An Introduction to

Freudian Psychoanalysis

What is Personality?

Personality an individual’s characteristic

pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

two basic perspectivesPsychoanalytic (Freud)Humanistic (post-Freudian)

The Psychoanalytic Perspective

Freud’s theory proposed that childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence personality

It has greatly shaped how we understand human identity.

The Psychoanalytic Perspective

Psychoanalysis Freud’s theory of personality

that attributes our thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts

involves techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

Levels of Consciousness

Conscious current awareness of internal and

external reality (ego)

Preconscious not aware of material but it’s retrievable

via ordinary methods, such as memory and by using learned skills (ego)

Unconscious not aware of material and it’s not

retrievable via ordinary methods (ego, id, and superego)

The Psychoanalytic PerspectiveUnconscious according to Freud, a reservoir of fears,

bad feelings, unacceptable thoughts, shameful desires, and traumatic memories

where the forces of the id and superego are at large

where ego negotiations between the id and superego are automatic, like reflexes

contemporary viewpoint after Freud—information processing of which we are unaware

Levels of Consciousness

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Freud’s elements of the mind and the levels they govern

The Psychoanalytic Perspective

The Unconscious Ego The ego’s job is to satisfy the id

without attracting the judgment of the superego.

Sometimes the urges of the id cannot be reconciled with the superego.

Some memories are too traumatic for the ego.

The Psychoanalytic Perspective

The Unconscious Ego The ego uses unconscious mechanisms

to protect itself from anxiety-producing urges and memories.

When these mechanisms do not work effectively, they become problems—neuroses or psychoses.

Becoming conscious of them allows the ego to create better strategies for dealing with the anxiety or trauma.

The Psychoanalytic Perspective

Techniques for Revealing the Unconscious

Free Association Dream Analysis Projective Techniques Recovered Memories

The Psychoanalytic Perspective

Free Association in psychoanalysis, a method of

exploring the unconscious person relaxes and says whatever

comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

Dream Analysis interpret dreams as symbols of

unconscious forces

The Psychoanalytic Perspective

Projective Techniques inkblot test, where unconscious

forces are called upon to interpret “meaningless” images

Recovered Memories using hypnosis, traumatic

memories are brought into the ego’s awareness so the ego can find healthier ways of coping with them

The Psychoanalytic Perspective

Example of a Rorschach Inkblot

Conflict Model

The self is not unified. There are competing elements within ourselves.

Freud identified these competing elements as the id, superego, and ego.

No one element can win. The only way to stay healthy is not to let any one element get the upper hand, otherwise mental illness (neurosis or psychosis) can occur.

Personality Structure

Id contains a reservoir of unconscious

psychic energy is irrational, emotional, and

demanding strives to satisfy basic bodily,

sexual, and aggressive drives does not care about others or the

reality of the situation

Personality Structure

Id operates on the pleasure principle,

demanding immediate gratification represented as a devil sitting on

someone’s shoulder. As this devil sits there, he tells the ego to behave in ways that bring pleasure to the self.

Personality Structure

Superego Works mostly in the unconscious

level of the mind the part of the personality that

presents internalized ideals represents social and parental values

and steps in when mom or the cops aren’t around

Personality Structure

Superego provides standards for judgment (the

conscience) and for future aspirations sometimes is represented as an angel

sitting on someone’s shoulder, telling the ego to behave according to the rules or according to social or cultural definitions of right and wrong

Personality Structure

Ego works mostly but not entirely at the

conscious level “executive” part of the personality

that mediates between the demands of the id, superego, and reality

operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

Personality Structure

Ego must appease the id’s desires,

but negotiates with the superego to find socially acceptable ways of doing so

represented as a person, with a devil (the id) on one shoulder and an angel (the superego) on the other

Personality Structure

Freud’s idea of the mind’s structureId

Superego

Ego Conscious mind

Unconscious mind

Personality Development

Psychosexual Stages the childhood stages of development

during which the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

Oedipus Complex a boy’s sexual desires toward his

mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

Personality DevelopmentFreud’s Psychosexual Stages

Stage Focus

Oral Pleasure centers on the mouth--(0-18 months) sucking, biting, chewing

Anal Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder (18-36 months) elimination; coping with demands for

control

Phallic Pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with (3-6 years) incestuous sexual feelings

Latency Dormant sexual feelings(6 to puberty)

Genital Maturation of sexual interests(puberty on)

Personality Development

Identification the process by which children

incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos

Fixation a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking

energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, where conflicts were unresolved

Defense Mechanisms

Defense Mechanisms the ego’s protective methods of

reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

Repression the basic defense mechanism that

banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness

Defense Mechanisms

Regression

defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated

Defense Mechanisms

Reaction Formation

defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites

people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings

Defense Mechanisms

Projection defense mechanism by which people

disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

Rationalization defense mechanism that offers self-

justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one’s actions

Defense Mechanisms

Displacement defense mechanism that shifts

sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person

as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet

Assessing the Unconscious

Projective Test a personality test, such as the Rorschach

or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) a projective test in which people express

their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

Assessing the Unconscious--TAT

Assessing the Unconscious

Rorschach Inkblot Test the most widely used projective

test a set of 10 inkblots designed by

Hermann Rorschach seeks to identify people’s inner

feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

Assessing the Unconscious--Rorschach

Neo-Freudians

Alfred Adler importance of childhood social tensionKaren Horney sought to balance Freud’s masculine

biasesCarl Jung emphasized the collective unconscious concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of

memory traces from our species’ history

Humanistic Perspective

Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)

studied self-actualization processes of productive and healthy people (e.g., Lincoln)

Humanistic Perspective

Self-Actualization the ultimate psychological need

that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved

the motivation to fulfill one’s potential

Humanistic Perspective

Carl Rogers (1902-1987) focused on growth and fulfillment

of individuals genuineness acceptance empathy

Humanistic Perspective

Unconditional Positive Regard an attitude of total acceptance

toward another personSelf-Concept all our thoughts and feelings

about ourselves, in an answer to the question, “Who am I?”