KAREN HORNEY:PSYCHOANALYTIC SOCIAL THEORY

karen horney

SHE Insisted that modern culture is too

competitive and that competition leads to hostility

and feelings of isolation. T

childhood traumas

Neurotic conflict stems largely from

BASIC HOSTILITY

feelings of children toward a parent, who instead of providing

feelings of safety and security often neglect, dominate, reject, or

overindulge their children

BASIC ANXIETY

pervasive sense of apprehension brought about by a repression of basic hostility

• Affection

• Submissiveness

• Power, prestige and possession

• Withdrawal

Protective Devices against Basic Anxiety

True

insisted that neurotics do not enjoy misery and

suffering.

They cannot change their behavior by free will but must

continually and compulsively protect themselves against basic

anxiety. True or False

False

This defensive strategy untraps them in a vicious cycle in

which their compulsive needs to reduce basic anxiety led to

behaviors that perpetuate low self-esteem, generalized

hostility, inappropriate striving for power, inflated feelings of

superiority, and persistent apprehension, all of which result in

more basic anxiety. true or false

1. For affection and approval

2. For a powerful partner

3. To restrict one’s life within narrow borders

4. For power

5. To exploit others

6. For social recognition or prestige

7. For personal admiration

8. For ambition and personal achievement

9. For self-sufficiency and independence

10. For perfection and unassailability

what are the Neurotic Needs

Moving towards people, moving against people, moving away from people

Neurotic Trends

Moving toward people-

it refers to a neurotic need to protect oneself

against feelings of helplessness

Moving against people

they are motivated by a strong need to

exploit others and use them for their own benefit

Moving away from people

some people behave in a detached

manner and adapt a neurotic trend

intrapsychic conflicts

People also experience inner tensions or ——————— that become part of their belief system and take on a life of their own, separate from the interpersonal conflicts that created them.

Idealized Self-Image

People who do not receive love and affection

during childhood are blocked in their attempt

to acquire a stable sense of identity. Feeling

alienated from self, they create an ——————-, or an extravagantly positive

picture of themselves.

Neurotic search for glory, Neurotic Claim, Neurotic pride

Horney recognized three aspects of the

idealized self-image:

Need for perfection

they try to achieve perfection by erecting a complex

set of shoulds and should nots (tyranny of the should)

Neurotic ambition

the compulsive drive toward superiority

Neurotic claims

extreme entitlement

Neurotic Pride

A false pride based not on a realistic view of the true self but on a

spurious image of the idealized self.

Self-hatred

Neurotics dislike themselves because reality

always fails short of their idealized view of

self.

relentless demand on self
merciless self accusation
self contempt
self torture
self-destructive action and impulses

Therefore, they learn seif-hatred, which can be

expressed as: