Module 5, Personality: 11.3 Neo-Freudians: Adler, Erikson, Jung, and Horney
Learning Objectives
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
Discuss the concept of the inferiority complex.
Discuss the core differences between Erikson’s and Freud’s views on personality.
Discuss Jung’s ideas of the collective unconscious and archetypes.
Discuss the work of Karen Horney, including her revision of Freud’s “penis envy.”
Neo-Freudians
Freud attracted many followers who modified his ideas to create new theories about personality, referred to as neo-Freudians.
General Agreement:
They generally agreed with Freud that childhood experiences matter but deemphasized sex, focusing more on social environment and culture impacts on personality.
Notable Neo-Freudians:
Alfred Adler
Erik Erikson
Carl Jung
Karen Horney
Alfred Adler
Background:
Colleague of Freud and first president of the Vienna Psychoanalytical Society.
First major theorist to break away from Freud.
Founded individual psychology, focusing on the drive to compensate for feelings of inferiority.
Inferiority Complex:
Definition: A person’s feelings that they lack worth and don’t measure up to others or society’s standards.
Adler believed feelings of inferiority in childhood drive the pursuit of superiority.
This striving becomes the force behind thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.
Birth Order Theory
Major Contribution:
Adler's belief that birth order shapes personality.
Example: Older siblings become overachievers to regain lost parental attention; youngest children may be spoiled.
Note: Despite its popular attention, research did not conclusively confirm Adler’s birth order hypotheses.
Three Fundamental Social Tasks
According to Adler, these tasks are crucial for personality development:
Occupational tasks (careers)
Societal tasks (friendship)
Love tasks (finding an intimate partner)
Adler focused on social motives and emphasized conscious motivation in pursuing these tasks.
Erik Erikson
Background:
Young Erikson, an art school dropout, was introduced to psychoanalysis by Anna Freud.
He received his diploma from the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute in 1933.
Immigrated to the U.S. amid the rise of Nazism.
Psychosocial Theory of Development:
Proposes that personality develops throughout the lifespan.
Emphasized social relationships rather than sexual influences.
Eight Stages of Personality Development (Table 11.2):
Stage
Age (years)
Developmental Task
Description
1
0–1
Trust vs. mistrust
Trust (or mistrust) that basic needs will be met.
2
1–3
Autonomy vs. shame/doubt
Sense of independence develops.
3
3–6
Initiative vs. guilt
Initiative on activities may develop guilt over boundaries.
4
7–11
Industry vs. inferiority
Self-confidence develops; may feel inferior when not competent.
5
12–18
Identity vs. confusion
Experiment with and develop identity.
6
19–29
Intimacy vs. isolation
Establish intimate relationships.
7
30–64
Generativity vs. stagnation
Contribute to society and family.
8
65–
Integrity vs. despair
Assessment of life and contributions made.
Carl Jung
Background:
Swiss psychiatrist and former protégé of Freud who developed analytical psychology.
Analytical Psychology:
Focuses on balancing opposing forces of conscious and unconscious thought and experience.
Continuous learning process, mainly in the second half of life, where individuals integrate unconscious elements into consciousness.
Major Disagreements with Freud
Jung disagreed with Freud on two main points:
Sexual drive is not the primary motivator of mental life.
The concept of a personal unconscious is incomplete; introduced the concept of the collective unconscious.
Collective Unconscious:
Definition: A universal version of the personal unconscious that holds mental patterns or memory traces common to all humans.
Contains ancestral memories known as archetypes, represented in literature and dreams (e.g., the hero, the maiden).
Emphasis on Themes:
Archetypes reflect common human experiences like facing death and striving for mastery.
Claim: Themes and symbols are universal across cultures.
Attitudes Toward Life
Jung proposed two basic attitudes:
Extroversion
Introversion (Table 11.3):
| Introvert | Extrovert |
|----------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| Energized by being alone | Energized by being with others |
| Avoids attention | Seeks attention |
| Speaks slowly and softly | Speaks quickly and loudly |
| Thinks before speaking | Thinks out loud |
| Stays on one topic | Jumps from topic to topic |
| Prefers written communication | Prefers verbal communication |
| Pays attention easily | Distractible |
| Cautious | Acts first, thinks later |
The Persona
Definition: The persona is a mask we adopt, created consciously but derived from both our experiences and the collective unconscious.
Purpose: It serves as a compromise between our true self and societal expectations, leading to hiding parts of ourselves not aligned with those expectations.
Jung's theory on persona emphasizes the balance needed between it and the true self for self-realization.
Critiques on Jung's Theories
Connected Concepts:
Archetypes were proposed to evoke instinctual responses similar to animals.
Criticism: Lack of biological evidence supporting a genetic basis for archetypes or instincts, suggesting they emerge from experiential reflections rather than being strictly innate.
Current Perspective: Accepted view among Jungian scholars is that both innate and environmental influences contribute to the understanding of archetypes.
Karen Horney
Background:
One of the first women trained as a Freudian psychoanalyst who moved from Germany to the U.S. during the Great Depression.
Major Contributions:
Believed aim of psychoanalysis should focus on moving toward a healthy self.
Rejected Freud’s concept of penis envy; suggested jealousy is culturally based due to privileges of men.
Proposed womb envy as a counterpoint to penis envy, asserting that men may feel inferior for lacking childbirth abilities.
Role of Anxiety
Focus on Unconscious Anxiety:
Suggested that basic anxiety stemming from unmet needs negatively impacts normal growth.
Coping Styles (Table 11.4):
| Coping Style | Description | Example |
|---------------------|-----------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| Moving toward people | Affiliation and dependence | Child seeking positive attention; adult needing love. |
| Moving against people | Aggression and manipulation | Child bullying other kids; adult being abrasive. |
| Moving away from people | Detachment and isolation | Child withdrawn from the world; adult is a loner. |Horney believed these coping styles can lead to neurotic strategies if used rigidly, resulting in alienation from others.