Freud

Chapter 2: Sigmund Freud

Biographical Overview

  • Birth: Sigmund Freud on May 6, 1856, in Freiberg, Austria (now Czech Republic)

  • Family Background: Moved to Vienna at four; father was a wool merchant, mother was much younger (20 years).

  • Early Life Events: Freud's nurse-maid allegedly molested him, which he viewed as foundational to his later psychological theories.

  • Education: Entered the University of Vienna age 17; took 8 years to finish a medical degree.

  • Career Path:

    • 1886: Began private practice in neurology.

    • 1895: Published Studies on Hysteria, birth of psychoanalysis.

    • 1900: Published The Interpretation of Dreams.

    • 1923: Diagnosed with mouth cancer.

    • 1939: Died in London after fleeing the Nazis.

Learning Objectives

  • Summarize Freud's biography and influences.

  • Understand Free Association and defense mechanisms in Freudian psychology.

  • Describe the structure of the mind and psychosexual development.

Influences on Freud’s Theory of Personality

  • Major Influences: Hypnosis, work with Charcot and Bernheim.

  • Hysteria Treatment: Charcot showed psychological origins of physical symptoms; Bernheim introduced ideas on suggestibility and memory retrieval.

  • Anna O. Case: Treatment by Josef Breuer leading to the talking cure (catharsis).

Concepts in Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory

Key Ideas

  • Instincts: Driving forces behind personality (Eros for life instincts and Thanatos for death instincts).

  • Structure of Mind:

    • Id: Primitive part seeking immediate gratification (pleasure principle).

    • Ego: Reality-based mediator (reality principle).

    • Superego: Moral standards and ideals.

Characteristic Mechanisms

  • Cathexis: Investment of psychic energy in thoughts/objects that satisfy needs.

  • Anticathexis: Energy expended to control urges/impulses.

Types of Anxiety

  • Reality Anxiety: Fear from actual dangers.

  • Neurotic Anxiety: Fear of losing control of instincts.

  • Moral Anxiety: Fear of violating moral standards.

Ego-Defense Mechanisms

  1. Repression: Subconscious blocking of undesirable thoughts.

  2. Displacement: Substituting one object of desire with another less threatening.

  3. Projection: Attributing one’s unacceptable desires to others.

  4. Reaction Formation: Expressing opposite attitudes or feelings.

  5. Rationalization: Justifying behaviors with logical explanations.

  6. Sublimation: Channeling impulses into socially acceptable activities.

Psychosexual Development

  • Stages:

    • Oral Stage (0-2 years): Pleasure from sucking and oral activities.

    • Anal Stage (2-3 years): Pleasure from bowel control; associated behaviors lead to personality traits like orderliness or messiness.

    • Phallic Stage (3-5 years): Development of Oedipal complex and identification with same-sex parent; penis envy.

    • Latency Stage (6-12 years): Repressed sexual feelings; focus on peer interactions and skills.

    • Genital Stage (12+ years): Mature sexual relationships; integration of earlier experiences.

Freud's Views on Feminine Psychology

  • Freud viewed women’s psychology as more complex than men's, tied to anatomical differences.

  • His concepts of penis envy and the resultant dynamics of female psychological development have been widely criticized.

Investigating the Unconscious

  • Methods: Free Association, Dream Analysis, Humor, and analyzing everyday mistakes (parapraxes).

  • Dream Work: Distortion processes that protect dreamers from anxiety-provoking material.

Criticisms and Modifications

  • Freud's rejection of his seduction theory in the 1890s evolved into reliance on imagined seductions; raised questions of validity.

  • Contemporary criticisms highlight shifting power dynamics in reporting sexual abuse, challenging the reliability of repressed memory theory.

Evaluation of Freud's Theory

  • Many foundational concepts unempirically substantiated; significant criticism over determinism and oversexualization.

  • However, contributions to understanding personality and the therapeutic process continue to resonate in modern psychology.

Conclusion

  • Freud's legacy is mixed: despite criticisms, his theories catalyzed discussions on human psychology and remain influential across various fields.