Theories of Personality: Sigmund Freud

The Psychoanalytic Perspective

Freud’s theory proposed that childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence personality
Free Association * Reaction against hypnosis * Ex. The patient is asked to relax and say whatever comes to mind, no matter how embarrassing/trivial – seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions
First came up use of hypnosis – influenced by the work of Dr. Mesmer
Hypnosis * Altered state of consciousness * Case of Anna O. * With colleague and mentor J. Breur (hypnosis) * Unexplainable symptoms (paralyzed but no cause) * Root issues: father’s illness, dog’s bite * As Anna started talking, symptoms lessened * Free Association => chimney sweeping * Started talking about her father
Unconscious * According to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories * Contemporary viewpoint – information processing of which we are unaware

Id * Contains a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy * Strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives * Operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification
Superego * The part of personality that presents internalized ideas * Represents “rules” of society * Operates on the morality principle, provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations
Id and Superego * In constant conflict * Causes guilt and anxiety * People need to learn how to cope with this conflict * Some do it successfully and others don’t * Conflicts must be resolved by ego
Ego * The largely conscious, “executive part” of the personality * Mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality * Operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desire in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

*Eros takes precedence over Thanatos

The ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality (can be a normal process, but can also lead to disordered behavior)
Motivators are unconscious
Tactics that reduce/redirect anxiety in various ways, but always by distorting reality

Repression * A defense mechanism that pushes threatening thoughts into the unconscious * Forgetting * Often connected with trauma (abuse, PTSD, MPD)
Denial * A defense mechanism in which one refuses to acknowledge anxiety provoking stimuli * When you deny something exists * Rejecting it exists
Projection * A defense mechanism in which anxiety arousing impulse are externalized by placing onto others * Putting own anxiety to others
Displacement * A defense mechanism in which the target of one’s unconscious fear/desire is shifted away from the true cause
Sublimation * A defense mechanism where dangerous urges are transformed into positive, socially acceptable forms * Dangerous urges -> positive forms * Ex. Surgeon who becomes excited at the sight of blood
Regression * A defense mechanism where one returns to an earlier, safer stage of one’s life to escape present threats * Emotionally unstable -> fetal position
Rationalization * A defense mechanism where after the fact (post hoc) logical explanations for behaviors that were actually driven by internal unconscious motives * Forced self-justification * Ex. “I did it because of you.”
Reaction Formation * A defense mechanism that pushes away threatening impulses by overemphasizing the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings * Opposite of what you really mean * Engaging in the opposite feelings * Ex. express a disdain for pornography but really enjoy it

Psychosexual Stages * The childhood stages of development during which the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones * Majority of personality is formed before age 6

Oral Stage: Birth to 2 years * Need for oral stimulation * Achieved through sucking and later chewing * If the oral stimulation was inadequate the individual would continue to seek it throughout life * Oral Dependent Personality: gullible, passive, and need lots of attention * Oral Aggressive Personality: like to argue and exploit others * Oral activity and means of aggression
Anal Stage: 2-3 years * Gratification now comes from emptying the bowel * Attention turns to the process of elimination. Child can gain approval/express aggression by letting go/holding on * Anal Retentive: stubborn, stingy, orderly, and compulsively clean (hold on) * Anal Expulsive*:* disorderly, messy, destructive, or cruel (letting go)
Phallic Stage: 3-6 years * Interest in genitals develop * Child now notices and is physically attracted to opposite sex parent * Child derives pleasure from playing with genitals
Latency Stage: 6 years to Puberty * Less interest in own and others’ bodies * Little cross sex interaction * Freud thought sexual energies were submerged/repressed during this stage
Genital Stage: Puberty to Adulthood * Sexual nature now develops fully with adult needs and desires * Recurrence of masturbation and interest in sexual matters * Freud thought there was a progression to interest in the opposite sex if latency stage was fully resolved. If not, result was homosexuality.

The process by which children incorporate the parents’ values into the developing superegos
The reason our culture placed so much emphasis on traditional families

A lingering focus on pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, where conflicts were unresolved