Psychodynamic - Main components + eval Flashcards
What are the three assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?
Influences on Childhood experiences
The unconscious mind
tripartite personality
Explain the concept of Influences on Childhood experiences in explaining behaviour
This approach suggests our behaviour is determined by our childhood in that we go through different stages of desires / cravings, and whether these cravings are fulfilled and to what extent shapes our adult personality, for instance a craving could be not given enough resulting in ‘frustration’ or a craving can be given too much resulting in ‘over-indulgence’
(Influences on Childhood experiences) What are the five psychosexual stages, how long do they last and the result of frustrations / overindulgence
Oral (0-18 months) – We desire oral pleasure such as food and breastfeeding
Frustrated - pessimism and envy
Overindulged - optimism, gullible needy
Anal (18 months - 3 years) - desire anal attention
Frustrated - stubborn / overly tidy
Overindulged - messy and disorganised
Phallic (3-5 years) – desire genitalia
Frustrated - difficulty maintaining friendship
Latency (5 years to puberty) - no sexual motivation
Genital (puberty onwards) - focus on genitalia
Define the following KEY terms for influences of childhood experiences
Eros
Thanatos
Oedipus Complex
Electra Complex
Eros: represents the life instinct or the drive for life and pleasure. It’s the force that pushes individuals to seek love, connection, creativity, and other pleasurable experiences.
Thanatos: represents the death instinct or the drive towards aggression and destruction. It’s the force that leads individuals to engage in aggressive and self-destructive behaviors,
Oedipus Complex: Oedipus complex based on the Greek mythical King Oedipus who killed his father to marry his mother. The term is used within the phallic stage of development and the Oedipus complex represents an unconscious sexual desire from the boy to his mother and a wish to exclude the father.
Electra complex whereby the girl has the desire for the father and wishes to exclude the mother in Phallic stage.
what is the relationship formation of influences on childhood experiences
Using the ‘childhood experiences’ assumption of the psychodynamic approach, the formation of romantic relationships can be explained through the progression through the psychosexual stages of development. According to Freud, if a child successfully progresses through each stage, reaching the genital stage of development, it will lead to a well-developed adult personality who will go on to form a heterosexual romantic relationship. However, any fixations may make this difficult. For example, if a child is fixated at the oral stage of development and is overindulged, it could result in an unhealthy over dependence on others in adulthood. If this is the case, this adult could become ‘needy’ in a relationship and seek constant reassurance.
Another key stage, influencing relationship formation, in the psychosexual stages of development is the phallic stage. If a fixation occurs during this stage it could pose problems in forming relationships in adulthood. Freud proposed the idea of an Oedipus complex based on the Greek mythical King Oedipus who killed his father to marry his mother. The term is used within the phallic stage of development and the Oedipus complex represents an unconscious sexual desire from the boy to his mother and a wish to exclude the father. The equivalent in girls is the Electra complex whereby the girl has the desire for the father and wishes to exclude the mother
Describe ‘The Unconscious Mind’
Freud suggests that the mind is like an iceberg in that the majority of what goes on in the mind is unconscious and we are not aware of it.
The part of the iceberg that is above the water represents the conscious mind and this is what we are aware of and is logical.
Freud suggests that the unconscious mind has the biggest influence on our behaviour.
(unconcious mind)
Freud claims that there exist conflicts in our ego, superego and id.
What does freud say we use to protect our ego? (5 things)
Displacement: Transfer of feelings and emotions from one person or object to another.
Projection: Undesirable thoughts are attributed to someone else.
Repression: Pushing painful memories down into our conscious mind so they are forgotten.
Regression: When something traumatic is happening someone may regress to an earlier form of childhood.
Denial: When a person cannot accept what is happening and pretends it almost doesn’t exist
Describe how ego defense mechanisms could be used in someone struggling with their sexuality?
DENIAL may be used whereby the individual will deny their sexuality and form relationships with people they aren’t happy with, ultimately, resulting in an unhappy destructive relationship. Another way defence mechanisms can be applied to relationships is when a person is having an affair they might accuse their partner of being unfaithful as they are PROJECTING their behaviour onto someone else.
The third assumption is tripartite personality - describe the three personality types
The Id: the pleasure principal which controls the impulsive and unconscious part of our personality. It is present from birth. A dominant Id could lead to a psychopathic personality type.
The Ego: the reality principal which controls the conscious, rational part of the mind. This develops around the age of two. A dominant ego could lead to a narcissistic personality type.
The Superego: the morality principle which has a sense of right and wrong. This is the final part of the personality to develop and this occurs around the age of four. A dominant superego could lead to a neurotic personality type.
How does freud link criminality to tripartite personality
According to Freud, criminals are ruled by their Id and their superego is suppressed. Criminals, particularly those who commit violent offences, often lack a sense of morality and remorse (superego), and seek immediate pleasure and gratification regardless of the costs (ID).
How does tripartite personality link to relationship formation
If one part of the tripartite personality becomes dominate this could, in turn, affect relationships
.
If the ID is most dominant, it can lead to a power control relationship which can be aggressive and domineering, making it traumatic for the partner.
If the ego is most dominant, it can lead to the individual having an overinflated sense of ego and put themselves first neglecting their partner which is detrimental for maintaining a healthy relationship.
If the superego is most dominant, it can lead to lower levels of satisfaction in relationship and marital quality.
Give the evaluative points of the Psychodynamic approach
Strength:
Application (matt and navarno)
Holistic (nature nurture)
Weakness:
Science
Determinism
Give a strength of the psychodynamic approach to do with application
A strength of the psychodynamic approach is that it is useful for helping to deal with mental health issues. Ideas put forward by psychologists such as Freud have influenced real world therapies put forward to treat mental disorders.
Freud was the first person to recognise that psychological factors could be used to explain the physical symptoms of mental health issues. techniques used during psychoanalysis have been widely used to help people overcome psychological problems.
There is evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of dream therapy in Matt and Navarno where in a review of 63 meta-analysis on the effect of psychotherapy found, on average,
The results showed that 75% of clients receiving dream analysis showed improvements.
These studies illustrate how the psychodynamic therapies have been effective when applied in day to day life.
Give a strength of the psychodynamic approach to do with reductionism
Another strength of the psychodynamic approach is that it is holistic and takes into account both sides of the nature nurture debate.
This is because the approach consiers the influence of nature, in the characteristics we are born with (e.g ID EGO SUPEREGO), as well as the influence of nurture, (early childhood experiences), resulting in a more through and complete explanation of behaviour.
This is a strength as it means that it takes an interactionist approach when explaining human behaviour
For example, freud claims that the adult personality is the result of both our innate drives and childhood experiences aka our nature and nurture.
Give a weaknesses of the Psychodynamic approach to do with science
A weakness of the psychodynamic approach is that it is not scientific and relies more heavily on subjective interpretations of data, this is a weakness because it means the approach does not meet scientific criteria; psychodynamic theories are based on opinion rather than factual scientific evidence, conclusions are not objective, and theories cannot be falsified. as a result, some may view the psychodynamic approach as not credible. for example, the unconscious mind is unfalsifiable, and critics doubt its existence.
