Karen Horney Flashcards
Parents
Father: Strict, religious, domineering, morose, ship captain (long periods away from home)
Mother: Spirited, freethinking, attractive (17 years younger)
Wished for the death of her husband
Didn’t marry for love, but out of fear of being a spinster
Freud vs. Horney
Took issue with Freud’s portrayal of women
An early feminists, she argued Psychoanalysis focused more on men’s development
To counter penis envy she proposed womb envy
Sex is not a factor, and questioned the Oedipus complex, the three-part structure of personality, and the libido
Importance of childhood
shaping adult personality
Social forces, not biological
Social relationships b/w child and parents is key
Safety Need
Need security & freedom from fear to become normal
Parents weaken security by displaying a lack of warmth and affection
Unfair punishments, preferential treatment, ridicule, isolation…
Induces hostility
Hostility
Hostility may be repressed b/c of: Helplessness (excessively dependent state)
Fear of punishment
Need for genuine love (fear of losing unsatisfactory love)
Guilt of harboring resentment towards parents
Repressed hostility is manifested in basic anxiety
BASIC ANXIETY
Pervasive feeling of loneliness & helplessness in a hostile world
Foundation of neurosis and tied to feelings of hostility, helplessness, and fear
Self-Protective Mechanisms
- Motivate a person to seek security and reassurance
- Securing affection & love
- Being submissive
- Attaining power
- Withdrawing
Neurotic Needs
Overused self- protective mechanisms that determines an individual’s behavior
Ten irrational defenses against anxiety
Neurotic Trends
Expression of needs
Three categories of behavior & attitudes toward the self and others
Revision of neurotic needs
Compliant Personality
Moving toward people Continuous need for affection and approval, an urge to be loved, wanted, and protected Manipulate others to achieve their goals Subordinate personal desires Excessively dependent Fear rejection Repressed hostility
Aggressive Personality
Moving against people
Perceive everyone as hostile
Only the fittest and most cunning survive
Domineering and have no regard for others
Maintains superiority & power by constantly performing at high levels
Excel and receive recognition
Detached Personality
Moving away from people Maintains emotional distance & privacy Sense of superiority (uniqueness) Suppress feelings (love and hate) toward others Intimacy would lead to conflict Stress reason, logic, and intelligence
Neurotic Person
One of the three trends is dominant, and others are present at a lesser degree, but must be repressed
If a repressed trend pushes for expression conflict results
Conflict
Incompatibility of neurotic trends
Neurotic people must battle to keep non-dominant trends from being expressed
This battle is the core of neurosis
Normal person
All three trends can be expressed as the circumstance warrants (flexible)
Sometimes aggressive, sometimes detached, sometimes compliant
Integrated harmoniously within the personality
Healthy Self Image
Realistic appraisal of abilities, potentials, weakness, and relationships
Flexible and dynamic
Unity and integration forming a framework to approach others and ourselves
Reflects growth & self awareness
If we are to realize our full potential, a state of self-realization, our self-image must clearly reflect our true self
Neurotic Self Image
Disunity and disharmony
Unattainable & inflexible ideal
Not based on realistic appraisal of strengths and weaknesses, but on an illusion
Leads to denial of their true self
Tyranny of the Shoulds
An attempt to realize unattainable ideal
Deny real self and try to become what they think they should be
Should be the best or most perfect student, spouse…
Externalization
A way to defend against the conflict caused by self discrepancy
Projecting conflicts onto the outside world
Self-hatred projected onto others
Oedipus Complex
Not sexual
Represents conflict between dependence & hostility
I have to repress my hostility b/c I need you
Develops when parents undermine their child’s security
Womb Envy
Envy men feel toward women due to her capacity for motherhood
Feelings of inferiority (penis envy) not from biology, but society
Contributions
Large public following Commonsense appeal Relevant to American culture Major contributor to feminine psychology Significant impact on later theorists Erikson and Maslow
Criticisms
Denied role of biological influences
Incomplete & inconsistent theory
Needs sociological & anthropological studies to inform focus on social forces
Theory only applicable to middle class
