1. Myers’ PSYCHOLOGY (7th Ed)
Chapter 15
Personality
Psychoanalytic Perspective
James A. McCubbin, PhD
Clemson University
Worth Publishers

2. Fact vs. Falsehood
1. Freud believed that boys develop sexual desires for their mother when they are between 3 and 6 years of age.
2. One of the most reliable and valid measures of personality is the Rorschach inkblot test.
3. Dreams are disguised wish fulfillment that can be interpreted by skilled analysts.
4. Psychologists generally agree that painful experiences commonly get pushed out of awareness and into the unconscious.
5. A surprisingly strong relationship exists between body type or physique and personality.
6. Most people recognize that personality descriptions based on horoscopes are invalid.
7. Research has indicated that there is virtually no relationship between a students being conscientious on one occasion (promptness) and being similarly conscientious on another occasion (turning in work on time).
8. The elderly and the sick are happiest when they do not have to take responsibility for everyday decisions that affect their lives.
9. The majority of people suffer from low self-esteem.
10. Compared to collectivist, individualist experience greater rates of divorce, homicide, and stress-related disease.

3. What is Personality? Personality
an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting
basic perspectives
Psychoanalytic
Humanistic

4. The Psychoanalytic Perspective
From Freud’s theory which proposes that childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence personality

5. The Psychoanalytic Perspective
Psychoanalysis
Freud’s theory of personality that attributes our thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts
techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

6. The Psychoanalytic Perspective
Free Association
in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious
person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing
This traces the chain of thought back to unconscious
Nothing is ever accidental (Freudian slips)
Manifest vs. latent dream content
“Friends” clip

7. The Psychoanalytic Perspective
Unconscious
according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings and memories
contemporary viewpoint- information processing of which we are unaware

8. Personality StructureId
Superego
Ego
Conscious mind
Unconscious
mind
Freud’s idea of the mind’s structure

9. Id contains a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy
strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives
operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification

10. Superego the part of personality that presents internalized ideals
provides standards for judgement (the conscience) and for future aspirations

11. Ego the largely conscious, “executive” part of personality
mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality
operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

12. Personality Development
Psychosexual Stages
the childhood stages of development during which the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones
Oedipus Complex
a boy’s sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father
Electra Complex
a girl’s desire toward her father and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival, mother.

13. Psychosexual stages: Freud
Oral: focus on the mouth, choking hazard stage
Anal: focus on elimination, potty training stage
Phallic: discovery of boy/girl parts as special

14. Freud’s stages continued
Latency: cootie stage
Genital: post-puberty

15. Personality Development
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
Stage Focus
Oral Pleasure centers on the mouth--
(0-18 months) sucking, biting, chewing
Anal Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder
(18-36 months) elimination; coping with demands for control
Phallic Pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with
(3-6 years) incestuous sexual feelings: Oedipus/Electra
Latency Dormant sexual feelings: “Cootie” stage
(6 to puberty)
Genital Maturation of sexual interests
(puberty on)

16. Personality Development
Identification
the process by which children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos
Fixation
a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, where conflicts were unresolved

17. Defense Mechanisms Defense Mechanisms Repression
the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality
Repression
the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness

18. Defense Mechanisms Regression
defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated
I want my mommy!!!!!

19. Defense Mechanisms Reaction Formation
defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites
people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings
“Mommy, I love you”
“I hate my mom”
“I can’t hate my mom, that’s wrong”

20. Defense Mechanisms Projection
I can’t believe she gave us all this homework
She hates all her students
I hate her, no I can’t hate that’s wrong
Projection
defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

21. Defense Mechanism Rationalization
defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one’s actions

22. Defense Mechanisms Displacement
defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person
as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet
She’s not calling on me. I wish I could hit her!
How dare you speak to me!!

23. Assessing the Unconscious
Projective Test
a personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

24. Assessing the Unconscious--TAT

25. Assessing the Unconscious
Rorschach Inkblot Test
the most widely used projective test
a set of 10 inkblots designed by Hermann Rorschach
seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

26. Assessing the Unconscious--Rorschach

27. Neo-Freudians Alfred Adler Karen Horney Carl Jung
importance of childhood social tension
Karen Horney
sought to balance Freud’s masculine biases
Agreed with Adler than tension is/was social not sexual
Carl Jung
emphasized the collective unconscious
concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history

28. Freud’s Ideas in Light of Modern Research
General
Development doesn’t end in childhood
Gender identity is former earlier than he thought and doesn’t depend on same sex parent
Sexual abuse of children does happen
Accidents do happen (slips of the tongue)
Sexual suppression doesn’t always equal a disorder
Is Repression a Myth?
Most people remember horrible things all to well
Scientific Theory?
Freud can’t/didn’t show cause and effect

29. Jung’s archetypes