Psychology 3051 Psychology 305B: Theories of Personality Lecture 9

2 Scoring Your Questionnaire In order to score your questionnaire, you must compute 7 scores. For each score, sum the number of “YES” responses for the items listed below. Score 1: Items 1, 19, 25, 30, 37, 44, 58, 60, 68, 80, 84. Score 2: Items 2, 12, 15, 23, 29, 34, 42, 50, 61, 66, 69, 76, 78, 83. Score 3: Items 3, 9, 11, 14, 21, 26, 39, 48, 51, 54, 56, 62, 71, 72, 77. Score 4: Items 4, 10, 18, 28, 32, 40, 45, 49, 57, 64, 70, 74. Score 5: Items 5, 16, 22, 31, 38, 43, 53, 75, 79, 85. Score 6: Items 6, 8, 20, 24, 33, 36, 47, 55, 63, 65, 82, 86. Score 7: Items 7, 13, 17, 27, 35, 41, 46, 52, 59, 67, 73, 81.

Psychology 3053 Questions That Will be Answered in Today’s Lecture Lecture 9 Psychoanalytic Perspective on Personality, continued 2.According to psychoanalytic theory: (b) what are the major components of personality? (c) what are the major stages of personality development? 3. What are the 3 types of anxiety that Freud proposed? 4. According to psychoanalytic theory, what defense mechanisms do we use to cope with anxiety?

Psychology 3054 According to psychoanalytic theory, what are the major components of personality? Freud believed that personality is comprised of 3 major components. The 3 components function simultaneously, determining behaviour. The 3 components are represented in Freud’s Structural Model of Personality. According to this model, the 3 components are as follows:

Psychology The Id  The only component present at birth.  The most primitive component. Encompasses all of our drives and instincts.  The only component that produces psychic energy (recall Freud’s mechanist perspective of the mind).

Psychology 3056  Engages in primary process thought.  Operates according to the pleasure principle. Cannot tolerate delay in gratification or follow logic.  Functions entirely within the unconscious.

Psychology The Ego  Evolves from the id.  Primary task: To express the drives and instincts of the id in an effective and safe manner.  Operates according to the reality principle. Thus, brings logic to behaviour.

Psychology 3058  Functions within the unconscious, preconscious, and conscious.  Engages in secondary process thought.  Does not abide by any moral code. Acts entirely logically.

Psychology The Superego  Last component to develop.  Encompasses the values, morals, and ideals that we internalize from our parents.  Incorporates two subsystems: The ego-ideal and the conscience.

Psychology  Primary tasks: (a) To inhibit drives or instincts of the id that would be frowned upon by our parents.  Functions within the unconscious, preconscious, and conscious. (b) To ensure that the ego acts morally rather than merely logically. (c) To provide standards of perfection toward which to strive (often unrealistic).

Psychology According to psychoanalytic theory, what are the major stages of personality development? Freud argued that personality is largely formed by conflicts that occur in the unconscious component of the mind and the success with which we are able to resolve these conflicts. Freud proposed the Stage Theory of Psychosexual Development to explain how unconscious conflicts influence personality development.

Psychology This theory assumes the following:  From birth through to adulthood, we pass through 5 stages of development.  In each of the first 3 stages, we are confronted by an unconscious conflict that revolves around our need to obtain sexual gratification.  In each of the five stages, an erogenous zone becomes the focal point of attention through which we obtain sexual gratification.

Psychology  Successful development occurs when individuals navigate through the 5 stages without becoming fixated at any one stage.  Fixation occurs when the conflict associated with a specific stage is not well resolved.  Individuals who become fixated at different stages develop different personality characteristics.  Fixation at one stage makes it more difficult to successfully resolve conflicts at subsequent stages.

Psychology Oral Stage  0 – 18 months.  Erogenous zone: Mouth  Sexual impulses are largely expressed through nursing at the mother’s breast. The 5 stages of development that Freud proposed are as follows:

Psychology Freud (1916/1961) wrote: “Sucking at the mother’s breast is the starting point of the whole of sexual life, the unmatched prototype of every later sexual satisfaction, to which fantasy often enough returns in times of need. This sucking involves making the mother’s breast the object of the sexual instinct. I can give you no idea of the important bearing of this first object upon the choice of every later object, of the profound effects it has in its transformations and substitutions in even the remotest regions of our sexual life.”

Psychology  Main conflict at this stage occurs when the infant is weaned from the breast.  Fixation occurs if the infant is prematurely weaned or experiences trauma while being weaned.

Psychology Anal Stage  18 months – 3 years.  Erogenous zone: Anus  Sexual impulses are largely expressed through defecation.

Psychology  Fixation occurs if the child is subjected to strict and rigid toilet training practices.  Main conflict at this stage occurs when the child is toilet trained.

Psychology Phallic Stage  3 – 5 years.  Erogenous zone: Genital region  Sexual impulses are largely expressed through self-stimulation of the genital organs.  Main conflict at this stage is referred to as the Oedipus Complex for boys and the Electra Complex for girls.

Psychology (a) Oedipus Complex Boys experience a desire to achieve sexual union with their mothers. This desire leads boys to perceive of their fathers as rivals who will retaliate against them by castrating them.  The assumptions underlying these conflicts are as follows:

Psychology Through identification with their fathers, boys resolve the conflict, internalize the values of their fathers, and gain vicarious satisfaction of their sexual impulses towards their mothers. This fear of castration (i.e., castration anxiety) forces boys to identify with their fathers.

Psychology (b) Electra Complex Girls, too, begin life with a strong attraction towards their mothers. However, when they realize that both they and their mothers do not have penises, they develop contempt and blame their mothers for their perceived deficiency.

Psychology Through identification with their mothers, girls resolve the conflict, internalize the values of their mothers, and gain vicarious satisfaction of their sexual impulses towards their fathers. As their contempt grows, girls shift their affection towards their fathers. Girls develop envy for their father’s penis and, ultimately, experience a desire to achieve sexual union with their fathers.

Psychology  Fixation results in poor moral development in both males and females.  Fixation at this stage occurs if the child is unable to identify with the same-sex parent.  Freud argued that females are more likely than males to become fixated at this stage of personality development.

Psychology Latency Stage  6 years – puberty.  Erogenous zone: Genital region  Sexual impulses, however, are less pronounced during this stage. Children direct energy towards learning and peer group activities.  There are no specific conflicts at this time. This stage is one of relative calm, in which there is little psychological growth.

Psychology Genital Stage  Puberty – adulthood.  Erogenous zone: Genital region  There are no specific conflicts at this time. Freud described this stage as an ideal, as the stage of “psychosexual maturity.”  Sexual impulses are largely expressed through mutually gratifying sexual interactions with other individuals.

Psychology What are the 3 types of anxiety that Freud proposed? Freud described anxiety as an objectless fear—that is, as a feeling of fear and dread that often does not have an obvious cause. Freud maintained that our first experience of anxiety occurs at birth. After being “thrust” from the womb, the newborn experiences helplessness and fear that his/her id impulses won’t be satisfied. Freud believed that, in adult life, this infantile helplessness and fear is reenacted whenever the ego is threatened.

Psychology Freud proposed 3 types of anxiety: 1. Reality Anxiety  Also referred to as objective anxiety.  Involves a fear of tangible dangers in the real world. Thus, reflects a conflict between the ego and the constraints of external reality.  E.g., fear of wild animals, speeding cars, burning buildings.

Psychology Neurotic Anxiety  Involves a fear of being punished for attempting to gratify or express id impulses.  Reflects a conflict between the id and the ego.  Stems from childhood experiences of punishment associated with the gratification or expression of id impulses.

Psychology Moral Anxiety  Involves a fear of one’s own conscience (i.e., retaliation by the superego).  Reflects a conflict between the ego and the superego.  Is subjectively experienced as guilt or shame.

Psychology Freud maintained that anxiety serves an important function: It warns the individual that the ego is under threat. The ego can protect itself by (a) removing itself from the threatening situation, (b) inhibiting the expression of id impulses, and/or (c) adhering to the moral codes of the conscience. If, however, these rational strategies are not feasible or successful, the ego may employ one or more irrational strategies. Freud referred to these irrational strategies as defense mechanisms.

Psychology According to psychoanalytic theory, what defense mechanisms do we use to cope with anxiety? Although Freud postulated several defense mechanisms, he maintained that all defense mechanisms share 2 characteristics: 1. All defense mechanisms involve the denial or distortion of reality. 2. All defense mechanisms operate in the unconscious mind.

Psychology Freud identified several defense mechanisms: 1. Repression  Occurs when desires, impulses, and events that were once recognized by the conscious mind are forced into the unconscious mind because they are threatening or anxiety- provoking.

Psychology  Sometimes referred to as “motivated forgetting.”  E.g., Repression of childhood sexual abuse. Williams, 1994: Found that 38% of women who were documented victims of childhood sexual abuse did not recall the abuse.

Psychology  Moreover, he argued that repressed information manifests itself through “slips of the tongue,” dreams, and other defense mechanisms.  Freud maintained that repression is the most fundamental and frequently used defense mechanism.

Psychology Denial  Occurs when an individual rejects or denies the reality of information that is threatening or anxiety-provoking, despite evidence to the contrary. Thus, the information is never consciously accepted.  E.g., Smoking despite evidence linking this behaviour to illness and premature death.

Psychology Projection  Occurs when an individual “projects” (i.e., attributes) unconscious, unacceptable qualities onto an external object, typically another person.  E.g., Paranoid personality disorder.

Psychology Reaction Formation  Occurs when an individual behaves in a manner that is the direct opposite of his/her unconscious, unacceptable impulses.  Reactive behaviour can be identified by its exaggerated character and its obsessive and compulsive form.

Psychology  E.g., Adam, Wright, & Lohr, 1996: Recruited self-identified heterosexual male participants. Found that participants who were high in homophobia showed a greater increase in penile erection than participants who were low in homophobia. Had the participants: (a) complete measures of homophobia and (b) view male homosexual stimuli while their levels of sexual arousal were assessed.

Psychology Displacement  Occurs when an individual redirects an unconscious, unacceptable impulse to another object. The “substitute” object is less threatening than the object toward which the impulse was originally directed.  E.g., Redirection of aggressive impulses from one’s employer to one’s child.

Psychology Rationalization  Occurs when an individual provides a rational and acceptable “post-hoc” explanation for a behaviour that was motivated by unconscious, unacceptable impulses.  E.g., Justification of tax evasion by arguing that the government “wastes money.”

Psychology Intellectualization  Occurs when an individual emotionally dissociates him/herself from unconscious, unacceptable impulses by thinking about events related to the impulse in a cold and analytical manner.  Also known as “isolation of affect.”  E.g., Seeking factual information about the prevalence of rape and the psychology of rapists after an attack.

Psychology Regression  Occurs when an individual abandons mature coping strategies and adopts a strategy that was effective in an earlier, less frustrating stage of development. Thus, the individual retreats to more immature patterns of behaviour and gratification.  E.g., Overeating when confronted by a stressor.

Psychology Identification  Occurs when an individual incorporates another person’s values, opinions, ideas, and skills as a whole, “taking in” the other person’s personality.  E.g., Oedipus Complex and Electra Complex

Psychology Sublimation  Occurs when an individual channels unconscious, unacceptable impulses into socially desirable activities.  E.g., The work of a surgeon or mortician.

Psychology  Thought to be the most adaptive defense mechanism. Indeed, Freud believed that some of humankind’s greatest achievements (e.g., the work of Michelangelo) are the result of effective sublimation.  Psychoanalytic theory would predict that, as society becomes increasingly sexually liberated, art, creativity and even civilization itself will suffer and eventually disintegrate.

Psychology Exercise: Which defense mechanism is being used in each of the following scenarios? 1. Bob has learned that his wife of 15 years, Lisa, has been having an affair with another man. Moreover, Lisa has told Bob that she wants a divorce and plans to seek custody of their 2 children. Devastated by the information that he has received from Lisa, Bob storms out of the house and goes to the neighborhood bar. At the bar, Bob orders drink after drink, until he passes out. Defense mechanism: Regression.

Psychology U.S. Congressman Gary Condit, a Democrat who promoted a “family values” agenda, grew up in the Bible Belt as the son of a Baptist minister. An evangelical Christian, he co-sponsored legislation to post the Ten Commandments in public buildings, and he publicly scolded former President Clinton for withholding information about his extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky. After the disappearance of a young woman who had been an intern in Washington, Condit admitted that he had recently had an affair with her. This incident ended his political career. Defense mechanism: Reaction formation

Psychology When terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center in New York in 2001, over 3,000 civilians were killed. Authorities assumed that many of the missing were vaporized by the extreme temperatures. Days after the incident, reporters began to ask bereaved relatives if they had lost hope of finding their loved ones. In response to this question, the wife of a missing office worker stated that she still had confidence that she would find her husband and that everything would turn out fine. Defense mechanism: Denial

Psychology While in high school, Justin was tormented by his classmates. He was constantly teased and often threatened with physical harm. He frequently hid in the boys’ washroom or ate lunch at home in order to avoid further humiliation and the scorn of his classmates. Several years later, while undergoing therapy for extreme anxiety, Justin’s therapist asked him to describe his high school experiences. Justin simply replied “High school was fine. Nothing particularly traumatic happened to me at that time of my life.” Defense mechanism: Repression.

Psychology For many months, Jack and his co-worker, Beatrice have engaged in flirtation. Jack has often thought about what it would be like to pursue a relationship with Beatrice. Indeed, over the past few weeks, he has found himself frequently fantasizing about engaging in an extramarital affair with Beatrice. Jack’s wife is planning to go out of town, giving Jack the perfect opportunity to pursue the affair. However, when Jack’s wife leaves, Jack does not pursue the affair. Instead, he engages in a series of household repairs that he has wanted to complete for some time. Defense mechanism: Sublimation.

Psychology Sheila has had a problem with drinking for years. She starts drinking early in the day, has several drinks by midday, and frequents bars in the evenings. She has had several instances in which she has experienced “black outs” after drinking. One evening, Sheila’s friend confronts her about her problem. Sheila does not appear to recognize the gravity of her friend’s concerns. In response to her friend’s concerns, Sheila replies “I'm not hurting anyone else. I work hard and deserve to drink. It relaxes me. If I wanted to, I could quit any time I feel like it.” Defense mechanism: Rationalization.

Psychology Tammy is a visible minority living in a largely “white” neighborhood. As a child, she was frequently teased. The taunting that she was subjected to made her feel horrible. Indeed, for much of her childhood, she wished that she was “white” and attempted to disassociate herself from her ethnic group. Years later, as a late adolescent, Tammy accepted the fact that she would never be “white.” She came to believe that “white” people would never accept her. Moreover, she came to believe that “all white people, even those who are outwardly kind, intensely dislike people of colour.” Defense mechanism: Projection.

Psychology Dawn has just learned from her doctor that she has HIV. After leaving the doctor’s office, Dawn goes to the library to obtain information regarding the course and treatment of her illness. After returning home, she contacts several community health organizations searching for further information. After having exhausted these resources, she spends several hours on the internet, downloading articles regarding HIV and AIDS. After falling asleep at her computer, Dawn awakes only to resume her search for information regarding her condition. Defense mechanism: Intellectualization.

Psychology Tina is attracted to her best friend’s fiancé, Mark. One night, while out with friends, Tina observes Mark passionately kiss his fiancé. Soon thereafter, Tina approaches Mark’s brother, who is single, and begins to flirt with him. After several hours of flirting with Mark’s brother, Tina asks him if he will go home with her. He accepts, and the two spend the night together. Defense mechanism: Displacement.

Psychology Laura is an inner-city adolescent, with few resources and seemingly limited opportunities. She is overwhelmed by anxiety about the future. After seeing a Britney Spears music video, Laura begins researching Spears, buying her albums, reading biographical reports on Spears, and dressing and speaking like the pop star. Laura becomes convinced that, one day, she too will achieve the fame and fortune that Spears has achieved. Defense mechanism: Identification.

57 Your Questionnaire Life Styles Index Plutchik et al., 1979; Conte & Apter, 1995 Score 1:Tendency to use denial Score 2:Tendency to use regression Score 3:Tendency to use intellectualization Score 4: Score 5: Score 6: Score 7: Tendency to use reaction formation Tendency to use repression Tendency to use projection Tendency to use displacement

58 DEFENSE MECHANISM MAXIMUM POSSIBLE SCORE MEAN FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS MEAN FOR SCHIZOPHRENICS p VALUE Denial <.01 Regression ns Intellectualization <.001 Reaction Formation <.001 Repression <.001 Projection <.01 Displacement <.O5 Mean Score for Each Defense Mechanism: College Students Compared with Schizophrenics Plutchik et al., 1979

59 DEFENSE MECHANISM CORRELATION WITH SELF- ESTEEM a p VALUECORRELATION WITH ANXIETY b p VALUE Denial.23ns-.35<.01 Regression-.52<.01.48<.01 Intellectualization-.40<.01.42<.01 Reaction Formation.09ns.35<.01 Repression-.25ns.23ns Projection-.31<.05.57<.01 Displacement-.22ns.34<.O5 Correlations of Ego Defenses with Self-Esteem and Anxiety Plutchik et al., 1979 a Tennessee Self Concept Scale; b Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale

Psychology Psychoanalytic Perspective on Personality, continued 2.According to psychoanalytic theory: (b) what are the major components of personality? (c) what are the major stages of personality development? 3. What are the 3 types of anxiety that Freud proposed? 4. According to psychoanalytic theory, what defense mechanisms do we use to cope with anxiety? Questions That Were Answered in Today’s Lecture