Personality Freud

Psychodynamic Personality Theory A model of personality that assumes that inner forces (needs, drives and motives) shape personality and influence behavior.

Freud’s Mind Structure

Freud’s Mind Structure Conscious What you are aware of at any particular moment, your present perceptions, memories, thoughts, fantasies, and feelings. Preconscious What you might call "available memory:" Anything that can easily be made conscious.

Freud’s Mind Structure Unconscious All the things that are not easily available to awareness, including many things that have their origins there, such as our drives or instincts, and things that are put there because we can't bear to look at them, such as the memories and emotions associated with trauma. The unconscious is the source of our motivations, whether they be simple desires for food or sex, neurotic compulsions, or the motives of an artist or scientist.

ID The id operates on the pleasure principle, which can be understood as a demand to take care of needs immediately. Imagine the id as an hungry infant, screaming itself blue. It doesn't "know" what it wants in any adult sense; it just knows that it wants it and it wants it now. The infant, in the Freudian view, is pure, or nearly pure id.

EGO The ego functions according to the reality principle. This means to "take care of a need as soon as an appropriate object is found." It represents reality and reason. The ego struggles to keep the id happy, it meets with obstacles in the world. It occasionally meets with objects that actually assist it in attaining its goals.

Superego The superego represents society, and society often wants nothing better than to have you never satisfy your needs at all! There are 2 parts of the superego 1 -Conscience, which is an internalization of punishments and warnings. 2 - Ego ideal, which derives from rewards and positive models presented to the child. These 2 parts communicate their requirements to the ego with feelings like pride, shame, and guilt.

Homer as Ego, Id & Superego

Psychosexual Stages Oral Stage Birth to about 18 months. The focus of pleasure is, of course, the mouth. Sucking, chewing and biting are favorite activities. If weaned too early then an oral fixation may show up later in life, such as always putting objects in the mouth, chain smoking or overeating.

Psychosexual Stages Anal stage 18 months to three or four years old. The focus of pleasure is the anus. Holding it in and letting it go are greatly enjoyed. Fixation can occur in two ways Anal-retentive – potty training two early Overly Neat and Fussy Anal-expulsive – potty training not encouraged Overly Slovenly and Mess

Psychosexual Stages Phallic stage Three/four to six/seven years old. The focus of pleasure is the genitalia. Oedipus Complex stage

Psychosexual Stages Latent stage Six/seven to puberty, (approx 12 years old) Dormant sexual feelings due to learning. Note- while most children seem to be fairly calm, sexually, during their grammar school years, perhaps up to a quarter of them are quite busy masturbating and playing "doctor.”

Psychosexual Stages Genital stage Begins at puberty thru adulthood Represents the resurgence of the sex drive in adolescence, and the more specific focusing of pleasure in sexual intercourse. Freud felt that masturbation, oral sex, homosexuality, and many other things we find acceptable in adulthood today, were immature.

Defense Mechanisms According to Freud, we have two drives; sex and aggression. Everything we do is motivated by one of these two drives and are what drives the id, ego and superego. Sex represents our drive to live, prosper, and produce offspring.  Aggression represents our need to stay alive and stave off threats to our existence, our power, and our prosperity.

Defense Mechanisms Denial Arguing against an anxiety provoking stimuli by stating it doesn't exist. Example: Denying that your physician's diagnosis of cancer is correct and seeking a second opinion.

Defense Mechanisms Displacement Taking out impulses on a less threatening target. Example: Slamming a door instead of hitting as person, yelling at your spouse after an argument with your boss

Defense Mechanisms Projection Placing unacceptable impulses in yourself onto someone else. Example: When losing an argument, you state "You're just Stupid.”

Defense Mechanisms Rationalization Supplying a logical or rational reason as opposed to the real reason. Example: Stating that you were fired because you didn't kiss up the boss, when the real reason was your poor performance.

Defense Mechanisms Reaction Formation Taking the opposite belief because the true belief causes anxiety. Example: Having a bias against a particular race or culture and then embracing that race or culture to the extreme

Defense Mechanisms Regression Returning to a previous stage of development. Example: Thumb sucking and crying after hearing bad news; throwing a temper tantrum when you don't get your way

Defense Mechanisms Repression Sending anxiety arousing thoughts to the unconscious. Freud believed repression underlies all the other defense mechanisms. Example: Forgetting sexual abuse from your childhood due to the trauma and anxiety

Defense Mechanisms Sublimation Acting out unacceptable impulses in a socially acceptable way. Example: Sublimating your aggressive impulses toward a career as a boxer; becoming a surgeon because of your desire to cut; lifting weights to release 'pent up' energy

Brief Summary of Freud’s Tenets Freud argued that humans are driven by life instincts and by death instincts If either anxiety or social constraints prevent direct expression of these drives, they will be expressed indirectly or unconsciously. Freud maintained that the aggressive drive is often sublimated into competition and achievement.

Brief Summary of Freud’s Tenets Dreams and Freudian slips provide two ways of studying unconscious wishes or impulses Individuals pass through a series of psychosexual stages during which id impulses of a sexual nature find a socially acceptable outlet

Brief Summary of Freud’s Tenets Unresolved conflicts between id impulses and social restrictions during childhood continue to influence one’s personality in adulthood. People who smoke, overeat, or chew gum presumably have had trouble with feeding and weaning early in the oral stage

Brief Summary of Freud’s Tenets Problems with toilet training during the anal stage may lead to the development of anal-expulsive or anal-retentive personalities in adulthood Problems during the phallic stage may be expressed later in the Oedipus complex in men and in an Electra complex in women.