The PsychoDynamic (explanation of aggression)

Question 1

point out all of the different parts of the Defence mechanisms/ Ego Defence mechanisms

Answer 1

• Repression
• Denial
• Regression
• Displacement
• Projection
• Rationalisation
• Sublimation

Question 2

fully define all the different parts of the defence mechanism/ ego defence mechanism

*give examples if you don’t fully understand it

Answer 2

Repression: push back bad experiences or negative emotion to the back of your mind so you forget about it
e.g. loved one was badly injured in an accident and you don’t want to think about it

Denial: making yourself believe that something wont happen when in fact it will (usually a reaction to bad news)
e.g. he wasn’t out with her. he really loves me

Regression: you revert/act like a child because you couldn’t get want but also to help deal with stress and avoiding with conflict
e.g. throwing a fit cause your parents wont let you go to a party

Displacement: transferring said emotions onto something or someone else
e.g. instead of punching someone you transfer that anger by slamming the door really hard

Projection: when having unacceptable thought, its dealt by saying that its someone else’s thoughts
e.g. acting moody and saying that its because of your boss

Rationalisation: explaining ones actions so that it makes sense and we wont feel bad about them
e.g. being rejected and saying that we didn’t like that person or a father beating the son for his own good

Sublimation: similar to displacement but we transfer unwanted impulses onto something that is less harmful and even helpful i.e. tasks

Question 3

Describe the ID

Answer 3

simplified = id wants to do whatever it wants and think its right

the personality component made up of unconscious/impulsive psychic energy that works to satisfy basic urges, needs, and desires.
no rationality whatsoever and isn’t in touch with the real world

the first part to appear is the id, it exists right from birth and is the most basic, primitive part of the personality (thought to be the true unconscious)

main goal is to ensure the person survive and with those things which give it pleasure such as food, comfort and avoiding pain

it demands that its needs be satisfied by the other instinct immediately and at all cost

it operates on the pleasure principle which means that the child is only interest in things which give it pleasure

Question 4

Describe the Ego

Answer 4

simplified = compromises with the ID and tells it what is right and wrong

develops from the age of 2 and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world + component
of personality whose job is dealing with reality

end part of personality to appear for the first year of life the id dominates the child’s personality and behaviour

1-2 years old the children start to use language and begin to learn that they must ask for things. Id is still making demands about what it wants but parents stop giving in to the child’s demands and id will become frustrated

The child must become more realistic and realise that making demands which aren’t met is a waste of energy

Ego is in touch of the real world, its rational and logical. Consists of our memories and how we solve problems how we regard things and so on

Allows child to realise that talking, explaining, planning negotiating, asking etc. will be more effective in satisfying ids demands and relies on the reality principle

Question 5

Describe the Superego

Answer 5

simplified = in charge of having moral standards + conscious always in place

component of personality composed of the internalized ideals/standards that we have acquired from our parents and society
(you can think if it being like the medium/guide between the ego (makes it normal) and id (supresses it)). knows what’s right and wrong
and makes you feel guilty when doing something wrong

3 years old we have a child who is unconscious id makes selfish demand for things which will give it pleasure

Ego is trying to satisfy ids demand for example the id might demand the satisfaction of food. The go will know that this demand can be met by taking some food. But taking food without asking our parents may be wrong in some homes and may results in pain (being smacked)

So we need a 3rd personality which will help us know what is right and not right for use and what we may and may not do. This is the role of superego

Makes sure the go doesn’t use unacceptable means to satisfy ids demands

Made up of 2 parts our conscience and our ego ideal our conscious gives use feeling or right and wrong. The ego ideal tells us what is good and what we should be like i.e. conscience is about should not and ego ideal is about should

based on the morality principle

Question 6

what happens / conflicts that appear in the Oral stage (governed by the id)

Answer 6

This is the first stage of personality development. At this age pleasure is gained through the mouth (even where food is not involved). Freud thought we were born with a “feeding instinct”, which must be satisfied. Freud said the baby is only aware of its own needs for pleasure therefore the oral stage is dominated by the “pleasure principle”

Question 7

outcomes of the conflict (Oral stage)

Answer 7

too little stimulation will become pessimistic, unable to develop personal relationships, aggressive, often depressed and will see other people only as objects to satisfy him or her. They will be selfish, uncaring, and untrusting.

Too much stimulation means that the person will be easily “taken in” gullible, and optimistic. He’ll be excitable and over enthusiastic about things

Question 8

what happens / conflicts that appear in the Anal stage (development of the ego)

Answer 8

Now satisfaction will be gained from controlling the bowels. Bowel control is to do with the expulsion and retention of faeces, (i.e. the products of one’s own body).The id is demanding satisfaction (i.e. the child must relieve itself as soon as it needs to), whilst parents are trying to train the child to control itself via potty training. Some personality problems might occur if this conflict isn’t resolved. The ego, which is more logical than the id, appears now, to help solve this problem.

Question 9

outcomes of the conflict (Anal stage)

Answer 9

Anally retentive - a person who pays such attention to detail that it becomes an obsession and may be an annoyance to others

Anally expulsive – shows personality such as disorganized, messy, careless, rebellious, and sometimes cruel.

Question 10

what happens / conflicts that appear in the Phallic stage (development of the superego)

Answer 10

The focus of pleasure in the stage is in the erogenous zone (genital region).

Freud suggested that children from around three years of age start to have actual but unconscious (pre-genital) sexual feelings about their (opposite sex) parents. In this stage the child is starting to develop an interest in its own and its parents’ genitals and will experience some kind of sexual feelings. Children often play with their genitals.

Unconsciously the boy will start to regard its mother (who first fed it and formed an attachment to it) as a “love object”. The girl will unconsciously want her father, since he is big and strong and manly, and is associated with pleasurable genital feelings for her. These are called the Oedipus complex (boys) and the Electra complex (girls).

Question 11

outcomes of the conflict (Phallic stage)

Answer 11

During the phallic stage children will be socialised into learning what is right and wrong, what they should and shouldn’t do, and they learn the different ways in which boys and girls are expected to behave.
If these conflicts cannot be resolved in a productive way then Freud said that person will develop a phallic character, self-assured, reckless, vain and proud and they also might be incapable of loving.
Also, issues surrounding the super ego will have an effect on behaviour too.

Question 12

Describe latency and general stage (after puberty to adulthood)

Answer 12

• A time of consolidation, of sorting relationship out of overcoming the Oedipus complex and channelling libidos energy elsewhere
• as kids start going to school said energy will be consumed by the school

Question 13

How does life an death instinct explain aggression?

Answer 13

Eros = life instinct containing libido, manifesting as sexuality 
Thanatos = Death instinct, manifesting itself in aggression and destructiveness

Freud believed that people are born with different levels of Thanatos and Eros as those with high libido have a more positive outlook on life compared to those with high level of Thanatos.
each of these instinct seek expression and satisfaction while at the same time opposing one another in our unconscious and believed that this conflict is the origin of all aggression

Question 14

How does Eros and Thanatos linked with the psychosexual stages?

PEE example

Answer 14

P - psychoanalytic theory theories that aggression is an innate personality common to all humans and its motivated by sexual desires,
E - arguing that children exhibit physical aggression due the demand of the id which is irrational and needs the superego to help over come the conflicts that the id cause
E - therefore over the course of development after the child had rejected the opposite sex parent, the conflict will resolve as will the understanding that psychical aggression is wrong in society
E - however superego needs to balance ego and id so as a compromise social aggression is used here and there

Question 15

How would the Id cause physical aggression?

Answer 15

It causes physical aggression as the id all of ones irrational and impulses actions and if challenged for example in an argument the id will think of multiple irrational actions that I want to do such as going full ballistic of the one that is being argued to

Question 16

How does the superego link to the explanation of aggression

Answer 16

Supergo is known as the mediator between the ego and id like its their boss, it links with any sort of aggression is because it failed to control the id and unable to guide ego which in then helps control the id therefore the system is in the chaos and an individual facing this problem is unable to live in society peacefully

Question 17

The super ego is based in the morality principle, therefore acts on what is right for others – this can develop into a harsh super ego!

Answer 17

Harsh super ego will want to punish itself, therefore will use defence mechanisms to seek situations to punish it, even if this is being involved in aggressive behaviour. \it will then use rationalisation to justify the reasons for such aggression.

Question 18

If the superego does not develop properly it is classed as a weak super ego, how might a weak super ego explain aggression?

Answer 18

A dysfunctional superego is unable to guide the id irrational and impulsive decision making therefore id can unrestrictedly cause aggression through one’s desire and since superego is unable to give ego morals and ideals its unable to help id express those impulsiveness in a more acceptable manner. Overall everything Is in chaos as superego acts a control centre for the ego and id

Question 19

What is the ego’s contribution in the cause of a aggression

Answer 19

The ego based on “the reality principle“ understands the outside world and has no desires of its own. It understands punishment and will try to avoid it, but it feels no guilt. The ego has no problem using aggression to get the id what it wants, so long as it thinks it will satisfy the Id

Question 20

How will the ego use displacement and sublimination to deal with the frustrations and conflict from the Id and superego?

Answer 20

Ego will use displacement to help id express their direct anger to something else such as an inanimate object also use sublimination to direct any unnecessary impulses to task for example cleaning or watching something

• a way to remember even though there the same displacement is expressing the emotion to something else (1 action) and sublimination is directing impulses on a task or action that is more socially acceptable
• I think the only difference that you need to mention is that one is socially acceptable and the other is as well but don’t mention it and that 1 is expressed on multiple things and the other is only on 1 specific thing

Question 21

Strengths

Answer 21

Development of effective treatment for curing mental illness. Psychoanalysis can help treat aggression by exploring the unconscious causes of aggression. The psychoanalyst helps the client explore their own dreams and childhood memories and work out what they mean. Hopefully, the client will learn about the defence mechanisms they are using and the unresolved conflicts going on in their unconscious. They may come to self-knowledge. This has be recently used in prisons with violent female offenders to help them deal with their past trauma in the hope it will reduce their violent outbursts. – application

It is widely accepted that our instincts and past experiences pay an important part influencing out future behaviour. A great deal of case studies have identified that early experiences can influence later adult psychological problems. In particular dysfunctional relationships in childhood can lead to later mental health problems. Brown et al (1978) identified that experiencing the death of a mother particularly before the age of 11 was at least partly responsible for later adult depression. However, a weakness of this research with regard to explaining aggression is – application

Knowledge of defence mechanisms have helped develop effective treatments for aggressive behaviours. For example, youth workers will encourage children with extreme aggression to join sports clubs as a more positive outlet for their pent up aggression, to help prevent them from becoming offenders in later life. – application

Question 22

Weaknesses

Answer 22

Freud’s concepts were not measurable because……
There are abstract object hence unable to physically see them therefore unable to physically investigate them, unable to verify if said concepts actually exist

The method most commonly used by Freud were case studies this is a disadvantage because It could be wrong and lowers credibility as it used unique circumstance to justify that your theory Is correct

The evidence provided in the approach is highly subjective because Dream analysis is based on what you picked out and ones interpretation for example had cake and watched horror films then your dream will be chased with nightmares of cakes

Freud drew his conclusions from a small sample of case studies, mainly of middle class Viennese women who he claimed were submissive and weak He claimed females have weaker superegos than males, yet females constitute a very small percentage of the criminal population. Hoffman (1977) suggests in fact that females show stronger moral orientation than males at all ages, therefore deputing Freuds claim and criticising his explanation of aggression

Question 23

essay plan 8 mark from google classroom task - use markings there

Answer 23

Freud’s theory has credibility as the evolutionary theory and S.L.T agree with some of the explanations which are: The ID is made up of unconscious/impulsive psychic energy that works to satisfy basic urges, needs, and desires, no rationality whatsoever and isn’t in touch with the real world this in doubt is a necessity for survivable & Ego is in touch of the real world, its rational and logical. Consists of our memories and how we solve problems how we regard things and so its guided from the superego’s early initiations from parents & other role models in life shapes our standards. learning from staying away from anti-social behaviours. Therefore can be argued to be holistic taking into account of the bigger picture from similar results in different topic areas. However as the used of case studies, Freud’s run the risk of reducing credibility of the research as these case studies are of unique circumstances for justifying the psychodynamic explanation.

Using the process of sublimination where we transfer unwanted impulses onto something that is less harmful and even helpful i.e cleaning around the house, doing homework, this then turned into the catharsis hypothesis is the idea that by acting out built up emotions, it allows one to release their aggressive tendencies in a socially acceptable manner. Feshbach and Singer found that adolescent/pre-adolescent boys at a residential school were more aggressive if exposed to non-aggressive TV programmes rather than watching aggressive programmes. Thus viewing programmes is cathartic, harmlessly redirecting pent-up aggressive feelings. On the other hand, Bushman made 600 college students angry from actors criticising an essay each had written. One group vented their anger by hitting a punch bag whilst thinking about the confederates comments. Findings showed that compared to the control of not venting, the control group had longer and louder reactions in a subsequent task, showing that maybe Freud’s ideas are not wholly accurate.

The evidence provided in the approach is highly subjective because Dream analysis is completely up to interpretations as it an abstract concept for example had cake and watched horror films then your dream will be chased with nightmares of cakes isn’t a logical explanations to only trust the P’s self report data as other explanation can work such as extreme sides of phobias like bees or spiders results in some being bed ridden not leaving their homes. Furthermore Freud’s concepts only lead to being circular as when defining a superego which is where we internalized ideals & standards from our parents and society’s thus in turn learning what is right from wrong & a sense of guilt when we know we did something from. Freud shows this in his study conclusions from a small sample of case studies, mainly of middle class Viennese women who he claimed were submissive and weak. He claimed females have weaker superegos than males, yet females constitute a very small percentage of the criminal population. Hoffman (1977) suggests in fact that females show stronger moral orientation than males at all ages, therefore deputing Freuds claim and criticising his explanation of aggression.

It is widely accepted that our instincts and past experiences pay an important part influencing out future behaviour. A great deal of case studies has identified that early experiences can influence later adult psychological problems. Dysfunctional relationships in childhood can lead to later mental health problems. Brown et al (1978) identified that experiencing the death of a mother particularly before the age of 11 was at least partly responsible for later adult depression. However, a weakness of this research about explaining aggression is individual differences as everyone is born uniquely, an example is that everyone has different level of psychoticism like it being low results in being more increase aggression, cold, egocentric, impulsive.