Freud’s Psychoanalytic Approach
Sigmund Freud
(1856 – 1939)
Lived during
Victorian era
Repressed
sexuality
Rationality &
PERSONALITY self-control
distinguish us
from the animals
Unique, relatively consistent patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving
Freud’s Structure of Personality:
The Iceberg Metaphor
Conscious – Acute awareness
Ego
Superego
Preconscious - Just under
awareness; easily known
Id Unconscious – Well below
awareness; difficult to
know but very influential
How the iceberg works How the iceberg works (cont.)
Id
Functions on ‘pleasure principle’ Ego
Serves to balance the demands the Id and the
Immediate gratification of needs to reduce
Superego
tension & discomfort regardless of Assesses what is realistically possible in satisfying the
consequences Id and/or Superego (i.e., what society will deem
Superego acceptable)
Ego sometimes uses defense mechanisms to protect
Our moral guide/conscience; standards of against anxiety and guilt
“good” and “bad,” “right” and “wrong”
Influenced by internalizing our parents’ values Personality is result of the battle for control
& the voice of society between id, ego & superego
Works against the Id by inflicting guilt
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Defense Mechanisms Defense Mechanisms (cont.)
Denial
Projection
Denying the anxiety outright
Seeing in others unacceptable feelings that reside
Repression in one’s own unconscious
Anxiety-provoking thoughts and memories are
‘forgotten’ and pushed out of awareness.
Displacement
Acting out your anxiety on an innocent party
Defense Mechanisms (cont.) Name that Defense Mechanism
Regression 1. Soldiers exposed to traumatic experiences in
Person reverts to a previous phase of concentration camps during wartime
psychological development sometimes had amnesia and were unable to
Reaction formation recall any part of their ordeal.
Reversing the nature of the anxiety so that it feels
like its opposite nature (e.g. Exaggerated love for
someone you unconsciously hate) A. Repression D. Displacement
B. Regression E. Projection
C. Reaction Formation F. Denial
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Name that Defense Mechanism Name that Defense Mechanism
2. The mother of an unwanted child may feel 3. Mrs. Brown often accuses other women of
guilty about not welcoming her child. As a talking too much and spreading rumors. It is
result, she may try to prove her love by rather obvious to those who know her that
becoming overindulgent and overprotective she is revealing her own inclinations in that
of the child. area.
A. Repression D. Displacement A. Repression D. Displacement
B. Regression E. Projection B. Regression E. Projection
C. Reaction Formation F. Denial C. Reaction Formation F. Denial
Name that Defense Mechanism
4. Mike is always trying to impress his pals with
how strong and independent he has become.
However, when Mike has social or emotional
problems, he still wants his dad to figure out
the solution.
A. Repression D. Displacement
B. Regression E. Projection
C. Reaction Formation F. Denial
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
Periods of development
Sexual focus
Implications for adult personality
Fixations develop if stages aren’t resolved
Oral (Birth to 1½ yrs)
Gratification is centered around the mouth (e.g.,
breast-feeding, sucking, biting)
Anal (1½ to 3 yrs)
Gratification is centered around the pleasure of
defecation; toilet-training is issue for resolution and
development
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Freud’s Psychoanalytic Stages
Phallic (3 to 6)
Resolution for development lies in identification w/ same-
sex parent
Oedipus Complex
Boys have unconscious jealous love for mother and desire to kill the
father; fear of castration by father leads to resolution with
acceptance of/identification with father and internalization of
father’s values
Strong superego results in this resolution
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Stages Criticisms of Freud
Sexist
Latency (6 to puberty) Freud’s theory was thought to be sexist against women
(e.g., “penis envy”, underdeveloped superego)
Sexual urges are repressed and transformed into
socially acceptable activities, such as schoolwork Description rather than prediction
and peer activities Subjective description, solely by Freud, and “after the
fact” on a relatively small sample of patients, including
Genital (puberty – adulthood) himself!
Successful resolution and development into a His patients were mostly females from upper classes
mature sexual relationship Unverifiable concepts
How can you directly confirm, disconfirm, or even
observe the Oedipus Complex?!
Feels more mythical than scientific
But…
Freud’s theory….
Was the first to suggest the unconscious and
unconscious conflicts
1st comprehensive theory of personality
Sparked psychoanalysis
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Beyond Freud: Trait Theory Allport’s Trait Theory
Trait theory – An approach for analyzing and 3 types of traits:
understanding the structure of personality by
identifying, measuring, and classifying similarities and Cardinal traits
differences in personality characteristics (i.e. traits). single characteristic that directs most of a person’s
activities (rare)
1. Allport’s Trait Theory
Central traits
2. The Eysenck Two-factor model
Building blocks of personality.
3. The Big Five Model of personality
Someone you think of as “smart” or “sociable”
usually number from 5 to 10 per person
Secondary traits
Affect narrower aspects of our lives
Preference for cowboy hats or always wearing
perfume
The “Big Five” Personality Factors
https://www.truity.com/test/big-five-personality-test
Scoring
(1 + 6R)/2 = Your Extroversion score
(2R + 7)/2 = Your Agreeableness score
(3 + 8R)/2 = Your Conscientiousness score
(4R + 9)/2 = Your Emotional Stability score
(5 + 10R)/2 = Your Openness to Experience score
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Men and women show differences in Big Five scores
across cultures, with women scoring higher in both…
agreeableness and neuroticism
Consistency and Change in Personality
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56
58
56
Americans
Germans PERSONALITY
Conscientiousness score
Spanish
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Neuroticism score
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50 50
48 48
46 46
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44 NATURE NURTURE
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16-21 22-29 30-49 50+ 16-21 22-29 30-49 50+ (genes) (environment)
AGE (years) AGE (years)
The Genetic Approach:
Heredity and Traits
"Give me a dozen healthy infants ... and my
own specified world to bring them up in Heritability: A statistical estimate of the
and I'll guarantee to take any one at proportion of the total variance in some trait
random and train him to become any type that is attributable to genetic differences
of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer,
artist, merchant-chief and yes, even
among individuals within a group.
beggar-man and thief, regardless of his
talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities,
vocations, and race of his ancestors."
Behavioral genetics: An interdisciplinary field of
study concerned with the genetic basis of
John B. Watson
behavior and personality.
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Evaluating Genetic Theories: Reasons
for caution
Genetic predisposition does not imply
Correlation
inevitability. Even traits that are highly
heritable are not rigidly fixed.
Independent versus Interdependent
Influence of parents versus peers
Conceptions of Self
Generally, influence of parents appears less
than previously assumed. Personalities of
adopted children often very different from
those of their adoptive parents.
Influence of peers appears substantial. Some
findings:
Preschoolers will refuse food by parents will eat it
among peers who like it.
Smoking
Historical Personality Assessment
Phrenology – “As the skull takes its shape
from the brain, the surface of the skull can
be read as an accurate index of
psychological aptitudes and tendencies.” –
- Gall (1758 -1828)
Assessing Personality
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Projective Tests
Ask about meaningless, ambiguous stimuli Provide a story here:
Theory behind it that we will give an answer consistent What does this look
with the inner workings of our minds like? What features
make you think this?
Rorschach Inkblots What does this
Best used to measure how people process information remind you of?
Creativity, coping resources, emotional processing,
relationships with others, thought disorders, psychoses
TAT-like Card
Provide a story here:
What is happening in
this picture? What led
up to it? What are the
people here thinking
and feeling? What will
happen to these
people here?
Astrology?
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Class Horoscope
Average “describes me” rating of fake horoscopes:
4.0 out of 5
Average rating of real horoscopes:
3.9 out of 5
Class Horoscope
Average rating of descriptiveness for real
horoscopes vs. fake horoscopes was not So why do horoscopes seem to describe us?
significantly different!
Why do horoscopes work? The Barnum Effect
“You have a strong need for others to like and admire
you.”
1. The “Barnum” effect- descriptions that sound
personal but apply to almost everyone “You worry about things more than you show to
others, even your best friends.”
“You have a great deal of unused energy which you
have not turned to your advantage.”
“You pride yourself on being an independent thinker
and do not accept other opinions without
satisfactory proof.”
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The Barnum Effect (cont.) Why do horoscopes work?
“You have a strong need for others to like and admire
you.” 1. The “Barnum” effect- descriptions that sound
personal but apply to almost everyone
“At times you have serious doubts as to whether you
have made the right decision or done the right 2. Flattery -- the self-serving bias (more on this
thing. bias later…)
“You prefer a certain amount of change and variety
and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by
restrictions and limitations.
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