Theories of Personality: Psychoanalytic Approach

Psychoanalytic Approach As per our textbook, the psychoanalytic approach to personality teaches that all people undergo inner struggles.

Sigmund Freud He originated the “inner conflict” approach to personality theory. He believed that conscious ideas and feelings occupy only a small part of the mind. That many people’s deepest thoughts, fears, and urges remain out of their awareness.

Id, Ego, and Superego Id represents basic drives. Ego is the personality component that is conscious and that controls our behavior. Superego is the part of personality that represents the individual’s internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment.

Defense Mechanisms Methods the ego uses to avoid recognizing ideas or emotions that may cause personal anxiety. Repression: the removal of anxiety-causing ideas from conscious awareness by pushing them into the unconscious. Rationalization: the use of self-deception to justify unacceptable behaviors or ideas. Displacement: the transfer of an idea or impulse from a threatening or unsuitable object to a less threatening object.

Defense Mechanisms cont. Regression: when an individual is under a great deal of stress he/she will return to behavior that is characteristic of an earlier stage of development. Projection: when people deal with unacceptable impulses by projecting them outward onto other people. Reaction Formation: when someone acts contrary to their genuine feelings in order to keep their true feelings hidden.

Defense Mechanisms cont. Sublimation: when an individual channels their basic impulses into socially acceptable behavior. Denial: when a person refuses to accept the reality of anything that is bad or upsetting.

Stages of Development Oral Stage: begins in the first year of life. Anal Stage: occurs between the ages of one and a half and two and a half. During this stage children learn that they can control their own bodily functions. Phallic Stage: occurs during the third year of life. Young girls and boys begin to discover the physical differences between the two sexes and become more focused on their own bodies. Latency Stage: occurs between the age of five or six. During this stage impulses and emotions remain hidden or unconscious. Genital Stage: this occurs at puberty. During this stage conflicts of the early development stages resurface.

Carl Jung He developed his own theory, known as analytic psychology, which places a greater emphasis on the influences of mysticism and religion on human behavior. According to Jung collective unconscious is a store of human concepts shared by all people across all cultures. Archetypes are ideas and images of the accumulated experience of all human beings. He believed that every person’s conscious of self can be characterized by-thinking, feeling, intuition, and sensation.

Alfred Adler and Karen Horney He coined the term inferiority complex. He believed that people are basically motivated by a need to overcome feelings of inferiority. Karen Horney She coined the term basic anxiety. That children develop feelings of insecurity.

Erik Erikson He believed that social relationships are the most important factor in personality development. According to him people are entirely capable of making real and meaningful choices.

Test Question #1 What is not one of the 9 defense mechanisms? Depression Regression Projection Repression

Test Question #2 Who was the psychologist who developed the idea of “id, ego, and super ego” ? Hans Eysenck Carl Jung Sigmund Freud Erik Erikson

Test Question #3 The use of self-deception to justify unacceptable behaviors or ideas is: Repression Rationalization Reaction formation Denial

Test Question #4 Complete the sentence The functions of the mind are thinking, feeling, intuition, and __________.