Chapter 12 - Psychodynamic Perspectives Flashcards
(49 cards)
define ‘psychodynamic theories’
Psychodynamic theories include all of the diverse theories descended from the work of Sigmund Freud, which focus on unconscious mental forces.
Sigmund Freud
-a physician specializing in neurology when he began his medical practice in Vienna near the end of the 19th century.
-he often treated people troubled by nervous problems, such as irrational fears, obsessions, and anxieties.
-eventually he devoted himself to the treatment of mental disorders using an innovative procedure he had developed, which he called psychoanalysis.
psychoanalysis
-Freud’s psychoanalysis required lengthy verbal interactions with patients, during which he probed deeply into their lives.
-Psychoanalytic theory was derived from his decades of interactions with patients.
-Psychoanalytic theory attempts to explain personality by focusing on the influence of early childhood experiences, unconscious conflicts, and sexual urges.
3 critiques of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory
1 - in arguing that people’s behaviour is governed by unconscious factors of which they are unaware, Freud made the disconcerting suggestion that individuals are not masters of their own minds.
2 - in claiming that adult personalities are shaped by childhood experiences and other factors beyond one’s control, he suggested that people are not masters of their own destinies.
3 - by emphasizing the importance of how people cope with their sexual urges, he offended those who held the conservative, Victorian values of his time.
Freud divided personality structure into 3 components:
1 - the ID
2 - the ego
3 - the superego
*he saw a person’s behaviour as the outcome of interactions among these three components.
The ID
The ID is the primitive, instinctive component of personality that operates according to the pleasure principle. Freud referred to the ID as the reservoir of psychic energy. By this he meant that the ID houses the raw biological urges (to eat, sleep, defecate, copulate, and so on) that energize human behaviour.
*The id operates according to the pleasure principle demands immediate gratification of its urges.
*the ID engages in primary-process thinking, which is primitive, illogical, irrational, and fantasy-oriented.
The ego
The ego is the decision-making component of personality that operates according to the reality principle. The ego considers social realities—society’s norms, etiquette, rules, and customs—in deciding how to behave.
*the ego is guided by the reality principle, which seeks to delay gratification of the ID’s urges until appropriate outlets and situations can be found; in short, to stay out of trouble, the ego often works to tame the desires of the ID.
*In the long run, the ego wants to maximize gratification, just as the ID does. However, the ego engages in secondary-process thinking, which is relatively rational, realistic, and oriented toward problem solving.
The superego
While the ego concerns itself with practical realities, the superego is the moral component of personality that incorporates social standards about what represents right and wrong.
The superego emerges out of the ego at around three to five years of age. In some people, the superego can become irrationally demanding in its striving for moral perfection.
Freud’s 3 levels of awareness
-conscious
-preconscious
-unconscious
the conscious
The conscious consists of whatever one is aware of at a particular point in time.
For example, at this moment your conscious may include the train of thought in this text and a dim awareness in the back of your mind that your eyes are getting tired and you’re beginning to get hungry.
the preconscious
The preconscious contains material just beneath the surface of awareness that can easily be retrieved.
Examples might include your middle name, what you had for supper last night, or an argument you had with a friend yesterday.
the unconscious
The unconscious contains thoughts, memories, and desires that are well below the surface of conscious awareness but that nonetheless exert great influence on behaviour.
Examples of material that might be found in your unconscious include a forgotten trauma from childhood, hidden feelings of hostility toward a parent, and repressed sexual desires.
which level of awareness holds more information than the others, according to Freud?
Freud’s conception of the mind is often compared to an iceberg that has most of its mass hidden beneath the water’s surface. He believed that the unconscious (the mass below the surface) is much larger than the conscious or preconscious.
which levels of consciousness do the id, ego, and superego operate under?
he proposed that the ego and superego operate at all three levels of awareness. In contrast, the id is entirely unconscious, expressing its urges at a conscious level through the ego.
**the id’s desires for immediate satisfaction often trigger internal conflicts with the ego and superego. these conflicts play a key role in Freud’s theory.
describe how the 3 personality components (id, ego, superego) conflict with each other
Freud believed that internal conflicts are a routine part of people’s lives. the id wants to gratify its urges immediately, but the norms of civilized society frequently dictate otherwise.
for example, your id might feel an urge to clobber a co-worker who constantly irritates you. however, society frowns on such behaviour, so your ego would try to hold this urge in check. hence, you would find yourself in conflict.
misconception: people are generally aware of the factors that influence their behaviour
reality: Freud’s insight from over a century ago, that people are often unaware of the unconscious factors that shape their behaviour, has proven prophetic. Decades of research on perception, cognition, and social behaviour have repeatedly demonstrated that unconscious goals, attitudes, and thoughts exert enormous influence over human behaviour.
why did Freud emphasize sex and aggression? (2 reasons)
First, he thought that sex and aggression are subject to more complex and ambiguous social controls than other basic motives. Thus, people often get inconsistent messages about what’s appropriate.
Second, he noted that the aggressive and sexual drives are thwarted more regularly than other basic, biological urges. Think about it: If you get hungry or thirsty, you can simply head for a nearby vending machine or a drinking fountain. But when you see an attractive person who inspires lustful urges, you don’t normally walk over and propose hooking up in a nearby broom closet. Freud ascribed great importance to these needs because social norms dictate that they’re routinely frustrated.
internal, unconscious conflicts can produce anxiety that slips into conscious awareness. the anxiety can be attributed to your ego worrying about:
1) the ID getting out of control and doing something terrible that leads to severe negative consequences
or
2) the superego getting out of control and making you feel guilty about a real or imagined transgression
what are defence mechanisms and how do they work?
Defence mechanisms are largely unconscious reactions that protect a person from unpleasant emotions such as anxiety and guilt. Typically, they’re mental manoeuvres that work through self-deception (i.e., rationalization).
what are the 8 different defence mechanisms?
1) repression - keeping distressing thoughts buried in the unconscious.
e.g., a traumatized soldier has no recollection of the details of a close brush with death.
2) projection - attributing one’s own thoughts, feelings, or motives to another
to another.
e.g., a woman who dislikes her boss thinks she likes her boss but feels that the boss doesn’t like her.
3) displacement - diverting emotional feelings (usually anger) from their original to a substitute target.
e.g., after parental scolding, a young girl takes her anger out on her little brother.
4) reaction formation - Behaving in a way that is exactly the opposite of one’s true feelings.
e.g., a parent who unconsciously resents a child spoils the child with outlandish gifts.
5) regression - a reversion to immature patterns of behaviour.
e.g., an adult has a temper tantrum when he doesn’t get his way.
6) rationalization - creating false but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behaviour.
e.g., a student watches TV instead of studying, saying that “additional study wouldn’t do any good anyway.”
7) identification - bolstering self-esteem by forming an imaginary or real alliance with some person or group.
e.g., an insecure young man joins a fraternity to boost his self-esteem.
8) sublimation - occurs when unconscious, unacceptable impulses are channelled into socially acceptable, perhaps even admirable, behaviours.
e.g., a young man’s longing for intimacy is channelled into his creative artwork.
Anna Freud (Freud’s daughter)
-well known for her contributions to the study of defence mechanisms
-also well known as the founder of the child psychoanalytic movement
Recent decades have brought a revival of interest in research on defence mechanisms. Consistent with Freudian theory, empirical studies have found that:
(1) reliance on defence mechanisms increases when people experience stress or a threat to their sense of self.
(2) defence mechanisms serve a protective function by shielding individuals from emotional distress.
(3) excessive dependence on defences is associated with impairments in mental health.
what did the study on repressors vs. non-repressors investigate?
it examined how people with a repressive coping style remember self-relevant info that is either threatening or non-threatening.
what was the key finding about repressors’ memory?
the results showed that repressors selectively forgot more self-threatening information than nonthreatening information
