Unit 10: Personality

Module 1: Psychoanalytic Theory

Why is Freud still important in psychology?

A. The Founding Pillar 

1. Sigmund Freud was the founder of talk therapy 

2. His theories influenced not only psychology but all the social sciences 

3. Although outdated, Freudian Theory still is present today in analyzing mental illness, cognitive development, consciousness, and personality

B. Main Ideas of Psychoanalysis 

1. Personality is the dynamic interplay between conscious (what we know) and unconscious (what we feel) processes 

2. Our unconscious mind contains about 80% of our feelings and instincts 

3. Psychoanalysis uses talk therapy to push our unconscious feelings to the surface 

4. Freud used free association, hypnosis, Freudian slips, and dreams to study personality

What are Freud’s main theories?

A. Personality Development

1. Infancy - Personality only consists of the ID or Libido (pleasure); we live impulsively 

2. Toddlerhood - Ego (executive) develops but only reaches maturity during adolescence we use thoughts, judgements, and memories to make decisions 

3. Early Childhood - Superego (Morality) begins to emerge; a conscience internalized by our parents and society

B. Psychosexual Development

1. As we age the ID focuses on the needs of our erogenous zones (sensitive areas) 

2. We progress through 5 stages:

   1. Oral stage: Infancy (mouth stimulation) 

   2. Anal stage: Toddlerhood (bowel and bladder stimulation) 

   3. Phallic stage: Early Childhood (sexual identity emerges through Oedipus and Electra) 

   4. Latent stage: Late Childhood (Dormant sexual feelings) 

   5. Genital: Adolescence (Sexual Maturation) 
      

How does Freud explain anxiety?

A. Eros V.S. Thanatos

1. Eros (love and pleasure) and Thanatos (death and destruction) are two parts of the ID that explain human nature 

2. Eros pushes us toward procreation, companionship, and social harmony 

3. Thanatos pushes us towards self-destruction, violence, and conflict 

4. Eros and Thanatos are the cause of and the solution to much of our anxiety

B. Defense Against Anxiety

1. Denial - refusal to accept reality 

2. Repression -hide true feelings 

3. Projection - attributing feelings to someone else 

4. Displacement - lash out at an innocent party 

5. Regression - return to an easier time 

6. Rationalization - own set of facts 

7. Sublimation - redirect emotions to something positive 

8. Reaction Formation - opposite of true feelings