Theories of ...

a distinctive and relatively

Personality stable pattern of behavior,
thoughts, motives, and emotions
Sigmund Freud that characterizes an individual.
Alfred Adler Carl Rogers

Jung and Adler were “Neo-Freudians”, who

used some Freudian ideas but developed
many ideas of their own...
Rogers was a “Humanistic” theorist with
Carl Jung a completely different approach.
 Freud’s
Psychoanalytic Theory

Three Main Components

• Thoughts and behavior are guided mainly by the

unconscious part of the mind.
• Sexual motivation plays a central role in
everyday life.
• Concept of “infantile sexuality”: erotic
experiences in infancy and early childhood
shape personality in adulthood.
 Freud’s
Psychoanalytic Theory

Three Levels of the Mind

• Conscious: everything we are aware of at the

moment; just the “tip of the iceberg”.
• Preconscious: memories that we can bring to
consciousness.
• Unconscious: memories, wishes, and instincts
(desires) that are too threatening or painful to
bring to consciousness.
 According to Freud, much of what people do,
think and feel is really a way of avoiding anxiety.
Anxiety is the way the body signals us that we face
a threatening situation.
For Freud, the threat comes from the unconscious:
an unacceptable sexual or aggressive impulse.
Protecting ourselves from this anxiety is normal
and natural. Carried to an extreme, it becomes a
psychological disorder:

Neurosis: a disorder in which one’s efforts to avoid

anxiety interfere with or limit normal human
functioning; it involves self-punishing, self-
defeating behavior, and emotional or physical
symptoms.
Freud based his theory mainly on a small number of
neurotic patients. He assumed that they were like
normal individuals; they just went too far in their
efforts to avoid anxiety.

The theory is harder to apply to a more severe type

of disorder:

Psychosis: an extreme mental disturbance

involving distorted perceptions of reality and
irrational behavior; basically, a complete break
with reality.

Freud said that personality is divided into 3 parts,

ID, EGO, and SUPEREGO. They are always in
conflict but most of the time the conflict is
unconscious.
 The Id
• Contains life instincts (sex, hunger, thirst, etc.)
and death instincts (aggressive, destructive
tendencies).
• Libido: sexual energy that fuels the entire
personality; needed for everyday life.
• Pleasure Principle: seeks immediate gratification
of impulses regardless of consequences.
• Pleasure = reduction in tension. Tension
increases if we don’t release energy from
impulses.

Everything in the id is unconscious (intensity of

desires, goals that would give the most
satisfaction).
 The Ego
• Logical, rational.
• Executive of personality: determines where,
when, and how impulses are expressed.
• Goal: to satisfy the id in ways that are socially
and morally acceptable. This requires use of
the...
• Reality Principle: tendency to delay gratification
of impulses until they can be expressed in
socially and morally acceptable ways.

The ego is part conscious and part unconscious.

The unconscious part distorts our perceptions of
reality (including ourselves).
 The Superego
• Contains moral values; not rational; doesn’t
care about consequences (like id).
• Consists of two parts:
Conscience: memories of behaviors that have
been punished; if we repeat these actions, we
feel guilty.
Ego Ideal: memories of behaviors for which we
have been praised or rewarded; repeating them
gives us feelings of pride.

The superego is part conscious and part

unconscious; if we feel guilty and don’t know why,
it’s caused by the unconscious part.