Horney's Psychoanalytic Social Theory PDF

HORNEY BIOGRAPHY  Born in Eilbek (near Hamburg) in 1885  Youngest of two children born to an older sea captain and his young wife  Entered University of Freiburg in 1906 – One of the first women in Germany admitted to medical school, where she specialized in psychiatry  Analyzed in 1910 by K...

HORNEY BIOGRAPHY  Born in Eilbek (near Hamburg) in 1885  Youngest of two children born to an older sea captain and his young wife  Entered University of Freiburg in 1906 – One of the first women in Germany admitted to medical school, where she specialized in psychiatry  Analyzed in 1910 by Karl Abraham, one of Freud’s close associates  Published The Technique of Psychoanalytic Therapy in 1917  In 1932, Horney left Germany to become Associate Director on Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute  Increasingly abandoned orthodox psychoanalysis in favor of a more socially oriented theory  Published Neurosis and Human Growth in 1950  Died in New York in 1952 OVERVIEW  Social and Cultural Conditions Largely Responsible for Shaping Personality  Karen Horney built her psychoanalytic social theory on the assumption that social and cultural conditions, especially during childhood, are primary influences on later personality.  Although Horney's books are concerned mostly with neurotic personalities, many of her observations also apply to normal individuals. OVERVIEW OF PSYCHOANALYTIC SOCIAL THEORY  Horney's early ideas were influenced by Freud. However, she objected to Freud's basic masculine theory, which looked first at male development and then applied those observations to women  When Needs Are Not Met in Childhood, Basic Hostility and Anxiety Arise Combat Basic Anxiety in Three Ways: 1. MOVING TOWARD PEOPLE 2. MOVING AGAISNT PEOPLE 3. MOVING AWAY FROM PEOPLE PSYCHOANALYTIC SOCIAL THEORY  HORNEY AND FREUD COMPARED (horney’s criticisms of freud’s theories)  Orthodoxy (adhering to the accepted or traditional and established faith) leads to theoretical and clinical stagnation  Inaccurate views of feminine psychology  Should move beyond instinctual biological urges and examine culture THE IMPACT OF CULTURE  Horney insisted that modern culture is too competitive and that competition leads to hostility and Anxiety (feeling isolated and helpless).  These conditions lead to exaggerated needs for affection and cause people to overvalue love.  Both normal and neurotic personalities experience intrapsychic conflicts through their desperate attempts to find love. THE IMPORTANCE OF CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES  Most neurotic conflict stems from childhood traumas, most of which are traced to lack of genuine love.  Children who do not receive genuine affection feel threatened and adopt rigid behavioral patterns in an attempt to gain love.  No single childhood experience is responsible for later personality. Rather, the “sum-total” of childhood experiences brings about structure and character BASIC HOSTILITY AND BASIC ANXIETY  People begin life with potentiality for healthy development. Yet, people need favorable conditions to attain that growth basic hostility  Arise when parents do not satisfy child’s needs for safety and satisfaction basic anxiety  Repressed hostility leads to feelings of insecurity and apprehension  people can protect themselves from basic anxiety by 1. Affection- does not really mean genuine love 2. Submissiveness- to other people, group, orgs, religions 3. Power/prestige- dominate others; Humiliate 4. Withdrawal-detached from others  Normal people have the flexibility to use any or all of these approaches, but neurotics are compelled to rely rigidly on only one. COMPULSIVE DRIVES 1. neurotic needs  attempts to reduce basic anxiety 10 categories: 1. need for affection and approval 2. need for a powerful partner 3. need to restrict one’s life within narrow borders 4. need for power 5. need to exploit other 6. need for social recognition or prestige for personal admiration 7. need for ambition and personal achievement 8. need for self sufficiency and independence 9. need for perfection and unassailability 10. impossible to dispute or disprove neurotic trends - are attitudes toward self and others and include Moving toward people  People often strive to protect themselves against basic anxiety and feelings of helplessness by moving toward people. This strategy results in undue compliance to others' wishes. Moving against people  Aggressive people assume that everyone is hostile, and, therefore, they adopt the strategy of moving against people, exploiting them for their own benefit. Moving away from people  People who feel detached from others adopt the neurotic trend of moving away from people, insisting on privacy, independence, and self- sufficiency. INTRAPSYCHIC CONFLICTS  Originated from Interpersonal Experiences  These intrapsychic conflicts become part of people's belief system and take on a life of their own, separate from the interpersonal conflicts that created them.  People who do not receive love and affection during childhood are impeded in their natural tendency toward self-realization and are blocked in their attempt to acquire a stable sense of identity.  Feeling alienated from self, they create Idealized self-image-extravagantly positive picture of themselves that exists only in their mind. The (1) IDEALIZED SELF-IMAGE Includes Three Aspects or ‘drives’: 1. THE NEUROTIC SEARCH FOR GLORY  As neurotic people begin to believe that their idealized self-image is real, they try to incorporate it into all aspects of their lives.  This leads to the neurotic search for glory, or a comprehensive drive toward actualizing the ideal self.  The neurotic search for glory includes the need for perfection (the tyranny of the should), neurotic ambition, and the drive toward a vindictive triumph. 2. NEUROTIC CLAIMS  Neurotic people believe that their idealized fantasy world is real and that the rest of the world is skewed.  Consequently, they believe that they are entitled to special privileges and make neurotic claims on other people that are consistent with their idealized view of themselves. 3. NEUROTIC PRIDE  A third aspect of the idealized self-image is neurotic pride, or a false pride based not on reality but on a distorted and idealized view of self. 4. SELF HATRED  Neurotic individuals dislike themselves because their real self does not match insatiable demands of their idealized view of self. Therefore, they learn self-hatred, which can be expressed as: (1) relentless demands on self, (2) merciless self-accusation, (3) self-contempt, (4) self-frustration, (5) self-torment or self-torture, and (6) self-destructive actions and impulses. FEMININE PSYCHOLOGY  Psychological differences between men and women are due to culture and social expectations rather than anatomy  View of the Oedipus complex was that any sexual attraction or hostility of child to parent would be the result of learning and not biology  Found concept of “penis envy” untenable (not able to be defended)  If that existed, should also be “womb envy” PSYCHOTHERAPY  Therapy focused on development of self-realization through self-analysis  Utilizes same techniques as Freud  Successful when patients can assume responsibility for their psychological development Goal of Horneyian psychotherapy:  Help patients grow to self-realization  Give up their idealized self-image  Relinquish their neurotic search for glory  Change self-hatred to self-acceptance  Focus on love, mastery, and freedom RELATED RESEARCH  The Neurotic Compulsion to Avoid the Negative  ROBINSON et al. (2007)  While most research has had an understandable negative bias, recent research has been investigating some benefits of neuroticism: It is possible to be a “successful neurotic” in that neurotic skill at avoiding negative outcomes improves daily mood CRITIQUE OF HORNEY  HORNEY’S THEORY IS:  Moderate on Internal Consistency and Parsimony  Low on Falsifiability, Generating Research, and Guiding Action  Very Low on Organizing Knowledge CONCEPT OF HUMANITY  Free Choice over Determinism  Optimism over Pessimism  Social Influence over Biology  Causality and Teleology, and Conscious and Unconscious Play Equal Roles  Similarities over Uniqueness ERIKSON THEORIES OF PERSONALITY BIOGRAPHY:  Born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1902  Son of Jewish mother and unknown father  As a child, does not feel accepted by either Jewish or Gentile community  Leaves home at 18 to live as itinerant artist, wandering Europe for 7 years  In Vienna, is introduced to psychoanalysis by Anna Freud, who becomes his analyst  Graduates from Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute  Lacking an academic degree, accepts research position at Harvard Medical School in 1933  Publishes Childhood and Society in 1950  Also taught at Yale, Berkeley, and several other institutions  Professor of Human Development at Harvard in 1960  Died in Cape Cod in 1994 OVERVIEW OF ERIKSON’S POST FREUDIAN THEORY  Erikson postulated eight stages of psychosocial development through which people progress.  Although he differed from Freud in his emphasis on the ego and on social influences, his theory is an extension, not a negation, of Freudian psychoanalysis. THE EGO IN POST FREUDIAN THEORY  One of Erikson's chief contributions to personality theory was his emphasis on ego rather than id functions.  According to Erikson, the ego is the center of personality and is responsible for a unified sense of self  It consists of three interrelated facets: the body ego, the ego ideal, and ego identity. BODY EGO  The body ego refers to experiences with our body. (a way of seeing our physical self as different for other people)  We may be satisfied or dissatisfied with the way our body looks and functions, but we recognize that it is the only body we will ever have. EGO IDEAL  The ego ideal represents the image we have of ourselves in comparison with an established ideal. (it is responsible for our being satisfied or dissatisfied not only with our physical self but with our entire personal identity) EGO IDENTITY  Ego identity is the image we have of ourselves in the variety of social roles we play  Although adolescence is ordinarily the time when these three components are changing rapidly, alterations in body ego, ego ideal, and ego identity can and do take place at any stage of life. SOCIETY’S INFLUENCE  The ego develops within a given society and is influenced by child-rearing practices and other cultural customs.  All cultures and nations develop a pseudospecies, or a fictional notion that they are superior to other cultures. EPIGENETIC PRINCIPLE  The ego develops according to the epigenetic principle; that is, it grows according to a genetically established rate and in a fixed sequence  Epigenetic development implies a step-by-step growth of fetal organs  The embryo does not begin as a completely formed little person, waiting to merely expand its structure and form.  Rather it develops, or should develop, according to a predetermined rate and in a fixed sequence.  If the eyes, liver, or other organs do not develop during that critical period for their development, then they will never attain proper maturity  In similar fashion, the ego follows the path of epigenetic development, with each stage developing at its proper time  One stage emerges from and is built upon a previous stage, but it does not replace the earlier stage  This epigenetic development is analogous to the physical development of children, who crawl before they walk, walk before they run, and run before they jump. STAGES OF PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT BASIC POINTS OF STAGE APPROACH  Growth follows epigenetic principle  Every stage has an interaction of opposites-that is, a conflict between a syntonic (harmonious) element and a dystonic (disruptive) element.  Conflict produces ego strength (basic strength)  Too little strength at one stage results in core psychopathology at a later stage  Stages are also biological in nature  Earlier stages do not cause later personality development  From adolescence on, personality development involves identity crisis INFANCY  Erikson's view of infancy (the 1st year of life) was similar to Freud's concept of the oral stage, except that Erikson expanded the notion of incorporation beyond the mouth to include sense organs such as the eyes and ears.  The psychosexual mode of infancy is oral-sensory, which is characterized by both receiving and accepting. ORAL SENSORY MODE  Erikson’s expanded view of infancy is expressed in the term oral-sensory, a phrase that includes infants’ principal psychosexual mode of adapting  The oral-sensory stage is characterized by two modes of incorporation, or receiving and accepting what is given  Infants can receive even in the absence of other people; that is, they can take in air through the lungs and can receive sensory data without having to manipulate others.  The second mode of incorporation, however, implies a social context.  Infants not only must get, but they also must get someone else to give.  This early training in interpersonal relations help them learn to eventually become givers.  In getting other people to give, they learn to trust or mistrust other people, thus setting up the basic psychosocial crisis of infancy STAGES OF PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT TRUST VERSUS MISTRUST  Infants’ most significant interpersonal relations are with their primary caregiver, ordinarily their mother.  If they realize that their mother will provide food regularly, then they begin to learn basic trust.  If they consistently hear the pleasant, rhythmic, voice of their mother, then they develop more basic trust.  If they can rely on an exciting visual environment, then they solidify basic trust even more  In contrast, they learn basic mistrust if they find no correspondence between their oral-sensory needs and their environment  Infants must develop both attitudes.  Too much trust makes them gullible and vulnerable to the erratic, unpredictable, or extravagants of the world, whereas too little trust leads to frustration, anger, hostility, suspicion, or depression. HOPE  HOPE emerges from the conflict between basic trust and basic mistrust.  The basic strength of infancy.  Infants who do not develop hope retreat from the world, and this withdrawal is the core pathology of infancy. EARLY CHILDHOOD  The 2nd to 3rd year of life is early childhood, a period that compares to Freud's anal stage, but it also includes mastery of other body functions such as walking, urinating, and holding.  The psychosexual mode of early childhood is anal-urethral-muscular, and children of this age behave both impulsively and compulsively.  The psychosocial crisis of early childhood is autonomy versus shame and doubt  The psychosocial crisis between autonomy on the one hand and shame and doubt on the other produces will, the basic strength of early childhood  The core pathology of early childhood is compulsion. AUTONOMY VERSUS SHAME AND DOUBT  As the child stubbornly expresses their anal-urethral-muscular mode, they are likely to find a culture that attempts to inhibit some of their self-expression  Ideally, children should develop a proper ratio between autonomy and shame and doubt, and the ratio should be in favor of autonomy  Too little autonomy transgresses in the child having difficulty in later stages  Autonomy grows out of basic trust. 1. Basic trust and autonomy=world remains intact in a mild psychosocial crisis. 2. No autonomy=shame and doubt=serious psychosocial crisis. 3. Shame=feeling of self-consciousness 4. Doubt=feeling of not being certain WILL  Beginning of freewill and willpower.  Basic strength of early childhood  The core pathology of early childhood is compulsion PLAY AGE  From about the 3rd to the 5th year, children experience the play age, a period that parallels Freud's phallic phase.  Unlike Freud, however, Erikson saw the Oedipus complex as an early model of lifelong playfulness and a drama played out in children's minds as they attempt to understand the basic facts of life.  The primary psychosexual mode of the play age is genital-locomotor, meaning that children have both an interest in genital activity and an increasing ability to move around.  The psychosocial crisis of the play age is initiative versus guilt  Begin to adopt initiative in selection and pursuit of goals.  Many goals, such as marrying their mother or father or leaving home must be repressed or delayed.  The consequence of these taboo and inhibited goals is guilt.  The conflict between initiative and guilt helps children to act with a purpose (strength of Play Age) and to set goals.  But if children have too little purpose, they develop inhibition, the core pathology of the play age. (antipathy or opposite of purpose) SCHOOL AGE  The period from about 6 to about 13 is called the school age, a time of psychosexual latency, but it is also a time of psychosocial growth beyond the family  Because sexual development is latent during the school age, children can use their energies to learn the customs of their culture, including both formal and informal education.  The psychosocial crisis of this age is industry versus inferiority  Industry is the willingness to remain busy with something and to finish a job  Inferiority is the feeling of inadequacy  Children need to learn to work hard, but they also must develop some sense of inferiority.  From the conflict of industry and inferiority emerges competence, the basic strength of school age.  Competence is the confidence to use one’s physical and cognitive abilities to solve problems.  Lack of industry leads to inertia, the core pathology of this stage  Inertia antipathy or opposite of competence. ADOLESCENE  Adolescence begins with puberty and is marked by a person's struggle to find ego identity.  It is a time of psychosexual growth, but it is also a period of psychosocial latency  The psychosexual mode of adolescence is puberty or genital maturation  The psychosocial crisis of adolescence is identity versus identity confusion.  Psychologically healthy individuals emerge from adolescence with a sense of who they are and what they believe; but some identity confusion is normal  The conflict between identity and identity confusion produces fidelity, or faith in some ideological view of the future  Lack of belief in one's own selfhood results in role repudiation, or an inability to bring together one's various self-images. YOUNG ADULTHOOD  Young adulthood begins with the acquisition of intimacy at about age 18 and ends with the development of generativity (generation of new beings as well as new products and new ideas) at about age 30.  The psychosexual mode of young adulthood is genitality, which is expressed as mutual trust between partners in a stable sexual relationship.  Its psychosocial crisis is intimacy versus isolation.  Intimacy is the ability to fuse one's identity with that of another person without fear of losing it; whereas isolation is the fear of losing one's identity in an intimate relationship.  The crisis between intimacy and isolation results in the capacity to love  The core pathology of young adulthood is exclusivity, or inability to love. ADULTHOOD  The period from about 31 to 60 years of age is adulthood, a time when people make significant contributions to society.  The psychosexual mode of adulthood is procreativity, or the caring for one's children, the children of others, and the material products of one's society  The psychosocial crisis of adulthood is generativity versus stagnation, and the successful resolution of this crisis results in care.  Erikson saw care as taking care of the persons and products that one has learned to care for  The core pathology of adulthood is rejectivity, or the rejection of certain individuals or groups that one is unwilling to take care of OLD AGE  The final stage of development is old age, from about age 60 until death  The psychosexual mode of old age is generalized sensuality; that is, taking pleasure in a variety of sensations and an appreciation of the traditional life style of people of the other gender.  The psychosocial crisis of old age is the struggle between integrity (the maintenance of ego- identity) and despair (the surrender of hope).  The struggle between integrity and despair may produce wisdom(the basic strength of old age), but it may also lead to disdain (a core pathology marked by feelings of being finished or helpless).  As Erikson himself aged, he and his wife began to describe a ninth stage—a period of very old agewhen physical and mental infirmities rob people of their generative abilities and reduce them to waiting for death.  Joan, especially, was interested in this ninth stage as she watched her husband's health rapidly deteriorate during the last few years of his life ANAL - URETHRAL - MUSCULAR MODE  During the 2nd year of life, children’s primary psychosexual adjustment is the anal-urethral- muscular mode  At this time children learn to control their body, especially in relation to cleanliness and mobility.  Early childhood is a time of contradiction, a time of stubborn rebellion and meek compliance, a time of impulsive self-expression and compulsive deviance, a time of loving cooperation and hateful resistance.  This obstinate insistence on conflicting impulses triggers the major crisis of early childhood. ERIKSON’S METHOD OF INVESTIGATION ANTHROPOLOGICAL  To show that early childhood training was consistent with this strong cultural value  Sioux Nation of South Dakota  Yurok Nation of northern California  Both studies demonstrated his notion that culture and history help shape personality PSYCHOHISTORY  Combination of the methods of psychoanalysis and historical research to study personality  Including Martin Luther and Gandhi  in both cases, the central figure experienced an identity crisis that produced a basic strength rather than a core pathology CRITIQUE OF ERICKSON ERICKSON’S THEORY IS:  High on Generating Research, and Internal Consistency  Moderate on Organizing Knowledge, Falsifiable, Guiding Action, and Parsimony CONCEPT OF HUMANITY  Determinism over Free Choice  Optimism over Pessimism  Cause over Teleology  Unconscious and Conscious Is Influenced by Stage with Unconscious Dominating Early Life and Conscious Later  culture over biology  uniqueness over similarity FROMM OVERVIEW  Erich Fromm's humanistic psychoanalysis looks at people from many perspectives, including psychology, history, and anthropology  Although Fromm was influenced by both Freud and Horney, his theory is much broader than Horney's and much more socially oriented than Freud's.  People Have Lost Their Connection with Nature and One Another  This Separation from the Natural World Has Resulted in  Basic anxiety characterized by loneliness and isolation  The cost of freedom has exceeded its benefits BIOGRAPHY  Born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1900  Only child of orthodox Jewish parents  Suicide of young woman artist troubled him in his youth  Influenced by writings of Freud and Marx in his adolescence  Received his PhD in sociology in 1920s  Fromm began studying psychoanalysis in 1925 and was eventually analyzed by Hanns Sachs (a student of Freud)  Founded South German Institute for Psychoanalysis in 1930  In 1934, Fromm moved to the U.S. and began a psychoanalytic practice in New York  His books gained him a worldwide reputation beyond psychology and psychoanalysis  Died in Switzerland in 1980 FROMM’S BASIC ASSUMPTION  Personality can only be understood in the light of history.  Humans have been “torn away” from their prehistoric union with nature and left with no powerful instincts to adapt to a changing world.  Human Dilemma – humans have acquired the ability to reason about their isolated conditions which means they can think/be aware about their isolated condition  Human ability to reason is both a blessing and a curse THREE DICHOTOMIES LIFE AND DEATH  We react to this by saying there is afterlife  We can complete Self-realization yet we cannot reach this goal because “life is too short”  We react by assuming that our own historical period is humanity’s crowning glory  We are ultimately alone yet we cannot tolerate isolation  We react by uniting with fellow human beings HUMAN NEEDS  Our human dilemma cannot be solved by satisfying our animal needs, but it can only be addressed by fulfilling our human needs, which would move us toward a reunification with the natural world.  Fromm also referred to these distinctively human needs as existential needs  Grew out of our attempt to find answers to existence  Healthy individuals are better able to find ways of reuniting to the world by productively solving the human needs  RELATEDNESS - Drive for union with another person(s) THREE BASIC WAYS TO RELATE TO WORLD: 1. SUBMISSION - Becoming part of somebody bigger than yourself (e.g. religion, gangs) 2. POWER - DOMINATION 3. LOVE - union with somebody yet you retain separateness and integrity of one’s self. However, Love is the only relatedness need that can solve our basic human dilemma WHAT IS LOVE?  union with somebody, or something, outside oneself under the condition of retaining the separateness and integrity of one’s own self” (Fromm, 1981, p.3)  When two people become one yet remain two (Feist & Feist, 2009) Transcendence  Urge to rise above a passive and accidental existence and into “the realm of purposefulness and freedom  Being thrown into the world without their consent, humans have the need to rise above their passive and accidental existence.  People transcend their nature by destroying or creating people or things.  We can create art, religions, ideas, laws, materials, love.  Humans also use Malignant Aggression- killing for other reasons other than survival.  Humans can destroy through malignant aggression but they can also create and care about their creations. Rootedness  the need to establish roots and to feel at home again in the world  Like the other existential needs, rootedness can take either a productive or a nonproductive mode.  With the productive strategy we grow beyond the security of our mother and establish ties with the outside world.  With the nonproductive strategy, we become fixated and afraid to move beyond the security and safety of our mother or a mother substitute. Sense of Identity  an awareness of ourselves as a separate person.  Because we have been torn away from nature, we need to form a concept of our self, to be able to say, “I am I,” or “I am the subject of my actions.”  The fourth human need is for a sense of identity, or The drive for a sense of identity is expressed nonproductivelyas conformity to a group and productively as individuality. Frame of Orientation  road map or consistent philosophy by which we find our way through the world.  Being split off from nature, humans need a road map to make their way through the world  This need is expressed nonproductively as a striving for irrational goals and productively as movement toward rational goals  Allows us to have a consistent way of looking at things  Gives us a sense of single direction SUMMARY OF HUMAN NEEDS  People are highly motivated to satisfy the five existential, or human needs because if they are unsatisfied in these needs, they are driven to insanity  Each of the needs has both a positive and a negativecomponent, but only the satisfaction of positive needs leads to (positive) psychological health  These needs have evolved from humans’existence as a separate species.  Aimed at moving them toward a reunification with the natural world. BURDEN OF FREEDOM  As the only animal possessing self-awareness, humans are the “freaks of the universe”  People Attempt to Escape from Freedom in a Variety of Ways  Historically, as people gained more political freedom, they began to experience more isolation from others and from the world and to feel free from the security of a permanent place in the world.  As a result, freedom becomes a burden, and people experience basic anxiety- a feeling of being alone in the world. Mechanisms of Escape  To flee from this sense of freedom, people may adopt one of three mechanisms of escape. 1. Authoritarianism: The tendency to give up one's independence and to unite with a powerful partner  Can take the form of either masochism or sadism  Masochism stems from feelings of powerlessness and can be disguised as love or loyalty (not authentic)  Sadism involves attempts to achieve unity through dominating, exploiting, or hurting others 2. Destructiveness: Results from feelings of isolation, an escape mechanism that is aimed at doing away with other people or things. 3. Conformity: Surrendering of one's individuality in order to meet the wishes of others.  Like robots, seldom express opinions, stiff and automated POSITIVE FREEDOM  Positive freedom is the spontaneous activity of the whole, integrated personality, which is achieved when a person becomes reunited with others and with the world.  It is the successful solution to the human dilemma of being part of the natural world and yet separate from it.  Love and Work are the two integral components. CHARACTER ORIENTATIONS  Relatively Permanent Ways of Relating to the World  Character- “the relatively permanent system of all noninstinctual strivings through which man relates himself to the human and natural world”  MAKES YOU UNIQUE People relate to the world by: 1. ASSIMILATION - Acquiring and using things 2. SOCIALIZATION - And by relating to self and others (PRODUCTIVELY OR NON) NONPRODUCTIVE ORIENTATIONS  The nonproductive strategies are those that fail to move people closer to positive freedom and self-realization 1. RECEPTIVE  People who rely on the receptive orientation believe that the source of all good lies outside themselves and that the only way they can relate to the world is to receive things, including love, knowledge, and materials  Positive qualities include loyalty and trust; negative ones are passivity and submissiveness. 2. EXPLOITATIVE  People with an exploitative orientation also believe that the source of good lies outside themselves, but they aggressively take what they want rather than passively receiving it.  Positive qualities of exploitative people include pride and self-confidence; negative ones are arrogance and conceit. 3. HOARDING  Hoarding characters try to save what they have already obtained, including their opinions, feelings, and material possessions  Positive qualities include loyalty, negative ones are obsessiveness and possessiveness 4. MARKETING  People with a marketing orientation see themselves as commodities and value themselves against the criterion of their ability to sell themselves.  They have fewer positive qualities than the other orientations, because they are essentially empty. However, they can be open-minded and adaptable, as well as opportunistic and wasteful. THE PRODUCTIVE ORIENTATION  Psychologically healthy people work toward positive freedom through productive work, love, and thoughts (reasoning)  Productive love necessitates a passionate love of all life and is called biophilia.  Their survival as healthy individuals depends on their ability to receive things from other people, to take things when appropriate, to preserve things, to exchange things, and to work, love, and think productively. PERSONALITY DISODERS  Unhealthy people are characterized by failure to work, think, and especially to love productively. Fromm recognized three major personality disorders: necrophilia, malignant narcissism, and incestuous symbiosis.  Disturbed individuals are Incapable of love and fail to establish union with others. 1. NECROPHILIA  Focus of attention is death and entails a hatred of humanity. E.g. Racists, bullies 2. MALIGNANT NARCISSISM  Belief that everything one owns is of great value while anything belonging to others is worthless 3. INCESTUOUS SYMBIOSIS  Extreme dependence on one’s mother to the extent that one’s personality is blended with that of the host person. Exaggerated form of mother fixation  Fromm believed that a few people, such as Hitler, possessed all three of these disorders, a condition he termed the syndrome of decay. PSYCHOTHERAPY  Concerned with interpersonal aspects of therapeutic encounter  Aim of therapy is self-knowledge for the patient  The therapist tries to help the patient through shared communication in which the therapist is simply a human being. Goal of Fromm’s psychotherapy:  Work toward satisfaction of the basic human needs of relatedness, transcendence, rootedness, a sense of identity, and a frame of orientation. METHODS OF INVESTIGATION Social Character in a Mexican Village  Study of social character in an isolated farming village in Mexico  Found evidence of all character orientations except the marketing one A Psychohistorical Study of Hitler  Applied the techniques of psychohistory to study Hitler, the conspicuous example of someone with the syndrome of decay  Fromm traces and describes Hitler’s necrophilia, malignant narcissism, and incestuous symbiosis RELATED RESEARCH  Fromm’s Ideas have Produced Very Little Research  Estrangement from Culture and Well-being  Bernard et al. (2009)  The more discrepant a person’s values are from society, the more estranged the person feels  Estrangement increases anxiety and depression  The Burden of Freedom and Political Persuasions  Block & Block (2009)  Personality type, even when measured at a very young age, is powerfully predictive; in this study, it predicted preschoolers’adult political belief  Easily offended, indecisive, fearful, and rigid preschoolers were more likely to be politically conservative in their 20s  Self-reliant, energetic, somewhat dominating, relatively under-controlled preschoolers were more likely to be politically liberal in their 20s CRITIQUE OF FROMM  Fromm evolved a theory that provide insightful ways of looking at humanity.  The strength of his theory is his lucid writings on a broad range of human issues  As a scientific theory, however, Fromm's assumptions rate very low on their ability to generate research and to lend themselves to falsification; Fromm rates low on usefulness to the practitioner, internal consistency, and parsimony  Because it is quite broad in scope, Fromm's theory rates high on organizing existing knowledge Fromm’s Theory Is:  High on Organizing Knowledge  Low on Guiding Action, Internal Consistency, and Parsimony  Very Low on Generating Research and Falsifiability CONCEPT OF HUMANITY  Fromm's concept of humanity came from a rich variety of sources—history, anthropology, economics, and clinical work.  Because humans have the ability to reason but few strong instincts, they are the freaks of nature.  To achieve self-actualization, they must satisfy their human, or existential, needs through productive love and work  Equal Weight Given to Unconscious and Conscious, Free Choice and Determinism, and Pessimism and Optimism  Uniqueness Emphasized over Similarities  Teleology over Causality  Social Influences over Biology