Psychoanalytic Theory

Personality According to
Sigmund Freud

Personality
An individuals unique and relatively
consistent patterns of thinking,
feeling, and behaving

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

Personality Perspectives
Psychoanalyticimportance of
unconscious processes and childhood
experiences
Humanisticimportance of self and
fulfillment of potential
Social cognitiveimportance of beliefs
about self
Traitdescription and measurement of
personality differences

Sigmund Freud
(1856-1939)
Founder of psychoanalysis
Proposed the first complete theory
of personality
A persons thoughts and behaviors
emerge from tension generated by
unconscious motives and
unresolved childhood conflicts.
Learn more about Freud at:
www.freud.org.uk
www.lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/freud

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

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

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

The Psychodynamic
Perspective:
Freuds View of the
Mind

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
Hypnosis Relaxing a
person into a highly
suggestive state to uncover
unconscious memories or
conflicts

TheCouch

Personality Assessment
Projective Techniques
Interpretation of an ambiguous to trigger
projection of ones inner thoughts and feelings
Used to determine unconscious motives, conflicts,
and psychological defenses & traits

Rorschach Inkblot Test

Presentation and interpretation of a series
of black and white and colored inkblots
Developed in 1921.

Personality test that seeks to identify peoples inner

feelings by analyzing their interpretations of 10 inkblots
Numerous scoring systems exist

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

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 ones
current awareness but can easily be
retrieved (childhood memories, phone
number)

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.

Psychoanalytic Approach
Conscious
all things we
are aware of
at any given
moment

Psychoanalytic Approach
Preconscious
everything that
can, with a
little effort, be
brought into
consciousness

Psychoanalytic Approach
Unconscious
inaccessible
warehouse of
anxietyproducing
thoughts and
drives

The Psychodynamic
Perspective:
The Id, Ego, and
Superego

Psychoanalytic
Divisions of the Mind
Idinstinctual drives present at birth
does not distinguish between reality and fantasy
operates according to the pleasure principle

Egodevelops out of the id in infancy

understands reality and logic
mediator between id and superego

Superego
internalization of societys & parental moral standards

Ones conscience; focuses on what the person should do

Develops around ages 5-6.
Partially unconscious
Can be harshly punitive using feelings of guilt

Freuds 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

Id: The Pleasure Principle

Pleasure principledrive toward immediate
gratification, most fundamental human
motive
Sources of energy
Eroslife instinct, perpetuates life
Libidosexual energy or motivation

Thanatosdeath instinct, aggression, selfdestructive actions

Freuds 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

Ego: The Reality Principle

Reality principleability to postpone
gratification in accordance with demands of
reality
Egorational, organized, logical, mediator
to demands of reality
Can repress desires that cannot be met in an
acceptable manner

The Personality

Id:Iwant
Superego:Ishould
Ego:Iwill

Psychoanalytic Approach
Rational,
planful,
mediating
dimension
of personality

Conscious

Ego
Superego

Moralistic,
judgmental,
perfectionist
dimension of
personality

Irrational,
illogical,
impulsive
dimension of
personality

Preconscious
Unconscious

Id

Information
in your
immediate
awareness
Information
which can
easily be
made
conscious
Thoughts,
feelings,
urges, and other
information
that is difficult
to bring to
conscious
awareness

The Psychodynamic
Perspective:
Freuds Psychosexual
Stages

Psychosexual Stages
In Freudian theory, the childhood stages of
development during which the ids 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

Oral Stage (birth 18 mo.)

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

Freuds Stages of Development

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

Freuds Stages of Development

Phallic Stage (3 6 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 Complex). For girls it is
called the Electra Complex.
Child identifies with and
tries to mimic the same sex
parent to learn gender
identity.

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 ones fathers values, attitudes and
mannerisms. (Formation of gender identity & superego)
The fact that only the father can have sexual relations
with the mother becomes internalized in the boy as
taboo against incest in the boys superego.

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 mothers place she
eventually indentifies with her mother
Fixation can lead to excessive masculinity in
males and the need for attention or domination
in females

Freuds Stages of Development

Latency Stage (5 puberty)

Sexuality is repressed (Latent means
hidden) due to intense anxiety caused by
Oedipus complex
Children participate in hobbies, school, and
same-sex friendships that strengthen their
sexual identity

Freuds Stages of Development

Genital Stage (puberty on)

Incestuous sexual feelings re-emerge but
being prohibited by the superego are
redirected toward others who resemble
the persons opposite sex parent.
Healthy adults find pleasure in love and
work, fixated adults have their energy
tied up in earlier stages

Freuds Stages of Development

Defense Mechanisms
Unconscious Self-Deceptions

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

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

Denial
Rejecting the truth of a painful reality.

Regression
Going back to a safer, simpler way of
being.
Assuming childlike behaviors when
facing stress or trauma

Reaction Formation
Replacing an unacceptable wish
with its opposite
Behaving in ways that are exactly
opposite of how we truly feel.

Projection
Attributing something that we dont
like about ourselves to someone else.

Rationalization
Displaces real, anxiety-provoking
explanations with more comforting
justifications for ones actions
Reasoning away or making excuses to
reduce anxiety-producing thoughts

Displacement
Shifts an unacceptable impulse
toward a more acceptable or less
threatening object or person
Taking out an emotion on a safe or
more accessible target than the actual
source of the emotion.

Sublimation
Substitute an undesirable emotion or
drive with a socially acceptable one.

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