Psych 305 Lecture 5

What were the key contributions of Sigmund Freud & Carl Jung? What is the nature of the inner mind and its relationship to the world? What determines behaviour? Are you in control? What is the nature of the psyche/mind? How do people manage threats and anxiety? What contributes to the development of a healthy personality?

what is the psyche?

The totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious

psyche – from the Greek psykhe, meaning soul, mind, or spirit

Sigmund Freud

Austrian neurologist & professor; later a psychotherapist.

Hypnosis / Symptom relief

Founded psychoanalysis.

Focused on the unconscious mind, libido, defence mechanisms, and early childhood experiences.

criticisms of Freud

did not believe in the value of experimentation or hypothesis testing in establishing the validity of psychoanalysis — primarily relied on case studies of wealthy white people.

negative view of human nature.

many of his theories are inherently sexist, support a superior view of men, and/or are heteronormative in nature.

Carl Gustav Jung

Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist; worked with Freud in the early 1900s.

Founded analytical psychology.

Focused on symbolism, mysticism, occultism, the collective unconscious, archetypes, etc.

Freud & Psychic Determinism

Nothing happens by chance.

Everything we think, feel, do, and say is an expression of our mind, either conscious or unconscious.

Reasons can be discovered by examining the contents of the unconscious mind → psychoanalysis.

Freud’s Basic Instincts

Strong innate forces that provide all of the energy in the psychic

system; primary motives of human behaviour.

Life Instinct: Eros

Energy/Drive: Libido

self-care, love, sex, communion?

Death Instinct: Thanatos

Energy/Drive: Mortido

aggression, destruction, agency?

Jung & Free Will

Jung argued that goal-directedness and free will largely determine human behaviour, not unconscious processes.

Deemphasized the role of the unconscious mind

and negative drives.

Contemporary Views?

The influence of the unconscious is debated (see next section).

Whether or not we have free will depends largely on how free will is defined, the behaviour/outcome in question, and the interpretation of research.

A person's brain seems to commit to certain decisions before they

become aware of having made them (Matsuhashi & Hallett, 2008).

Freud’s Organization of the Mind

Conscious: Current thoughts, feelings, and images.

Preconscious: Information that can be easily retrieved.

Unconscious: Part of the mind containing instincts, urges, and thoughts/memories of which a person is unaware.

Freud’s Structural Model of Personality

Id, Ego, Superego

Id

Most primitive part of the mind, source of all drives and urges; seeks immediate gratification and acts on pleasure principle; includes basic instincts.

(urges and impulses)

Ego

Executive of personality; constrains id to reality and acts on reality principle; understands that urges are often in conflict with physical and social realities.

(self-control)

Superego

Internalized ideals, values, and morals of parents (1st) and society/culture/authority (2nd); includes conscience (sense of morality) and ego-ideal (ideal image of self); felt as guilt, shame, pride.

(ideals and morals)

Id, Ego, and Superego conflict

If possible, the ego will respond by letting the id be expressed to a degree (or expressed differently), while the superego may produce guilt or shame (either before or after). Ultimately, the ego is more loyal to the id, which means that it will try to allow the id to be expressed in any way possible.

Jung’s Collective Unconscious

In addition to the personal unconscious, there are certain structures/predispositions of the unconscious common to us all.

there exists a second psychic system of a collective, universal, and impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals. This collective unconscious does not develop individually but is inherited.

Collective Unconsciousness Modern Explanation?

The collective unconscious may represent innate (genetically- determined) psychological concepts and mechanisms that allow us to respond to universal phenomena (similar to instincts).

Archetypes may be similar to schemas.

Subliminal Priming

Concepts may be perceived and influence us, without our even knowing it. But there is no clear evidence that subliminal priming has a strong effect on behaviour; seems to depend on pre-existing potential or plan.

Anxiety

an unpleasant state indicating that the ego is being threatened. Freud originally proposed 3 types of anxiety:

Objective anxiety

real, external threat to a person.

Neurotic anxiety

direct conflict between id and ego.

Moral anxiety

conflict between ego and superego.

Defence Mechanisms

Ways for the ego to cope with anxiety…

Typically operate unconsciously.

• Distort, transform, or falsify reality in some way.

Primary goal: Tension Reduction

Repression

preventing unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or urges from reaching conscious awareness.

Denial

insisting things are not the way they seem; not seeing facts.

Rationalization

reasoning, making excuses for outcomes.

Displacement

redirecting threatening impulse to less-threatening target.

Projection

attributing negative qualities to others (“projecting onto” others).

Reaction Formation

displaying opposite behaviours (often exaggerated).

Regression

returning to earlier, less demanding physical/mental state

Sublimation

converting unacceptable desires and anxiety into acceptable behaviours; an adaptive defence.

Jung & Anxiety

Anxiety propels us to make meaning of our world.

What is my purpose in life? Why am I here? How could I be living a more balanced life?

Meaning and purpose help us manage anxiety; religion, spirituality, and symbolism are important sources of meaning.

Does repression occur?

Repressed Memories: How common are they?

Uncertain; estimates between 18% to 59% (Briere, 1992; Loftus et al., 1993).

Do clinicians believe in them?

An overwhelming majority believe their clients (e.g., Loftus and Herzog, 1991)

Are the memories accurate?

Elizabeth Loftus: Extreme positions should be avoided.

Some are likely accurate. Both authentic and false

memories can occur.

Freud’s Theory of

Psychosexual Development

Children pass through a series of developmental stages; each successive stage focuses on more mature expression of libido.

At each of the first three stages, individuals must face and resolve specific events or conflicts.

Either frustration or overindulgence results in a fixation at a particular stage; these challenges define adult personality.

Oral Stage (birth to 18 months)

Key conflict is weaning from breast or bottle.

Goal: To gain independence while still trusting parent.

Neglectful Parents: Oral Aggressive Personality

hostile, aggressive, sadistic; exploitative

Over-Protective: Oral Receptive Personality

needy, co-dependent, masochistic

Anal Stage (18 months to 3 years)

Key conflict revolves around toilet-training (whether or not successful).

Goal: To achieve self-control (and develop a

functioning ego).

Strict Parents: Anal Retentive Personality

stubborn, obsessive, overly tidy

Liberal Parents: Anal Expulsive Personality

emotional, rebellious, messy

Phallic Stage (3 to 5 years

Key conflict is unconscious attraction toward opposite-sex parent and

feelings of hostility toward same-sex parent.

Goal: To identify with / relate to parents in a healthy, mature way; and

to internalize their ideals, values, morals (thus developing a superego,

including both conscience and ego-ideal).

Phallic Personality

self-assured, vain, impulsive, narcissistic

Freud on Narcissism

According to Freud (1914, On Narcissism),

narcissism occurs when an individual’s libido

energy becomes invested in aspects of the self

(“self-love”), including the ego-ideal.

The ego-ideal becomes inflated (grandiose)

and destructive, because it contains infantile

images of perfection and omnipotence that

are impossible to attain.

Narcissists are devoted to this infantile and

destructive ego-ideal – this is their only reality

Latency Stage (6 years to puberty)

Little psychological development occurs.

Focus on learning skills and abilities necessary to succeed.

Genital Stage (puberty +)

Libido directed outward toward other adults in healthy manner.

People reach this stage only if previous conflicts are resolved.

Genital Personality

well-adjusted, mature, able to love/be loved

Jung & Individuation

Jung focused on personality development in 2nd half of life.

Individuation is the process of integrating the conscious and

unconscious through improved self-awareness; personal and

collective unconscious assimilated into whole personality.

Necessary for complete physical/mental health; good moral grounding.

“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” (C. G. Jung)

→ Analytical Psychology

Jung’s Notion of the Shadow

The dark side of one’s personality; that which an individual does not want to face, relegated to the unconscious.

"Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual's

conscious life, the blacker and denser it is.” (Jung, 1938)

“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but

by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is

disagreeable and therefore not popular.” (Jung, 1945)

Freud & Jung in Today’s World…

Freud underscored the value of talking about our emotional pains. Have we learned?

Jung stressed the importance of symbolism, spirituality, and

meaning in our lives. Did we listen?

Learning Objectives

Describe and provide examples of the basic assumptions of

psychoanalytic and analytical theory (inc. main concepts/terms).

Psychic Determinism, Organization of the Mind, Anxiety & Defence

Mechanisms, Psychosexual Development, Individuation, etc.

Compare and contrast some of the main concepts proposed by

Freud & Jung.

Explain psychoanalytic theories/concepts and provide examples.

Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Freud’s theories and

his contributions to the field of psychology; consider

contemporary perspectives Freud’s original ideas.