Psychodynamic Approaches

*Personality*: The pattern of enduring characteristics that produce consistency and individuality in a given person. Encompasses the behaviors that make each of us unique and that differentiate us from others. Leads us to act consistently in different situations and over extended periods of time.

Who: Sigmund Freud: most important pioneer *Psychodynamic Approaches to Personality* Approaches that assume that personality is motivated by inner forces and conflicts about which people have little awareness and over which they have no control. Who: Sigmund Freud: most important pioneer Carl Jung, Karen Horney, Alfred Adler: refined Freud’s theory and developed their own psychodynamic approaches

Freud’s Theory *Unconscious* A part of the personality that contains the memories, knowledge, beliefs, feelings, urges, drives, and instincts of which the individual is not aware. *Psychoanalytic Theory* Freud’s theory that unconscious forces act as determinants of personality. Conscious experience is only a small part of our psychological makeup & experience. Much of our behavior is motivated by the unconscious

The Unconscious Contents of the unconscious far surpass in quantity the information in our conscious awareness. Must expose the unconscious to understand personality. Clues to the unconscious: slips of the tongue, fantasies, dreams Unconscious cannot be observed directly. Why? Need to interpret to understand the unconscious processes that direct behavior. May be interpreted as revealing unconscious sexual desires.

The Unconscious Ex: 2+2=4 Preconscious makes up some of the unconscious contains non-threatening material easily brought to mind Ex: 2+2=4 Deeper in unconscious: instinctual drives, wishes, desires, demands, needs that are hidden because of conflicts/pain they would cause if part of everyday life Unconscious provides “safe haven” for recollections of threatening events.

Self Disclosure Exercise

Id, Ego, Superego 3 separate, but interacting components of personality. Represent abstract conceptions of a general model of personality that describes the interaction of forces that motivate behavior.

Reality prevents fulfillment *Id* The raw, unorganized, inborn part of personality whose sole purpose is to reduce tension created by primitive drives related to hunger, sex, aggression, and irrational impulses. Operates according to the pleasure principle (the goal is the immediate reduction of tension and maximization of satisfaction) Reality prevents fulfillment

“Executive” of personality. *Ego* The part of the personality that provides a buffer between the id and the outside world. Operates according to the reality principle (instinctual energy is restrained to maintain safety of individual and integrate person into society “Executive” of personality. What does this mean?

-prevents us from behaving in a morally improper way *Superego* The final personality structure to develop; it represents the rights and wrongs of society as handed down by a person’s parents, teacher, and other important figures. Superego makes our behavior less selfish by controlling impulses from the id. Includes conscience -prevents us from behaving in a morally improper way -makes us feel guilty if we do wrong

Perfectionists unable to make compromises that life requires. Id Primitive, pleasure-seeking, thoughtless individual seeking to fulfill every desire without delay. Superego Perfectionists unable to make compromises that life requires. Ego must mediate between the demands of superego & id.

needs ignored or overindulged Psychosexual Stages *Psychosexual Stages* Developmental periods that children pass through during which they encounter conflicts between the demands of society and their own sexual images. Failure to resolve conflicts at particular stage can result in fixations. *Fixations* Conflicts or concerns that persist beyond the developmental period in which they first occur. needs ignored or overindulged

Sequence explains how experiences/difficulties during a stage may predict specific characteristics in adult personality.

Oral Stage *Oral stage* Stage from birth to 12-18 months in which an infant’s center of pleasure is the mouth. Mouth is focal point of pleasure. Children suck, eat, mouth, and bite anything they can put in their mouths. Weaning represents main conflict. Results of Fixation Adult unusually interested in oral activities: eating, talking, smoking Adult shows symbolic sorts of oral interests: “bitingly” sarcastic or very gullible

Anal Stage *Anal Stage* Stage from 12-18 months to 3 yrs, in which child’s pleasure is centered on the anus. Period when emphasis is on toilet training. Children obtain pleasure from retention and expulsion of feces. Results of Fixation Adult is unusually rigid, orderly, punctual, or extremely sloppy.

Phallic Stage *Phallic Stage* Period beginning around age 3 during which a child’s pleasure focuses on the genitals. During this stage, child must negotiate the Oedipal conflict. *Identification* Process of wanting to be like another person as much as possible, imitating that person’s behavior and adopting similar beliefs and values. Son identifies wit his father; seeks to obtain a women like his unattainable mother. Difficulties during this stage --> failure to develop a conscience

Latency Period & Genital Stage *Latency Period* Period between the phallic stage and puberty during which a child’s sexual concerns are temporarily put aside. *Genital Stage* Period from puberty until death, marked by mature sexual behavior.