prolonged social interaction entails frustration and anxiety. Social regulation at best manages this
- Many traits are formed in infancy —— Freud essentially claims we’re molded as a person 12 and under, so events after are almost of a minor significance
negatives about freud
methodologically suspect derivation
- Freud dominated
- small, biased sample analysed subjectively/with bias
Hard to test, perhaps unfalsifiable
- lack of definitional clarity
- explain everything, predict nothing
positives about freud
Comprehensive
- cognitive, motivational, affective, behaviour, etc
- individual [personality, developmental], intraindividual [biological, cognitive], and social [interpersonal and societal
Parsimonious
- essentially stemming from Eros [necessarily in society]
Enduring and generative - despite hostility
