Seminar 2- critiquing psychoanalytic and humanistic approaches

What are some critiques of the humanistic approach?

• Too optimistic about human behaviour

• Majority of theories not supported by evidence, based on assumptions (e.g hierarchy of needs)

• Certain constructs hard to define (e.g self-actualisation)

What are some critiques of the psychodynamic approach?

• Focuses on psychiatric patients so is not generalisable to the rest of the population

• Psychodynamic theory is not testable or falsifiable

• Theories not based in scientific, empirical research

What aspects did Freud get right?

• Unconscious cognitive processes

• Talking therapies

• Repressed memories

• Defense mechanisms

What are defense mechanisms?

Techniques of ego to deal with unwanted thoughts and desires and reduce or avoid anxiety

What are some examples of defense mechanisms?

• Repression

• Sublimation

• Displacement

• Denial

• Reaction formation

• Projection

What is repression?

• When we push threatening material out of consciousness

• Forceful forgetting

• Requires constant expense of energy

What is sublimation?

• Channelling impulses into socially acceptable actions

• Usually rewarding

What is displacement?

• Channelling impulses into nonthreatening objects

• Displaced impulses do not lead to rewards

What is denial?

Refusal to accept that certain facts exist

What is reaction formation?

Acting in a manner opposite to threatening unconscious desires

What is projection?

Attributing negative thoughts/emotions to someone else

What evidence is there to support the existence of defence mechanisms?

Baumeister, Dale and Sommer (1998)

How does Baumeister, Dale and Sommer (1998) support the existence of defence mechanisms?

• They support for many (but not all) defense mechanisms

• Some ideas were correct, some require revision, others have little support

Is there evidence for denial as a defence mechanism?

• Some evidence

• People make more external attributions for failure than success

• People think they are less likely than the average person to suffer misfortunes like career failure

Is there evidence for sublimation as a defence mechanism?

No evidence

Is there evidence for reaction formation?

• Good evidence

• Adams, Wright & Lohr (1996)

How does Adams, Wright & Lohr (1996) support reaction formation as a defence mechanism?

• Assessed homophobia and showed men videotapes features homosexual intercourse

• Homophobic men said they were not aroused

• Physiological measures showed they were more aroused than non-homophobic men

• These participants’ response was the opposite of what their bodies actually indicated

Why are Freud’s theories unreliable?

• He was a neurologist, not a psychologist

• Theories based on observations, not research

• Sexist and male-based

• Sex-focused theories