1. Personality – Psychoanalytic (Psychodynamic) Perspective
RG 10a
Modified PowerPoint from: Aneeq Ahmad -- Henderson State University. Worth Publishers © 2007

2. Psychodynamic Perspective
In his clinical practice, Freud encountered patients suffering from nervous disorders whose complaints could not be explained in terms of purely physical causes…referred to this as hysteria and said there had to be a psychological cause for the ailments he was seeing.
From this…developed first comprehensive personality theory ever!
Culver Pictures
Sigmund Freud
( )

3. Exploring the Unconscious
A reservoir (unconscious mind) of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings and memories. Freud asked patients to say whatever came to their mind (free association) to tap the unconscious.

4. Psychoanalysis
The process of free association (chain of thoughts) led to painful, embarrassing unconscious memories. Once these memories were retrieved and released (treatment: psychoanalysis) the patient felt better.

5. Parts of the Mind
The mind is like an iceberg…with the largest and most important part (unconscious) hidden from awareness.
conscious
what you are currently aware of
preconscious
info not in consciousness, but is retrievable as needed
S & A
S & A
unconscious
Out of awareness…yet can dictate behaviors
S & A

6. Unconscious influences
Latent content of dreams
symbolic meaning of dream images = what is in your unconscious mind
Freudian slip
Slips of the tongue that Freud believed were our true, unconscious thoughts surfacing

7. Personality Structure Id, Ego and Superego
Id unconsciously strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives operating on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.
Largely conscious, ego functions as the “executive” and mediates the demands of id and superego…operates on the reality principle
Superego provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations…operates on the moral principle

8. Personality Development
Freud believed that personality formed during life’s first few years divided into psychosexual stages. During these stages the id’s pleasure seeking energies focus on pleasure sensitive body areas called erogenous zones.
OBJECTIVE 44-5| Identify Freud’s psychosexual stages of development, and describe the effects of fixation on behavior.

9. Psychosexual Stages
Oral (0-1): obtain pleasure from the mouth via sucking, biting, swallowing
Anal (1-3): pleasure obtained by learning to control bodily wastes

10. Psychosexual Stages
Phallic (3-5): most crucial stage (according to Freud) – curious about genitalia and deal with incestuous feelings
Oedipus Complex: boy has unconscious desire for mom and jealous/hatred for dad…fears punishment (castration) if dad finds out about these feelings
Electra Complex: the female version of the Oedipus Complex (added later by Karen Horney and Freud’s daughter, Anna)

11. Identification…end of Phallic Stage
Children cope with threatening feelings by repressing them and by identifying with the rival parent…basically the “if you can’t beat them, join them” sentiment.
Through this process of identification their superego gains strength incorporating parents’ values.

12. Psychosexual Stages
Latent (5-12): suppress sexual interest – play mostly with same sex peers
Genital (12 & up): adult sexuality
Express sexual feelings toward others

13. Fixation
If traumatic events occur…one can become “stuck” in that particular stage of psychosexual development.
Oral Fixation…
seek excessive oral contact through smoking, drinking, eating
dependence, either passive or biting sarcasm/act tough
Anal Fixation
anal retentive – controlled and orderly
anal expulsive – messy and disorganized

14. Defense Mechanisms
methods used by ego to unconsciously protect itself against anxiety caused by conflict between id’s demands & superego’s constraints
only unhealthy when they cause self-defeating behavior and emotional problems

15. Defense Mechanisms
Repression – we avoid painful thoughts by forcing them into the back of our mind
Underlies ALL other defense mech.
EX…witness a murder, not remember the details when asked by police
Regression – we retreat to behaving or thinking like a child in order to avoid adult issues
Throwing a temper tantrum when you do not get what you want

16. Defense Mechanisms
Displacement – divert sexual or aggressive impulses to a more acceptable person or object
EX…angry at mom, take out that anger on the family dog
Projection – disguise threatening impulses by attributing them to others
EX…want to break up with bf/gf, accuse him/her of wanting to break up with you

17. Defense Mechanisms
Sublimation – we expend energy on prosocial activities in order to avoid undesirable activities
EX…you like to hit things so take up boxing as a hobby
Reaction formation – make unacceptable impulses into their opposite, acceptable form
EX…you really dislike psychology teacher, but tell everyone how much you love her

18. Defense Mechanisms
Rationalization – we try to create logical explanations of our behavior in order to justify it. EX…want to go to the movies with friends, so justify going instead of studying for exam by stating that you would have failed anyway
Denial – we refuse to perceive “reality” in order to protect ourselves from it
EX…get rejection letter from college of choice, but still tell everyone you are going there

19. The Neo-Freudians
Like Freud, Adler believed in childhood tensions, however these tensions were social in nature and not sexual.
A child struggles with the inferiority complex during growth and strives for superiority and power.
National Library of Medicine
Alfred Adler ( )

20. The Neo-Freudians
Like Adler, Horney believed in the social aspects of childhood growth and development…children were trying to overcome a sense of helplessness.
She countered Freud’s assumption that women have weak superegos and suffer “penis envy.”
The Bettmann Archive/ Corbis
Karen Horney ( )

21. The Neo-Freudians
Jung believed in the collective unconscious which contained a common reservoir of images derived from our species’ past.
Archetypes are the universal, symbolic images that appear across cultures in myths, art, stories and dreams
Carl Jung ( )
“Evil “            “Hero”

22. Assessing Unconscious Processes
Evaluating personality from an unconscious mind perspective would require a psychological instrument (projective tests) that would reveal the hidden unconscious mind.
Two main projective tests used:
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
Rorschach Inkblot

23. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
Developed by Henry Murray, TAT is a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes.

24. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

25. Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

26. Rorschach Inkblot Test
The most widely used projective test with a set of 10 inkblots was designed by Hermann Rorschach. It seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.
Lew Merrim/ Photo Researcher, Inc.

27. Projective Tests: Criticisms
Critics argue that projective test lack both reliability (consistency of results) and validity (predicting what it is supposed to).
Even trained raters evaluating the same patient come up with different interpretations (reliability).
2. And projective tests may misdiagnose a normal individual as pathological (validity).