Sigmund Freud

Psychoanalysis Theory

Sigmund Freud's theory emphasizing that early childhood experiences, unconscious drives, internal conflicts, and repression strongly influence adult personality and behavior.

Psychological Pressure Point

A situation, often rooted in childhood, that reveals underlying psychological issues and can shape adult emotional life.

Fixation

Occurs when a person 'gets stuck' at a particular psychosexual stage because their needs were either overindulged or frustrated during that stage, affecting adult personality.

Unconscious Drives

Hidden psychological forces that Freud believed are the primary motivators of human behavior, often in conflict with societal norms.

Repression

A defense mechanism where unacceptable thoughts or memories are pushed into the unconscious, still influencing behavior in distorted ways (e.g., phobias, compulsions, slips).

Intrapsychic Conflict

The internal struggle between the id (wants), ego (realistic), and superego (should do), which Freud considered central to human experience and a root of psychological distress.

Id

According to Freud, the part of the personality driven by instinctual desires and what a person 'wants'.

Ego

According to Freud, the part of the personality that deals with reality and mediates between the id and superego, determining what is 'realistic'.

Superego

According to Freud, the part of the personality that represents internalized societal norms and moral standards, dictating what a person 'should do'.

Royal Road to the Unconscious

Freud's term for dreams, which he saw as a way to access the unconscious mind and interpret repressed desires and fears.

Manifest Content (Dreams)

What a dream literally appears to be on the surface.

Latent Content (Dreams)

The hidden, symbolic meaning of a dream, representing repressed desires and unresolved conflicts.

Sigmund Freud

An Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, known for writing multiple influential books.

Psychosexual Stages of Development

Freud's theory, introduced in 'Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality' (1905), which posits that personality is shaped by resolving childhood conflicts across different stages, each focusing on a specific erogenous zone.

Libido (Freud)

The term for sexual energy, present from birth, which focuses on different erogenous zones during the psychosexual stages of development.

Fixation (Freud)

An unresolved conflict at any psychosexual stage, leading to maladaptive traits or neuroses in adulthood.

Oral Stage (Psychosexual)

The first psychosexual stage (birth–1 year), focused on the mouth (sucking, chewing); key issue is dependency and trust. Fixation can result in smoking, overeating, or excessive dependency.

Anal Stage (Psychosexual)

The second psychosexual stage (1–3 years), focused on the anus (toilet training); key issue is control, order, and autonomy. Fixation can lead to 'anal-retentive' (orderly, rigid) or 'anal-expulsive' (messy, impulsive) traits.

Anal retentive

Strict training

Anal-expulsive

Lenient training

Phallic Stage (Psychosexual)

The third psychosexual stage (3–6 years), focused on awareness of genitals and sexual identity; includes the start of superego formation and involves resolving Oedipus and Electra complexes.

Oedipus Complex

During the Phallic Stage, a boy's unconscious sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of rivalry toward his father.

Electra Complex

During the Phallic Stage, a girl's unconscious sexual desires toward her father and feelings of rivalry toward her mother.

Latency Stage (Psychosexual)

The fourth psychosexual stage (6 years–puberty), characterized by the repression of sexual impulses, with energy redirected to learning, socialization, hobbies, and academics.

Genital Stage (Psychosexual)

The final psychosexual stage (puberty onward), focused on mature sexuality and relationships, with libido directed toward peers (outside the family); successful resolution leads to psychological maturity.

Freud vs. Erikson (Developmental Theories)

Freud focused on psychosexual stages driven by unconscious desires, while Erikson emphasized psychosocial conflicts and expanded development across the entire life span.

Unconscious Desires (Freud)

Hidden desires and memories that, according to Freud, play a significant role in shaping behavior and adult personality.

Topographical Model of the Mind (Freud)

Freud's model that divides the mind into three levels: Conscious, Preconscious, and Unconscious.

Conscious (Freud)

The immediate awareness of thoughts, feelings, and perceptions at any given moment; highly limited and transitory, often described as the 'tip of the iceberg'.

Preconscious (Freud)

Mental material not currently in awareness but easily retrievable, such as memories and stored knowledge; it acts as a 'mental waiting room' for accessible information.

Unconscious (Freud)

The largest and most powerful level of the mind, containing repressed memories, instinctual drives, unacceptable desires, and unresolved conflicts; it is not accessible by ordinary recall but actively influences behavior.

Structure of Personality (Freud)

Freud's theory that personality is formed by the dynamic interaction of three distinct parts: the Id, Ego, and Superego.

Id (Freud)

The core of personality, entirely unconscious, driven by the 'pleasure principle,' and the source of basic drives and desires such as hunger, sex, and aggression.

Pleasure Principle (Freud)

The driving force of the Id, which seeks immediate gratification of desires and the avoidance of pain, without regard for reality or consequences.

Superego (Freud)

The moral and ideal side of personality that develops from the Ego, guided by moralistic and idealistic principles, striving for perfection, and often clashing with the Id's impulses.

Conscience (Superego subsystem)

A subsystem of the Superego that punishes improper behavior, instilling feelings of guilt for 'should not' actions.

Ego-ideal (Superego subsystem)

A subsystem of the Superego that rewards proper behavior, establishing standards for 'should do' actions.

Ego (Freud)

The part of personality that develops from the Id during infancy, has direct contact with reality, follows the 'reality principle,' and mediates between the demands of the Id, Superego, and external reality through rational choices.

Reality Principle (Freud)

The guiding principle of the Ego, which seeks to satisfy the Id's desires in realistic, socially appropriate, and effective ways, often delaying gratification.

Defense Mechanisms (Freud)

Unconscious psychological processes that protect the Ego from anxiety and inner conflict by keeping threatening thoughts, impulses, or feelings out of conscious awareness.

Repression (Defense Mechanism)

An unconscious process that pushes traumatic or threatening thoughts, feelings, or memories out of awareness, serving as a basis for 'defence hysteria'.

Denial (Defense Mechanism)

A refusal to accept external facts or reality if they are too overwhelming; it differs from repression by controlling the perception of reality itself.

Reaction Formation (Defense Mechanism)

A defense mechanism where an unacceptable impulse or feeling is replaced with its exact opposite in conscious behavior or expression (e.g., acting overly kind to someone you dislike).

Projection (Defense Mechanism)

Attributing one's own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or impulses to others (e.g., accusing someone else of hostility when you feel aggressive).

Displacement (Defense Mechanism)

Redirecting emotions or impulses from a threatening source or object to a safer, substitute target (e.g., yelling at a pet instead of an angry boss).

Sublimation (Defense Mechanism)

A mature defense mechanism that involves channeling unacceptable impulses or desires into socially valued and acceptable actions or endeavors (e.g., aggression channeled into sports, sexual urges into art).

Dream Theory (Freud)

Freud's theory that dreams are meaningful expressions of the unconscious, primarily serving as wish-fulfillment and guardians of sleep, which use symbols and distortion to disguise repressed wishes.

Manifest Content (Dream Theory)

The actual imagery, events, and storyline of a dream that the dreamer remembers upon waking.

Latent Content (Dream Theory)

The hidden, unconscious thoughts, desires, motivations, and conflicts that the manifest content of a dream conceals.

Disguised wish-fulfillment

Psychoanalytic concept by Sigmund Freud describing dreams, which are a disguised way the unconscious mind expresses repressed wishes or desires in a way that avoids guilt or social taboos, often requiring interpretation to uncover the true meaning

Direct wish fulfillment

The actualization of a desire, as opposed to indirect or symbolic satisfaction

Dream Distortion (Freud)

The process by which dreams disguise their true meaning through censorship, making the manifest content seem strange or absurd to prevent distressing unconscious wishes from entering full awareness.

Day Residues (Dream Theory)

Fragments of recent conscious experiences and impressions from the day that are incorporated into dreams, often serving as a starting point for dream construction.

Childhood Memories (Dream Theory)

The emotional core memories from early life that, according to Freud, provide significant material and meaning to dreams.

Somatic Stimuli (Dream Theory)

Bodily sensations (e.g., hunger, pain, temperature) that can influence or drive the content of dreams.

Unconscious Wishes (Dream Theory)

The primary driving force behind dreams, representing repressed desires seeking expression, which the dream attempts to fulfill symbolically.

Dream-Work (Freud)

The unconscious mental processes that transform latent dream thoughts into the manifest dream content, involving mechanisms like condensation, displacement, symbolism, and secondary revision.