Manuel = Freud and jung PSYCHOANALYTIC PERSPECTIVE OF PERSONALITY

PSYCHOANALYTIC PERSPECTIVE OF PERSONALITY

Earliest approach to personality

psychoanalysis

Key assumptions of psychoanalysis:

• Personality is strongly influenced by unconscious determinants.

• The unconscious is dynamic, or motivational, and is in conflict with other aspects of the unconscious and with consciousness.

• The unconscious originates in early experience.

Variations in psychoanalytic theories (people)

• Freud

• Jung

• Klein & Sullivan

Freud

Unconscious contains sexual and aggressive desires

Jung

Unconscious has general motivations, including spiritual content

Klein & Sullivan

Unconscious includes primitive concepts of self and relationships.

Sigmund Freud’s classical Psychoanalysis theories

• Fundamental elements of personality is are instincts they arise from external stimuli, and serves driving forces behind behaviour

• unconscious psychological influence thought & behvaiour

Freuds instincts

life instincts & death instincts

• interplay between the conscious & the unconscious

life instincts

• survival instinct

• species by seeking to satisfy the needs for food, water, air, and sex.

• manifested by the libido - called cathexis

• Regarded sex as our primary motivation

• people are predominantly pleasure-seeking beings = necessity of inhibiting or suppressing our sexual longings.

Example of cathexis

If you like your roommate = your libido is cathected to him or her.

death instincts

• destructive instincts

• all living things decay and die

• component of death instincts: aggressive drive = people have unconscious wish to die

Freud´s proposal of personality structure

• the most significant determinants of human behavior lie beyond conscious awareness

• behavior results from instincts

Freud divided personality into three levels

• the conscious

• the preconscious

• the unconscious.

The conscious mind

• Refers to experiences of which a person is aware, including memories and intentional actions.

• aligns with its everyday meaning

• encompasses all sensations and experiences we are aware of at any given moment

• Freud saw it as a limited aspect of personality since only a small fraction of our thoughts, sensations, and memories

Function of the conscious mind

Operates realistically, following the rules of space and time.

Identification of conscious mind

We identify with our consciousness and accept it as part of ourselves

Example based on conscious mind

as you read these words, you may be conscious of the sight of the page, a message you plan to send to a friend, or the loud music playing next door

The preconscious.

• Material that is not in the conscious mind at a given moment but can be quickly brought to attention

• storage area for memories, perceptions, and thoughts

• allows us to navigate between immediate awareness and past recollections

example related to Preconscious

• Information such as a mother’s maiden name is not being thought about at the moment, but can be easily recalled

Preconscious Relation to the Conscious

• Thoughts can move quickly between the preconscious and the conscious.

The unconscious

• Mental processes of which a person is unaware. This material remains repressed because making it conscious would cause anxiety.

• Instincts, desires, and urges that drive behavior

• primary the force behind all actions

• powerful influences that operate beyond our awareness and control

Content of the unconscious

Includes forgotten traumatic memories and denied desires.

Example of the unconscious

• A child who has experienced sexual abuse may repress the memory to protect themselves from the associated anxiety

Denied Desires related to the unconscious mind

Desires that are rejected by consciousness for being considered horrendous or bad, such as wishing for the death of a younger sibling.

Characteristics of the the unconscious mind

It is emotionally distressing and less civilized than consciousness, acting as a "garbage dump" where consciousness discards unwanted material.

Repression

A defense mechanism that involves unconscious denial of the existence of something that causes anxiety.

Denial

A defense mechanism that involves denying the existence of an external threat or traumatic event.

Reaction formation

A defense mechanism that involves expressing an id impulse that is the opposite of the one that is truly driving the person

Projection

A defense mechanism that involves attributing a disturbing impulse to someone else

Regression

A defense mechanism that involves retreating to an earlier, less frustrating period of life and displaying the usually childish behaviors characteristic of that more secure time.

Rationalization

A defense mechanism that involves reinterpreting our behavior to make it more acceptable and less threatening to us.

Displacement

A defense mechanism that involves shifting id impulses from a threatening object or from one that is unavailable to an object that is available; for example, replacing hostility toward one’s boss with hostility toward one’s child.

Sublimation

A defense mechanism that involves altering or displacing id impulses by diverting instinctual energy into socially acceptable behaviors.

The Id Definition

• It is the primitive and unconscious part of the personality, the source of biological impulses

The Id Pleasure Principle

Seeks immediate satisfaction of desires to reduce tension and obtain pleasure

The Id Psychic Energy (Libido)

• The source of sexual energy that motivates all aspects of personality.

• It can be transformed through socialization.

Life and Death Instincts

• Eros

• Thanatos

Eros

Life instinct motivates behaviors related to the maintenance of life and love.

Thanatos

Death instinct, a destructive force that leads towards death and motivates aggression.

The Ego Definition

The rational and conscious part of the personality that adapts to reality.

The Ego Reality Principle

Understands and adapts to the restrictions of the real world, can delay gratification and plan

The Ego Secondary Process:

Planning and coping skills.

The Ego Mental Health:

• Requires a strong ego that manages anxiety and allows the individual to function in the real world.

The Superego Definition

Represents the internalized rules and ideals of society

The Superego Generates Guilt

When we act contrary to its rules

The Superego Ideal Self

The image of what we want to be, our internal standards.

The Superego Development

Forms at an early age and represents immature and rigid morality.

The Superego Examples

A man who internalized the prohibition against stealing candy and feels guilty when eating it as a teenager; a woman who cannot share a room due to early punishment for nudity.

Oral Stage

• From birth to approximately one year, where the mouth is the primary erogenous zone.

• The infant seeks gratification through feeding and other oral activities.

Anal Stage

• During the second and third years of life, pleasure is focused on controlling bowel movements.

• The child experiences pleasure in retaining and expelling feces, and this control conflicts with social demands for potty training.

Phallic Stage

• From ages three to five, the genital area becomes the main source of pleasure.

• During this stage, children develop sexual fantasies and face the Oedipus complex, where they desire the parent of the opposite sex and see the same-sex parent as a rival.

Latency Stage

A period of calm in sexual impulses during middle childhood, where libidinal energy is redirected towards social and academic activities.

Genital Stage

Begins at puberty and continues into adulthood, where the individual seeks sexual gratification with a partner of the opposite sex and develops mature sexuality.

personality according to freud contains three main structures:

• The id: Operates according to the pleasure principle, seeking immediate satisfaction of biological impulses and is the source of psychic energy (libido).

• The ego: Operates under the reality principle, adapting to the environment and using defense mechanisms to manage internal conflicts.

• The superego: Represents social restrictions and generates feelings of guilt and the ideal self.

Most important psychosexual stages forming personality according to freud?

• oral, anal, and phallic phases, which occur from birth to age five

• any fixation? problems might arise

Jung's theory of personality

• Personality Levels = psyche as Self, divided in three levels =

• the conscious level

• the personal unconscious

• the collective unconscious

the conscious level

• developed from the unconscious

• primarily specialized in relationships with the external world

• ability to categorize elements from the unconscious (distinguish between truth and falsdoom)

Four functions of the conscious level

thinking

feeling

perception (or sensation)

intuition

thinking & feeling (conscious level)

involve cognitive and emotional evaluations respectively and are considered rational

perception (or sensation) & intuition (conscious level)

• capture external (environmental) and internal (subjective) information

• considered a-rational or irrational

the personal unconscious

• formed by individual's personal history and consists of everything that

• “anecdotal & historical aspects of the subject”

• connected to Freuds ego

Example of personal unconscious

your attention may wander from this page and recall something you did yesterday

Content of personal unconscious

• simple complexes or psychic contents independent of consciousness, which function autonomously and may or may not stimulate, inhibit, or modify behavior.

FREUD VS JUNG unconscious

• Freud assumed that consciousness was the starting point and explained how some material is repressed into the unconscious due to emotional conflict.

• Jung there is a total unconscious from which consciousness emerges/ it was once conscious but has been forgotten because it was disturbing.

Jung complexes

• storing of experiences in our personal unconscious

• complex is a core or pattern of emotions, memories, perceptions, and desires organized around a common theme

• can be conscious or unconscious.

Example related to complex

• complex about power or status: preoccupation of this issue that it influences their behavior → powerful by running for an elected position or identify with or associate themselves with power by riding a motorcycle or a fast car.

• a perfection or achievement complex may lead a person to work hard on developing particular talents or skills

Jung used the term libido in two ways:

• diffuse and general life energy

• narrower psychic energy that fuels the work of the personality = psyche

Libido for Jung

life energy

Libido for Freud

sexual energy

Example of Jung´s libido

if someone is highly motivated to attain power, they will direct most of their psychic energy toward finding ways to achieve it.

the collective unconscious/ Transpersonal Unconscious

• deepest and least accessible level of the psyche

• humanity as a whole collectively preserves the experiences of all human and prehuman ancestors

• passed to generations - universal experiences becomes a part of our personality

Function of collective/Transpersonal Unconscious

• powerful and controlling repository of ancestral experiences

• universality of these experiences across countless generations leaves an imprint on each of us at birth, shaping how we perceive and respond to the world (birth, mother figure, death, unknown dangers in dark)

Structures or Components of Personality JUNG

Self

Ego

The Persona

The Shadow

The Soul (or anima/animus)

Other Archetypes

The Self and the Ego

• elements that structure personality according to Jung

• Self is located in the unconscious

• Ego is located in consciousness

Self

• is the existential center of gravity of a person

• potential wholeness

• unifying core of the psyche

The ego JUNG

• a sense of personal identity

• center of our will, enabling us to pursue conscious goals

• serves as the center of consciousness, responsible for perceiving, thinking, feeling, and remembering.

ego inflation JUNG

• imbalances, especially in the first half of life

• an overidentification with conscious experience and intentions

Jung (extraversion and introversion)

• believed that psychic energy could be directed either outward, toward the external world, or inward, toward the self.

• One of them typically becomes dominant (conscious) in shaping personality, the other non-dominant remains personal unconscious

Jung´s eight psychological types

• the interplay between the two attitudes (introversion and extraversion)

• four cognitive functions (thinking, feeling, sensing, and intuiting)

Two Attitudes

• Extraversion → Energy directed outward (social, action-oriented).

• Introversion → Energy directed inward (reflective, thought-oriented).

Four Cognitive Functions

• Thinking → Logical, analytical decision-making.

• Feeling → Decisions based on values and emotions.

• Sensing → Focus on facts, details, and present reality.

• Intuition → Focus on possibilities, patterns, and future ideas.

extraverted vs introverted thinking

Extraverted Thinking

Logical, objective, enjoys structure (e.g., scientists, engineers).

Introverted Thinking

Deep thinkers, focus on internal logic (e.g., philosophers).

Extraverted vs introverted feeling

Extraverted Feeling

Expressive, warm, seeks harmony (e.g., social workers, entertainers).

Introverted Feeling

Private, deep values, strong morals (e.g., poets, counselors).

extraverted vs introverted sensing

Extraverted Sensing

Focuses on reality, enjoys physical experiences (e.g., athletes, artists).

Introverted Sensing

Detail-oriented, values tradition (e.g., historians, archivists).

extraverted vs introverted Intuition

Extraverted Intuition

Visionary, creative, loves new ideas (e.g., entrepreneurs, inventors).

Introverted Intuition

Insightful, focused on future possibilities (e.g., mystics, strategists).

Simple Trick to Remember

➡ Extraverts → Focus outward (action).
➡ Introverts → Focus inward (reflection).
➡ Thinking & Feeling → How they decide.
➡ Sensing & Intuition → How they perceive the world.

The Persona - JUNG

• is the aspect of personality that adapts to the external world.

• known as self-image

• The persona is shaped by the reactions we elicit from others.

The shadow

• anima (in men)

• animus (in women)

• represents the "other face = negative aspect of the personality

• related to Freud´s id (repressed impulses)

• The shadow mediates between consciousness and the unconscious and can be seen as the "guardian of the unconscious."

sex-inappropriate

• traditionally traits like emotional expressiveness in men and power or assertiveness in women

• anima (in men)

• animus (in women)

archetypes JUNG

The ancestral experiences contained in the collective unconscious manifest through 43 recurring themes or patterns.

primordial images

corresponding to the vast range of common human experiences.

Stages of Personality Development JUNG

• personality is shaped not only by our past experiences but also by our expectations for the future

• personal development and growth continue throughout life

• child´s personality is affected by its parents

• personality changes occur between the ages of 35 and 40 (middle adulthood)

Jung individuation

• emphasies it as a key to understanding how an individual's personality naturally and autonomously develops from unconscious origins, paralleling physical growth and transformation

• goal? self-realization, encountering the Self & achieving a unique identity