Psychodynamic Theories of Personality

Question 1

What is a specific theory of personality and method of psychotherapy that was formulated by Sigmund Freud?

Answer 1

Psychoanalysis

Question 2

What do all Psychodynamic Theories emphasize?

Answer 2

• unconscious processes in the mind
• assumption that experiences in early childhood are primarily responsible for formation of adult personality and problems.

Question 3

Freud’s theory consists of what 3 major systems of personality?

Answer 3

Id, Ego, and Superego

Question 4

Define: Id

Answer 4

The Id is made up of two competing instincts: libido (life), and aggression (death). It is present at birth and represents unconscious motives to obtain pleasure and avoid pain.

Question 5

Define: Ego

Answer 5

The Ego is both a conscious and unconscious battle between instinct (Id) and demands of society. It is known as the “reason and good sense” part of ourselves.

Question 6

Define: Superego

Answer 6

The Superego is the primarily unconscious voice of conscience, representing morality and parental authority. It judges the activities of the Id and rewards good behavior and puts down bad behavior.

Question 7

According to Freud, what makes a healthy personality?

Answer 7

Balance of all 3 systems

Question 8

Define: Defense Mechanisms

Answer 8

They are our unconscious strategies to avoid conflict and anxiety, with the possibility to become unhealthy and self-defeating.

Question 9

What are the 5 primary defense mechanisms?

Answer 9

• Repression
• Projection
• Displacement
• Regression
• Denial

Question 10

Define: Repression

Answer 10

An unconscious suppression of a threatening idea, memory, or emotion.

Question 11

Define: Projection

Answer 11

When a person’s own unacceptable or threatening feelings are repressed and attributed to someone else.

Question 12

Define: Displacement

Answer 12

When people direct their emotions towards things or other people that are not the real object of their feelings.

Question 13

When displacement serves a higher purpose such as art, religion, or inventions, it is called…

Answer 13

Sublimation

Question 14

Define: Regression

Answer 14

When a person reverts to a previous phase of psychological development.

Question 15

Define: Denial

Answer 15

When a person refuses to admit something unpleasant. Denial protects a person’s own self-image and invulnerability.

Question 16

Freud’s theory states personality develops through what Psychosexual Stages?

Answer 16

• Oral
• Anal
• Phallic (Oedipal)
• Latent
• Genital

Question 17

Define: Oral Stage

Answer 17

Occurs during 1st year of life when babies experience the world through their mouth.

Question 18

Define: Anal Stage

Answer 18

Occurs between ages 2-3 when control of bodily waste is the key issue.

Question 19

Define: Phallic (Oedipal) Stage, and the difference between boys and girls

Answer 19

It is the most crucial stage of forming the personality, lasting from ages 3-6. The child unconsciously wishes to possess the parent of the opposite sex and get rid of the same sex parent.

• For boys, they eventually repress their desire for the mother and come to chiefly identify with the father and accept his authority and standards of morality. This is where the Superego emerges.
• For girls, they do not have the overwhelming fear to give up their oedipal feelings and have a lingering sense of “penis envy”

Question 20

Define: Latent Stage

Answer 20

The non-sexual stage in preparation for the genital stage.

Question 21

Define: Genital Stage

Answer 21

Begins at puberty and leads into adult sexuality.

Question 22

What is the central idea of the Jungian Theory?

Answer 22

In addition to an individual’s own unconscious, there exists a Collective Unconscious.

Question 23

Explain: Collective Unconscious

Answer 23

All human beings share universal memories, symbols, images, and themes (archetypes).

Question 24

What does the Object-Relations School focus on?

Answer 24

Belief that the central problem in life is balance between need for independence and need for others. It is also a balance of adjusting to separations and losses.

Question 25

What does “object” stand for in Object Relations School?

Answer 25

Object stands for the infants attachment to, and perception of that person.

Question 26

The child’s ____________ of the object (mother) will unconsciously affect personality throughout life, influencing…

Answer 26

• Mental Representation

- It influences how a person relates to others, such as trust, suspicion, acceptance, or criticism.

Question 27

In Object Relations School, how does male-female development differ from Freud’s concepts?

Answer 27

• both sexes first identify with the mother
• daughter is treated as extension of mother
• son is encouraged to separate and develop masculine identity
• men develop more rigid boundaries between themselves and other people than women do

Question 28

What are 3 scientific failings of Psychodynamic Theories?

Answer 28

• violating the Principle of Falsifability (theories are impossible to confirm or disconfirm)
• Their principles are drawn from few experiences (observations were not confirmed by large representative samples)
• theories are based on retrospective accounts of adults

Question 29

Define: Illusion of Causality

Answer 29

In retrospective accounts, people may assume that since A came before B, then A caused B.