Theories of Personality: Psychoanalysis, Neo-Freudians, and Social Cognitive Theory

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering psychoanalysis, analytical psychology, individual psychology, neo-Freudian perspectives, and social cognitive theory based on the lecture materials.

Psychoanalysis

A theoretical approach introduced by Sigmund Freud to analyze human development and psychological processes, emphasizing unconscious drives, childhood experiences, and intrapsychic conflicts.

Sigmund Freud

The Austrian neurologist known as the Father of Psychoanalysis, born on May 6, 1856, in Freiberg, Moravia. His psychological development was heavily influenced by a close relationship with his mother, conflict with his father, and guilt over the death of his infant brother Julius after 6 months; author of 'The Interpretation of Dreams' (1900).

Life Instinct (Eros / Insting Hidup)

A category of instinct focused on survival, pleasure, and reproduction, driven by psychic energy known as libido, which encompasses all forms of pleasure rather than solely sex.

Death Instinct (Thanatos / Insting Mati)

An unconscious drive toward self-destruction, aggression, and violence, grounded in Freud's premise that every living organism possesses an unconscious urge to return to an inorganic, lifeless state.

Conscious Level

The layer of personality consisting of mental contents that an individual is actively aware of at any given moment, such as sensations, immediate perceptions, and current feelings.

Preconscious Level

The level of the mind holding memories, knowledge, and thoughts that are not in immediate awareness but can be readily recalled into consciousness with conscious effort.

Unconscious Level

The deepest layer of the mind containing repressed memories, unacceptable desires, instinctual drives, and traumatic experiences that cannot be easily brought to awareness.

Id

The primitive, inherited component of personality that operates entirely on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification of impulses without regard for consequences or social rules.

Ego

The executive mediator of the personality that operates on the reality principle, negotiating between the impulsive demands of the id, the moral constraints of the superego, and the external world.

Superego

The moral and ethical component of personality formed through the internalization of parental and societal values, enforcing social norms and generating feelings of guilt.

Reality Anxiety

An unpleasant emotional state resulting from real, tangible dangers in the external physical environment (such as heights or accident risks) that assists individuals in avoiding harm.

Neurotic Anxiety

An apprehension without an identifiable external source, arising from the ego's fear of being overpowered by instinctual impulses of the id (e.g., unexplained nervousness in public).

Moral Anxiety

An emotional state triggered by conflict between the id's impulses and the superego's moral standards, presenting as guilt or shame when tempted to act unethically.

Repression

A primary defense mechanism involving the involuntary pushing of distressing or unacceptable thoughts, urges, and memories out of conscious awareness into the unconscious.

Denial

A defense mechanism characterized by the refusal to acknowledge the reality of a traumatic event or threatening external circumstances.

Reaction Formation

A defense mechanism whereby an individual adopts attitudes and behaviors that are the direct opposite of their true, unacceptable unconscious desires or feelings.

Displacement

A defense mechanism in which emotional impulses, hostility, or frustration are redirected away from the original threatening target toward a safer, less threatening substitute object or person.

Sublimation

The healthiest defense mechanism in Freud's view, wherein socially unacceptable instinctual impulses (such as sexual or aggressive drives) are redirected into socially valuable and productive channels like art, poetry, and religion.

Projection

A defense mechanism wherein an individual attributes their own unacceptable feelings, impulses, or unacceptable characteristics onto other people.

Regression

A defense mechanism involving a psychological retreat to an earlier, less demanding developmental stage during times of stress, such as staying in bed all day when overwhelmed.

Rationalization

A defense mechanism where an individual reinterprets their behavior by creating logical, socially acceptable justifications to conceal the real, irrational motive.

Carl Jung

Swiss psychiatrist born on July 26, 1875, in Kesswil, Switzerland, who founded Analytical Psychology; introduced the concepts of the collective unconscious, archetypes, and psychological types; author of 'Psychological Types' (1921) and 'Man and His Symbols' (1964).

Collective Unconscious

In Jung's theory, the deepest structural layer of the psyche inherited from the ancestral past of the human species, consisting of universal, primordial images and predispositions shared across all cultures.

Complex (Personal Unconscious)

An organized constellation of feelings, thoughts, and memories gathered around a core theme in an individual's personal unconscious (e.g., a Mother Complex shaped by personal and ancestral experiences).

Archetype

An innate, archaic pattern or primordial image originating from the collective unconscious that possesses a biological foundation, passed down through generations and manifesting in dreams, myths, and art.

Persona

The public face or conventional mask that an individual displays to the outside world to fulfill societal expectations while protecting the true inner self.

Shadow

The archetype of darkness and repression containing disowned, morally unacceptable, or animalistic traits; mastering it requires achieving the realization of the shadow rather than projecting it.

Anima

The archetype representing the unconscious feminine side within a man, derived from collective and personal ancestral experiences with women, shaping a man's moods and irrational feelings.

Animus

The archetype representing the unconscious masculine side within a woman, originating from ancestral experiences with men, responsible for symbolic reasoning, opinions, and logic.

Great Mother

A dual archetype embodying two opposing forces: positive qualities of nourishment, fertility, and care, contrasted with destructive, wrathful, and devouring power.

Wise Old Man

The archetype representing wisdom, meaning, and knowledge of life's mysteries, frequently embodied in mythology as a sage or philosopher, but vulnerable to specious authority in political or religious figures.

The Self (Archetype)

The central archetype of wholeness and unification of the total personality, uniting the conscious, personal unconscious, and collective unconscious into a harmonious balance.

Individuation

The lifelong process of psychological self-realization wherein a person harmonizes and integrates conscious and unconscious elements, minimizing the persona, integrating the shadow, and balancing anima/animus.

Progression and Regression (Jung)

The dual dynamics of psychic energy adaptation: progression involves forward energy flow to adapt to the external environment, while regression involves a backward flow inward to activate unconscious material needed to solve problems.

Psychological Types (Jung)

Personality classifications based on two basic attitudes (Introversion: subjective orientation inward; Extroversion: objective orientation outward) and four psychological functions (Thinking, Feeling, Sensing, Intuiting).

Alfred Adler

Austrian physician born on February 7, 1870, in Rudolfsheim, Vienna, who founded Individual Psychology; suffered from rickets and near-fatal pneumonia at age 5, competed with older brother Sigmund Adler, and established the Society of Individual Psychology in 1912.

Individual Psychology

Adler's holistic, optimistic approach to personality asserting that humans are motivated primarily by social connectedness, subjective future goals, and striving for perfection rather than instinctual biological drives.

Striving for Superiority

The single primary dynamic force behind all human behavior in Adler's theory, driving individuals to overcome perceived deficiencies and advance from a feeling of inferiority toward completion, mastery, and success.

Inferiority Feelings

Universal, normal human sensations of inadequacy rooted in childhood helplessness and dependency on adults, serving as the positive catalyst for growth, learning, and self-improvement.

Inferiority Complex

An exaggerated, pathological condition that occurs when an individual fails to compensate for feelings of inferiority, leading to an overwhelming sense of helplessness, worthlessness, and defeat.

Superiority Complex

An overcompensatory defense mechanism in which a person exaggerates their accomplishments, knowledge, and abilities to mask deep-seated feelings of inadequacy from themselves and others.

Organic Inferiority

Adler's concept of physical deficits or biological organ weaknesses (such as Adler's childhood illnesses or Demosthenes' stutter) that stimulate intensive psychological compensation.

Spoiled / Pampered Child

A childhood condition in which every whim is granted and the child is the center of attention; produces adults who lack social feeling, cannot delay gratification, expect others to serve them, and struggle to overcome difficulties.

Neglected Child

A child reared with a lack of love, warmth, and security by indifferent or hostile parents, predisposing them to develop feelings of worthlessness, chronic anger, and intense distrust of others.

Social Interest (Gemeinschaftsgefühl)

An innate potentiality that must be cultivated, describing an individual's sense of oneness with all humanity and genuine commitment to contributing to the welfare of others; the ultimate criterion of psychological health.

Style of Life (Gaya Hidup)

The unique, coherent pattern of traits, behaviors, values, and habits crystallized around ages 3 to 5 that dictates how an individual navigates life's challenges and pursues personal goals.

Creative Self (Daya Kreatif)

The dynamic human capacity that mediates between environmental influences and hereditary predispositions, granting individuals free will to construct their own unique personality and life path.

Fictional Finalism

Adler's teleological concept that human behavior is guided by subjective, imagined ideals and future goals (fictions) that cannot be tested objectively, yet provide daily purpose and direction.

Teleological Theory

The philosophical and psychological principle asserting that human actions and personality are oriented toward future goals and aspirations, contrasting with historical causal determinism.

Ruling / Dominant Personality Type

An Adlerian personality style characterized by low social interest and high striving for personal power, often acting aggressive, tyrannical, antisocial, or engaging in inward self-destruction (addiction, suicide).

Getting Personality Type

The most common Adlerian personality style, marked by passive reliance on others to fulfill one's needs, extreme dependency, and a lack of self-sufficiency.

Avoiding Personality Type

An Adlerian personality type that manages life's problems by sidestepping them entirely, avoiding challenges to eliminate any possibility of failure or loss of superiority.

Socially Useful Personality Type

Adler's psychologically healthy personality style, possessing high social interest and energy, capable of cooperating effectively with others and confronting life's tasks productively.

Birth Order Theory

Adler's concept that sibling rank within the family constellation (Firstborn, Second/Middle child, Youngest child, Only child) establishes distinct psychological environments that shape personality.

Adler's Three Social Tasks

The fundamental universal challenges every person must resolve: the social task of building friendships and cooperation, the occupational task of contributing through work, and the love task of fostering intimate and family relationships.

Erik Erikson

Psychoanalyst who redefined the human lifespan by expanding development across eight psychosocial stages up to age 92; studied Sioux Indians in South Dakota, was mentored by Anna Freud in Vienna (1927), and authored 'Childhood and Society'.

Psychosocial Stages of Development

Erikson's eight sequential developmental periods across the lifespan, each defined by an identity crisis between positive and negative traits that must be integrated to yield a specific ego strength.

Overlapping Principle (Erikson)

The concept that psychosocial development stages overlap continuously, allowing an individual to progress to a subsequent life phase even if the crisis of the prior stage has not been completely resolved.

Basic Trust vs. Mistrust

Erikson's first psychosocial stage (ages 0-1), wherein reliable, loving maternal care establishes a foundational sense of security and trust in the predictability of the world.

Identity vs. Identity Diffusion

Erikson's fifth psychosocial stage (ages 10-20 / adolescence), where teenagers consolidate social roles, self-conceptions, and personal values to forge a coherent, stable identity.

Generativity vs. Stagnation

Erikson's seventh psychosocial stage (ages 40-60 / middle adulthood), focused on mentoring the younger generation, social contributions, and creative endeavors versus self-absorbed stagnation.

Erich Fromm

Humanistic psychoanalyst who synthesized psychology, philosophy, and sociology (Karl Marx and Max Weber) to explain how modern political and economic structures induce existential isolation and alienation.

Human Dilemma (Fromm)

The fundamental existential condition of modern humans, who are separated from nature yet possess self-awareness, necessitating the satisfaction of five basic needs: Relatedness, Transcendence, Rootedness, Sense of Identity, and a Frame of Orientation.

Mechanisms of Escape from Freedom

Fromm's three non-productive defensive strategies used to relieve the anxiety and isolation brought about by modern personal freedom: Authoritarianism, Destructiveness, and Automaton Conformity.

Authoritarianism (Fromm)

An escape mechanism involving the fusion of oneself with an external power, taking the form of masochism (submitting to higher authority) or sadism (dominating and controlling others).

Automaton Conformity

An escape mechanism in which an individual unconsciously adopts the exact identity, opinions, and behavioral patterns prescribed by society, sacrificing authenticity to eliminate isolation.

Non-Productive Character Orientations

Fromm's unhealthy personality orientations: Receptive (passive dependency on external sources), Exploitative (taking by force or manipulation), Hoarding (possessive retention of goods and emotions), and Marketing (treating oneself as a commercial commodity).

Productive Character

Fromm's ideal, healthy personality orientation characterized by realizing one's full potential, thinking critically, engaging in creative work, and practicing genuine love marked by care, respect, responsibility, and knowledge.

Karen Horney

German psychoanalyst born in 1885 near Hamburg who pioneered psychoanalytic social psychology; author of 'The Technique of Psychoanalytic Therapy' (1915), founder of the American Institute for Psychoanalysis (1941), and early critic of Freud's biological determinism.

Basic Anxiety (Kecemasan Dasar)

In Horney's theory, an all-pervading feeling of being lonely, isolated, and helpless in a potentially hostile world, caused by negative parenting patterns such as coldness, indifference, and lack of security.

Three Neurotic Trends

Horney's three rigid defensive strategies developed by neurotics to cope with basic anxiety: Moving Toward People (compliant/submissive), Moving Against People (aggressive/hostile), and Moving Away from People (detached/withdrawn).

Womb Envy

Horney's feminist psychoanalytic concept positing that men experience unconscious jealousy toward women's biological ability to carry and give birth to life, leading men to depreciate women and overcompensate through work and status.

Albert Bandura

Canadian-born American psychologist born on December 4, 1925, who originated Social Cognitive Theory and conducted the landmark Bobo Doll experiment demonstrating observational learning and aggression in children.

Observational Learning (Modeling)

A primary component of Social Cognitive Theory where new behaviors, skills, and attitudes are acquired by watching and imitating the actions and consequences of others without direct practice.

Processes of Observational Learning

Bandura's four interdependent cognitive and behavioral steps essential for modeling: Attention (attending to model), Retention (remembering the behavior), Reproduction (motor execution), and Motivation (incentive to perform).

Self-Efficacy

An individual's personal belief in their capability to execute courses of action required to manage future situations, influencing their motivation, expenditure of effort, and resilience against obstacles.

Reciprocal Determinism

Bandura's model asserting that human functioning is an ongoing, continuous two-way interaction among personal cognitive factors, overt behavior, and environmental influences.

Vicarious Reinforcement

A cognitive learning process wherein an observer modifies their own likelihood of repeating a behavior by observing the rewards or punishments received by a model.