Sigmund Freud: Psychoanalysis PDF

Sigmund Freud: Psychoanalysis Background of Freud believed that medical studies would lead to a career in scientific research which Name: Sigismund (Sigmund) Freud...

Sigmund Freud: Psychoanalysis Background of Freud believed that medical studies would lead to a career in scientific research which Name: Sigismund (Sigmund) Freud might bring the fame he fervently desired. Born: May 6, 1856 He entered the University of Vienna Birthplace: Freiberg, Moravia which is Medical School with no intention of now part of the Czech Republic. practicing medicine. Father: Jacob Freud  While in medical school, Freud also Mother: Amalia Natahnson (Freud) began to experiment with cocaine. He Wife: Martha Bernays became highly enthusiastic about the Children: 6 (Mathilde, Jean-Martin, substance, calling it a miracle drug and Oliver, Ernst, Sophie, and Anna) a magical substance that would cure many ills and be the means of securing  Anna Freud follows the footsteps of the recognition he craved. But then his father, contributed to Freud was strongly criticized for his psychoanalysis and defense part in unleashing the cocaine plague. mechanism of his father. Cause of death: developed Euthanasia (cancer of the jaw) and dies 16 years after  In 1885, he studied in Paris with the (September 23, 1939) famous French neurologist Jean- Martin Charcot, from whom he learned the hypnotic technique for  When he was 4, they transfered to treating hysteria (a disorder typically Vienna Austria that is why his characterized by paralysis or the nationality is an Austrian improper functioning of certain parts of  He is the eldest of 8 siblings, he doesn’t the body). Through hypnosis, Freud have a good relationship toward his became convinced of a psychogenic and siblings, including his father. sexual origin of hysterical symptoms.  He did, however, enjoy a warm, indulgent relationship with his mother,  He then developed a close professional leading him in later years to observe that association and a personal friendship the mother/son relationship was the with Josef Breuer, a well-known most perfect, which soon used this Viennese physician, a man of experience to the concept of Oedipus considerable scientific reputation. Complex. Breuer taught Freud about catharsis  He finished his college degree at 17 (the process of removing hysterical years old. Freud was drawn into symptoms through “talking them out"). medicine, not because he loved medical While using catharsis, Freud gradually practice, but because he was intensely and laboriously discovered the free curious about human nature. He also association technique, which soon  replaced hypnosis as his principal He also possessed intense intellectual therapeutic technique. curiosity; unusual moral courage; extremely ambivalent feelings toward  At about the time Studies on Hysteria his father and other father figures; a was published (where the term tendency to hold grudges psychical analysis or pscyho-analysis disproportionate to the alleged offense; was introduced), Freud and Breuer had a burning ambition, especially during a professional disagreement and his earlier years; strong feelings of became estranged personally. Freud isolation even while surrounded by then turned to his friend Wilhelm many followers; and an intense and Fliess, a Berlin physician who served as somewhat irrational dislike of America a sounding board for Freud’s newly and Americans. developing ideas. Freud’s letters to Fliess (Freud, 1985) constitute a  Anna Freud firsthand account of the beginnings of - daughter of Freud who is also one of psychoanalysis and reveal the the most influential psychologists in embryonic stage of Freudian theory. the field of psychoanalysis. - the only one of Freud’s children to follow his path.  Freud's greatest work was the - she only worked with children Interpretation of Dreams. He also - revised orthodox psychoanalysis by wrote other works that helped solidify expanding the role of the ego, arguing the foundation of psychoanalysis: On that the ego operates independently of Dreams, Psychopathology of the id. Everyday Life, Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, and Jokes and It is a paradox that Freud, who emphasized Their Relation to the Unconscious. the importance of sex in emotional life, experienced so many personal sexual  In 1910, Freud and his followers conflicts. His attitude toward sex was founded the International negative. Freud blamed his wife, Martha, Psychoanalytic Association with Carl for the termination of his sex life because Jung of Zürich as president. To pass the she became pregnant so early and refused time during their travels, Freud and to engage in any kind of sexual activity. Jung interpreted each other’s dreams, a potentially explosive practice that Freud then developed a cancer of the jaw eventually led to the end of their and by y late September 1939, Max Schur relationship in 1913. administered three injections of morphine  Freud was a sensitive, passionate person over the next 24 hours, each dose greater who had the capacity for intimate, than necessary for sedation, and brought almost secretive friendships. Most of Freud’s long years of pain to an end. these deeply emotional relationships came to an unhappy end, and Freud often felt persecuted by his former friends and regarded them as enemies. Psychoanalysis representation of that physiological need that is the instinct or driving force - Sigmund Freud’s theory of personality that will motivate the person to behave and system of therapy for treating in a way that will satisfy the need mental disorders.  The need of our body would be - (study of) Unconscious forces connected to what is our wish mind - Biologically based drives of sex and wish aggression (instinct)  The instinct is not the bodily state; - Unavoidable conflicts and early rather, it is the bodily need transformed childhood into a mental state, a wish. Freud's findings were based on his and his  They originate from the id, but they patients' experience, his analysis of his own come under the control of the ego. dreams, and his various readings on science and humanities. (When the body is in a state of need, the person experiences a feeling of tension or Freud relied more on deductive reasoning than on rigorous research methods, and made pressure.) observations subjectively and on a relatively AIM: To satisfy the need and thereby small sample of patients, most of whom were reduce the tension. from the upper-middle and upper classes. He did not quantify his data, nor did he make observations under controlled conditions. He utilized the case study approach almost Four Characteristics exclusively, typically formulating hypotheses A drive’s impetus is the amount of force after the facts of the case were known. it exerts (in satisfying that particular need) Its source is the region of the body in a Dynamic of personality state of excitation or tension (what part of the body excites you)(what part of the Instincts body gives you tension) The basic elements of the personality, the Its aim is to seek pleasure by removing motivating forces that drive behavior and that excitation or reducing the tension: determine its direction. Its object is the person or thing that serves Trieb– German term which means a as the means through which the aim is driving force or impulse. satisfied (hunger > food) Instincts are a form of energy—  Freud’s theory can be called a transformed physiological energy—that homeostatic approach insofar as it connects the body’s needs with the mind’s suggests that we are motivated to wishes. restore and maintain a condition of  It connects the bodies need with the physiological equilibrium, or balance, minds wishes to keep the body free of tension.  Need for hunger, in the body it generates a condition of physiological excitation or energy (to satisfy). The mind will transform this bodily energy into a wish. Is this wish the mental Two Categories (Types) of  started when we were infants when Instinct we tend to be self-centered with our needs and attention which are Life instinct – greek term “eros” or sex invested through our libido. – sexual drive  as our ego develops, children usually – not just the sexual act > aim is pleasure give up most of this and are able to develop a greater interest towards A.Life Instinct other people (when we are exposed or The drive for ensuring survival of the when we establish relationships with individual and the individual and the other people), where we transfer our species by satisfying the needs for food, self-centered tendencies to other water, air, and sex. people. Libido Secondary narcissism - is not universal, To Freud, the form of psychic energy, but a moderate degree of self-love is manifested by the life instincts (sex drive), common to nearly every one (it is that drives a person toward pleasurable common) behaviors and thoughts.  During puberty, however, adolescents  The aim of the sexual drive is pleasure, often redirect their libido back to the but this pleasure is not limited to genital ego and become preoccupied with satisfaction. It can be used to other personal appearance and other self- things or activities that an individual do interests. in order for us to experience  It is not bad because you can’t be able satisfaction. to establish or maintain that particular  Besides the genitals, the mouth and anus relationship If you yourself that are especially capable of producing particular self-love or the attention or sexual pleasure and are called the needs that you have for yourself. erogenous zones. 2. Eros is love, which develops when (the aim is pleasure, which is not only people invest their libido on an object or limited to the sexual act. Besides the person other than themselves genitals, there are other parts of the body capable of producing pleasure (called the  Children’s first sexual interest is the erogenous zones). person who cares for them, generally  All pleasurable activity is traceable to the mother. During infancy children of our sexual drive either sex experience sexual love for the  We use libido in all of the activities we mother. (more of an intimate and do passionate love towards the mother). Types of sex When it comes to loving people, we seek people who seems to be an ideal for us or Narcissism – loving oneself is a model of what we would like to 1. Primary narcissism – universal become (narcissistic tendencies of love). narcissism tendency (lahat tayo) on loving our self  Obviously, love and narcissism are closely - destructive drive interrelated. Narcissism involves love of self, - self destructive of destruct other people whereas love is often accompanied by narcissistic tendencies, as when people love Aim: Because the ultimate inorganic someone who serves as an ideal or model of condition is death, the final aim of the what they would like to be. aggressive drive is self-destruction. (can be in forms of inflicting pain to yourself, not caring 3. Sadism is the need for sexual pleasure for your body, having vices, isolating yourself, by inflicting pain or humiliation on etc.) another person. - The individual return to its inorganic - Unhealthy, un-psychological state - one form of sexual disorder - Aggression is flexible and can take a Carried to an extreme, it is considered a sexual number of forms, such as teasing, perversion, but in moderation, sadism is a gossip, sarcasm, humiliation, humor, common need and exists to some extent in all and the enjoyment of other people’s sexual relationships. It is perverted when the suffering. sexual aim of erotic pleasure becomes secondary to the destructive aim. Anxiety 4. Masochism - the need for sexual  A threat to the ego pleasure by accepting or seeking  objectless fears pleasure through pain or suffering or  unwarranted , unpleasant feeling humiliation. - Masochists experience sexual pleasure A feeling of fear and dread without an obvious from suffering pain and humiliation cause: reality anxiety is a fear of tangible inflicted either by themselves or by dangers others. It is a felt, affective, unpleasant state Because masochists can provide self-inflicted accompanied by a physical sensation that warns pain, they do not depend on another person for the person against impending danger. the satisfaction of masochistic needs. In Only the ego can produce or feel anxiety, but contrast, sadists must seek and find another the id, superego, and external world each are person on whom to inflict pain or humiliation. involved in one of three kinds of anxiety— In this respect, they are more dependent than neurotic, moral, and realistic. masochists on other people. The unpleasantness is often vague and hard to B. Death instinct – Thanatos – pinpoint, but the anxiety itself is always felt. aggression, distraction, Death instincts Types of Anxiety The unconscious drive toward decay, destruction, and aggression. The 1. Realistic Anxiety  is closely related to fear. It is de fined as unconscious drive toward decay, destruction, and aggression. an unpleasant, nonspecific feeling involving a possible danger. Aggressive drive For example, we may experience realistic The compulsion to destroy, conquer, and anxiety while driving in heavy, fast-moving kill. traffic in an unfamiliar city, a situation fraught with real, objective danger  However, realistic anxiety is different - to safeguard our mind against feelings from fear in that it does not involve a and thoughts that are too difficult for our specific fearful object. conscious mind to cope with. Two characteristics of defense 2. Neurotic anxiety is defined as mechanisms: apprehension about an unknown danger. a. They are denials or distortions of reality  The feeling itself exists in the ego, but it in some way originates from id impulses. (di alam - Defense mechanisms are not inherently ang source, excessive worry, objectless bad, but excessive use of them could fear) start distorting our reality.  Unsolved baggage, unsolved conflicts, b. They operate unconsciously we go back to that past experience - We are not aware that we use this to  Traumatic experience defend our self from reality. Repression 3. Moral Anxiety - Mother of all defense mechanisms  Moral anxiety results from a conflict between the id and the superego. In - it involves unconscious denial of the essence, it is a fear of one’s conscience. existence of something that causes  Moral anxiety is a function of how well anxiety. developed the superego is. - Most fundamental and frequently used. Moral anxiety, for example, would result from - protects the ego by repressing those sexual temptations if a child believes that impulses; that is, it forces threatening yielding to the temptation would be morally feelings into the unconscious. wrong. It may also result from the failure to behave consistently with what they regard as Denial morally right, for example, failing to care for - denying the existence of an external aging parents. threat or traumatic event. *Anxiety serves as a warning signal to the Reaction Formation person that all is not as it should be within the personality.* - one of the ways in which a repressed impulse may become conscious is through adopting a disguise that is directly Defense Mechanism opposite its original form. - strategies the ego uses to defense against - expressing an id impulse as the opposite anxiety, provoke by conflicts of everyday of the one truly driving the person. life. - involves shifting id impulses from a - invented by the ego in attempt to resolve threatening or unavailable object to a the conflict between the id and superego so substitute object that is available. that personality can operate in a healthy manner. Projection a cultural or social aim. The sublimated - reducing anxiety by attributing the aim is expressed most obviously in unwanted impulse to someone else. creative cultural accomplishments such and is part of all human relationships and - seeing in others unacceptable feelings or all social pursuits. tendencies that actually reside in one’s own unconscious. - an extreme type of projection is paranoia, a mental disorder characterized by Regression powerful delusions of jealousy and - retreating to an earlier, less frustrating persecution. period of life, usually displaying childish Introjection behavior characteristics of that more secure time. - a defense mechanism whereby people incorporate positive qualities of another - person retreats or regresses to an earlier person into their own ego. People introject period of life that was more pleasant and characteristics that they see as valuable free of frustration and anxiety. and that will permit them to feel better - similar to fixated behavior, however they about themselves. are usually temporary while fixations Fixation demand a more or less permanent expenditure of psychic energy. - when the ego resorts to the strategy of remaining at the present, more comfortable Rationalization psychological stage. - involves reinterpreting behavior to make - the permanent attachment of the libido it more acceptable and less threatening to onto an earlier, us. more primitive stage of development. Displacement - involves shifting id impulse from a threatening object or from one that is The Structure and Level of unavailabe to and object that is available Personality - people can redirect their unacceptable  Level of Mental Life urges onto a variety of people or objects so that the original impulse is disguised or a. Conscious - Aware  The conscious, as Freud defined the concealed. term, corresponds to its ordinary Sublimation everyday meaning. It includes all the - helps both the individual and the social sensations and experiences of which we group. are aware at any given moment.  Freud considered the conscious a - involves altering or displacing id limited aspect of personality because impulses by diverting instinctual energy only a small portion of our thoughts, into socially acceptable behaviors. sensations, and memories exists in - is the repression of the genital aim of conscious aware ness at any time. Eros by substituting  are motivated primarily by drives of which they have little or no awareness. b. Preconscious  This is the storehouse of memories, Unconscious processes often enter into perceptions, and thoughts of which we consciousness but only after being are not consciously aware at the disguised or distorted enough to elude moment but that we can easily summon censorship blocking the passage between into consciousness. the unconscious and preconscious and  Recall memories when need preventing undesirable anxiety-producing Ideas can reach consciousness from two memories from entering awareness. different directions. The first is from the Not all unconscious processes, perceptual conscious system, which is turned however, spring from repression of toward the outer world and acts as a medium for childhood events. Freud believed that a the perception of external stimuli. The second portion of our unconscious originates from source of conscious elements is from within the mental structure and includes nonthreatening the experiences of our early ancestors that ideas from the preconscious as well as have been passed on to us through menacing but well-disguised images from the hundreds of generations of repetition. He unconscious. called these inherited unconscious images our phylogenetic endowment. c. Unconscious – Major role on the study of personality  Structure/Providence of the  Larger invisible portion of the structure Mind that is why it is difficult to retrieve the a. Id – govern by pleasure materials we want to recall. - das Es or It  The unconscious contains all those - Beyond our awareness and control drives, urges, or instincts that are beyond our awareness but that - To Freud, the aspect of personality nevertheless motivate most of our allied with the instincts; the source of words, feelings, and actions. Although psychic energy, the id operates we may be conscious of our overt. according to the pleasure principle. To Freud, the aspect of personality allied - vast (which is why it is difficult to with the instincts; the source of psychic retrieve the materials you wish to recall), energy, the id operates according to the dark depths are the home to your instincts, pleasure principle. wishes, and desires that will direct your behavior. Pleasure principle - the explanation for the meaning behind The principle by which the id functions to dreams, slips of avoid pain and maximize pleasure. the tongue, and certain kinds of forgetting, Primary-process thought called repression. Childlike thinking by which the id Freud’s greatest contribution to attempts to satisfy the instinctual drives. personality theory is his exploration of the The id strives for immediate satisfaction of its unconscious and his insistence that people needs and does not tolerate delay or postponement of satisfaction for any reason. It parental and societal values and knows only instant gratification; it drives us to standards. want what we want when we want it, without regard for what anyone else wants. The id is a Conscience selfish, pleasure-seeking structure, primitive, - A component of the superego that amoral, insistent, and rash. contains behaviors for which the child has been punished. b. Ego - the rational master of the Ego ideal personality. - A component of the superego that - das Ich or I contains the moral or ideal behaviors for - To Freud, the rational aspect of the which a person should strive. personality, responsible for directing - located at the middle and controlling the instincts according - governed by the moral principle (by our to the reality principle. conscience, what is right from wrong) - The ego thus exerts control over the id - our moral and ethical standards impulses. - unlike the go, its purpose is to inhibit the - Its purpose is not to thwart the impulses pleasure-seeking demands of the id of the id but to help the id obtain the completely. tension reduction it craves. - Because it is aware of reality, the ego decides when and how the id instincts can best be satisfied. It determines appropriate and socially acceptable times, places, and objects that will satisfy the id impulses. Reality principle The principle by which the ego functions to provide appropriate constraints on the expression of the id instincts. The ego does not prevent id satisfaction. Rather, it tries to postpone, delay, or redirect it in terms of the demands of reality. Secondary-process thought Mature thought processes needed to deal rationally with the external world. c. Superego – moral - das Uber-Ich or over-I - To Freud, the moral aspect of personality; the internalization of 9 For the first person, the id dominates a weak ego and a feeble superego, preventing the ego from counterbalancing its incessant demands of the id and leaving the person nearly constantly striving for plea sure regardless of what is possible or proper. The second person, with strong feelings of either guilt or inferiority and a weak ego, will experience many conflicts because the ego cannot arbitrate the strong but opposing demands of the superego and the id. The third person, with a strong ego that has incorporated many of the demands of both the id and the superego, is psychologically healthy and in control of both the pleasure principle and the moralistic principle  - if the child is not able to successfully PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES OF resolve their sexual urges, then the child DEVELOPMENT will not be able to move onto the next stage. The first 5 years of life are the most crucial for personality formation. 2. Anal stage - age range is 18-36 months (1 and a half We go through 5 stages of to 3 years old) psychosexual stages of development, where each stage of development, we - erogenous zone is the anus/anal region, experience pleasure in one part of the body with the realization that defacating is then the others (erogenous zones). considered to be pleasurable Our adult personality is determined - begins when the child is just began toilet now by the way we resolved conflicts training between the early sources of our pleasure - the recurring theme here is self-control and the demands of reality. - there are two things that can go wrong: Erogenous zones too much control and too little control that - are parts of the body that have especially can both lead to the fixation on the anal strong pleasuregiving qualities at stage. particular stages of development such as mouth, anus, breast, 3. Phallic stage neck, legs and genitals - from 3 – 6 years Fixation - erogenous zones are the genitals (penis - it is the psychoanalytic defense and vagina). mechanism that occurs when the - the most intricate out of the five stages individual remains locked in earlier because the erogenous zone shifts from the psychosexual stage because needs are anus to the genitals. under-gratified or over-gratified. - he developed this theory from the male perspective. 1. Oral stage - males have the potential to develop the - 0-18 months (1 and a half years) oedipus complex (where males are - erogenous zone is the mouth sexually intrigued by their mothers and are jealous by their father's intrusion) while - infants often obtain life-sustaining electra complex for females. nourishment through oral activity, so it ultimately develops a sense of comfort - when an individual is fixated to this through oral stimulation. A child however stage, it can lead to a difficulty with must be able to learn how to be less authority figures and a tendency to have dependent on caretakers as they grow trouble with loving relationships (ex. older. cheating, being unsatisfied as they keep looking for that motherly or fatherly love). - fixation in this stage may result in issues with dependency and aggression. Oedipus complex *Penis for Freud is considered to be a symbol of power. - the term is taken from the Greek tragedy by Sophocles in which Oedipus, King of Thebes, is destined by CYCLE OF THE ELECTRA fate to kill his father and marry his mother. COMPLEX: 1. Girl desires her father. Castration anxiety 2. Realizes she does not have a penis and - fear of losing the penis develops penis envy. - begins after a young boy becomes aware 3. Blames her mother for her castrated. of the absence of a penis on girls where he concludes that the little girl has been 4. Eventually she represses feelings and punished by having her penis removed identifies with her mother. because she masturbated or because she 5. She will go on to find a man who can seduced her mother. satisfy her needs later in life. Electra complex - penis envy is often expressed as a wish to 4. Latency stage be a boy or a desire to have a man. Then - 6-13 years old it is carried over into a wish to have a - dormant libido, there is no erogenous baby, and eventually it may find zone expression in the act of giving birth to a baby, especially a boy. - the libido of children is transferred to school activities, playing with friends, etc. - the name and notion were derived from another story by Sophocles in which - vital to a person's exploration to Electra persuades her brother to kill their academic pursuits and activities that are mother, whom she hated. not sexually oriented. - brought about partly by parents’ attempts to punish or discourage sexual activity in CYCLE OF THE OEDUPUS their young children and may also have COMPLEX: roots in our phylogenetic endowment. 1. Boys begin to have unconscious sexual desires for their mother. 5. Genital stage 2. They want to get rid of the father who is - age range puberty onwards seen as a rival. - erogenous zones are the genitals 3. They fear their father knows their plan and develop castration anxiety. - puberty will signal the reawakening of your sexual aim that has been rooted 4. Eventually, they repress these feelings during the phallic stage (as if a and identify with their father. continuation of the phallic stage) 5. They will go on to find women who can - having the desire to be in a relationship satisfy their needs later in life. with other people (except with parents which differentiates it from the phallic Anal stage) a. anal retentive - reproduction is now possible - too harsh, rigid and obsessively - the entire sexual drive takes on a more organized complete organization - tidiness, obsessive, perfectionist - Stubborn and stingy Psychologically mature individuals - such a person hoards or retains things - people would have a balance among the - person is likely to be rigid, compulsively structures of the mind, with their ego neat, obstinate, and overly controlling their id and superego but at the conscientious same time allowing for reasonable desires and demands with consciousness playing a b. anal expulsive more mature role. - too lax, has limited level of self control - untidiness, generous FIXATIONS ON THE - hostile and sadistic behavior in adult life DIFFERENT STAGES - person is likely to be disorderly and to Oral view other people as objects to be possessed a. oral passive - underfed Phallic - trusting, dependency - abnormal family set-up leading to - they continue to depend on others to unusual relationship with father/mother. gratify their needs. - Vanity, self-obsession, sexual anxiety, - they are overly gullible, swallow or inadequacy, inferiority, envy believe anything they are told, and trust other people inordinately. - male phallic personality as brash, vain, and self-assured where they try to assert or express their masculinity through b. oral aggressive activities such as repeated sexual conquests. The female phallic - overfed personality, motivated by penis envy, - hostile, dominating exaggerates her femininity and uses her - prone to excessive pessimism, talents and charms to overwhelm and hostility, and aggressiveness. conquer men. - argumentative and sarcastic - tend to be envious of other people and Latency try to exploit and manipulate them in an - no fixation effort to dominate. - libido is dormant Genital - happens when a person's therapist is within their sight. - Settling down in a loving one-to-one Countertransference relationship with another. - when the therapist redirect their feelings - Well-adjusted, mature, able to love and onto their client. be loved. Sexual instinct is directed to *It is unethical to have relations with heterosexual pleasure. your therapist or your client beyond professional relations. ASSESSMENT IN FREUD'S THEORY Dream Analysis Free Association - technique involving the interpretation of dreams to uncover unconscious conflicts. - technique in which the client says whatever comes to mind. - to transform the manifest content of dreams to more important latent content. - the purpose is to arrive at the unconscious by starting with a present conscious idea - the most reliable approach to the study of and following it through a train of unconscious processes and referred to it as associations to wherever it leads. the “royal road” to knowledge of the unconscious. Resistance, which refers to a variety of Condensation refers to the fact that the unconscious responses used by patients to block their own progress in therapy, manifest dream content is not as can be a positive sign because it indicates extensive as the latent level. that therapy has advanced beyond Displacement means that the dream superficial material. It is a sign that the image is replaced by some other idea only remotely related to it. analyst should continue to probe in that area. Dreams Catharsis - represent, in symbolic or condensed - the expression of emotions that is forms, repressed desires, fears, and expected to lead to the reduction of conflicts. disturbing symptoms. - are formed in the unconscious but try - from the Greek word for purification. to work their way into the conscious through disguises such as Transference condensation and displacement. - when a client redirects their feelings from - can also be triggered by physical and a significant other or person in their life to internal stimuli. the therapist. - strong sexual aggressive feelings that patients develop towards their analyst.  Two aspects: Uniqueness vs Similarity a. Manifest content - Humanity’s evolutionary past gives rise - the actual events in the dream to a great many similarities among people. b. Latent content Nevertheless, individual experiences, - the hidden symbolic meaning of especially those of early childhood, shape the dream’s events people in a somewhat unique manner and account for many of the differences among personalities. Freudian Slips Conscious vs Unconscious - uninentional error regarded as revealing - Freud believed that everything from slips subconscious feelings. of the tongue to religious experiences is the result of a deep-rooted desire to satisfy VIEW ON HUMAN NATURE sexual or aggressive drives. These motives make us slaves to our unconscious. Free will vs Determinism Optimism vs Pessimism - Freud believed that most of our behavior is determined by past events rather than - According to Freud, we come into the molded by present goals. Humans have world in a basic state of conflict, with life little control over their present actions and death forces operating on us from because many of their behaviors are rooted opposing sides. The ego experiences a in unconscious strivings that lie beyond more or less permanent state of conflict, present awareness. attempting to balance the contradictory demands of the id and superego while at Nature vs Nurture the same time making concessions to the - the id, the most powerful part of the external world. Underneath a thin veneer personality, is an inherited, of civilization, we are savage beasts with a physiologically based structure, as are the natural tendency to exploit others for stages of psychosexual development. sexual and destructive satisfaction. However, other parts of our personality are learned in early childhood, from parent– child interactions. Causality vs Teleology - Freud believed that present behavior is mostly shaped by past causes rather than by people’s goals for the future. People constantly attempt to reduce tension; to relieve anxieties; to repress unpleasant experiences; to regress to earlier, more secure stages of development; and to compulsively repeat behaviors that are familiar and safe.