Neo-Freudian research Flashcards
What is anxiety?
- unpleasant emotional experience
- feelings of worry, panic, fear, dread
What are the 3 types of anxiety according to Freud?
- reality/object anxiety
- neurotic anxiety
- moral anxiety
What is reality/object anxiety?
- Response to a perceived threat in the real world
- you are aware of the source of your emotional reaction
What is neurotic anxiety?
- when unacceptable id impulses are dangerously close to breaking into consciousness
- leads the ego to use defense mechanisms
- not aware
What is moral anxiety?
- superego
- response to id impulses that violate the superego’s strict moral code
- guilt, shame
What are defense mechanisms?
- unconscious processes
What are coping strategies?
- conscious efforts
- cope/reduce anxiety in the face of a perceived threat
Which gender uses more coping strategies?
- women
Does everyone use the same coping strategies?
- no
- varies from person to person (extent and type)
What is a coping style?
- person’s general approach to dealing with stress
- coping strategies tend to be consistent across time and situations
What are the different ways people deal with watching a disturbing event?
- emotionally detach
- denial
- intellectualization
What is the repression-sensitization dimension of personality?
- repressors and sensitizers
- repressors avoid threatening situations, try not to think about it
- sensitizers find out as much as possible, asap, can make effective action
What are the types of coping strategies?
- problem focused strategies
- emotion focused strategies
- avoidance strategies
What are coping strategies where people take an active role to deal with the problem?
- sensitizers
- problem focused strategies (aim at source of stress)
- emotion focused strategies (focus on emotional reaction to experience)
What are coping strategies where people try to avoid the problem?
- repressors (repression strategy)
- avoidance strategies
What are problem focused strategies?
- take care of problem
- overcome anxiety
- making plans to deal with the problem makes them feel better than doing nothing
What are emotion focused strategies?
- reduce emotional distress
What are avoidance strategies?
- pushing problem (anxiety provoking situation) out of awareness
What gender is more likely to use emotion focused strategies?
- women
What gender is more likely to use problem focused strategies?
- men
How effective are coping strategies?
- using some are better than none
What is the most effective coping strategy?
- active strategies
How effective are avoidance strategies?
- rarely successful in reducing anxiety or helping people overcome tragedy
- ineffective when coping with serious problems
- poor choice with less severe stress
- rely on, more susceptible to bouts of depression
What are long term consequences from extensive reliance on avoidance strategies?
- turn to ineffective strategies as adults
- more vulnerable to stress-related health problems
- create additional problems
- risk for alcohol problems, delinquent behaviour, substance abuse
What are advantages to using avoidance strategies?
- help in the short run
- stressors that are mild and under person’s control
When should we use problem focused vs. emotion focused strategies?
- depends on situation
- if resolve situation = problem focused
- if situation out of our control/can’t be changed = emotion focused
What is coping flexibility?
- ability to effectively utilize different coping strategies
- adjust the use of different coping strategies according to a given situation
- more flexible, deal with problems more effectively
What do people high in coping flexibility have?
- higher sense of well being
- experience fewer emotional problems
- better deal with life’s problems
What is resilience?
- able to function well at work and in personal relationships after loss or trauma
What protective psychological factors do people who are resilient possess?
- optimistic
- high self esteem
- maintain positive emotions
- high in coping flexibility
- rely on strong network for support
What are protective psychological factors?
- personal characteristics that help people buffer the effects of major stressors
What is Freud’s idea of aggression?
- result of frustrated libido (pleasure seeking impulse blocked)
- death instinct, instinctual desire to destroy ourselves
- ego makes instinct turn outward, aggression toward others
What is the frustration-aggression hypothesis?
- Aggression is always a consequence of frustration
- Occurrence of aggressive behavior always presupposes the existence of frustration
- Contrariwise, the existence of frustration always leads to some form of aggression
- one cause of aggression = frustration
- one response to frustration = aggression
According to the frustration-aggression hypothesis when does aggression cease?
- when people experience catharsis
What is catharsis?
- release of tension
- release of psychic energy (Freud)
What is the modified frustration-aggression hypothesis?
- Frustration leads to indirect expressions of aggression
- frustration always leads to aggression, but not always in obvious ways
What are types of indirect expressions of aggression?
- Displacing the aggression to a new target
- Attacking the source of frustration in an indirect manner
- Using sublimation
What is the new approach to frustration and aggression?
- highly frustrated people act with more aggression than less frustrated people
- frustration is only one of many negative emotions that increase aggression
- the question is not whether even is frustrating but how unpleasant the accompanying emotion is
- frustration facilitated aggression only to the extent that it is perceived as unpleasant
- thoughts that create negative feelings make more unpleasant, increase chance of aggression
- thoughts that decrease negative feelings reduce chance of aggression
What are the advantages of the new approach at frustration and aggression?
- Explains why frustration does not always lead to aggression
- Clarifies why certain thoughts increase or decrease the likelihood of acting aggressively
What is displaced aggression?
- displace aggression from a frustrating source to an innocent target
- direct anger toward someone undeserving of it
- displaced aggression can be passed down
What is triggered displaced aggression?
- targets of displaced aggression have done something to annoy but response is way out of proportion to small offence
- overreacting aggressively to a small offence or a minor annoyance
When does triggered displaced aggression occur?
- encounter minor annoyance (otherwise would tolerate or ignore)
- convenient target nearby on which we displace our feelings
What is a prediction of the frustration-aggression hypothesis?
- Need to aggress is reduced after a cathartic release of tension
What is the aggression-breeds-aggression hypothesis?
- cathartic reaction does not reduce aggression
- acting aggressively increases the tendency to aggress
Why does aggression breed aggression?
- Acting aggressively leads to a kind of disinhibition
- Presence of aggressive cues
- Cathartic release of tension feels good
What is object relations theory?
- place emphasis on early childhood experiences
- Children develop an unconscious representation of significant objects in environment (primary caregiver)
- object to relate to in physical absence of parent
- kind of attachment children feel with their parents influences their ability to develop meaningful attachments with significant others as adults
Who are the main theorists in attachment theory?
- John Bowlby
- Mary Ainsworth
What is attachment theory?
- Describes the attachment relationships between infants and their caregivers
What are attachment relationships?
- emotional bonds between parents and child
- meet our human need to form attachments with supportive and protective other
What are the 3 types of parent child relationships?
- secure
- anxious-ambivalent
- avoidant
What is a secure relationship?
- Mothers are attentive and responsive to their child
- infant understands that mother is responsive and accessible even if she is not physically present
- happy and self confident
What is a anxious-ambivalent relationship?
- Mothers not particularly attentive or responsive to the child’s needs
- children anxious when mother leaves
- not easily calmed
- afraid of unfamiliar situations
What is an avoidant relationship?
- Mothers are not very responsive to the child
- Child becomes aloof and emotionally detached from the mother
- do not become anxious when she leaves
- not interested when she returns
What happens when attachment needs are met?
- experience love and trust
- see selves as lovable and trustworthy
- see relations with others as source of love and support
What happens if our attachment needs are not met?
- less healthy self image
- become suspicious and mistrusting
What happens with secure adults?
- describe positive relationships with parents and a warm and trusting family environment
- get close to others
- easily trust and depend on others
What happens with anxious-ambivalent adults?
- recall little parental support
- insecure
- demanding
- overwhelming
- require so much attention, scare away potential partner
What happens with avoidant adults?
- describe their relationships with family members as distrustful and emotionally distant
- fear of getting too close and being vulnerable
- wary of emotional commitments
- fear of being hurt by separation
What is an alternate model of attachment styles?
2 dimensions
- fear of abandonment
- fear of closeness and dependency
4 categories:
- secure
- anxious ambivalent/preoccupied
- avoidant/dismissing
- disoriented/fearful
What is secure attachment?
- comfortable with closeness
- don’t fear abandonment
- seek out and comfortable with close relationships
What is avoidant/dismissing attachment?
- don’t fear abandonment
- deep seated mistrust of others
- shy away from close relationships
- reluctant to trust others
- fear of being hurt
What is anxious-ambivalent/preoccupied attachment?
- unlovable
- fear of abandonment
- lack self worth
- seek self acceptance
What is disoriented/fearful attachment?
- unworthy of love
- doubt romantic partner will provide intimacy
- avoid getting close
- fear pain of rejection
Which attachment style leads to more satisfying romantic relationships?
- secure
Secure attachment style and romantic relationships
- characterize relationship as loving, strong commitment, trusting
- accept and support
- conversations warm and intimate
- share personal info
Avoidant attachment style and romantic relationships
- fear of intimacy and problems with jealousy
- romance doesn’t last
- don’t share affection or intimacy
- criticize partner
- don’t recognize efforts
- hesitant to commit
- vulnerable to cheating
Anxious-ambivalent attachment style and romantic relationships
- fall in love a lot
- difficult finding long term
- afraid of losing partner
- give into parter’s wishes
- unrequited love
- won’t break up even if needs not met
