Freud’s Colorful Personality

Copyright © 2002 by Allyn and Bacon

Freud’s Colorful Personality


Psychoanalytic Theory

• The first psychodynamic theory. Very prominent in our cultural knowledge. Think of terms coined by Freud.

• Freud claimed there were 3 hurts to the human self-image:1. Copernicus: that the earth was not the center of the universe.2. Darwin: that we do not exist independent of other animals.3. Freud: that we are influenced by unconscious, often uncontrollable forces.


Freud: A View of the Theorist

• Born in 1856, the first “cherished” child in a large family of 7 siblings

• A “mama’s boy”• Entered medical school in 1873• Suffered from bouts of

depression/anxiety, migraines• Had 3 sons and 3 daughters (including

Anna)


Freud: A View of the Theorist

• He died in 1939 at 83, working in physical and emotional pain until his death.


Freud’s View of the Person:

Behavior is driven by unconscious sexual and aggressive instincts (life and death instincts).


Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory

Outline of Psychoanalytic Theory:1. Structural Concepts2. Process Components3. Growth and Development4. Personality Change



• Structure: What are the structural concepts that define psychoanalysis?

• Levels of Consciousness:1. Conscious: Phenomena individuals are aware of at any given moment.2. Preconscious: Phenomena individuals can become aware of if they attend to them.3. Unconscious: Phenomena individuals are not, and usually cannot, become aware of.



Id, Ego, and Superego: Agencies of the Mind

• Id: The biological substratum of humans, the source of all drive energy. Sexual and aggressive instincts produce energy and reside in the id. The id operates entirely at the unconscious level.

• The id seeks the immediate release of tension and energy, operating according to the pleasure principle.

• The id is like to a spoiled child: demanding, impulsive, blind, irrational, asocial, selfish, and pleasure loving.Note: Gratification can be achieved either through action or imagination (of getting what one wants).




• Superego: Reflects the moral branch of functioning. It contains society’s imposed ideals that most people strive to achieve.

• The superego operates at the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious levels.

• It controls behavior in accord with society’s rules and operates in an all-or-none, black-and- white manner in the pursuit of perfection.




• Ego: The mediator between the id (which seeks immediate pleasure) and the superego (which seeks absolute perfection). The ego seeks reality. It operates at the conscious and preconscious levels.

• The ego satisfies the id contingent on reality and the demands of the superego.

• It operates according to the reality principle: Gratification of the id is delayed until the most pleasure can be obtained at the least cost.Note: The energy of the id can be blocked, diverted, or slowly released. The ego can tolerate tension and compromise.




• Thus, the Ego has to serve 3 masters: the id, the superego, and reality.

• Freud described the ego as logical, rational, tolerant of tension, the “executive” of personality, and a “poor rider on a swift horse”.

• Later ego psychologists (e.g., Anna Freud) argued that individuals can experience pleasure through the conflict-free functioning of the ego. The ego, therefore, may have its own energy and can take pleasure in mastery of the environment.





• Anxiety: Stems from a painful, emotional experience that once represented danger to the person. Anxiety in adulthood often originates from earlier perceptions of danger.

• Anxiety develops from conflicts between:1. Id instincts for expression vs. the ego’s appraisal of external danger.2. Id instincts vs. threat of punishment by the superego.3. The ego’s appraisal of external danger vs. threat of punishment by the superego.



• 3 Types of Anxiety:

1. Neurotic anxiety: due to id-ego conflicts (e.g., fending off the impulse to be angry at someone when they criticize you).2. Moral anxiety: due to id-superego conflicts (e.g., thinking about shoplifting).3. Objective anxiety: due to realistic external threats (e.g., fire, a robber).



Anxiety and Defense Mechanisms:

• Defense mechanisms naturally develop to combat anxiety. They are unconscious processes that distort reality and exclude certain feelings from awareness in order to reduce anxiety.



Major Types of Defense Mechanisms:

• Repression: The primary defense mechanism. Thoughts, ideas, or wishes are simply dismissed from consciousness.

Example: Forgetting the details of a severe accident.




• Reaction Formation: Where individuals defend against the expression of an unacceptable impulse by expressing its opposite.

Example: Parents who are hostile toward their children become extremely overprotective.Note: RF is most clearly observable when defense breaks down (e.g., the “model boy” who shoots his parents).




• Isolation: A process whereby the instinctual impulse is not denied access to consciousness, but the impulse is denied the normal accompanying emotion.

Example: Mother who fantasizes about strangling her child without feelings of anger or guilt.




• Rationalization: Where behavior is reinterpreted so it appears reasonable and acceptable. The action is understood, but the true motive is not.

Example: Being immoral in pursuit of morality: The Inquisition




• Projection: Where internal, unacceptable qualities of oneself are seen as qualities of others.

Example: Hostility in oneself leads to “seeing it” in others.




• Denial: Failure to accept or acknowledge reality.

Examples: Powerless individuals who believe they are really powerful; individuals who say “Oh no!” on hearing about the death of a friend; denying the death of a pet; behavior of some Jews in WW2 concentration camps.




• Undoing: Where individuals nullify one act or wish by engaging in another. The second act psychologically “undoes” the first one, suggesting that neither act ever took place.

Example: Individuals may “undo” homicide fantasies by locking guns away.




• Sublimation: Where the original object of gratification is replaced by a higher cultural goal more removed from direct expression of the instinct.Example: Choosing an occupation that allows one to aggress (such as dentistry, pro football, host of The Weakest Link)Note: The other defense mechanisms prevent energy discharge. In sublimation, instinctual energy is re-channeled, so the ego does not have to prevent energy discharge.




• Displacement: Taking frustrations out on innocent, weaker others.

Summary: Defense mechanisms are recruited so instinctual impulses can be expressed free of anxiety. They operate at an unconscious level. If defenses work well, behavior remains normal.



• To reduce anxiety, defense mechanisms are activated.

• In structural terms, neurosis is due to conflicts between the ego (which senses danger if a wish is expressed) and the id (the wish driven by an instinct).

• In process terms, instinct discharge anxiety defense mechanisms neurosis if defenses breakdown or don’t work.



• Free Association: Uncovers the disguise in dreams. Relaxation and trust allow for unconscious impulses and wishes to be consciously expressed and evaluated.

• To cure pathology, traumatic memories must not only be remembered—emotional insight into the instinctual wishes and conflicts must also be achieved.



• Therapeutic change involves identifying emotions and wishes that have been unconscious and resolving them in a “safe” environment. Resolution permits normal personality development to continue.

• Therapy provides a “second chance” for conflict resolution.



• The vehicle for re-exposure: Transference relationship.

• Transference: The development of attitudes toward the analyst based on attitudes held toward parental figures. Patients duplicate in therapy their interactions with significant figures from the past. The therapist is often viewed by the patient as a surrogate parent.



• Countertransference: When therapists develop attitudes toward patients based on attitudes that they (therapists) held toward their own parents. This must be avoided for therapy to work.

• Transference is encouraged by: 1. having individuals lie on a couch (to foster dependency).2. having frequent sessions (to strengthen the emotional importance of the patient/therapist relationship).



• At the start of therapy, patients project their wishes and anxieties onto the therapist.

• This often produces transference neurosis. Deep-seated wishes and anxieties from the past rush to the surface as defenses are stripped away. Patients turn to the therapist to protect them and satisfy their wishes.



• Instinctual and defensive components of the original conflict from childhood are then examined.

• Insight on both an intellectual and an emotional level often launches progressive behavior change.

• Gradually, conflicts are understood so instincts can be gratified in more mature, adaptive, and conflict-free ways.


Recent Research in Personality/Social Psychology on Defense Mechanisms:

There is some empirical support for:• Reaction formation: When people are accused of having

undesirable sexual feelings, prejudiced attitudes, or being incompetent, they often respond by claiming the opposite. (perhaps a self-presentational strategy?)

• Isolation: Research on habitual repressors and temporal bracketing.

• Denial: People dispute information that threatens their self-esteem, discount bad feedback about their health, dismiss risks and dangers, and selectively forget material that is esteem-threatening.

•


There is mixed empirical support for:• Projection: e.g., the false consensus effect• Undoing: e.g., counterfactual thinkingThere is little or no empirical support for:• Displacement • Sublimation What about Repression? Defense mechanisms

are activated when repression does not work (e.g., Wegner et al., 1987). Thus, repression may be a unique form of defense.

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Freud’s Colorful Personality

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