Psychodynamic Theory

Personality

refers to a distinctive pattern of behavior + mannerisms + thoughts + emotions

Psychodynamic Model of Personality

according to Freud, people are born with psychic energy that is transformed and redirected during the normal course of social development

Life Instinct (eros)

accounts for feelings and behaviors related to self preservation and preservation of the species

Death Instinct (thanatos)

impels the person toward aggression and destruction

Conscious Thought

involves events about which the individual is currently aware

Preconscious Thought

involves events of which the person is not immediately aware, but can be retrieved at will

Unconscious Thought

includes thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories about which we are largely unaware, but which may strongly influence behavior

Id

unconscious and without specific direction; what you want to do, but can’t

Ego

under the influence of external reality; the voice of reason; why you can’t do it

Superego

moral system; the conscience

Defense Mechanism

the ego’s methods to resolve conflicts with the id and superego AND to guard against anxiety created by instinctual wishes

Rationalization

creating an acceptable but incorrect explination

Repression

blocking a threatening idea, memory, or emotion from the consciousness

Projection

attributing one’s own unacceptable feelings and impulses to someone else

Displacement

directing one’s emotions, especially anger, towards things, animals, or other people that are not the real object of one’s feelings

Sublimination

a special case of displacement in which the displacement of emotions serves a higher cultural or socially useful purpose, as in creation of art of inventions

Reaction Formation

transforming anxiety-producing thoughts or feelings into their opposites in consciousness

Regression

returning to more primitive levels of behavior in defense against anxiety or frustration

Denial

Refusing to admit that something unpleasant is happening, or that a taboo emotion is being experienced. Denial blocks or distorts perception; repression blocks or distorts memory