Karen Horney

Question 1

Parents

Answer 1

Father: Strict, religious, domineering, morose, ship captain (long periods away from home)
Mother: Spirited, freethinking, attractive (17 years younger)
Wished for the death of her husband
Didn’t marry for love, but out of fear of being a spinster

Question 2

Freud vs. Horney

Answer 2

Took issue with Freud’s portrayal of women
An early feminists, she argued Psychoanalysis focused more on men’s development
To counter penis envy she proposed womb envy
Sex is not a factor, and questioned the Oedipus complex, the three-part structure of personality, and the libido

Question 3

Importance of childhood

Answer 3

shaping adult personality
Social forces, not biological
Social relationships b/w child and parents is key

Question 4

Safety Need

Answer 4

Need security & freedom from fear to become normal
Parents weaken security by displaying a lack of warmth and affection
Unfair punishments, preferential treatment, ridicule, isolation…
Induces hostility

Question 5

Hostility

Answer 5

Hostility may be repressed b/c of: Helplessness (excessively dependent state)
Fear of punishment
Need for genuine love (fear of losing unsatisfactory love)
Guilt of harboring resentment towards parents
Repressed hostility is manifested in basic anxiety

Question 6

BASIC ANXIETY

Answer 6

Pervasive feeling of loneliness & helplessness in a hostile world
Foundation of neurosis and tied to feelings of hostility, helplessness, and fear

Question 7

Self-Protective Mechanisms

Answer 7

• Motivate a person to seek security and reassurance
• Securing affection & love
• Being submissive
• Attaining power
• Withdrawing

Question 8

Neurotic Needs

Answer 8

Overused self- protective mechanisms that determines an individual’s behavior
Ten irrational defenses against anxiety

Question 9

Neurotic Trends

Answer 9

Expression of needs
Three categories of behavior & attitudes toward the self and others
Revision of neurotic needs

Question 10

Compliant Personality

Answer 10

Moving toward people
Continuous need for affection and approval, an urge to be loved, wanted, and protected
Manipulate others to achieve their goals
Subordinate personal desires
Excessively dependent
 Fear rejection
 Repressed hostility

Question 11

Aggressive Personality

Answer 11

Moving against people
Perceive everyone as hostile
Only the fittest and most cunning survive
Domineering and have no regard for others
Maintains superiority & power by constantly performing at high levels
Excel and receive recognition

Question 12

Detached Personality

Answer 12

Moving away from people
Maintains emotional distance & privacy
Sense of superiority (uniqueness)
Suppress feelings (love and hate) toward others  
Intimacy would lead to conflict
Stress reason, logic, and intelligence

Question 13

Neurotic Person

Answer 13

One of the three trends is dominant, and others are present at a lesser degree, but must be repressed
If a repressed trend pushes for expression conflict results

Question 14

Conflict

Answer 14

Incompatibility of neurotic trends
Neurotic people must battle to keep non-dominant trends from being expressed
This battle is the core of neurosis

Question 15

Normal person

Answer 15

All three trends can be expressed as the circumstance warrants (flexible)
Sometimes aggressive, sometimes detached, sometimes compliant
Integrated harmoniously within the personality

Question 16

Healthy Self Image

Answer 16

Realistic appraisal of abilities, potentials, weakness, and relationships
Flexible and dynamic
Unity and integration forming a framework to approach others and ourselves
Reflects growth & self awareness
If we are to realize our full potential, a state of self-realization, our self-image must clearly reflect our true self

Question 17

Neurotic Self Image

Answer 17

Disunity and disharmony
Unattainable & inflexible ideal
Not based on realistic appraisal of strengths and weaknesses, but on an illusion
Leads to denial of their true self

Question 18

Tyranny of the Shoulds

Answer 18

An attempt to realize unattainable ideal
Deny real self and try to become what they think they should be
Should be the best or most perfect student, spouse…

Question 19

Externalization

Answer 19

A way to defend against the conflict caused by self discrepancy
Projecting conflicts onto the outside world
Self-hatred projected onto others

Question 20

Oedipus Complex

Answer 20

Not sexual
Represents conflict between dependence & hostility
I have to repress my hostility b/c I need you
Develops when parents undermine their child’s security

Question 21

Womb Envy

Answer 21

Envy men feel toward women due to her capacity for motherhood
Feelings of inferiority (penis envy) not from biology, but society

Question 22

Contributions

Answer 22

Large public following
Commonsense appeal
Relevant to American culture
Major contributor to feminine psychology  
Significant impact on later theorists
Erikson and Maslow

Question 23

Criticisms

Answer 23

Denied role of biological influences
Incomplete & inconsistent theory
Needs sociological & anthropological studies to inform focus on social forces
Theory only applicable to middle class