Chapter 3: Psychoanalytic Aspects of Personality

Psychoanalytic Approach

Personality theory based on the writings of Sigmund Freud

Emphasizes the unconscious processes of the mind

Sigmund Freud

The father of psychoanalysis Born (1856) in Freiberg, Moravia into a Jewish family Moved at the age of 4 to Vienna Medical school, University of Vienna Published in 1900, Interpretation of Dreams Visits the US for two weeks in 1909 Leaves Vienna in 1938 due to Nazi aggression Dies in London in 1939

The Unconscious
The

Unconscious

Psychic Determinism Levels of Consciousness Effects of Unconscious Motivation Origin and Nature of the Unconscious

The Unconscious

The portion of the mind of which a person is not aware Psychoanalytic techniques to access the unconscious
Hypnosis Free Association Dream Analysis

Effects of Unconscious Motivation

physical symptoms
Conversion hysteria: form of neurosis in which psychological conflicts are expressed in physical symptoms

Hypnosis
highly suggestible state, suggestions of the hypnotist influence the experience and the recall

Psychosis
irrationality of the unconscious hallucinations

Effects of Unconscious Motivation

Dreams
the royal road to the unconscious manifest content (recalled story) latent content (interpretation)

psychopathology of everyday life

Freudian slips, determined by the unconscious

Humor
We find jokes funny if they provide a safe release for unconscious conflicts

projective tests
The TAT The Rorschach

Levels of Consciousness
Our mind is like an iceberg

conscious preconscious

The majority of our psyche is beneath the surface

unconscious

Dreams
The royal road to the unconscious

Manifest content
the content of a dream that a person remembers

Latent content
the underlying hidden meaning of a dream

Structures of the Personality

ID The pleasure principle, primitive, libido
superego ideals, guilt, internal voice of restrictions

ego the reality principle, mature, mediator

Parts of the Mind

Structure Contents Principle of Operation Pleasure Reality Morality

Id Ego Superego

Primitive drives and emotions Balances Id, Superego, and reality Internalized social norms

Parts of the Mind

Psychosexual Development
The development of the psyche Progresses in stages as the libido (desire, sexual energy) is redirected to different parts of the body Psychosexual Stages

Oral Anal Phallic Latency Genital

ORAL STAGE
oral

eroticism oral sadism weaning oral character traits

optimism passivity dependency

passive

dependence counterdependence

Oral Stage

Theme
Infants are driven to satisfy the drives of hunger and thirst

Conflict
Child must give up breast feeding

Fixation
Dependency Preoccupation with oral acquisition

ANAL STAGE
toilet

training anal retentive (organized, controlled) anal expulsive (messy, disorganized) anal character traits
orderliness parsimony obstinacy

Anal Stage

Theme:
Child receives pleasure from relieving self of bodily waste

Conflict:
Child is toilet trained

Fixation:
Preoccupation with neatness Excessive bathroom humor anal-retentive and anal-expulsive characteristics

PHALLIC STAGE
genital

zone masturbation fantasy of parental partner males: Oedipus conflict females: Electra conflict

Phallic Stage

Theme:
Child gains pleasure through the genitals Oedipus Complex-Boys desire mother
Castration anxiety

Electra Complex-Girls suffer penis envy

Conflict:
Overt sexual behavior socially unacceptable

Fixation:
Vanity, narcissism, inability to love

LATENCY
Calming

of sexual impulses More socially and academically driven

Latency Stage

Theme:
Psychosexual energy is channeled into academic and social pursuits

Conflicts and fixations do not occur during this stage

GENITAL STAGE
Puberty
Focus

on sexuality Genital character

vanity; appearance; attention

Genital Stage

Theme:
The individual gains satisfaction from mature sexual relationships

This stage is achieved if a person makes it through the other stages with enough available sexual energy
no strong fixations normal (conventional) adult sexuality is viewed as the healthy outcome

Defense Mechanisms

The ego must balance the demands of the id, the super-ego, and reality Defense Mechanisms
Ego processes that distort reality to protect the individual from anxiety Prevent threatening unconscious material from reaching consciousness

Defense Mechanisms

Regression Pushes threatening thoughts to unconscious Denial not acknowledging painful aspects of reality Reaction Formation the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites Projection people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others Displacement shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person Rationalization offering self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for ones actions

Defense Mechanisms

Repression

Pushes threatening thoughts and ideas into the unconscious As an explanation for:
Post-traumatic stress disorder Repressed memories False memories

Defense Mechanisms

Reaction formation

Hides threatening impulses by overemphasizing their opposite As an explanation for:

Rabidly homophobic people turning out to be closeted gays Inappropriate sexual escapades by politicians and clergymen who promote family values

Defense Mechanisms

Denial

Refusal to acknowledge anxietyprovoking stimuli As an explanation for:

Not acknowledging the sudden death of a loved one Interpreting a terrible fight with a spouse as just a lovers quarrel

Defense Mechanisms

Projection

Attributing anxiety-provoking impulse or thoughts to others As an explanation for:

Always being suspicious of others Extreme political opinions

Defense Mechanisms

Displacement

Shifting ones unconscious aggression or fears to a safer target (hydraulic model) As an explanation for:
The case of Little Hans Kicking the dog

sublimation
Finding a socially acceptable aim and object for the expression of an unacceptable impulse

May be expressed in: art Occupation

Defense Mechanisms

Sublimation

Dangerous urges are transformed into positive, socially meaningful motivations As an explanation for:
Artistic creativity Community leadership

Defense Mechanisms

Regression

Protecting the individual by returning to an earlier, safer time of life As an explanation for:
A child with a new baby sibling wanting a bottle again When an adult whimpers A distressed individual treating his/her spouse as a parent

Defense Mechanisms

Rationalization

Creating logical, socially acceptable explanations for behaviors which were actually driven by unconscious impulses As an explanation for:
Lying and then claiming the lie was to protect the feelings of another person

Current Applications: Unconscious Emotions

Freudian theory speculates that we can experience internal arousal that we do not cognitively understand Neurological research shows that some emotional events can exist independent of thought

Current Applications: Hypermnesia

Excess memory
The link between the psychoanalytic tool of free association and the more modern notions of signal detection theory
Rewards for producing good material No penalty for false alarms

Current Applications: Infantile Amnesia

Freud noted that adults cannot remember much from their early years
He attributed this to traumatic conflicts in early life

Research has found that all early memories are forgotten, not just traumatic ones

Current Applications: Memory

Memory is imperfect and subjective

memories change over time all memories vary in their availability for conscious recall

Types of memory
Explicit vs. implicit

Current Applications: Amnesia

Psychoanalysis emphasizes that unconscious thoughts affect behavior Research on amnesic patients has demonstrated that behavior may be affected by experiences that are not consciously remembered (implicit memory can be demonstrated in the absence of explicit memory)

Timeline: Psychoanalytic Approach

Developments in Psychoanalytic Aspects Societal and Scientific Context

Little attempt to plumb the unconscious, except for some exorcism Charcot and Janet study hysteria and hypnosis; visited by Freud

before 1800

Humans are seen primarily in religious or philosophical terms Increasing attention to evolution and brain function; comparisons between humans and other animals

1880s

Timeline: Psychoanalytic Approach

Developments in Psychoanalytic Aspects Societal and Scientific Context

Freud develops notions of id, ego, superego, and repressed sexuality (libido); dream analysis

18901910

Period of industrial and technological change; Victorian era

Neo-analysts begin break 1910with Freud; disputes about 1930 drives and defense mechanisms; death instinct proposed

Increasing technology; world war 1914-1918; rise of behaviorism in American psychology

Timeline: Psychoanalytic Approach

Developments in Psychoanalytic Aspects Societal and Scientific Context

Freud flees Nazis in Austria and dies in England

1930s

Economic depression, social unrest, propaganda; psychiatry grows in U.S. Freud's ideas appear in art, literature, films, medicine, and comedy throughout Western culture

Psychoanalytic thought 1920sinfluences various theories 1940s of drives, motivation, attachment, conflict, amnesia, illness, and more

Timeline: Psychoanalytic Approach

Developments in Psychoanalytic Aspects Societal and Scientific Context

Classic Psychoanalytic 1950sapproaches separate from 1960s mainstream personality psychology Modern experimental and cognitive psychology, and linguistics, offer new explanations for Freudian phenomena 1960s1990s

Psychoanalysis becomes more of a clinical and medical tool

Great advances in brain sciences; progress in psychological assessments

Timeline: Psychoanalytic Approach

Developments in Psychoanalytic Aspects Societal and Scientific Context

Freudian ideas reinterpreted in light of modern knowledge

2000s

Brain imaging in science; complexities of social pathologies recognized

Psychoanalytic Approach

Analogy
Humans as a bundle of sexual and aggressive drives contained by civilization

Psychoanalytic Approach

Advantages
Emphasizes the importance of childhood Acknowledges the importance of sexual and aggressive drives Attempts to understand unconscious forces Explains defense mechanisms Assumes multiple levels are operating in the brain

Psychoanalytic Approach

Limits
Pessimistic Focused on pathology Difficult to test empirically Sexist (male as norm and model) Modern research has not supported many of its notions

Psychoanalytic Approach

View of free will

Behavior is determined by inner drives and conflicts

Empirical Studies of Defenses

projective tests (Rorschach test; TAT)

Rorschach inkblot test Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

self-report measures
Defense Mechanism Inventory

Psychoanalytic Approach

Common assessment techniques

Psychotherapy Free association Dream analysis

Psychoanalytic Approach

Implications for therapy

Because personality problems result from deep inner conflicts, real change must come through long-term, insightoriented psychotherapy Freudian psychoanalysis involves fivedays-a-week sessions over a period of years for a successful analysis