Freud Psychodynamic Theory Flashcards
What did Freud suggest were the three levels of the mind?
Conscious
Preconscious
Unconscious
What is the conscious?
Part of the mind of which we have an awareness of emotion/ thoughts
What is the pre conscious?
Part of the mind we are occasionally aware of if effort is made.
What is the unconscious?
Part of the mind which we are unaware of that drive behaviour
What are the elements of personality?
Super-Ego
Ego
ID
What is the ID?
Unconscious element driven by the principle of pleasure- it consists of urges and desires.
What is the Ego?
Exists within the conscious mind, based on the reality principle. It is responsible for realistic behaviour and social norms.
What is the Super- Ego?
Between the conscious and unconscious mind. Based on the morality principle which acts as the voice of conscious.
Uses values which have been learnt by parents.
What is a healthy personality?
A balanced between the Id, the super ego and the ego.
What is a maladaptive (dysfunctional) personality?
When an imbalance occurs between the ID, ego and super ego.
How does an individual change as a result of an overly dominant ID?
Careless of others - rude, aggressive, criminal
How does an individual change as a result of an overly dominant Ego?
Tied to reality and rules. Likely to be set on behaviour and unlikely to accept change.
How does an individual change as a result of an overly dominant Super ego?
Extremely moralistic and judgemental. Unlikely to accept anyone or anything considered immoral.
What are the Eros and Thanatos instincts?
Eros (life) instinct promotes survival and reproduction to allow nurturing behaviour of others and social cooperation.
Individuals will have an innate drive to success pleasurable experiences which make them feel fulfilled.
Thanatos (death) instinct opposes Eros.
Powers the ego to hold back demands of the ID by showing willpower and restraint.
Individuals may behave self destructively, mess up relationships and trigger addiction.
Describe how the structures of personality can influence behaviour (4 marks)
Freud suggested that there are three states of consciousness. Within these levels there are three elements of personality known as the Id, ego and super ego. The Id demands pleasure and is the most unconscious element of the personality. This element drives behaviour to satisfy its urges and desires. The ego works on the basis of the reality principle. It is a preconscious element that is aware of reality and works out how to satisfy the Id. Finally, the super ego works on the basis of the morality principle and is therefore developed by parents and interacts with the ego to ensure the Id can be met in an acceptable way.
The ego has to balance the demands of the Id and super ego to ensure a balanced, healthy personality. If the Id demands cannot be morally satisfied, the ego has to find a course of action to suppress demands. This could be through the use of a defence mechanism such as repression or projection.
However, if there is an imbalance between the three elements of personality, behaviour can be impacted. For example, someone may be more aggressive because they have an over reactive Id, therefore turning to substance abuse to escape reality .
