07. Personality - Psychodynamic Theories

Psychological definition of personality

characteristics, or the typical qualities of an individual

[…] research emphasises the uniqueness of individuals

Idiographic

[…] research focuses on traits that occur consistently across groups of people

Nomothetic

Clinical Strand of Personality Theories

Develops theories from case studies of the mentally ill

Individual Differences Strand of Personality Theories

Documents differences in personality through research and statistical models

Three Levels of Consciousness

• Conscious Mind: thoughts, feelings, memories we are aware of at any given time

• Preconscious Mind: thoughts, feelings, memories that are unconscious now, but can be recalled into our conscious mind

• Unconscious Mind: thoughts, feelings, memories, desires, and fantasies that we are unaware of, due to their unacceptable nature

Manifest Content of Dreams

The description of the dream as recalled by the dreamer, censored to avoid anxiety

Latent Content of Dreams

The ‘true’ meaning of the dream, as identified by the analyst. Dream symbols that represent latent content are identified.

Freud (1901) argued that these three biological drives are the primary motivators of all human behaviour

1. Sexual drives to reproduce

2. Life-preserving drives to avoid hunger and pain

3. Death instinct

The ID

Develops first in the child, the unconscious part of the personality, includes instinctive/primitive behaviours, irrational and operates on the pleasure principle

The Ego

Develops second, the conscious and executive part, rational and operates on the reality principle

The Super Ego

Develops last, considered the conscience of the child, holds our values and morals learnt from parents and society

Intra-psychic conflict

The three personality structures (id, ego, super ego) in constant conflict

The Five Psychosexual Stages

1. Oral

2. Anal

3. Phallic

4. Latency

5. Genital

The Oral Stage

Birth to 1y, pleasure zone is in the mouth, over or under-stimulation leads to fixation and abnormal personality development

The Anal Stage

18mo-3y, pleasure zone in the anal region, inappropriate toilet training leads to fixation and abnormal development

Phallic Stage

3-5y, pleasure zone in the genitals, boys develop Oedipal complex leading them to identify with their father, girls develop Electra complex

Latency Stage

5-12y, resting period in development, energies are used in socialising and learning, develops defence mechanisms to deal with anxiety

Genital Stage

12-18y, puberty and mature sexual interest in others, might have conflicts left from previous stages

Defence Mechanisms

To cope with the anxiety caused by conflicting demands of the id, ego, and super ego, defence mechanisms are developed

Defence Mechanism: Repression

Push thoughts into the unconscious mind

Defence Mechanism: Regression

Trying to avoid current anxiety by turning to an earlier stage of life

Defence Mechanism: Denial

Deny unpleasant events or the reality of a situation

Defence Mechanism: Displacement

One’s fear or desire is shifted away from the true target onto someone else

Defence Mechanism: Reaction Formation

Used to overcome impulses that are uncomfortable for us, overcompensate by acting the opposite way to how you feel

Defence Mechanism: Conversion Reaction

Unacceptable thoughts and feelings are turned into physical symptoms

Defence Mechanism: Rationalisation

The reasons for an event are given after the fact, justifying them

Defence Mechanism: Intellectualisation/Isolation

Anxiety associated with an event or threat is dealt with by recalling it without the emotions involved

Defence Mechanism: Phobic Avoidance

Situations or events that cause anxiety/unpleasant feelings are avoided

Defence Mechanism: Projection

Blaming others for our own shortcomings

Defence Mechanism: Sublimation

When dangerous or unacceptable urges are turned into acceptable ones (advanced/mature defence mechanism)

Defence Mechanism: Undoing

Ritualistic behaviours used for protection (e.g. knocking wood to avoid a jinx)

Criticisms of Freud’s Theory (8)

1. Lacks empirical support, remain untested, unfalsifiable

2. Narrow motivational basis to explain human behaviour

3. Emphasis on biological factors shaping personality, ignores social influence

4. Deterministic

5. Presents negative view of humans

6. Unlikely that personality is fully developed at 5

7. View of women and non-heterosexuals is problematic

8. Considered out of date and generally no longer accepted

The Rorschach Test (1921)

Test designed to access people’s unconscious minds through their perception of ink blot art

Kimoto et al., 2017

Used the Rorschach test to examine differences between dementia and Alzheimer patients.

Dementia patients perceive objects differently from Alzheimer patients, suggesting that the test may be used when differentiating between the two

Wood et al., 2020

Criticised the validity and reliability, reviewed prior research that examined links between Rorschach scores and psychiatric diagnoses.

Found that only a few Rorschach scores have a well-demonstrated relationship to psychiatric disorders, proposes it should not be used when formulating diagnoses

Variables in the Rorschach Test

Boys and girls score differently, as do different cultures, education and age predicted different scores. The test does not generalise to different cultures, sexes, and age groups