Module 45 - Intro to Personality and Psychodynamic Theories

personality

individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

psychodynamic theories

view human behavior as a dynamic interaction between the conscious mind and the unconscious mind, including associated motives and conflicts

personality is an interaction between conscious and unconscious mind

psychoanalysis

Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts

techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

trait

more long term (ex. extroverted)

state

more short term, situational/environmental (ex. might talk more when around friends)

varied ways to view and study personality

Sigmund freud’s psychoanalytic theory

humanistic theories

trait theories

social-cognitive theories

Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory

proposed that childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence personality

humanistic theories

focused on our inner capacities for growth and self-fulfillment

trait theories

examine characteristic pattern of behavior (traits)

social-cognitive theories

explore the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) and their social context

Freud’s psychoanalytic perspective

observed patients whose disorders had no clear physical explanations

concluded that their problems reflected unacceptable thoughts and feelings, hidden away in the unconscious mind

unconscious analysis can lead to unexplained physical problems

unconscious according to Freud

reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories

according to contemporary psychologists, info processing of which we are unaware

unconscious = unaware

free association in psychoanalysis

method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind

problem: if something is unconscious, we won’t be able to bring it to mind, therefore this research doesn’t really work

Freud’s psychoanalytic perspective

psychologists have used iceberg image to to illustrate Frued’s idea that the mind is mostly hidden beneath the conscious surface

the id is totally unconscious, but the ego and the superego operate both consciously and unconsciously

unlike the parts of a frozen iceberg, the id, ego, and superego interact

Freud’s three mind systems

id

ego

superego

id

strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives; operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification

ego

operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

balances id and superego

superego

represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgement (the conscience) and for future aspirations

psychosexual stages

identification process

early childhood relations (especially with parents and other caregivers)

early unresolved conflicts

at any point in the oral, anal, or phallic stages, strong conflict could lock, or fixate

identification process

children’s superegos gain strength as they incorporate many of their parents’ values

________ with same-sex parent provides an understanding of gender identify (sense of being male, female, neither, or some combination of male and female)

early childhood relations

influence developing identify, personality, and frailties

most relevant with parents and other caregivers

early unresolved conflicts

could surface as maladaptive behavior in the adult years

ego

protects itself with tactics that reduce and redirect anxiety by reality distortion (defense mechanisms)

defense mechanisms

function indirectly and unconsciously

repression

underlies all other defense mechanisms

is sometimes incomplete and may be manifested as symbols in dreams or slips of the tongue

ego

unconsciously defends itself against anxiety

when a thought, memory, or feeling is too painful, it may be unconsciously pushed out of consciousness

regression

seeking comfort from caregivers may be interpreted as _____

retreat to an earlier developmental stage

ex. child who sucks their thumb in their older age = provides the comfort

Neo-Freudians

accepted many of Freud’s basic ideas and interviewing techniques

placed more emphasis on the conscious mind and on social motives than sexual- or aggression-related ones

contemporary psychodynamic theorists

emphasize conscious mind’s role in interpreting experience and in coping with environment

doubt sex and aggression were all-consuming motivations

tend to emphasize loftier motives and social interactions

Adler and Horney

agreed with Freud about childhood importance

believed childhood social tensions, not sexual tensions, are crucial for personality formation

Horney

theorized childhood anxiety triggers desire for love and security

countered the assumption that women have weak superegos and suffer penis envy

Jung

placed less emphasis on social factors and agreed with the idea of the influence of the unconscious

proposed there is a collective unconscious (archetypes) derived from species’ universal experiences

Freud’s major contributions

attention to the unconscious and irrational

importance of human sexuality

addressed conflict between biological impulses and social well-being

challenged self-righteousness, exposed self-protective defenses and potential for evil

modern research that contradicts Freud’s ideas

development is lifelong, not fixed in childhood

parental influence is overestimated, and peer influence is underestimated

gender identity develops earlier than Freud theorized and is possible without the influence of a same-sex parent in home

the belief that dreams disguise and fulfill wishes is disputed, as is the idea that suppressed sexuality causes psychological disorders

Freud’s scientific methodology is criticized, not testable

Freud’s theory’s most serious problem

offers after-the-fact explanations of any characterisitc (of one person’s smoking, another’s fear of horses, another’s sexual orientation), yet fails to predict such behaviors and traits

Psychologists think the unconscious:

is information processing that occurs without awareness

involves schemas, priming, right hemisphere activity, implicit memories, emotions, and stereotypes

Freud’s defense mechanisms

reaction formation

projection (false consensus effect)

terror-management theory

Freud’s idea that we unconsciously defend ourselves against anxiety

projective test

personality test that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger the projection of one’s inner dynamics and reveal unconscious motives

types:

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

Rorschach inkblot test

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

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

Rorschach inkblot test

seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing how they interpret 10 inkblots

most widely used projective test

a set of 10 inkblots

identifies people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

only a few derived scores (cognitive impairment and thought disorder) have demonstrated reliability and validity