1. Psychoanalytic Theory
Personality According to
Sigmund Freud

2. Personality
An individual’s unique and relatively consistent patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving
Keywords: personality

3. Personality Theory
Attempt to describe and explain how people are similar, how they are different, and why every individual is unique

4. Personality Perspectives
Psychoanalytic—importance of unconscious processes and childhood experiences
Humanistic—importance of self and fulfillment of potential
Social cognitive—importance of beliefs about self
Trait—description and measurement of personality differences

5. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Founder of psychoanalysis
Proposed the first complete theory of personality
A person’s thoughts and behaviors emerge from tension generated by unconscious motives and unresolved childhood conflicts.
Learn more about Freud at:

6. Psychoanalytic Approach
Developed by Sigmund Freud
Psychoanalysis is both an approach to therapy and a theory of personality
Emphasizes unconscious motivation – the main causes of behavior lie buried in the unconscious mind
Keywords: psychoanalytic approach, unconscious motivation
Graphics: picture of Freud pg. 420 Myers

7. Psychoanalysis as a Therapy
A therapeutic technique that attempts to provide insight into one’s thoughts and actions
Does so by exposing and interpreting the underlying unconscious motives and conflicts

8. Psychodynamic Perspective
A more modern view of personality that retains some aspects of Freudian theory but rejects other aspects
Retains the importance of the unconscious mind
Less emphasis on unresolved childhood conflicts

9. The Psychodynamic Perspective: Freud’s View of the Mind

10. Free Association
Freudian technique of exploring the unconscious mind by having the person relax and say whatever comes to mind no matter how trivial or embarrassing
The Couch

11. Conscious Mind
All the thoughts, feelings, and sensations that you are aware of at this particular moment represent the conscious level

12. Preconscious Mind
A region of the mind holding information that is not conscious but is easily retrievable into conscious awareness
Holds thoughts and memories not in one’s current awareness but can easily be retrieved (childhood memories, phone number)

13. Unconscious Mind
A region of the mind that includes unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories
Not aware of these thoughts, wishes, etc… but they exert great influence over our conscious thoughts & behavior.
Freud felt that dreams were “The royal road to the unconsciousness” – behind the surface image (manifest content) lied the true hidden meaning (latent content).
Can also surface as “slips of the tongue” or Freudian Slips.

15. Psychoanalytic Approach
Conscious – all things we are aware of at any given moment
Keywords: conscious, preconscious, unconscious
Graphics: fig pg. 475 Hockenbury

16. Psychoanalytic Approach
Preconscious – everything that can, with a little effort, be brought into consciousness
Graphics: fig pg. 475 Hockenbury

17. Psychoanalytic Approach
Unconscious – inaccessible warehouse of anxiety-producing thoughts and drives
Graphics: fig pg. 475 Hockenbury

18. The Psychodynamic Perspective: The Id, Ego, and Superego

19. Psychoanalytic Divisions of the Mind
Id—instinctual drives present at birth
does not distinguish between reality and fantasy
operates according to the pleasure principle
Ego—develops out of the id in infancy
understands reality and logic
mediator between id and superego
Superego
internalization of society’s & parental moral standards
One’s conscience; focuses on what the person “should” do
Develops around ages 5-6.
Partially unconscious
Can be harshly punitive using feelings of guilt
Keywords: id

20. Freud’s Concept of the “Id”
The part of personality that consists of unconscious energy from basic aggressive and sexual drives
Operates on the “pleasure principle” - the id demands immediate gratification
Is present from birth

21. Id: The Pleasure Principle
Pleasure principle—drive toward immediate gratification, most fundamental human motive
Sources of energy
Eros—life instinct, perpetuates life
Thanatos—death instinct, aggression, self-destructive actions
Libido—sexual energy or motivation

22. Freud’s Concept of the “Ego”
The part of personality that mediates the demands of the id without going against the restraints of the superego
Follows the reality principle

23. Ego: The Reality Principle
Reality principle—ability to postpone gratification in accordance with demands of reality
Ego—rational, organized, logical, mediator to demands of reality
Can repress desires that cannot be met in an acceptable manner

24. The Personality
Id: “I want”
Superego: “I should”
Ego: “I will”

25. Psychoanalytic Approach
Conscious
Unconscious
Superego
Preconscious Id
Ego
Information
which can
easily be
made
conscious
Thoughts,
feelings,
urges, and other
information
that is difficult
to bring to
awareness
in your
immediate
Rational,
planful,
mediating
dimension
of personality
Moralistic,
judgmental,
perfectionist
dimension of
personality
Irrational,
illogical,
impulsive

26. Unconscious Self-Deceptions
Defense Mechanisms
Unconscious Self-Deceptions

27. Defense Mechanisms
Unconscious mental processes employed by the ego to reduce anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality.

28. Repression
Puts anxiety-producing thoughts, feelings, and memories into the unconscious mind
The basis for all other defense mechanisms

29. Discovering psych2e Table 10.1 p375

30. Denial
Lets an anxious person refuse to admit that something unpleasant is happening

32. Regression
Allows an anxious person to retreat to a more comfortable, infantile stage of life

34. Reaction Formation
Replacing an unacceptable wish with its opposite

36. Projection
Reducing anxiety by attributing unacceptable impulses or problems about yourself to someone else

38. Rationalization
Displaces real, anxiety-provoking explanations with more comforting justifications for one’s actions
Reasoning away anxiety-producing thoughts

39. Discovering psych2e Table 10.1 p375

40. Displacement
Shifts an unacceptable impulse toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person

41. Discovering psych2e Table 10.1 p375

42. Sublimation
A form of displacement in which sexual urges are channeled into nonsexual activities that are valued by society
Keywords: displacement, sublimation

43. Discovering psych2e Table 10.1 p375

44. Undoing
Unconsciously neutralizing an anxiety causing action by doing a second action that undoes the first.

46. Discovering psych2e Table 10.1 p375

48. The Psychodynamic Perspective: Freud’s Psychosexual Stages

49. Psychosexual Stages
In Freudian theory, the childhood stages of development during which the id’s pleasure seeking energies are focused on different parts of the body
The stages include: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital
A person can become “fixated” or stuck at a stage and as an adult attempt to achieve pleasure as in ways that are equivalent to how it was achieved in these stages

50. Oral Stage (birth – 1 year)
Mouth is associated with sexual pleasure
Pleasure comes from chewing, biting, and sucking.
Weaning a child can lead to fixation if not handled correctly
Fixation can lead to oral activities in adulthood
Keywords: oral stage

51. Freud’s Stages of Development

52. Anal Stage (1 – 3 years)
Gratification comes from bowel and bladders functions.
Toilet training can lead to fixation if not handled correctly
Fixation can lead to anal retentive or expulsive behaviors in adulthood
Keywords: anal stage

53. Freud’s Stages of Development

54. Phallic Stage (3 – 5 years)
Focus of pleasure shifts to the genitals
Sexual attraction for opposite sex parent
Boys cope with incestuous feelings toward their mother and rival feelings toward their dad (Oedipus conflict). For girls it is called the Electra Complex.
Child identifies with and tries to mimic the same sex parent to learn gender identity.
Keywords: phallic stage, Oedipus complex, Electra complex

55. Oedipus Complex
Boys feel hostility and jealousy towards their fathers but knows their father is more powerful. This leads to…
Castration Anxiety results in boys who feel their father will punish them by castrating them.
Resolve this through Identification – imitating and internalizing one’s father’s values, attitudes and mannerisms.
The fact that only the father can have sexual relations with the mother becomes internalized in the boy as taboo against incest in the boy’s superego.

56. Electra Complex
Girls also have incestuous feelings for their dad and compete with their mother.
Penis Envy – Little girl suffer from deprivation and loss and blames her mother for “sending her into the world insufficiently equipped” causing her to resent her mother
In an attempt to take her mother’s place she eventually indentifies with her mother
Fixation can lead to excessive masculinity in males and the need for attention or domination in females

57. Freud’s Stages of Development

58. Latency Stage (5 – puberty)
Sexuality is repressed due to intense anxiety caused by Oedipus complex
Children participate in hobbies, school, and same-sex friendships that strengthen their sexual identity
Keywords: latency stage

59. Freud’s Stages of Development

60. Genital Stage (puberty on)
Incestuous sexual feelings re-emerge but being prohibited by the superego are redirected toward others who resemble the person’s opposite sex parent.
Healthy adults find pleasure in love and work, fixated adults have their energy tied up in earlier stages
Keywords: genital stage

61. Freud’s Stages of Development