Department of Education Govt. Degree College Bijbehara

PSYCHOANALYTICAL THEORY OF PERSONALITY Presented By Dr. Mehraj Ahmad Assistant Professor

Psychoanalytical Theory of Personality CONTENTS Sigmund Freud Levels of Awareness Components of Personality Defense mechanisms Psychosexual stages Types of Instincts Psychoanalytical Therapy Implications Criticisms

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Jewish background, though self-confessed atheist Lived in Vienna until Nazi occupation in 1938 Had medical background- wanted to do “neurophysiologic research” Private practice with specialty in neurology Josef Breuer & Jean Charcot Private practice in nervous and brain disorders

Freud’s Works Early 1900s published many works-- Interpretation of Dreams (1900) The Psychopathology of Everyday Life (1901) 1905 concept of sexual drive being most powerful personality component 1906 Psychoanalytic Society formed Many works burned in Nazi occupation (starting 1933) Left Austria, fled to England 1938 Died of jaw cancer 1939

3 Levels of Awareness Conscious Preconscious Unconscious

Conscious Current contents of your mind that you actively think of What we call working memory Easily accessed all the time

Preconscious Contents of the mind you are not currently aware of Thoughts, memories, knowledge, wishes, feelings Available for easy access when needed

Unconscious Contents kept out of conscious awareness Not accessible at all Processes that actively keep these thoughts from awareness

Freudian Components of Personality The Id The Ego The Superego

Id Resides completely at the unconscious level Acts under the pleasure principle immediate gratification, not willing to compromise Generates all of the personality’s energy

Ego Resides in all levels of awareness Operates under “reality principle” Attempts negotiation between Id and Superego to satisfy both realistically

Superego The moralist and idealistic part of the personality Resides in preconscious Operates on “ideal principle” Begins forming at 4-5 yrs of age initially formed form environment and others (society, family etc) Internalized conventions and morals Essentially your “conscience”

Conflicts of Personality Components Conflicts between the Id, Superego and Ego arise in unconscious mind Can’t be reached in conscious Come out in various ways Slips of tongue (“Freudian slip”) Dreams Jokes Anxiety Defense Mechanisms….

Denial Refusal to accept external realities because too threatening to enter awareness E.g., you hear a friend has died & can’t believe it’s true.

Repression Internal impulses and memories too threatening so bared from entering awareness E.g., a child who is molested, may suppress the traumatic event so that he/she has no memory for the event

Projection Attribute unacceptable thoughts or impulses onto others (project these inappropriate thoughts etc onto others) E.g., Your partner tells you how selfish you are, when he is in fact selfish

Displacement Shifting attention from one target that is no longer available to a more acceptable or “safer” substitute E.g., After being grilled by your boss, you go home & yell at your partner or the dog/cat.

Sublimation Coleman, “the gratification of sexual desires in non sexual activities that serve as a substitutive. Eg: When anyone fails in love with Somebody he started to making sketches of that person.

Reaction Formation Converting unacceptable and dangerous impulses into something positive to reduce anxiety E.g., A person who doubts his faith may act like a religious zealot to defend his religion.

Rationalization An individuals justifies his beliefs and actions by giving reasons other than those which activate or motivate him. It is most popular defense mechanism which is used almost by all persons in daily life. E.g., A student who fails in the examination blames the paper setter. The boy who is rejected by a girl, finds fault in the girl.

Regression Reverting to behavior that is characteristic to an earlier stage of development when confronted with stress or anxiety E.g. An elder child behaving like an infant when a new sibling is born and feels neglected.

Psychosexual Development Stages of development in which conflict over Id’s impulses plays out Ego must control these impulses If not resolved, psychological issues can emerge later in life

Psychosexual Stages Oral Stage (0-18 months) Pleasure centering around the mouth (sucking, biting etc) Not resolved? aggression or dependency later in life-- fixation with oral activities (smoking, drinking, nail biting etc.

Psychosexual Stages Oral (0-18 months) Anal (18-35 months) Fixation on bowel and bladder elimination Focus: search for control Not resolved? anal retentive (rigid and obsessive personality) or anal expulsive (confused and disorganized personality)

Psychosexual Stages Oral (0-18 months) Anal (18-35 months) Phallic (3-6 years) Focus: genital area and difference btwn males and females Electra Complex or Oedipus Complex

Complexes in the Phallic Stage Oedipus Complex (boys) Unconscious sexual desires towards mother, father is competition Simultaneously fears the dad- “castration anxiety” Electra Complex (girls) Unconscious sexual desires towards father and mother is completion Penis envy

Psychosexual Stages Oral (0-18 months) Anal (18-35 months) Phallic (3-6 years) Latency (6 yrs to puberty) Sexual interest is repressed Kids play with same sex others-- until puberty

Psychosexual Stage Oral (0-18 months) Anal (18-35 months) Phallic (3- 6 years of age) Latency (6 yrs to puberty) Genital (puberty and beyond) Sexual urges awaken If developed “properly” develop these urges towards opposite sex members with fixation on the genitals

Types of instincts Life instinct: Serves the purpose of individuals, survival and propagation of spices. Hunger sex, thrust fall in this category. The form of energy by which the life instincts perform their work is called libido. (Libido is a life maintaining energy which aim to seek pleasure through sexual gratification. It can be equated as a reviver and its flow determines the type of behaviour). Death Instinct: called destructive instinct, the goal of all life is death. It is in unconscious in nature and its works less conspicuously than life instinct.

Psychoanalysis as a Therapy Main objective: To release the blocked emotional feelings and to strength the ego of the patients to face the life situations in a realistic way. 1. Free Association – patient reports anything that comes to his/her mind. The psychoanalyst listens for links & themes that might tie the patient’s fragmentary thoughts or remarks together.

B. Dream analysis: Dreams have two types of content: Manifest content- actual events in dream. Latent content – hidden message in dream. Freud thought that each dream represents a form of wish fulfillment. The wish may be disguised, but it is always there.

Contribution of Psychoanalysis to Education Good method to study the behaviour. Sex Education Co-curricular activities Favorable Environment ECCE got imputes from psychoanalysis Good therapy to treat mental patients Role unconscious to understand the maladaptive behaviour. Role of parents and teachers to develop interpersonal relationship and can form a positive attitude towards life.

Criticism He collected data from his patients and propounded his theory. He has given more emphasis to sex as an interpretation of behaviour . There are so many factors also that affect pattern of behaviour. Ambiguous concepts in his theory. E.g. the term libido has different meanings at different places. (Young- Inferiority feeling) Importance of past experiences in the development of personality. Ignores presents experiences. Unable to predict human behaviour in different situations. Treating mankind as selfish, pleasure seeking and animal like.