Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality Development

Psychoanalytic Approach to Personality Development

• Personality structures are mainly unconscious, indicating that individuals often lack awareness of their behavioral motivations.
• Behavior is influenced by conflicts among instincts, unconscious motives, past experiences, and social norms.
• Sigmund Freud, active from 1856 to 1939, is the principal figure behind psychoanalytic theory.

Freud's Instincts and Personality Development

• Instincts are vital motivational drives forming the foundation of personality.
• Instincts are mental representations of internal stimuli that prompt certain actions, such as hunger leading to seeking food.
• Freud categorized instincts into:
  • Life Instincts (Eros): Promote survival, development (e.g., hunger), and species reproduction (e.g., sexual desire). Psychic energy tied to life instincts is called libido.
  • Death Instincts (Thanatos): Represent destructive human nature; suggest an unconscious wish to die, transforming into aggression toward others.

Structure of Personality

• Freud's model includes three levels:
  • Conscious: Current sensations and experiences; the 'tip of the iceberg.'
  • Preconscious: Thoughts and memories that can be recalled into consciousness.
  • Unconscious: Contains repressed memories, emotions, and instincts considered too threatening for conscious awareness, such as sexual and aggressive urges.

The Three Structures of Personality

• Id: Entirely unconscious, driven by instincts and libido, focused on bodily needs; operates under the pleasure principle, seeking immediate gratification without considering reality or others' needs.
• Ego: Develops through interactions with the outside world; operates under the reality principle, balancing id impulses with societal norms. It allows for socially acceptable satisfaction of the id’s needs and employs reasoning (secondary process thought).
• Superego: Develops in response to the guidance of significant others, representing internalized societal expectations and moral standards.

Conflict and Development in Personality

• Tension arises from the need fulfillment quest between the id and external reality.
• The ego controls how the id’s needs are expressed, often directing them into acceptable behaviors, such as channeling anger into exercise.
• This interplay creates ongoing conflict within personality dynamics, as the id supplies energy to both itself and the ego.