Psychodynamic Approaches - 10 Flashcards
Personality
is the pattern of enduring characteristics that produce consistency and individuality in each person.
Psychodynamic approaches to personality
approaches that assume that personality is motivated by inner forces and conflicts about which people have little awareness and over which they have no control.
Sigmund Freud
originated psychoanalytic theory in the early 1900s.
he thought that that much of our behaviour is motivated by the unconscious, a part of the personality of which a person is not aware.
Psychoanalytic theory
was Freud’s theory that unconscious forces act as determinants of personality.
The Unconscious
is a part of the personality that contains the memories, knowledge, beliefs, feelings, urges, drives, and instincts of which the individual is not aware.
The id
pleasure seeking
(unconscious part of personality)
The ego
the executive – controls id / superego
The superego
conscience and ego-ideal – perfect version of you that you aspire to
Psychosexual Stages
Developmental periods that Freud said children pass through during which they encounter conflicts between the demands of society and their own sexual urges.
Fixations
Conflicts or concerns that persist beyond the developmental period in which they first occur.
Psychosexual Stages
- Oral
- Anal
- Phallic
- Latency
- Genital
Oral - Psychosexual Stage
Birth to 12–18 months
Interest in oral gratification from sucking, eating, mouthing, biting
Anal -Psychosexual Stage
12–18 months to 3 years
Gratification from expelling and withholding feces; coming to terms with society’s controls relating to toilet training
Phallic -Psychosexual Stage
3 to 5–6 years
Interest in the genitals, coming to terms with Oedipal conflict leading to identification with same-sex parent
Latency –Psychosexual Stage
5–6 years to adolescence
Sexual concerns largely unimportant
Genital - -Psychosexual Stage
Adolescence to adulthood
Re-emergence of sexual interests and establishment of mature sexual relationships
Critiques of Freud
- Lack of Empirical Evidence
- Cultural and Gender Bias
- Gender Stereotyping
- Overemphasis on Early Childhood
- Limited Applicability to Diverse Populations:
- Neglect of Social and Environmental Factors
- Limited Predictive Power
- Ignoring Positive Aspects of Human Nature
- Simplification of Parent-Child Relationships
- Neglect of Positive Relationships
- Undermining Sexual Abuse Stories
Lack of Empirical Evidence
Critiques of Freud
Freud’s theory lacks empirical support, as his ideas were largely based on clinical observations and case studies.
According to Freud, anxiety is a
a danger signal to the ego.
Defense Mechanisms
are unconscious strategies that people use to reduce anxiety by concealing the source from themselves and others.
The primary defence mechanism is
repression
repression
unacceptable or unpleasant id impulses are pushed back into the unconscious.
Neo-Freudian psychoanalysts
are psychoanalysts who were trained in traditional Freudian theory but who later rejected some of its major points.
The neo-Freudians placed greater emphasis than Freud had on the functions of the ego, suggesting that it has more control than does the id over day-to-day activities
They also minimized the importance of sex as a driving force in people’s lives.
Furthermore, they paid greater attention to social factors and the effects of society and culture on personality development.
One of the most influential neo-Freudians, Carl Jung
rejected Freud’s view of the primary importance of unconscious sexual urges.
Collective unconscious
are, according to Jung, a common set of ideas, feelings, images, and symbols that we inherit from our ancestors, the whole human race, and even animal ancestors from the distant past.
archetypes
(collective unconscious)
universal symbolic representations of a particular person, object, or experience.
archetypes play an important role in determining our day-to-day reactions, attitudes, and values.
Karen Horney
was one of the first psychologists who championed women’s issues.
