Personality Development: Psychoanalytical Theory of Personality

Dr Sigmund Freud 1856-1939

Oldest of eight children Married with 3 girls and 3 boys Physician-Biologist Scientific oriented and Pathology oriented theory Jewish-anti-religion-All religion an illusion used to cope with feelings of infantile helplessness In Vienna Austria 78 years Based theory on personal experiences Died of cancer of jaw & mouth lifelong cigar chain-smoker

Freuds Psychoanalytic Approach:

Model of personality development Philosophy of Human Nature Method of Psychotherapy Identified dynamic factors that motivate behavior Focused on role of unconscious Developed first therapeutic procedures for understanding & modifying structure of ones basic character

Determinism
Freuds perspective Behavior is determined by
Irrational forces Unconscious motivations Biological and instinctual drives as they evolve through the six psychosexual stages of life

The Structure of Personality

THE ID The Demanding Child
Ruled by the pleasure principle

THE EGO The Traffic Cop

Ruled by the reality principle

THE SUPEREGO The Judge

Ruled by the moral principle

Psychoanalytic Approach
Rational, planful, mediating dimension of personality

Ego Superego

Conscious

Information in your immediate awareness Information which can easily be made conscious Thoughts, feelings, urges, and other information that is difficult to bring to conscious awareness

Preconscious

Moralistic, judgmental, perfectionist dimension of personality

Unconsciou s Id

Irrational, illogical, impulsive dimension of personality

Psychoanalytic Approach
Conscious - all things we are aware of at any given moment Preconscious - everything that can, with a little effort, be brought into consciousness Unconscious - inaccessible warehouse of anxiety-producing thoughts and drives

Psychoanalytic Divisions of the Mind

Id
Instinctual drives present at birth Operates to demands of Pleasure Principle strive to satisfy desires and reduce inner tension Does not distinguish between reality and fantasy Sea around an Island

Ego
Deals with real world Develops out of the id in infancy Operates to demands of Reality Principle solves problems by planning & acting Understands reality and logic Mediator between id and superego City Hall on island roots and foundation in sea - id

Superego
Internalized social norm & moral forces pressing on and constraining individual action Internalization of societys moral standards Responsible for guilt Church on island roots and foundation in sea id

 Five Stages of Development Oral Stage Anal Stage Phallic Stage Latency Period Genital Stage

Psychosexual Theory of Development

Fixation - an attempt to achieve pleasure as an adult in ways that are equivalent to how it way achieved in these stages

The Development of Personality

ORAL STAGE (First year) Related to later mistrust and rejection issues ANAL STAGE (Ages 2-4) Related to later personal power issues PHALLIC STAGE (Ages 4-6) Related to later sexual attitudes LATENCY STAGE (Ages 5-11) A time of socialization GENITAL STAGE (Ages 12-60) Sexual energies are invested in life

Oral Stage: Birth to 2 year

Satisfy drive of hunger and thirst by breast or bottle If fixated after weaned:
Over Dependency Over Attachment

Anal Stage: 2- 4 years

Id wants pleasure of reducing tension by defecating & urinating Toilet training can lead to fixation if not handled correctly
get superego to impose societal norms Self-control Holding back Freedom of action no control

Phallic Stage: 4 6 years

Differences between boys and girls Emerging sexual gender identity Personality fixed by end of this stage Fixation can lead to excessive masculinity in males and the need for attention or domination in females

Complexes
A boys sexual feeling for his mother and rivalries with his father Form reaction pattern used throughout life Form personality through identification with father A girls feelings of inferiority and jealousy Turns affections from mother to father Wants to find a good man like her father and produce a baby

Latency Period 5-11 years of age

Time between resolution of Oedipus complex and puberty Usually not possible for sexual urges to be directly expressed Sexual energies are channeled into school and friends Children participate in hobbies and same-sex friendships

 Sexual feelings re-emerge and are oriented toward others Healthy adults find pleasure in love and work, fixated adults have their energy tied up in earlier stages
Normal sexual relations Marriage Child-rearing

Genital Stage: Adolescence Adulthood

Post-Freudian Psychodynamic Theories

Karen Horneys focus on security Alfred Adlers individual psychology Erik Eriksons psychosocial development Carl Jungs collective unconscious

Defense Mechanisms
Are normal behaviors which operate on an unconscious level and tend to deny or distort reality Unconscious mental processes employed by the ego to reduce anxiety To protect the ego against the painful and threatening impulses arising from the id we distort the reality The processes that distort the reality for the ego are called defense mechanisms

Defense Mechanisms: Repression

Keeping anxiety-producing thoughts out of the conscious mind Posttraumatic Stress Disorder- PTSD Common with veterans and victims of sexual abuse

Defense Mechanisms: Denial

Refusing to acknowledge anxiety-provoking stimuli Refusing to acknowledge an undesirable experience, memory or internal need; behaving as if it did not exist
Terminal cancer

Defense Mechanisms: Reaction formation

Process of pushing away threatening impulses by overemphasizing the opposite in ones thoughts and actions Defending against unacceptable feelings and behaviour by exhibiting the opposite of ones true wishes or impulses
Attracted to pornographic material (id) yet be repulsed by the thought of such material (superego) May become involve in censorship campaign

Defense Mechanisms: Displacement

Shifting feeling from one object to a substitute that is not as gratifying but is less anxietyarousing
Performance Appraisal

Defense Mechanisms: Regression

Returning to forms of behaviour that are indicative of an earlier level of development
There may be regression to the stage where there was previous fixation An adult has a temper tantrum

Defense Mechanisms: Sublimation

A form of displacement in which sexual or aggressive impulse is moved from an unacceptable object to activities that are acceptable and valued by society
Direction of sexual energy towards the creation of work of arts. Turning aggressive energy towards surgery

Is it possible that as society becomes more sexually liberated, art, creativity and even civilization will suffer?

Defense Mechanisms: Projection

Reducing anxiety by attributing unacceptable impulses to someone else
Public diatribe against infidelity of president while engaged in own long term infidelity out of public eye

Defense Mechanisms: Rationalization

Reasoning away anxiety-producing thoughts A mechanism involving post hoc logical explanations for behaviors that were actually driven by internal unconscious motives Explanation for behavior not even remotely related to the true causes

What is the Unconscious

That portion of the mind inaccessible to usual, conscious thought Get to unconscious through Free Association: spontaneous free flowing associations of ideas and feelings

The Unconscious
Clinical evidence for postulating the unconscious: Dreams Slips of the tongue Posthypnotic suggestions Material derived from free-association Material derived from projective techniques Symbolic content of psychotic symptoms

Dream Interpretation
Royal road to the unconscious What is important in dreams is the infantile wish fulfillment represented in them Freud assumed every dream has a meaning that can be interpreted by decoding representations of the unconscious material Dream symbol = represents some person, thing, or activity involved in the unconscious process

Dream Interpretations
Water = Birth, mother Baldness, tooth removal = castration Fire = bedwetting Robber = father Falling = anxiety Box, oven, ship = Uterus Room, table with food = Women

Hereditary & Environmental Influence

Newborn infant is not merely a plastic blob of protoplasm waiting to be shaped in form and character by environmental pressure.
Differently equipped to adjust Differences in personality begins to appear 23 + 23 chromosomes
Thousands of genes (carriers of individual physical and mental traits) Hereditary endowment

Hereditary endowment
Genes influence personality by
Effecting the quality of nervous system The chemical balance of the body Structure of the body

Environmental Influence
Hereditary potential
Approved Neglected Discouraged

A Triplet example
Feeding, training, rewarding/punishing Behavioural standard, goal expectations codes of the street Choices of career

Environmental Influence
Maturation of hereditary potential before birth
Physical and mental health of the mother Timing of disturbance Slow down or halts Premature baby

Maturation after birth

Timing of damage
Large family

Multiple birth Premature baby: ProtectivePush

Goal Setting

Goal Setting Guidelines

1.Your goal must be conceivable. 2.Make your goal believable. 3.Your goal must be achievable. 4.Make your goal measurable. 5.Your goal should be controllable. 6.Be sure you have singleness of purpose. 7.Your goal must be truly desirable. 8.Make your goal growth facilitating.

SMART Goals
Creating S.M.A.R.T. Goals
Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely

Specific
*Who: Who is involved? *What: What do I want to accomplish? *Where: Identify a location. *When: Establish a time frame. *Which: Identify requirements and constraints. *Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal. EXAMPLE: A general goal would be, Get in shape. But a specific goal would say, Join a health club and workout 3 days a week.

Measurable
To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as
How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?

Attainable
When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.
How: How can the goal be accomplished?

When you list your goals you build your self-image.

Relevant
A Bank Manager's goal to "Make 50 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by 2:00pm."
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, and Time-Bound

A relevant goal can answer yes to these questions:

Does this seem worthwhile? Is this the right time? Does this match our other efforts/needs? Are you the right person?

Time-bound
A time-bound goal will usually answer the question:
When? What can I do 6 months from now? What can I do 6 weeks from now? What can I do today?

T can also stand for Tangible

BARRIERS TO GOAL SETTING

VAGUE AMBITIONS HALF-HEARTED DESIRES EXTERNAL OBSTACLES

Conflict Management

Dealing With a Bad Boss

You're weary. You're frustrated. You're unhappy. You're demotivated. Your interaction with your boss leaves you cold. He's a bully, intrusive, controlling, picky or petty. He takes credit for your work, never provides positive feedback and misses each meeting he schedules with you. Or he caves immediately under pressure and fails to support you in accomplishing your job.

Does the Bad Boss Know?

The definition of "bad" depends on the employee's needs, the manager's skills and the circumstances.
A hands-off manager Provides too much direction Micromanages Lacks training and is so overwhelmed with his job requirements May not share your values

Recommended Approach to the Unwitting Bad Boss

Talk to this boss Ask the manager how you can help him reach his goals Seek a mentor from among other managers or more skilled peers Go to your bosss manager and ask for assistance Human Resources staff Draw together coworkers

When the Bad Boss Knows

Working with a manager at a client company, we discussed his approach to employees. He looked down his nose at them. He criticized and screamed at employees. He publicly humiliated any employee who made a mistake. One day he called me to ask a question. I thought, Great. Break through. I was doomed to disappointment when he said, I know that you dont approve of me screaming at staff as a regular thing. I agreed. So, can you tell me, please, what are the circumstances under which it is okay to scream at them?

Recommended Approach to the Unwitting Bad Boss

Start by recognizing that you have the right to a professional environment in your workplace. You are not the problem. You have a bad boss. He is the problem. You can try talking with the bad boss to tell him the impact that his actions or words are having on you or your performance. In a rare blue moon, the bad boss might care enough to work to modify his behavior. If he does decide to work on his behavior, hold him to his commitments. If you allow him to yell at you, even just a little bit, you are training him that he can get away with his former behavior. Dont go to war publicly, but draw his behavior to his attention as soon as you have the opportunity, privately.