Psychological Theories: Freud, Jung and Adler

• Personality is defined by pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics
• These give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior
• There is no universally agreed upon definition for personality
• The word "personality" comes from the Latin "persona", meaning mask
• Personality includes what is beneath the mask, the part of the person seen below the surface

What is a Theory?

• The history and personality of theorists are important to understand their theories
• Theories describe and explain behaviors with empirical evidence that can be tested
• Theories are sets of related assumptions that enable scientists to use logical deductive reasoning
• These assumptions integrate observations and possess internal consistency
• Hypotheses that can be tested flow from these assumptions
• Assumptions rely on observations, not speculation
• Theories are not truth, fact, philosophy, speculation, hypotheses, taxonomy or isolated assumptions
• Rather they reflect an author's background, experiences, personal philosophy etc

Major Perspectives in Personality Theory

• Psychoanalytic theories emphasize early childhood experiences and unconscious motives, as started with Freud
• Learning/behavioral theories focus on associations
• Humanistic theories focus on meaning, growth, and well-being
• Trait/dispositional theories looks at unique and long-term tendencies in behavior
• Biological theories influenced by differences in genetic

Qualities of a Useful Theory

• Generates hypotheses that can be investigated through descriptive or hypothesis testing
• Testing hypothesis determines if they're right
• A useful theory can organize research data into a meaningful structure and is falsifiable
• A theory is falsifiable if its major tenets can be supported or fail
• Internally consistent theories avoid self-contradiction
• Parsimonious theories are straightforward and simple, Occam's razor

Dimensions for Considering a Theory

• Determinism is a lack of control over destiny, free choice is choosing to be what wish
• Pessimism is remaining unchanging and stable; optimism is growing and flourishing
• Causality involves past experiences while teleology involves expectations
• Theories can range from conscious to unconscious, biological to social, uniqueness to similarities

Freud's Background

• Freud used catharsis, talking about emotional difficulties, and hypnosis for hysteria, sex in hysterical behavior
• He was trained by Breur and Charcot
• Freud had a midlife crisis and analyzed his own dreams after his father's death
• With Adler and Jung, he formed the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society
• Freud's brother almost made cocaine
• Freud used deductive reasoning and case study approach

Influences on Freud's Theory

• Freud influences include theories on the unconscious mind
• Fechner's iceberg stated the mind is like an iceberg
• Mental disturbances are psychic not somatic/spiritual, influenced by Viennese society

Overview of Freud's Ideas

• Personality is governed by unconscious forces, especially childhood experiences
• Personality is shaped by how children cope with sexual and aggressive urges (Eros and Thanatos)
• Anxiety results from repressed drives
• The ego is protected by defense mechanisms

Levels of Consciousness

• The conscious includes current thoughts and feelings
• The preconscious is just beneath the surface
• The unconscious includes unaware drives, urges, instincts, and memories
• Unconscious material may appear in our consciousness in distorted forms like the Freudian slip
• Phylogenetic endowment: Jung's ideas of inherited experiences, collective unconscious etc

Provinces of the Mind

• The id is the pleasure principle, functioning amorally and primitively
• The superego incorporates societal standards and follows moralistic principles
• Conscience dictates what we should not do and creates guilt
• Ego ideal dictates what we should do and creates inferiority, it is rational/logical

Personality Dynamics

• Drives are motivational forces, e.g. sex (libido) and aggression (self-destruction)
• Anxiety is a vague and unpleasant affective state from the ego:
  • Neurotic anxiety stems from id and ego conflict, causing fear for unreal threats
  • Moral anxiety stems from superego and ego conflict, causing moral fear, failure to stick to moral standards
  • Realistic anxiety stems from a real threat

Defense Mechanisms

• Protecting itself and can lead to disorders if used rigidly/excessively reducing available energy
• Repression involves forgetting
• Reaction formation involves acting in the opposite way
• Displacement involves redirecting energy to a less threatening target
• Fixation involves attachment of libido to one state of development
• Intellectualization involves thinking to avoid feelings
• Rationalization involves making false justifications
• Sublimation involves directing energy to a productive outlet
• Introjection involves incorporating another's positive qualities
• Projection involves attributing one's own feelings to someone else
• Undoing involves taking back actions that result in disturbing impulses
• Compensation involves efforts to overcome inferiority
• Denial involves not acknowledging

Psychosexual Stages

• Stages are based on erogenous zones; fixation may result from under/over gratification
• The oral phase (birth to 1.5 years) creates trust and comfort with underfed oral receptive types being trusting while overfed are aggressive
• The anal stage involves control/autonomy, too harsh - anal retentive, too less - anal expulsive
• The anal triad involves orderliness stinginess and obstinacy
• In the phallic stage, sexual responses are exaggerated as an adult
• The castration complex involves fear of losing of the penis and emotional shock
• Penis envy is a desire to be a man
• The Electra complex includes attraction to the father, desire to have his children
• The Latency stage involves nothing
• In the Genital stage relationships are intimate relationships
• There may be confusion with identity
• Previous fixation lead may lack of intimacy

Personality and Therapy

• A psychologically mature person relies on ego
• Therapy aims to make the unconscious conscious, prioritize reality over instinct, and reconstruct childhood experiences
• Dream analysis identifies manifest (surface) and latent (hidden) content
• Free association involves transference and countertransference
• Transference is the feelings a client has towards an analyst
• Countertransference is feelings analyst towards client

Adler's Individual Psychology

• Adler focused on determinism, pessimism, causality, unconscious, biological, uniqueness vs similarities
• Adler was the second of six children; had pneumonia
• According to Adler, superiority is over sexuality
• Individuals product of society and social relationships

Overview of Adler's Ideas

• Each person have feelings of inferiority that are overcome through striving for success/superiority
• Compensation, success is for humanity, superiority is for oneself
• People's perceptions/fictions shape their behavior and personality
• Personality is molded by creative power (power to direct one's life)

Fictionalism in Adler's Theory

• Behavior is determined by fictions, our perceptions of reality
• These motivated by a final goal guiding style of life, giving unity to personality and renders it purposeful

Social Interest

• Social interest is key for psychological health; it's our potential to cooperate
• Mature individuals possess social interest while immature individuals lack it
• Mother's caring for others and child = high social interest; Child over father = spoiled, Society over child = neglected
• Father caring and equal footing is key for Social interest
• Detached relationship results in detachment: neglect and parasitic attachment
• Authoritarian leads to power and superiority

Abnormal Development

• Caused by underdeveloped social interest
• Neurotics set their goals too high & live in their own private world
• External factors impacting it are Physical deficiencies leading to fear pampering
• Neglected style lacks of confidence

Safeguarding Tendencies and Avoiding Confrontation

• Safeguarding tendencies found in neurotics and can be partly conscious/ unconscious
• Excuses often happen
• Aggression devaluing someone else so one look better and also accusation and blaming others
• Withdrawals through moving backward and also standing still

Adler - Therapeutic Goals and Techniques

• The person should overcome feelings of inferiority and increase social interest
• Techniques for it include the question of what would one do if they were well
• Family constellation: number and type of family members, the relationships between them, and the emotional climate of the family
• Early recollections: people early memories

Birth Order

• Firstborns are caring and intellectually mature and Middle child is highly motivated
• Youngest tend be pampered & the only child shows inflated ego

Adler - Dimensions

• Key dimensions include:
  • Free choice
  • Optimism
  • Teleology
  • Social
  • Uniqueness

Jung's Analytical Psychology

• Analytical psychology by Jung focuses in analytical psychology
• Mother has 2 personalities with a very religious family
• Jung was introverted child who grew to be extroverted before became enchanted to fried
• Personality is influenced by the unconscious, disposition to towards growth, perfection
• Jung's main goal of the theory is self realization

Jung - Levels of Psyche

• Conscious: that which is sensed by the ego
• Personal unconscious: repressed, forgotten, or subliminally perceived based on experiences

Jung - Archetypes

• Collective unconscious is a shared experience inherited
• Persona is a mask where the healthy is a balance between society and one selves
• Shadow has qualities we don't acknowledge
• Anima/Animus and self are also archetypes

Jung - Psychological Types

• Functions: how people make decisions and organize reality
• Thinking (T) - logic Thinking, Feeling & Sensing
• Judging functions: how people make decisions and organize reality

Jung - Development

• Development is the process of moving from one of stage to the next as a progressive one
• Individuation
• Consists of
  • opposite poles and individual
  • Dream analysis
  • Active imagination

Jung - Dimensions

• A focus is made on the unconscious but similar at that
• Neither determinism nor free choice
• Pessimism and optimism can be at bay
• Individuation is one of the main dimensions

Explore key concepts from Freud, Jung, and Adler, including early recollections, motivational factors, and the significance of the 'self'. Delve into the differences between Jung's and Freud's perspectives on the unconscious. Understand the Adlerian concept of superiority complex.