Frued

Question 1

concerns of personality researchers

Answer 1

• human nature
• individual differences
• the organisation of ‘bits’ of people - i.e., goals, moods, actions, thoughts that give coherence to peoples lives
• ‘salient’ factors and reputation
• psychology - i.e., anything to do with individual and their psyches

Question 2

structural model - tripartite model

Answer 2

• id - pleasure principle
• ego - reality principle
• superego - perfectionist principle, conscience and the ideal self

Question 3

topographical model

Answer 3

• conscious - things we are aware of
• pre-conscious - we have access to it but not in our immediate conscious
• unconscious - things in our memory that are difficult or impossible to access

Question 4

energy

Answer 4

• cannot be created or destroyed - only expressed, blocked, delayed or modified
• stems from instincts - states of excitement (tensions), located at various centres in the body, according to one’s stage of development

Question 5

inherited instincts

Answer 5

• life instinct (energy=eros)
  1) ego instinct - self-preservation aim
  2) sexual instinct (energy=libido) - species preservation aim
• death instinct (energy=thanatos)

Question 6

the root of the problem

Answer 6

• trauma - occurs when instinct expression is (or threatens to be) harmful to the self
• anxiety - reminders of previous trauma are threatening
• the source, experience, and consequences of anxiety can all be UCS

Question 7

defence mechanisms

Answer 7

• repression
• denial
• rationalisation
• projection
• displacement
• altruism

Question 8

repression

Answer 8

• primary repression:
  1) unwanted material turned away before reaching awareness
  2) leaks into consciousness in disguised ways
• after-expulsion/repression proper:
  1) unwanted material notices in consciousness and got rid of
• repression plus other defences are ranked from ‘mature’ and ‘adaptive’ to ‘pathological’

Question 9

Freudian denial

Answer 9

• engaging in a potentially ego-threatening behaviour without conscious awareness of doing so:
  1) no threat experienced
  2) honest denial of behaviour

Question 10

splitting and projection

Answer 10

• threatening thoughts and feelings material are “split” from the ego and seen as located in and coming from “bad” people

Question 11

freudian rationalisation

Answer 11

• real but ego-threatening reasons for action are not recognised and are replaced by apparently rational (therefore ego-enhancing) ones

Question 12

freudian displacement

Answer 12

• desires that are ego-threatening are not recognised and re-directed to less threatening targets

Question 13

altruism

Answer 13

• when used as a defence mechanism, people seek “pleasure from giving to others what people would themselves like to receive”, especially the comfort of security

Question 14

healthy and neurotic altruism

Answer 14

• pseudoaltruism:
  1) aggressive (sadomasochistic) drives from ‘scary’ feelings (e.g., envy, inadequacy) and/or a harsh superego result in defensive altruism
• psychotic altruism:
  1) anxieties promote neurotic drives to (often delusional) self-perceptions of serving others
• protoaltruism:
  1) instinctive, biological e.g., parental nurturing
• generative altruism:
  1) non-defensive taking pleasure in helping and/or enjoying others’ improved welfare
• conflicted altruism:
  1) altruism which is both generative and a defence against anxiety

Question 15

altruism in TMT

Answer 15

• in terror management theory (TMT), the ego-threat of morality awareness can trigger anxiety coped with by ‘being a good member of a good society’, e.g., engaging in culturally valued charitable giving

Question 16

psychosexual stages of childhood development

Answer 16

• different areas of the body are important at different stages
• these are the erogenous zones; primary sites of energy and instinct satisfaction or frustration, leading to pleasure or pain (e.g., pain, anxiety, frustration)

Question 17

oral stage (0-1)

Answer 17

• initially ‘all id’
• erogenous zone = mouth - sucking, feeling, tasting, biting
• mother as original ‘love object’
• key task = weaning
• a key lesson = trust in self and world

Question 18

anal stage (1-3)

Answer 18

• erogenous zone = anus - passing or withholding (even playing) faeces
• parents as key sources of pleasure or pain in response to the infant’s actions
• key task = toilet training
• key lesson = control

Question 19

phallic stage (3-5)

Answer 19

• erogenous zone = genitals - physical and intellectual stimulation
• the original ‘love triangle’
• key task = resolution of the oedipal complex
• key lesson = sexual and gender orientation

Question 20

oedipal complex

Answer 20

• increasing respect for father as provider and defender and increasing resentment of fathers relationship with mother
• same-sex parent becomes seen as aggressive rival (from projection) - castration anxiety among boys
• ambivalence and anxiety resolved by same-sex identification (enabling later displaced love for opposite sex partner)

Question 21

latency (6-12)

Answer 21

• repressed libidinal energy
• no special erogenous zones
• key task = social interaction outside the family

Question 22

genital stage (adolescence)

Answer 22

• erogenous zone = genitals - now genuinely sexualised
• key task = establishing family
• key lesson = identity

Question 23

crucial (but often ignored)

Answer 23

• personality and behaviour are the result of interplay between the expression and inhibition of instincts
• instincts are universal, but forms of instinct expression and inhibition vary developmentally, situationally and culturally

Question 24

personality development

Answer 24

• as a person moves through the psychological 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)

Question 25

experience impacts personality

Answer 25

• the id is what it is
• the superego can be harsh (perfectionist and unforgiving) or compassionately liberal
• the ego can be squashed or supported in growth
• ultimately, its down to the ego

Question 26

ego-strength

Answer 26

• when well-adjusted, the ego can satisfy the needs of the id, the superego, and reality (resilient personality)
• if the id is too strong, wanton self-gratification rules (under-controlled)
• if the superego is too strong, the person is rigidly judgemental (over-controlled)

Question 27

oral incorporative (over-indulged)

Answer 27

• optimistic
• gullible
• “swallow anything”
• “sweet”

Question 28

oral aggressive (under-indulged)

Answer 28

• pessimistic
• suspicious
• “biting remarks”
• “bitter”

Question 29

the anal triad

Answer 29

• co-occurring traits relating to: - orderliness, obstinacy, parsimony/miserliness

Question 30

anal retentive

Answer 30

• anal retentives are ‘rigid’ (‘tight’ and ‘clenched’) and ‘over-controlled
• they tend to be stingy, punctilious, meticulous, prissy, ‘uptight’, perfectionist, inflexible, risk-averse, and rule-loving

Question 31

anal expulsive

Answer 31

• anal expulsives are ‘sadistic’ and ‘under-controlled’
• they tend towards expansiveness, messiness, vagueness, dismissiveness, carelessness, disorganisation, rebelliousness, and maybe even cruelty

Question 32

ego culture

Answer 32

• one person’s instinct expression can trigger others anxieties
• people therfore attempt to control others’ instinct expressions, thereby causing trauma
• society codifies such processes

Question 33

summary

Answer 33

• Much motivation and self-regulation occurs outside conscious awareness, much may not be subjectively accessible even with effort.
• 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.