Psychodynamic Explanations Flashcards
What is the psychodynamic explanation?
Conscious behaviour as driven by unconscious mind.
What are the three unconscious drives?
ID: primitive
Ego: mediates between ID and Superego
Superego: moral conscience
Define identification in the psychodynamic explanations
Process of acquiring characteristics of the same-sex parent
Define internalisation in psychodynamic theory
Incorporating the same-sex parent into an individuals personality
What were the two complex’s that Frued based his theory off?
Oedipus complex and the Electra complex
Explain the Oedipus complex
A boys first sexual desire is towards the opposite sex parent at 3-5 (phallic stage). This is accompanied by loathing his father but there is castration anxiety and therefore, the boy will eventually identify with his father. Once the complex is resolved, the boy will incorporate the father into his personality.
What happens if the boy didn’t resolve his complex.
He will be confused about his sexual identity
Explain the Electra complex
Girls sexual desires are towards their father and she believe that she does not have a penis due to it being castrated.
This gives the girl a desire to have a baby.
Resolved by identifying with her mother.
What happens when a girl hasn’t resolved her complex?
She could be confused about her sexual identity
What study did Freud carry out?
Little Hans
Explain the study into Little Hans
A 5 year old boy had a fear of horses, especially the ones with black around their mouths. However, Freud inferred this as the boy being afraid of his father, which fits into the Oedipus complex.
Explain the research of Wiszewska et al (2007) into the Little Hans study
He asked females to rate how attractive pictures were of different kinds of men in order to assess the quality of their relationship with their father.
He compared the photos to their father.
Women who were treated well and had a close relationship to their father were attracted to men who resembled their father physically.
Explain the research of Friedman 1952 into the study of Little Hans
When a story began with a child doing something nice with the opposite-sex parent and then they were joined with the same-sex parent, it was a sadder end to the story.
Supports Oedipus and Electra complex as children have more attraction to the opposite sex parent than the same sex parent.
