1. Psychodynamic Approach to Personality
Psychodynamic Approach to Personality - Psychology I - Andover HS
Psychodynamic Approach to Personality
Mr. Koch
AP Psychology
Andover High School

2. Psychodynamic Approach
Sigmund Freud ( )
Austrian physician - treated patients with “neurotic” disorders (no physical cause)
Psychodynamic (psychoanalytic) theory
Personality is determined by interaction of various unconscious psychological processes
(Freud believed could access unconscious through various means – free association, dream analysis, “Freudian slips,” etc.)

3. “Freudian Slips”

4. “Freudian Slips”

5. Personality StructureId
Unconscious portion of personality
Life instincts (Eros)
Positive, constructive behavior (esp. sex) and reflects energy called “libido”
Death instincts (Thanatos)
Responsible for aggression, destruction
Seeks immediate satisfaction (“pleasure principle”)
Ego
develops from id as parents, teachers, etc. place restrictions on id behavior
Mediates conflicts b/w demands of id, superego, real world
Operates on “reality principle”
Superego
Tells us what we should and should not do
Internalized rules and values of parents and society
As relentless, unreasonable in demands as id

7. Defense Mechanisms
Unconscious tactics used by the ego to protect against anxiety & guilt (from id & superego) by preventing material from surfacing or disguising it when it does
Examples: repression, rationalization, projection, reaction formation, sublimation, displacement, denial, compensation, regression, etc.

8. Psychosexual Stages of Development
Personality develops during childhood in series of stages, where we attempt to resolve certain conflicts
Failure to resolve conflict at a stage results in fixation – unconscious preoccupation with area of pleasure associated with stage
Affects adult personality characteristics

9. Psychosexual Stages of Development
Oral Stage (1st year)
Mouth is center of pleasure at this stage
Fixation can come from weaning too early or late
Can result in adult characteristics like overeating, childlike dependence (late weaning), “biting” sarcasm (early weaning)

10. Psychosexual Stages of Development
Anal Stage (2nd year)
Child’s ego develops to cope with parental/societal demands (toilet training clashes with freedom to “go” at will)
Fixation from toilet training too early or harsh → “anal retentiveness” or stinginess/excessive neatness (symbolically withholding feces)
Fixation from training too late/lax → disorganized, impulsive behavior (symbolically expelling feces)

11. Psychosexual Stages of Development
Phallic Stage (ages 3-5 years)
Focus shifts to genital area
“Oedipus Complex”
Boy has sexual desire for mother and wants to eliminate father’s competition for her attention
Fear of castration from father leads ego to repress desires and “identify” with father – superego begins to develop

12. Oedipus Complex?...

14. Psychosexual Stages of Development
Phallic Stage (ages 3-5 years)
Focus shifts to genital area
“Oedipus Complex”
Boy has sexual desire for mother and wants to eliminate father’s competition for her attention
Fear of castration from father leads ego to repress desires and “identify” with father – superego begins to develop
“Electra Complex”
Girl develops attachment to father (due to “penis envy”) and competes with mother for attention
Girl identifies with and imitates mother to avoid disapproval – basis of superego
Fixation leads to difficulty dealing with authority figures, inability to maintain stable love relationships

15. Psychosexual Stages of Development
Latency Period (childhood to puberty)
Peaceful interval where sexual impulses remain in background
Focus on education, same-sex peer play, develop social skills
Genital Stage (adolescence on)
Sexual impulses reappear at conscious level with genitals as focus