Neo-Freudian Theories

• Freud was considered a celebrity.
• Neo-Freudian theory refers to psychoanalytic-oriented theories greatly influenced by Freud.

Freud's Followers

• Disciples strengthened Freud's legacy by publishing his work.
• Otto Rank
• Karl Abraham
• Ernest Jones
• Modifiers claimed to follow Freud but went in their own direction.
• Anna Freud
• Melanie Klein
• Eric Ericson
• Bowlby and Ainsworth
• Dissidents publicly broke with Freud.
• Alfred Adler
• Carl Jung was seen by Freud as his successor in his Psychoanalytic Association
• Karey Horney was a feminist figure who mentored people like Maslow

Neo-Freudian Theories: Common Themes

• Less emphasis is placed on sexual instinct and interpretation of the "libido," which is extrapolated to other concepts
• Less focus is placed on unconscious mental processes, with the exception of Jung
• A greater focus is placed on conscious mental processes
• A greater focus is placed on interpersonal relationships rather than instinctual drives.
• Social and cultural forces are recognized, while Freud downplayed them.
• Freud recognized these forces but downplayed them to avoid acknowledging the extent of the role they played
• There is a more positive outlook on human life
• Freud thought life was determined by the first five years
• Neo-Freudians believe later experiences shape personality, especially during adolescence and early adulthood

Major Neo-Freudian Ideas

• Inferiority and Striving was proposed by Alfred Adler
• Feminine Psychology and Basic Anxiety was proposed by Karen Horney
• Psychosocial Development of Personality was proposed by Eric Ericson
• Object Relations Theory / Attachment Theory
• Collective Unconscious

Inferiority and Striving

• Alfred Adler developed Individual Psychology
• Contributions to understanding personality:
• Striving for superiority to combat an "inferiority complex"
• Parental influence is a possible influencing variable
• Effects of Birth Order (the order in which children are born has been disproven).
• Striving For Superiority
• Dependence on adults to survive causes a seed of organic inferiority, leading to striving for superiority
• Awareness of weakness marks a lifelong struggle to overcome inferiority
• It is the single motivating force, beginning with feelings of inferiority
• Excessive feelings of inferiority lead to an inferiority complex
• Students who are academically weaker may become troublemakers to compensate
• Actions aim to establish superiority over life's obstacles.

Parental Influence

• Pampering robs children of independence and increases inferiority
• Allowing children to struggle and make decisions is beneficial in the long run
• Neglect leads to coldness, suspicion, discomfort with intimacy, and unease with closeness.

Birth Order

• First born is most pampered and feels inferior after being dethroned
• Middle borns strive for superiority and are the highest achievers
• Last born is vulnerable to inferiority due to the strength of others around them

Basic Anxiety (Karen Horney)

• Feminine Psychology contributes to understanding psychology.
• Basic anxiety involves the fear of being alone and helpless in a hostile world.
• Neurosis and Interaction Style

Neurosis and Interaction Style

• Neurosis involves neurotic needs that are unrealistic and undesirable.
• Wanting to be loved by everyone is an example
• This arises from disturbed interpersonal relationships in childhood.

Interaction Style

• Moving towards people involves being clingy and dependent
• Anxiety is emphasized via helplessness
• Moving against people involves aggressiveness and hostility
• Some compensate for feelings of inadequacy by pushing around other children
• They are rewarded with a fleeting sense of power and respect from classmates, but no real friendships
• Horney argued that this neurotic style is characterized by externalization similar to projection from Freud
• Moving away from people involves tuning out the world
• The intensity of privacy and self-sufficiency can become immense
• The safest way to avoid anxiety is to avoid involvement
• Neurotic Individuals typically rely on only one style for social interactions

Erik Erikson: Stages of Development

• Freud based his theory on primal instincts in early life.
• Ego Psychology takes a different perspective on the meaning of Ego
• The principal function of the Ego is to help form, clarify, and maintain a sense of identity
• Failure to do so leads to conflicts and an "identity crisis" complex
• Not all "conflicts" are unconscious

Stages of Psychological Development

• Old Age involves Ego Integrity vs. Despair
• Fulfillment with life versus despair
• Maintained integrity or not
• Adulthood involves Generativity vs. Stagnation
• What are we doing in life and how do we steer our life path
• Reaching the eventual ending that is desired
• Young Adulthood involves Intimacy vs. Isolation
• Deciding on life partners and family ideas
• Adolescence involves Identity vs. Role Confusion
• Acclimating into society
• Understanding and accepting oneself
• Difficulties in roles and identity are common
• Elementary School involves Industry vs. Inferiority
• Success leads to competence
• Developing industry and belief in strengths
• Failure leads to inadequacy and poor prognosis
• Early Childhood involves Initiative vs. Guilt
• Understanding right and wrong
• Seeking playmates and organizing activities develops initiative
• Failure leads to guilt and resignation
• Toddler involves Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt
• Learning to crawl and walk leads to exploring autonomy and testing boundaries
• Infancy involves Trust vs. Mistrust
• Trustworthy relationships versus suspicion and withdrawal

Object Relations Theory

• Melanie Klein and Donald Winnicott are key figures
• Involves relations with important people
• Object refers to unconscious representations of emotionally important people.
• Highlights the importance of early childhood experiences.
• Transition objects involve children playing out relations with objects in a fantasized sense
• They find transition objects to help them become more independent.

Attachment Theory

• John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth are main contributors
• Early childhood relationships with caregivers are foundational for social and emotional development

Attachment Styles

• Secure: The infant is responsive and content
• Understanding that the mother is accessible even when not physically present
• Leading to happy and self-confident children
• Anxious-ambivalent: The infant is overly anxious and disoriented
• Mothers are inattentive
• Leading to anxious children who are hard to calm and afraid in new situations
• Avoidant: The infant is aloof and emotionally detached
• Mothers are unresponsive
• Leading to aloofness and detachment
• Children do not become anxious when the mother leaves and are not particularly interested in her attention

Carl Jung: The Collective Unconscious and Archetypes [Union Theory]

• Jung developed analytic psychology
• Collective Unconscious
• Humans possess a collective unconscious
• Part of the unconscious mind involving thoughts, images, and psychic characteristics that are difficult to bring into awareness
• These are inherited unconscious psychic characteristics represented as symbolic, primordial images called archetypes

Archetypes

• They are universal patterns derived from the collective unconscious
• Manifestation and cultural representation
• Anima is the feminine side of men, while Animus is the masculine side of women
• Archetypes guide romantic partner selection
• Each person holds an unconscious image of an ideal man or woman
• The Shadow is the negative, dark side of our personalities and repressed feelings
• It exists partly in the collective unconscious

Jungian Personality Theory

• Orientation towards the world (source of energy) can be either
• Extroversion which absorbs energy from the outer world
• Introversion which absorbs energy from the inner world
• These are sometimes confused with shyness

The Lemon Juice Study with Babies

• Sensitive babies grow up to be introverts
• Babies with high tolerance grow up to be extroverts

Mode of Perception

• Receiving Information, either Sensations or Intuitions
• Mode of Judgement Involves Thinking or Feeling
• How we draw conclusions based on how we interpret the world
• Thinking operates with objectivity
• Feeling is concerned with alternative solutions
• Integration of both can offer a more holistic perspective

Structure: Judging - Perceiving

• Judging and perceiving relate to structuring time
• Judging is organized and structured in advance
• Perceiving is spontaneous and flexible
• They're the type of person to pull all-nighters and procrastinate a lot

Relevant Research: Anxiety and Coping Strategies

• Anxiety is an unpleasant emotional experience with feelings of worry, panic, fear, and dread
• Coping strategies are conscious efforts reduce anxiety from a perceived threat
• Each person has a preferred coping style
• Problem-focused strategies manage the problem to overcome anxiety
• Emotion-focused strategies reduce emotional distress
• Avoidance strategies push the anxiety out of consciousness
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy addresses cognitive problems and corrects faulty behavior
• Coping flexibility and resilience involve brain plasticity

Key Notes

• The key to effective coping may lie in knowing when to utilize different coping strategies: coping flexibility
• Another means of coping with stressful events is resilience
• Resilience involves protective psychological factors
• Resilient people tend to be optimistic, have high self-esteem, and maintain positive emotions
• They also tend to be flexible in their use of coping strategies and rely on a strong network of friends and family members for support
• Social support can be a source of both emotion and problem-focused coping

Understand the theories of Freud's followers, modifiers, and dissidents. Discover common themes in Neo-Freudian thought, including shifts in emphasis from sexual instinct to interpersonal relationships and social forces.