Psychodynamic approach

State the three assumptions of the psychodynamic approach:

1. Most of the influences on our behaviour come from the unconscious mind

2. Our psyche is made up of several parts that are continually at war with each other - this conflict is what drives behaviour

3. All children go through a series of psychosexual stages and if they experience unresolved conflict this can affect adult life

Explain how Freud described the structure of personality:

He described it was as ‘tripartite’, meaning it was composed of three parts - Id,Ego and Superego

What is the Id (unconscious)?

The primitive part of our personality which operated on the pleasure principle - it is selfish and demands immediate gratification

What is the superego (pre-conscious)?

The moralistic part of out personality that represents ideal self - it punished the ego for wrongdoing by making us feel guilty

What is the ego (conscious)?

Works on the reality principle - it is the mediator between the id and superego by trying to reduce the conflict through the use of defence mechanisms

What are defence mechanisms?

Unconscious strategies used by the ego to help balance the conflicting demands of the id and the superego

What are three defence mechanisms?

1. Repression - forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind

2. Denial - refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality

3. Displacement - transferring feelings from true source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target

What are the five stages of psychosexual development?

1. Oral (0-1 years)

2. Anal (1-3 years)

3. Phallic (3-5 years)

4. Latency (5 years - puberty)

5. Genital (puberty - death)

State the conflict and consequence of unresolved conflict in the oral stage:

Conflicts = forceful feeding, food deprivation, or early weaning

Consequences = oral fixation - smoking, thumb sucking, biting, fingernails, overeating and drinking, sarcasm and verbal hostility

State the conflict and consequence of unresolved conflict in the anal stage:

Conflicts = too harsh or too lax during toilet training

Consequences:

• Too harsh toilet training (anally retentive personality) - obsessive, tidy, perfectionist, stubborn and orderly

• Too lax toilet training (anally expulsive personality) - careless, disorganised defiant and excessively generous

State the conflict and consequence of unresolved conflict in the phallic stage:

Conflicts = identification with same-sex parent or abnormal family set up

Consequences = phallic fixation - narcissistic, promiscuous, vain, defiant, aggressive, reckless and exhibitionist and possible homosexuality

State the conflict and consequence of unresolved conflict in the latency stage:

Conflicts don’t occur in this stage as child focuses on other pursuits (education, social relationships, hobbies, skill development etc) and play is largely confined to same-sex peers

State the conflict and consequence of unresolved conflict in the genital stage:

Conflicts = establishing intimate relationship with opposite sex

Consequences = difficulty forming intimate heterosexual relationships, sexual dysfunction

In which stage does the Oedipus and Electra complex occur?

The phallic stage

In which gender does the Oedipus complex?

Male

What is the Oedipus complex?

• Boys develop a sexual desire for their mother and so see their father as a rival and feel hatred towards them

• Fearing that their father will castrate them, boys repress their feelings for their mother and identify with their father

• They internalise their gender role and moral values

In which gender does the Electra complex occur?

Female

What is the Electra complex?

• Girls experience penis envy - they desire their father as the penis is the primary love object, and hate their mother

• Girls then give up the desire for their father over time and replace this with a desire for a baby (identifying with their mother in the process)

What is evidence to support the psychosexual stages of development?

Little Hans

Describe the Little Hans study:

• Hans had a severe phobia of white horses with black bits around their mouth and wearing blinkers

• Freud interpreted this phobia as a form of displacement in which his repressed fear of his father was transferred onto horses