Carl Jung – Analytic Psychology
Swiss physician.
First-generation student of Freud.
Active early 1900s.
Initially Freud’s protégé and intellectual heir apparent.
By 1913, they parted over theoretical disagreements.
Freud did not accept many of Jung’s emerging ideas.
Personality consists of three components:
Ego: Conscious aspect of personality. Embodies one’s sense of “Self.” Core of the personality.
Personal Unconscious:
Not presently within conscious awareness.
Thoughts & urges that are unimportant at the time.
Thoughts repressed due to their ego-threatening nature.
Collective Unconscious:
Deeper level of the unconscious.
Comprised of archetypes.
Archetypes:
Powerful emotional symbols, common to all people, present throughout the ages.
Transpersonal (not unique to the individual).
Derived from emotional reactions of ancestors to recurrent & culturally meaningful events.
Represent cultural themes that impact the personality of the individual.
Important archetypes:
Animus: masculine aspect of a woman.
Anima: feminine aspect of a man.
Persona: Socially acceptable front presented to others.
Shadow: Dark, unacceptable side of the Self; shameful desires & motives often hidden from the world.
Mother: Generativity & fertility. Can be represented by a person or an institution.
Hero: Strong, good force that fights enemies and rescues others from harm.
Demon: Cruelty and evil.
Four functions of the mind:
Sensing: “Is something there?” (e.g., perception)
Thinking: “What is it?” (e.g., identification and classification).
Feeling: “What is it worth?” (e.g., valuation).
Intuiting: “Where did it come from … where is it going?” (ex. understanding & predicting).
Extroversion vs. Introversion:
Originated w/ Jung, but different from our understanding of those concepts today.
Extroversion: directing psychological energy toward things in the external world.
Introversion: directing psychological energy toward things internal to the Self.
Alfred Adler – Individual Psychology
First-generation student of Freud.
Active early 1900s.
Emphasized motivations other than pleasure, sexuality, and aggression.
Each person’s perceived niche in society.
Eventually parted w/ Freud over theoretical disagreements.
Striving for superiority:
Person experiences overwhelming circumstances.
Develops feelings of powerlessness – inferiority complex.
Person struggles to maintain a sense of self-worth.
Compensates by developing a pattern of arrogance – superiority complex.
Aggression drive:
Aggression results from efforts to overcome perceived helplessness & inferiority.
Lashing out against the inability to master something.
Karen Horney
German physician.
Active early to mid-1900s.
Agreed with Adler on the importance of:
Childhood discovery of one’s own helplessness.
Struggle to gain individuality and control.
Rejection of “penis envy.”
Horney agreed w/ Freud that women often feel inferior to men.
She disagreed that it was due to differences in genitalia.
More due to being raised in a society that overly-emphasized securing the love of a man.
Also due to cultural valuation of masculinity and devaluation of femininity.
“Basic anxiety”:
Child’s fear of being alone & insecure.
Develops from problems in relations w/ parents.
e.g., lack of warmth, stability, respect, or involvement.
Later impacts relations w/ others.
Person adopts one of three styles of coping with “basic anxiety” and dealing w/ the world:
Passive style: being compliant.
Aggressive style: fighting.
Withdrawn style: not engaging emotionally.
Three different aspects of the Self:
Real Self: inner core of the personality. How we perceive ourselves. Can be damaged by poor parental relations.
Despised Self: perceived inferiority & shortcomings, based on negative evaluation by others.
Ideal Self: the perfect self one hopes to achieve. Based on the “tyranny of the should.”
Neurotic coping strategies:
Unhealthy ways of dealing w/ others.
Maladaptive extensions of three basic coping styles.
“Moving toward” people: always attempting to make others happy, to gain love, and approval (passive style).
“Moving against” people: striving for power, recognition and admiration (aggressive style).
“Moving away” from people: withdrawal from emotional investment in relationships to avoid being hurt (withdrawn style).
Erik Erikson
Active mid-1900s. Germany, then US.
Disagreed w/ Freud that identity (i.e., personality) is formed within first 5-6 years of life.
Personality develops throughout the lifespan.
Emphasized social rather than sexual motivations.
Eight stages of psychosocial development.
Each requires successful negotiation of a developmental task.
Trust vs. Mistrust (infancy): establishing trust and hope.
Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt (early childhood): control over own body; ability to do for oneself.
Initiative vs. Guilt (early to mid-childhood): plan & execute actions; getting along w/ peers.
Industry vs. Inferiority (mid- to late childhood): solving problems; taking pride in one’s own accomplishments.
Identity vs. Role Confusion (adolescence): forming a clear sense of self that is one’s own.
Intimacy vs. Isolation (early adulthood): develop companionship w/ others and a love relationship.
Generativity vs. Stagnation (mid-adulthood): being productive; giving of oneself to others (family, community, institution).
Ego Integrity vs. Despair (late adulthood): derivation of wisdom & integrity; view one’s life as meaningful and worthwhile.
Criticism of Neo-Analytic Theory
Advantages: Emphasizes the “Self” as the aspect of the person that copes w/ emotions, drives, & demands of others. Acknowledges impact of others, society, & culture. Assumes development continues throughout life cycle. | Disadvantages: Unscientific. Difficult to test empirically. Relies upon constructs that cannot be seen, measured, or verified. Unparsimonious. A hodgepodge of different ideas. |