Defense Mechanisms & Psychosexual Stages PDF

DEFENSE MECHANISMS & PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES Mary Rose Gatt Clinical Psychologist  Overview of Personality Development Learning of new ways to reduce tension. Defense mechanisms help us reduce tensions  Two processes that support personality develop...

DEFENSE MECHANISMS & PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES Mary Rose Gatt Clinical Psychologist  Overview of Personality Development Learning of new ways to reduce tension. Defense mechanisms help us reduce tensions  Two processes that support personality development 1. IDENTIFICATION – the internalisation of behaviours observed in others. 2. DISPLACEMENT – transferring negative feeling from one thing to another. Both are defense mechanisms.  Displacements that produce social and cultural achievements are known as: Sublimations*. this is transferring energy into something useful * a defense mechanism. Ex: Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings of the Madonna were the sublimated expression of his longing for intimacy with his mother from whom he was separated when very young (Hall & Lindzay, 1998). Ex: Studying or Sports – channeling our energy itno something constructive. DEFENSE MECHANISMS Mental processes that have as their goal the reduction of anxiety. Protect us from feeling overwhelmed / source of threat. They operate unconsciously and deny/distort reality.  Defense Mechanisms... Why are they important? Functional aspect: Infant’s ego would be too weak to cope with the inner tension. they often persist over time, especially when individuals use them repeatedly to cope with stress or anxiety. Dysfunctional: Prolonged and excessive use, might hinder the ego from gaining sufficient strength for it to grow – i.e. Ego remains weak! Ultimately the goal is to develop a strong Ego that can cope with threats!  Repression Repression: act of forcing awareness of memories, thoughts and ideas that arouse anxiety. Residues of repressed material may come up in a diguised form. Ex dreams, slip of the tounge etc... When repression is not being effective enough, other defense mechanisms are deployed.  Projection Attributing to others what you do not acccept about yourself. Transforming neurotic/moral anxiety (internal) to anxiety external to us (easier to deal with) May also enable a person to express threatening impulses under the guise of self-defense. Ex You do not like your boss but your superego elicts anxiety because it tells you that its unacceptable not to like the boss. Therefore, you convince yourself that the boss does not like you.  When we adopt attitudes and behaviours that are Reaction Formation opposite to our true thoughts and feelings. Hiding thoughts and feelings that arouse anxiety. Ex: Killing someone with kindness Ex: Heterosexual judges being more leniant in their sentences with homosexual individuals (Shaffer and Case as cited in Baumeister, Dale and Sommer, 1998).  Regression Reverting to immature patterns of behaviors pertaining to an earlier stage of development. Its when retreat under stress to an earlier stage of development, during which others were available to help. Why? – To get help in facing a challenging event. Ex: After a fight with her husband that leads to a talk of divorce, a young woman returns to her parents’ home, where she allows her parents to baby her and cater for every whim. Denial Blocking external events from awareness. Ex: A person that denies/pretends h/she does not suffer from diabetes and continues indulging with sweets. Ex: A person who denies facts suggesting partner is being unfaithful.  RATIONALISATION Reasoning out / Justifying things Distorting truth that we do not like through the use of logic/reason Ex: I could have won the race but my running shoes were hurting me (larger truth: someone else was faster!)  The Stages of Personality Development First few years decisive in the formation of personality Freud believed that the basis/essence of personality developed in the first 12 years of life. From birth upto 5-6 years we go through the following stages: ORAL ANAL PHALLIC From 6 years upto 12 years: LATENCY stage – impulses tend to be repressed GENITAL stage at 12 years: reactivation of impulses, as things quite down person moves in this stage of maturity.  ORAL STAGE 0-1 year Infant is practically all id and cannot initially distinguish between self and the environment. Infant is controlled by biological impulses and is basically selfish. The focus of pleasurable sensations/sexual impulses during this stage is the mouth. Pleasurable sensations occur as the infant incoprorates food and water/milk  ORAL STAGE 0-1 year The theme in the first of year of life is eating, an activity that stimulates the lips, mouth and throat. When the teeth appear, biting and chewing are added. These two modes of activity – incoporating and biting food are the prototypes for later character traits. Oral incoprorating: acquiring knowledge or collecting things means a habit of gathering things, like collecting stuff or learning a lot, as if "taking them in." Oral aggression: heavy use of sarcasm or argumentativeness. means being sharp with words, like teasing, arguing, or being sarcastic, as a way to deal with frustration.  ORAL STAGE 0-1 year Characterised by feelings of dependency – Baby relies totally on others for survival – care and protection. Developmental Task: Moving from infantile dependency toward self-sufficiency on the basis of the core event (i.e. feeding) in the first year of life. Dependency feelings tend to persist to some degree in most of us, arising in later life whenever we feel anxious or insecure.  ORAL STAGE 0-1 year Parental behaviour is crucial in determining whether or not the infant will experience personal difficulties later in life. overly dependent Over indulgence of the infant’s needs Underindulgence – mother resents nursing and weans baby abruptly, a portion of the libidinal energy available to the individual becomes fixated around this conflict, while the remaining energy flows through to the next stage. feelings of insecurity Oral stage fixation: Passive, gullible, immature and manipulative personality. ANAL STAGE 1 – 2 years Pleasurable sensations are focused on the anal cavity. Chief pleasure of the child involves retention or expulsion of the feces. Ego processes are being differentiated from the ID and the child begins to assert his or her independence. This does not however involve rational decision making in which the child weights the conflicting evidence and comes to reasonable conclusions. It is a negativistsic independence where the child rejects out of hand, whatever is being offered by the parents. It is the time where ‘no’ is to go to response of the child. ANAL STAGE 1 – 2 years Toilet training is a central activity. Children can resist parental demands to control feces and urine by acting in socially unacceptable ways. They may refuse to expel feces despite their parents’ insistence or they may wet their pants frequently. Depending on parental attitudes and methods this training may have far-reaching effects. Ex: if parents are overly strict, the child may rebel and hold back its feces, becoming constipated. Later in life this is characterised by stinginess and stubborness (anal retentiveness). OR the child may vent its rage buy expelliong feces at inappropriate times, later showing traits like orderliness, destructiveness or cruelty (anal expulsiveness) ANAL STAGE 1 – 2 years Core theme: Child learns that h/she cannot rely/depend on the parent and some things are to be done independently. Developmental Task: Learning to exercise control over our body and impulses - Postpone the pleasure of relieving anal tension. Parental attitudes: Helps child distinguish between wrong and right actions through rewards and punishment.  PHALLIC STAGE 2-5/6 years Sexual tension is focused on the genital area. Both boys and girls derive pleasure from self-manipulation. For boys the sexual tension in this stage involves a longing for sexual contact with the mother. They seek affection and love from the mother. The child is increasingly aware that there is a sexual relationship between his parents and that the father is his rival. But the father is bigger and stronger physically and the boy is fearful that he will be punished for his desires – specificaly that his penis will be cut off. Child alleviates this castration anxiety through identification with the father. Developmental task: Mastering competitive urges and acquiring gender role related behaviours.  PHALLIC STAGE 2-5/6 years Sexual tension is focused on the genital area. Both boys and girls derive pleasure from self-manipulation. For boys the sexual tension in this stage involves a longing for sexual contact with the mother. They seek affection and love from the mother. The child is increasingly aware that there is a sexual relationship between his parents and that the father is his rival. But the father is bigger and stronger physically and the boy is fearful that he will be punished for his desires – specificaly that his penis will be cut off. Child alleviates this castration anxiety through identification with the father. Sexual desire is shunted into more socially acceptable channels  Phallic Stage Oedipus Complex Core theme: Oedipus Complex accompanied by castration anxiety (boys) and Electra Complex characterised by penis envy (girls) Sexual attraction toward the parent of the opposite sex aggressive behavior or attitudes - sees them as rival Hostility toward same-sex parent Resolultion through identification with the same sex parent  Phallic Stage Oedipus Complex: Castration Anxiety Castration anxiety: Forces boys to repress both desire for his mother and his hostility toward his father. How? Identification with his rival – father. Repression: Of sexual attraction toward the mother) and transformed into affection.  Phallic Stage Electra Complex: Penis Envy The girl’s belief that she has already been castrated leads her into the oedipus complex. The girl’s blames mother for not having a penis – Resentment toward mother Girl chooses her father as a sexual object because he has a penis she wants and hopes to share it with him. Resolved through: Repression – of sexual feelings toward father Displacement of sexual feelings toward father to other men. Identifcation with mother  Electra Complex The superego is an outgrowth of the resolution of the oedipus complex as the child takes on the values of his parents and their attitudes toward society. Boys superego tends to be stronger than the females according to Freud. The conflict process ofor females is very different. Freud argued that girls try to compensate for the deficiency of a penis by emulationg boys and by mastirubating their “stunted penis” (clitoris). For girls, although the mother is their first love object, they come to resent her for bringing them into this world without a penis and begin to love the father because they have the desired object. They then identify with the mother as a means of vicauriously obtaining the desired object. Freud believed that girls have a weak superego, little sense of objectivity and justice.  Oedipus & Electra Complex Freud was heavily criticised. In some cultures, the resentment of the boy toward the father is based on the father’s powerful position in the family and not on sexual jealousy. Feminist protest Freud’s chauvinistic outlook toward women – an attitude common to the strongly patriarchical society in which lived. Viennese women at the time where second class citizens. Karen Horney: What normal women actually envy is the status of men and the psychological and physical rewards associated with it.  LATENCY STAGE 5/6 – 12 years Sexual development is assumed to be at a standstill i.e. Repression of the child’s sexual longings (stems from fear of parental retaliation) A person’s characteristic way of behaving are established during the first five years of life and radical persopnality change is exteremely difficult. Developmental Task: Investing energy in pursuits unrelated to sexual pleasure Ex: School, friendships, hobbies etc... Child develops capacity of sublimation Consolidates gender-role identity  GENITAL STAGE 12 years and carries through adolescence onward. With advent of puberty, sexual tension increases dramatically. Previously the aims of the sexual instincts have been predominantly autoerotic but now the goal is to mate with an appropriate sex object. This depends on the amount of libidinal energy available to the person. If there have been no severe traumatic experiences in early childhood, with corresponding libido fixations, an adequate adjustement to the developmental task of this phase is possible.  GENITAL STAGE 12 years and carries through adolescence onward. For Freud the normal person is one who is able to love and work. What happened in the early stages will influence the capacity of a person to love and work – To love one must be secure in one’s identity, generous, caring, compromsing, trusting empathic etc... To be able to work one must be responsible, dependable, motivated, persistent, ambitious etc...  GENITAL STAGE 12 years and carries through adolescence onward. Loving others for altruistic motives As we participate in group activities, prepare for work, relationships and raising a family, we become transformed from pleasure-seeking , self-centred infants into reality-oriented socialised adults. Developmental Task: Total self interest → concern for others. (Mature sexuality blended with intimacy)  Process... How we go through each stage is important. Parents must allow balanced gratification at each stage. Not too punitive but not totally permissive. If we experience trauma or excessive gratification at each stage we invest a lot of energy in that stage and can become stuck.  FIXATIONS ID energy trapped in a stage. Develop persistent behaviours that are typical of the stage that affected us.  FIXATIONS Oral character – persons who are fixated at the oral stage have problems later in life that are related primarily to receiving or taking things from the external world. Oral receptive character – result of over-indulgence – person becomes habituated at receiving support and encouragement from others and thus is excessively dependent on others for gratification. Such people tend to be too trusting, accepting and gullible. They admire strength and leadership in others but make little attempt to fend for themselves. Their gratification is derived from what others do for them and not from what they accomplish.  FIXATIONS uses biting humor - sarcastic and sharp Oral aggressive character – underindulgence/severely frustrate the needs of the infant. Person learns to exploit others and may develop sadistic attitudes. Tend to envy others and try, through the use of manipulative strategies to dominate them.  Anal Eroticism: Pleasure or focus on control during early toilet training. Anal-Retentive: Personality trait of being neat and controlling FIXATIONS (strict training). Anal-Expulsive: Personality trait of being messy and rebellious (lenient training). Anal character Erotic means relating to or arousing sexual desire or excitement. Anal eroticism – if the parents are highly punitive and demanding children may decide to defiantly keep their prized possessions from their parents. Later character traits include stubbornness, defiance, and resistance to control by others (anal retentive). Overly conscientious, rigid, fiercely independent, and persistent in the performance of even the most trivial duties. Frugal and stingy with regards to possession and money. The trait of orderliness is reflected in their need to live by routine. Meticulous, perfectionistic and sticklers for precision.  FIXATIONS Phallic character – stems from inadequate resolution of the Oedipus/Electra Complex. In males it is a reaction to severe castration anxiety – They behave in a reckless, resolute and self-assured manner. Overvaluing of the penis is reflected in excessive vanity and exhibitionism. Such males have to prove that they are real men by repeated conquests of women. For women, the primary motive is penis envy. Consequently, they are continuously striving for superiority over men. Such women are considered to be castrating females.  FIXATIONS Genital character – the ideal type. Such people are sexually mature and capable of organism – their libidinal energies are not longer dammed up because they have found appropriate love objects. In Freud’s view they key to happiness is the ability to love and be loved. Sexual love is one aspect of intimacy that provides us with happiness and joy. Although intimacy is central to happiness it makes us vulnerable to rejection and to the eventual loss of the loved one. Freud believe that love needs to be pursued nonetheless. Genital characters are also capable of sublimating their id impulses by expressing them in the form of creative and productive work.  Sources used Dumitrescu, C. (2020) Freduian defence mechanisms. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339569789_Freudian_defence_mechanisms Hall, C. S., Lindsey, G., & Campbell, J. B. (1998). An introduction to theories of personality. New York: J. Wiley & Sons. Baumeister, R.F., Dale, K. & Sommer, K.L. (1998). Freudian Defence Mechanisms and Empirical Findings in Modern Social Psychology: Reaction Formation, Projection, Displacement, Undoing, Isolation, Sublimation, and Denial. Journal of Personality. 66(6), 1085-1092 Bornstein, R., Maracic, C. E., & Natoli, A. P. (2018). The psychodynamic perspective. In, The Sage Handbook of Personality and Individual Differences: Volume 1: The science and personality and individual differences. Retreived from: http://sk.sagepub.com/reference/the-sage- handbook-of-personality-and-individual-differences/i656.xml Ryckman, R. M. (2004). Theories of personality. Australia: Thomson Wadsworth.