freud - alternative theory Flashcards
the unconscious
consists of material which we can never have direct access to. contains repressed memories. if accessed, it could create psychological problems. e.g. instincts related to survival.
the preconscious
part of the mind that consists of material we’re not currently aware of but have the potential to be aware of.
the conscious
the part of our mind that we’re aware of at any point in time. contains memories that can be easily recalled.
oedipus complex
- boy has unconscious desire for his mother and sees his father as a rival for his mothers affection.
- this jealously is then replaces with fear as they believe women have been ‘castrated’ and develop castration anxiety as they believe that their father will castrate them if they continue with this unconscious desire towards their mother.
- boy represses feeling and acts like his dad and internalises his moral standards, this leads to the deployment of the super ego.
- conflict is resolved.
electra complex
- girls notice gender differences for the first time and begin to develop penis envy.
- they blame their mother for the loss of a penis and begin to see their father as a potential impregnator.
- however, she then begins to fear the loss of her mothers love and so she represses feelings towards her father.
- girl begins acting like her mom and internalises her morals. super ego is developed.
- conflict is resolved.
id
- fully within unconscious.
- operates on the pleasure principle, meaning it tried to get maximum gratification for minimal pain.
- concerned about getting what we want when we want it
ego
- operates on the reality principle in order to meet the demands of our id through socially acceptable methods.
- makes use of defence mechanisms.
superego
- internal parent or conscious.
- a child internalises the moral rules/social norms of society.
- makes us feel guilty or proud about our actions in life.
defence mechanisms
freud believed that we have unconscious defence mechanisms to protect us from distress and painful and unpleasant thoughts/feelings. the ego tends to use these mechanisms to deal with the stressed caused by the conflicting demands of the id and superego.
repression
the unconscious blocking of unpleasant emotions, memories and thoughts from your conscious mind.
denial
when an individual refuse to recognise or acknowledge objective facts or experiences.
projection
the mental process by which people attribute to others what is in their own minds.
sublimation
redirects unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable behaviours.
rationalisation
creating a logical reason to justify an action or behaviour.
displacement
expressing feelings in a socially unacceptable way.
how might displacement explain aggression?
our id directs our urges onto something else in the form of aggression but does so in a socially unacceptable way, e.g. punching someone.
how might sublimation explain aggression?
our id directs our urges onto something else in the form of aggression but does so in a socially acceptable way, e.g. through sports.
how might catharsis reduce aggression?
by watching others be aggressive, e.g. on TV or in video games, your urges of aggression are released.
how would the id cause physical aggression?
dominance of the id can lead to destructive tendencies, inappropriate aggression and criminality. we satisfy our wants regardless of consequences.
how could an excessively strong superego link to aggression?
result of a harsh upbringing, you feel guilty for everything you do wrong and eventually commit a crime to satisfy that need for punishment.
how could a weak superego link to aggression?
a result of abnormal relationships within the family or absent same sex parents. you have no one to internalise morals with and so you don’t learn the usual inhibitions which makes you more inclined to be aggressive because of this.
what is the deviant superego’s contribution in the cause of aggression?
we internalise morals correctly, however these morals are skewed as they have come from criminal parents. tend to have deviant and anti-social morals and act to satisfy the id.
strengths
- support for catharsis: Feshbach and Singer. studied 652 boys ages 8-18. one group only watched violent programmes for six weeks and the other group did the same for non-violent programmes. found that those who watched the non-violent programmes were more aggressive then the other group. supports idea that catharsis can help release aggression when something is brought into the conscious room the unconscious.
- most of Freud’s work is based off case studies, mostly middle ages women from vienna. cause studies use triangulation which means that in depth data would’ve been gathered, making freud’s theory more credible bascule of this support.
weaknesses
- most of freud’s research is focused on cause studies that used middle aged women from vienna. however, most the prison population is male which makes results less credible for explaining aggression in terms of criminality.
- Freud’s work is unfalsifiable. we can’t see out unconscious, it’s not an actual structure in the brain. therefore, this makes Freud’s theory of aggression less credible.
- there may be researcher bias and subjectivity in interpretation of gathered data. freud was trying to prove his ideas and so may have been biased in order to show his theory to be true. therefore, this makes his explanation less credible.
- alternative explanations of aggression. e.g. SLT says that we can learn aggression through watching role models and reproducing their behaviour, bandanas studies supported this. therefore, this questions how valid the psychodynamic approach is for explaining aggression.
