4.5a - Psychodynamic and Humanistic Theories of Personality: Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Theories

psychodynamic theories

view personalities w/ focus on the unconscious mind and the importance of childhood experiences

psychoanalysis

Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts/actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

unconscious

Freud - reservoir of unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories

contemporary psychologists - info processing we are unaware of

free association

psychoanalysis method of exploring the unconscious in which a person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial/embarrassing

id

unconscious, basic sexual/aggressive drives, immediate gratification

ego

partly conscious executive, mediates demands of id + superego + reality, satisfy id’s desires realistically

superego

partly conscious, ideals/future aspirations, conscience (judgment)

defense mechanisms

ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality _{^{(repression, regression, reaction formation, projection, rationalization, displacement, sublimation, denial)}}

repression

basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories

collective unconscious

Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history

-archetypes, common myths/images across cultures

terror-management theory

a theory of death-related anxiety; explores people’s emotional/behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

projective test in which people express their inner feelings/interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

projective test

a personality test that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics and explore the preconscious and unconscious mind _{^{(TAT, Rorschach)}}

Rorschach inkblot test

a projective test designed by Hermann Rorschach; seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing how they interpret 10 inkblots

!!!

repression = push down, ignore

regression = back to childlike, immature

reaction formation = think/say opposite of how you actually feel (self-gaslight)

projection = criticize others for what you are actually doing/did that is bad

rationalization = reason, why it is okay/makes sense

displacement = negative feelings to original source onto a more acceptable/less intimidating subject

sublimation = turn negative feelings to positive

denial = not important, don’t care when really do