Lecture 2 -> Psychoanalytic and humanistic approaches Flashcards
(23 cards)
The psychoanalysts
(The popular ones)
- Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
- Alfred Adler (1870-1937)
- Carl Jung (1975-1961)
- Karen Horney (1885-1952)
Sigmund Freud
Born in Czech Republic, lived n Vienna from age 4
Attended medical school for neurology
- conducted research before entering clinical practise
Influenced by:
- ‘conversation of enegry’ (physics)
- hypnosis as treatment for hysteria
Freud concluded examining brain anatomy could not sufficiently explain mental disorders - there are things that can’t be quantified
Conscious (EGO)
- thoughts that we’re aware of at any given moment (no way to check if this is true)
- information in your immediate awareness
- in iceberg analogy, this is the tip of the iceberg that you can see
Preconscious (Superego)
- thoughts that we can become easily aware of/ information tat can be easily made conscious e.g. date of birth
- in iceberg analogy, this is the part of the iceberg that is just under the water
Unconscious (Id)
- content that we’re unaware of or can only become aware of I. certain situations
- thoughts, feeling, urges and wishes that are difficult to bring into conscious awareness
- in the iceberg analogy, this is the part of the iceberg that is very far underwater
As is with icebergs, there is much more of our mind that we can’t access than there is that we can
Id, Ego and Superego
The Id
- irrational, illopgival, impulsive dimension of personality
- seeks release of unconsoucs and primary needs and desires (food, sex etc)
- works according the the pleasure principle: immediate gratification -> instinctual urges (Freyd focussed mostly on sexual urges)
- not concerned with moral of social rules
The Superego
- moralistic, judgmental, perfectionist dimension of personality
- controls moral/rule-bound behaviour, including ideals and ethics
- it rewards good behaviour and punished bag (e..g guilt)
- conflicts with the Id
The Ego (= you)
- rational, playful, mediating dimension of personality
- balances Id’s urges with Superego’s constraints
- operates via reality principle: long term gratification
- it is logical rational and resilient
Summary:
- ID: “I want to do that now”
- Superego: “That’s not right”
- Eho: “Maybe we can compromise”
Freud on Ego
“The relation of the ego to this id {[is] a rider and his horse. The horse provides the locomotor energy and the rider has the prerogative of detaining the goal and of guiding the movements of his powerful mount towards it
But all too often… we find a picutre of the less ideal situation in which the rider is obliged to guide his horse in the direction ion which it itself wants to go”
“The poor ego has a… hard time off it; it has to serve three harsh masters, and it has to do its best to reconcile the claims and demands of all three… The three tyrants are the external world, the superego, and the id”…
New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis (1932)
Freud and Personality
Psychosexual development occurs in stages, via which personality style and indivudal differences develop
At each stage, sexual energy if focused on a different target (i.e. source of interest and pleasure)
If sexual or libindial energy is stuck or fixated at various stages, conflicts can occur ad these can leave a deep imprint on adult personality
Psychosexual development
Oral stage (up to 2 years)
- focus on oral pleasure (e.g. feeding, thumb sucking)
Anal stage (2-3 years)
- tension between pleasure (release) from toileting and social pressure to delay
Phallic stage (4-5 years)
- focus on genitals, realisation of physical male/female difference leads to psychoanalysis gender differentiation
- Oedipus/Electra complexes
- Oedipus complex
~ boy desires opposite sec parent (mam)
~ same sex parent (dad) is a rival and they want out of the picture
~ boy fears dad will realise this and be very angry and castrate the boy
~ to reduce anxiety, boy uses the identification defence mechanism
~ this reduces threat and boy internalises gender identity
- Electra complex
~ girl desires opposite sex parent (dad) and expeirnces penis envy
~ doesn’t fear same sex parent because she believes she has already been castrates
~ instead she fears losing her mothers love
~ girl identified with her mother to reduce this - less intense indemnification as less fear
~ girl internalises female characteristics
Latency stage (6 years until puberty)
- with key conflicts resolved, child represses sexuality and channels energy into social and intellectual pursuits
Gential stage (puberty until death)
- sexual and aggressive drives return
- seeks pleasure through sexual contact with others
- ego and superego now fully developed
Personality from fixation
Too much/too little gratification can cause fixation at the stage and adults may regress to this stage under conditions of stress
Fixation -> behaviour -> personality
Oral (e.g. weaning) -> eating, drinking, smoking to excess -> demanding, impatient, envious, depressed, dependent on others
Anal (e.g. potty training) -> rigid organisation (anal retentive) vs carelessness (anal expulsive) -> ned for power/control, anxiety over losing control, rigid and perfectionistic, concerned with pleasure, cruel, intense emotionality, messy and disorganised
Phalic (Oedipus/Electra complex) -> secutive and flirtatious, promiscuous -> Male: exhibitionistic, vain, aggressive Female: naive, seductive/submissive
Latent -> asexual, disengaged, lacks close friends -> immaturity, inability to form deep and lasting adult relationships
Gential -> as this is the ‘ultimate’ stage of development, maladaptive fixation not possible -> if the individual transition successfully through the prior stages, can now form heterosexual relationships
Carl Jung
Believed Freud over-emphasised sexuality
Embaced a ‘mythological’ approach and rejected scientific method -> can’t study the brain with science (at the same time) so may as well go off mythology
Proposed a ‘collective unconscious’ -> we come to earth with a shared knowledge that everyone possesses
Focused on dual aspects of personality: private self vs persona presented to others
Therapy should help the expression of the unconscious: an ally, not an enemy
Collective Unconscious
Plato’s Meno
- should is immortal reincarnated
- all knowledge is kept within the soul
- are forget everything at birth due to trauma -> birth is so traumatic, so you forget it all and spend the rest of your life remembering it
Alfred Adler
Believed Freud over-empahsied sexuality
People consciously strive to improve their lives (towards ‘superiority’)
Relationships (parents, peers, siblings, schools) shape individuals
- so does desire contribute to society
Individuals focus on compensating for painful inferiorities (inferiority complexes) -> we try and over compensate for the things that we believe makes us feel inferior)
- e.g. child who felt inferior emphasising toughness as an adult
Freud on women
“Women oppose change, receive passively, and add nothing of their own”
“development of [women’s] sexuality is complicated by the task of renouncing the clitoris, in favour of a new zone, the vagina”
“[women represent] the dark content for psychology’”
Karen Horney
Culture a primary influence on indivudal’s personality
Personality types relate to strategies o reduce interpersonal anxiety
Women more likely to envy men’s status, power and freedom than their penises
Women are socialised into gender roles, not ‘destined’ to fulfil them biology or psychology
Humanistic psychology
People have an innate tendency towards self-actualisation
- the motivation to reach one’s potential
- “… the desire to become everything that one is capable of becoming” - Maslow, 1943
Personality is a result of you trying to become your best self
Concerned with more developed and healthier aspect of human behaviour (e.g. creativity)
Emphasis on the present rather than the past or future
Self-relfection and choice are key to development
Focus upon goals/outcomes of behaviour rather than describing indivudal differences or behavioural mechanisms
Key individuals:
- Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
- Carl R. Rogers (1902-1987)
Abraham Maslow
Studied behavioural psychology
Was mentored by Alfred Adler (psychoanalysis)
Focused on a person-centred approach
Criticised psychology’s focus on psychopathology to understand personality (e.g. abnormal behaviours)
Thought focus on health and thriving was more informative (positive psychology movement)
Hierarchy of needs
Development begins with basic needs (motives) similar to animals
Once lower needs satisfied, more uniquely human motives drive behaviour
Hierarchy is a pyramid with the following levels (ascending order)
(Basic needs)
Physiological needs:
- food
- water
- warmth
- rest
Safety needs:
- security
- safety
(Psychological needs)
Belongingness and love needs:
- intimate relationships
- friends
Esteem needs:
- prestige
- feelings of accomplishment
(Self-fulfilment needs)
Self-actualisation:
- achieving one’s full potential
- including created activities
Signs of self-actualisation can appear at early levels of the hierarchy (e.g. talents during starvation/wat)
Humans don’t reliably follow the sequence (e.g. refuse to eat another man even if starving, people were able to self-actualise and be their best selves despite dangers in the world like the Holocaust)
Humans do broadly evolve through the stages as they age (e.g. physiological needs important in childhood, belongingness important for teens, etc)
According to motivation theories of Maslow, different needs myst be fulfilled for optimal human functioning
- basic
- psychological
- self-actualisation
~ the realisation or fulfilment of one’s talents and potential
But some people may have different orders ir priorities to them so their hierarchy might look different
What is self-actualisation?
- sees the world as it really is
- acceptance of self and others
- spontaneity: no social mask
- problem-centres not self-centred
- needs privacy
- autonomy
- sense of awe and wonder of life
- peak experiences
- human kinship (no prejudice)
- humility and respect
- close interpersonal relationships
- ethics and values
- distinguishes ends and means
- sense of humour
- creativity
- resists cultural influences
- doesn’t think in “either-or” terms
Maslow’s examples of self-actualisation
Albert Einstein
- able to perceive reality as it was and make sense of the unknown/ambigous -> paves way to scientific discoveries
Aldous Huxley
- pursued mystical, ‘peal’ experiences (often via psychedelic drugs) as a path to self-discovery and creativity
Eleanor Roosevelt
- humanitarian and rights activist, accepting and championing the cause of others and fighting prejudice; ethics/values
Peak expeirnces and flow
Peak experiences occur when people are engaged in self-actualising activities
- flow
(Explained in a graph with x axis of skills and y axis of challenges. positive correlation line of flow experiences, with boredom below and anxiety above)
What is flow?
Components
- activity is challenging and skilful
- one’s attention is completely absorbed by the activity
- activity has clear goals
- presence of clear feedback
- concentration can only be on the current task
- achievement of personal control
- loss of self-consciousness
- loss of sense of time
Carl R. Rogers
Studies agriculture and history, before joining the ministry
Training in psychology, worked with under privileged youths
Focused on therapeutic method and use of person-focused therapy
Worked in international conflict resolution and nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
Person-centred therapy
Application of Rogerian therapy makes clients more fully functioning and happier
Involves creating a proper relationship with clients
- open and genuine
- reflection - helping clients understand their personality
Roger’s contributions to humanistic approach
Personality defined by growth-promoting experiences (actualising tendency)
When we are young, internal experiences influence personality - infants do this naturally (foods and security)
With age, external rules replace inner expeirnces and desires and change personality
Environment may interact with our motivation, producing fear and defensiveness (e..g parents, schools, peers, etc)
Self = organised pattern of perceptions, consciously available
Integrated and organised:
- endures over time
- characterises who you are
- maintained and updates as the ‘self’ changes
Aims at consistency and congruence between self and actions
- we try to behave in ways consistent with our ‘self’
- no consistency between self and behaviour creates distress
Incongruence:
- self image (current perception of self) and ideal self (self we aspire to be in the future) don’t overlap or overlap very little
Congruence
- self image and ideal self overlap a lot or are the same
- however when behaviour is not consistent with sense of self, individual distressed at ‘not being myself’
Summary of Psychoanalytic and humanistic approaches
Psychodynamic:
- controlled by unconscious forces
- personality fixed based on early life experience
- adult psychological experience = repeating conflicts of the past
- impulses denied = healthy personality functioning
- anxiety causes by unacceptable biological impulses of id
Humanistic
- controlled by own actions/choices
- personality not fixed; development is lifelong
- adult psychological expeirnce = achieving self-actualisation
- congruence = heathy personality functioning
- anxiety caused by incongruence between self and one’s experience
