psychodynamic approach ao1

key assumptions of psychodynamic approach

• behaviour and feelings affected by unconscious motives

• behaviour and feelings as adults are rooted in childhood experiences

• personality composed of id, ego and superego (in constant conflict)

• personality develops in stages, modified by different conflicts at different times during psychosexual development

psychic determinism

all behaviour has a cause/ reason

role of unconscious

• main driving force between human behaviour and personality

• protects conscious self from anxiety/trauma

• unresolved conflicts during psychosexual stages can remain in unconscious as fixations which still influence adult behaviour and personality

defense mechanisms

• unconscious strategies used by ego to reduce anxiety caused by conflict between id and superego

• provide compromise solutions, reducing psychological discomfort without resolving underlying conflict

• repression, denial and displacement

repression

• where threatening/ unacceptable thoughts/memories/impulses are pushed into unconscious mind

• can’t be consciously recalled but still influence behaviour

denial

• when an individual refuses to accept reality because acknowledging the situation would cause too much anxiety

• behaves as if the distressing event has not occured

displacement

• redirecting emotional impulses from original sources to a target because expressing them to the true source would be unacceptable/threatening

id

• present from birth

• operates entirely in unconscious mind

• selfish, irrational, impulsive

• driven by pleasure principle

• seeks immediate gratification

ego

• develops between 18 months - 3 years

• operates in conscious and unconscious mind

• rational and logical (follows reality principle)

• balances id and superego

• may use defense mechanisms

superego

• develops between 3 years to 6 years

• largely unconscious

• follows morality principle

• based on parental and societal values

• produces feelings like guilt

freuds psychosexual stages

• personality develops in 5 stages

• each characterised by focus of child’s libido on different area of body (erogenous zone)

• conflict at each stage, if resolved = healthy personality development

• if not resolved = fixation

what are the psychosexual stages

• oral

• anal

• phallic

• latency

• genital

oral stage

• 0-1 years

• focus of libido:mouth/tongue, biting/chewing

• development: weaning off breastfeeding, ego develops

• consequence of fixation: smoking/overeating

anal stage

• 1-3 years

• focus of libido: anus, bowel and bladder control

• development: toilet training

• consequence of fixation: orderliness/messiness

phallic stage

• 3-6 years

• focus of libido: genitals, masturbation

• development: oedipus and electra complex, superego formed

• consequence of fixation: deviancy, sexual dysfunction

latency stage

• 6-10 years

• focus of libido: repression of sexual urges

• development: cognitive and social development, superego develops further

• consequence of fixation: none

genital stage

• 12+ years

• focus of libido: genitals

• development: sexual maturity, development of intimate/ sexual relationships

• fixation: if all stages complete = positive mental health achieved

oedipus complex

• during the phallic stage

• young boy develops unconscious sexual feelings towards his mother because she has been his primary source of care and affection

• views his father as a rival for mother's attention

• conflicting feelings produce intense anxiety

• fears his father will discover these unconscious wishes and castrate him (castration anxiety)

• to resolve, he unconsciously identifies with his father, (identification with the aggressor)

• adopts and internalises his father's attitudes, values and behaviours

• resolves the conflict, allows development of the superego

• contributes to the child's gender identity

electra complex

• carl jung

• phallic stage

• young girl initially identifies with her mother but later develops unconscious feelings of attraction towards her father, who becomes the focus of her affection

• girl experiences penis envy when realises she does not have a penis, blames her mother

• resolves conflict by repressing her feelings towards her father and replacing desire for a penis with a desire to have a baby

• allows the girl to identify with her mother, internalise her mother’s values and behaviours, and develop feminine identity

• girl's superego develops as she adopts her mother's moral standards

little hans

• 5 year old boy with a fear of horses

• especially white horses with black markings around mouth and horses wearing blinkers (represented hans fathers moustache and spectacles)

• hans feared his father, not horses (unconscious fear his father would castrate him for having sexual feelings towards his mother)

freuds interpretation of little hans

• horse phobia symbolised unconscious fear of his father

• fear of being bitted represented castration anxiety

• phobia was displacement: anxiety of father redirected onto horses