Theories of Personality Notes PDF

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY NOTES ordinarily aware of what they are doing and why moral standards of the superego. A function of Source: Feist & Feist, 7th Ed they are doing it, or do unconscious forces conscience....

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY NOTES ordinarily aware of what they are doing and why moral standards of the superego. A function of Source: Feist & Feist, 7th Ed they are doing it, or do unconscious forces conscience. impinge on them and drive them to act without Feelings of inferiority arise when the ego is What Is Personality? awareness of these underlying forces? unable to meet the superego’s standards of - It originated from the word persona, referring to a (5) biological vs. social – nature-nurture issue perfection. A function of ego-ideal. theatrical mask worn by Roman actors in Greek (6) uniqueness vs. similarities – Is the salient dramas. feature of people their individuality, or their Dynamics of Personality - Personality is a pattern of relatively permanent common characteristics? (1) Drive traits and unique characteristics that give both - an internal stimulus that operates as a constant consistency and individuality to a person’s SIGMUND FREUD: Psychoanalysis motivational force behavior. Sex Drive or Eros - A theory of personality is an organized attempt Hysteria - a disorder typically characterized by - erogenous zones: genitals, mouth, and anus to describe and explain how personalities develop paralysis or improper functioning of certain parts of Forms/Manifestations: and why personalities differ. (Plotnik, 2009) the body. (Jean Martin-Charcot) (a1) primary narcissism – libido exclusively - Traits contribute to individual differences in Catharsis – the process of removing hysterical invested on their own ego, a universal condition behavior, consistency of behavior over time, and symptoms through “talking them out” (Josef (a2) secondary narcissism – Not universal, but a stability of behavior across situations. Breuer) moderate degree of self-love is common to nearly - Characteristics are unique qualities of an Free Association Technique & Hypnosis – every one. Here narcissistic libido is transformed individual that include such attributes as principal therapeutic techniques used by Freud into object libido temperature, physique, and intelligence. Interpretation of Dreams – Freud’s greatest work (b) love – develops when people invest their libido on an object or person other than themselves A useful theory: Phylogenetic Endowment – a portion of our (c) sadism – is the need for sexual pleasure by (1) generates research unconscious originates from the experiences of inflicting pain or humiliation on another person. (2) is falsifiable our early ancestors that have been passed on to Considered sexual perversion extreme. (3) organizes data us through hundreds generations of repetition (d) masochism – is the need for sexual pleasure (4) guides action by suffering pain and humiliation inflicted by (5) is internally consistent Provinces of the Mind themselves or by others. (6) is parsimonious (1) Id – serves the “pleasure principle”. It has no (2) Aggression contact with the reality, it strives constantly to - the aim of the destructive drive is to return the Dimensions for Concept of Humanity reduce tension by satisfying basic desires. organism to an inorganic state, which is death (1) determinism vs. free choice - Are people’s (2) Ego – governed by the “reality principle”. The (3) Anxiety behaviors determined by forces over which they only region in the mind in contact with reality. It - the center of the Freudian dynamic theory have no control, or can people choose to be what reconciles the blind, irrational claims of the id. - a felt, affective, unpleasant state accompanied by they wish to be? (3) Superego – guided by the “moralistic a physical sensation (2) pessimism vs. optimism - Are people principle”. Basically unrealistic in its demands for - it is ego-preserving and self-regulating doomed to live miserable, conflicted, and troubled perfection because it has no contact with reality. (a) neurotic anxiety – defined as an lives, or can they change and grow into - It has two subsystems: apprehension about an unknown danger. It results psychologically healthy, happy, fully functioning (a) conscience – results from experiences from the dependence of the ego to the id. human beings? with punishments for improper behavior (b) moral anxiety – stems from the conflict (3) causality vs. teleology - Briefly, causality and tells us what we ‘should not do’ between the ego and superego o. holds that behavior is a function of past (b) ego-ideal – develops from experiences (c) realistic anxiety – It is closely related to fear. It experiences, whereas teleology is an explanation with rewards for proper behavior and tells is defined as an unpleasant, nonspecific feeling of behavior in terms of future goals or purposes. us what we ‘should do’ involving a possible danger. (4) conscious vs. unconscious - Are people Guilt results when the ego acts contrary to the  anxiety-provoking event or piece of information the more important latent content Defense Mechanisms that is clear to others - the “royal road” to the knowledge of the - It helps the ego to avoid dealing directly with unconscious sexual and aggressive impulses and to defend Stages of Development - Manifest content of a dream refers to the itself against the anxiety that accompanies them For Freud, the first 4 or 5 years of life, or the surface meaning or the conscious description (1) Repression – It is the most basic of the infantile stage, are the most crucial for personality given by the dreamer defense mechanisms. When the ego is threatened information. It is divided into three stages: - Latent content refers to the unconscious by undesirable id impulses, it forces threatening 1 Oral Phase (early infancy, first 18 months of life) material feelings into the unconscious. - Pleasure-seeking activities include sucking, - For Freud, all dreams are wish fulfilments (2) Reaction Formation – repressed impulse chewing, and biting. - Dreams can work their way to consciousness in becomes conscious by adopting a disguise that is - If fixated at this stage, because oral wishes were two ways: directly opposite to its original form gratified too much or too little, oral gratification (1) Condensation refers to the fact that the (3) Displacement – unacceptable urges are continues in adulthood. manifest dream content is not as extensive redirected onto a variety of people or objects so 2 Anal Phase (late adulthood, 1½ to 3 years) as the latent level, indicating that the unconscious that the original impulse is disguised or concealed - Infant’s pleasure seeking is centered on the anus material has been abbreviated or condensed (4) Fixation – when the prospect of taking the next and its function of elimination. before appearing on the manifest level psychological stage becomes too anxiety - Fixation at this stage results to retention or (2) Displacement means that the dream is provoking, the ego may resort to the strategy of elimination. replaced by some other idea remotely related to it remaining at the present, more comfortable - Anal retentive – may take the form of being very Freudian slips (parapraxes) psychological stage. This is held universally and neat, stingy, or behaviourally rigid demands a more or less permanent expenditure of - Anal expulsive – may take the form of being Critique of Freud’s Psychoanalysis psychic energy. generous, messy, or very loose or carefree - His theory of personality was strongly oriented (5) Regression – a reversion in which during - Anal triad: orderliness, stinginess, and obstinacy towards men, he lacked a complete understanding times of stress and anxiety of a developmental 3 Phallic Stage (early childhood, 3-6 years) of the feminine psyche. stage, the libido reverts back to an earlier stage. - Infant’s pleasure-seeking is centered on the - an area of criticism on Freud centers around his Infantile and rigid in nature just like fixation, but is genitals. status as a scientist usually temporary. - Oedipus complex occurs at this stage: a (6) Projection – seeing in others unacceptable process in which a child competes with the parent ALFRED ADLER: Individual Psychology feelings or tendencies that actually resides in one’s of the same sex for the affections and pleasures of own unconscious. The ego may reduce the anxiety the parent of the opposite sex. (Electra complex - Individual psychology rests heavily on the notion by attributing the unwanted impulse to an external for female) of social interest, that is, a feeling of oneness object, usually another person. A severe variety of - Castration anxiety may arise, the fear of losing with all humankind. it is called paranoia. the penis, or penis envy for females - People are motivated mostly by social influences (7) Introjection - a defense mechanism whereby 4 Latency Stage (6 to puberty) and by their striving for superiority or success. people incorporate positive qualities of another - A time when the child represses sexual thoughts - People are largely responsible for who they are person into their own ego. People introject and engages in nonsexual activities, such as - Present behavior is shaped by the people’s view characteristics that they see as valuable and that developing social and intellectual skills. of the future. will permit them to feel better about themselves. - dormant psychosexual development - an opposing theory to psychoanalysis (8) Sublimation – is the repression of the genital 5 Genital Stage aim of Eros by substituting a cultural or social aim. - puberty signals the reawakening of sexual Striving for success or superiority (9) Rationalization – involves covering up the true impulses - 1st tenet: The one dynamic force behind reasons for actions, thoughts, or feelings by people’s behavior is the striving for success or making up excuses and incorrect explanations Dream Analysis superiority (10) Denial – is refusing to recognize some - to transform the manifest content of dreams to - He reduced all motivation to this single drive. - Everyone begins with a life of physical considered as a dichotomy, but two cooperating secondary. We are our own architect and can build deficiencies that activate feelings of inferiority. parts of the same unified system. The conscious either a useful or useless style of life. - The striving force serves as a compensation for thoughts are helpful for striving superiority while feelings of inferiority. unconscious is not helpful. Abnormal Development - People, by their nature, possess an innate - For Adler, the one factor underlying all types of tendency toward completion or wholeness. Social Interest maladjustments is underdeveloped social interest. Masculine protest – implied will to power or a - 4th tenet: The value of all human activity must - Also neurotics tend to: domination of others. This term was used after be seen from the viewpoint of social interest. (1) set their goals too high Adler rejected aggression as the single - Social interest means a feeling of oneness with (2) live in their own private world motivational force. all humanity; it implies membership in the social (3) have a rigid and dogmatic style of life Striving for superiority – limited to those people community of all people. It can also be defined as who strive personal superiority over others an attitude of relatedness with humanity in general External Factors in Maladjustment Striving for success – describes actions of as well as the empathy for each member of the (1) Exaggerated physical deficiencies people who are motivated by highly developed community. (2) Pampered style of life social interest. - Social interest was Adler’s yardstick for - the heart of most neuroses - Each individual is guided by a final goal measuring psychological health and is thus “the (3) Neglected style of life regardless of the motivation for striving. It is sole criterion of human value”. fictional and has no objective existence, a product Safeguarding Tendencies of creative power. Style of Life - People create patterns of behavior to protect their Creative Power – it refers to the people’s ability to - 5th tenet: The self-consistent personality exaggerated sense of self-esteem against public freely shape their behavior and create their own structure develops into a person’s style of life. disgrace. personality. Style of life is the term Adler used to refer to the - This protective devices enable people to hide Inferiority Complex – exaggerated feelings of flavor of a person’s life. It includes a person’s goal, their inflated self-image and to maintain their personal inferiority self-concept, feelings for others, and attitude current style of life. toward the world. It is the product of the interaction - These can be compared to Freud’s defense Subjective Perceptions of heredity, environment, and a person’s mechanisms, but are largely conscious to shield a - 2nd tenet: People’s subjective perceptions creative power. person’s fragile self-esteem. shape their behavior and personality. - Although the final goal is singular, style of life Three forms: Fictionalism. Striving superiority is shaped by need not be narrow or rigid. (1) Excuses – commonly expressed in “Yes, but or people’s perceptions of reality that is by their - Three major problems of life: neighborly love, If only” format fictions, or expectations of the future. sexual love, and occupation. (2) Aggression – most common safeguarding - Fictionalism is consistent with the teleology. tendency Unity and Self-Consistency of Personality Creative Power Depreciation. The tendency to undervalue - 3rd tenet: Personality is unified and self- 6th Tenet: Style of life is molded by people’s other people’s achievements and to overvalue consistent. creative power. one’s own (e.g. criticism and gossip). - Each person is unique and indivisible. - Each person is empowered with the freedom to Accusation. The tendency to blame others for Organ Dialect - The whole person strives in a self- create his or her own style of life. Ultimately, one’s failures and to seek revenge. consistent fashion toward a single goal, and all people are responsible for who they are and how Self-accusation. Marked by self-torture and separate actions and functions can be understood they behave. It makes each person a free guilt (e.g. masochism, depression, suicide). only as parts of this goal. The disturbance of one individual. (3) Withdrawal – Running away from difficulties or part of the body cannot be viewed in isolation; it - Each person uses heredity and environment as referred to as “safeguarding through distance” affects the entire person. the bricks and mortar to build personality, but the architectural design reflects that person’s own Four Modes: - For Adler, conscious and unconscious are not style. The building materials of personality are Moving Backwards. The tendency to safeguard one’s fictional goal of superiority by psychologically - Analytical psychology is essentially a psychology reverting to a more secure period of life. It is of opposites. designed to elicit sympathy. (2) Early Recollections Standing Still. They do not move in any direction, (3) Dreams Levels of the Psyche thus, they avoid all responsibility by ensuring Golden rule of dream work in individual - Jung strongly asserted that the most important themselves against any threats of failure. psychology: “Everything can be different.” part of the unconscious springs not from personal Hesitating. In face of difficult problems, some (4) Psychotherapy experiences of the individual but from distant past people hesitate or vacillate. (e.g. procrastination) Adlerian theory postulates that psychopathology of human existence, the collective unconscious. Of Constructing Obstacles. The least severe of the results from lack of courage, exaggerated feelings lesser importance are conscious and personal withdrawal safeguarding tendencies. of inferiority, and underdeveloped social interest. unconscious. Thus, the chief purpose of Adlerian psychotherapy Conscious. Images that are sensed by the ego; Masculine Protest is to enhance courage, lessen feelings of the center of consciousness. Ego is not the whole - Psychic life of women is essentially the same as inferiority, and encourage social interest. personality, but must be completed by the self, the that of men and that a male-dominated society is center of the personality that is largely not natural but rather an artificial product of Critique of Adler unconscious. historical development. - Like that of Freud, produced many concepts that - The consciousness plays a minor role in - According to Adler, cultural and social practices— do not easily lend themselves to either verification analytical psychology, and an overemphasis on not anatomy—influence many men and women to or falsification. expanding one’s conscious psyche can lead to overemphasize the importance of being manly. - It suffers from a lack of precise operational psychological imbalance. definitions. Personal Unconscious. It embraces all Applications of Individual Psychology - Individual psychology is somewhat philosophical repressed, forgotten, or subliminally perceived (1) Family Constellation even moralistic. experiences of one particular individual. It contains - The concept of creative power cannot be repressed infantile memories and impulses, scientifically studied. forgotten events, and experiences originally perceived below the threshold of our - high on free choice and optimism, very low on consciousness. Our personal unconscious is causality, moderate on unconscious influences, formed by our individual experiences and is and high on social factors and the uniqueness of therefore unique to each of us. individual Complexes – are contents of the personal ________________________________________ unconscious. It is an emotionally toned conglomeration of associated ideas. It is partly conscious and may stem from both the personal CARL JUNG: Analytical Psychology and collective unconscious. - It rests on the assumption that occult - an individualized component of the personal phenomena can and do influence the lives of unconscious. everyone. Collective Unconscious – This has roots in the - Jung believed that each of us is motivated not ancestral past of the entire species. The physical only by repressed experiences but also by contents of the collective unconscious are certainly emotionally toned experiences inherited inherited and pass from one generation to the next from our ancestors. These make up the collective as a psychic potential. unconscious. - This refers to human’s innate tendency to react in - Some elements of the collective unconscious a particular way whenever their experiences become highly developed and are called stimulate a biologically inherited response archetypes. tendency. - This does not lie dormant but are active and - archetype of wisdom and meaning, symbolizes orientation toward the objective. influence a person’s thoughts, emotions, and human’s pre-existing knowledge of the mysteries 4 Functions: actions. of life. Sensing – tells people that something exists - Countless repetition of these biologically based Hero Extraverted sensing- people perceive external predispositions have them part of the human - the conquering hero archetype represents victory stimuli objectively biological constitution which then begin to develop over the forces of darkness Introverted sensing – guided by their subjective some content and to emerge as a relatively Self interpretation of sense stimuli autonomous archetypes. - the innate disposition possessed by each person Thinking – enables them to recognize its meaning to move toward growth, perfection, and completion Extraverted thinking – relying heavily on concrete Archetypes - the most comprehensive of all archetypes thoughts, objective - are ancient or archaic images that derive from - the self is the archetype of archetypes because it Introverted thinking – interpretation of an event is the collective unconscious. pulls together the other archetypes and unites colored more by the internal meaning, subjective - These emotionally tones collection of associated them in the process of self-realization Feeling – tells them its value or worth images are generalized components of the -its ultimate symbol is the mandala, representing Extraverted feeling – people use objective data to collective unconscious. the strivings of the collective unconscious for unity, make evaluations - Archetypes cannot be directly represented, but balance and wholeness Introverted feeling - people base their value when activated it expresses itself through several judgments primarily on subjective perceptions modes (e.g. dreams, fantasies, and delusions). Dynamics of Personality Intuiting – allows them to know without knowing Causality and Teleology how they know Persona - He insisted that both causal and teleological Extraverted intuitive people – are oriented towards - the side of personality that people show to the forces must be balanced. facts in the external world world Progression – adaptation to the outside world Introverted intuitive people – are guided by - If we over identify with our persona, we lose involving the forward flow of psychic energy unconscious perceptions of facts that are basically touch with our inner self and remain dependent on Regression - adaptation to the inner world subjective and have no resemblance to external society’s expectations of us. involving the backward flow of psychic energy stimuli Shadow * Alone, neither progression nor regression leads - the archetype of darkness and repression to development. Either can bring about too much Development of Personality represents those qualities we do not wish to one-sidedness and failure in adaptation; but the Stages of Development: childhood, youth, middle acknowledge but attempt to hide from ourselves two, working together, can activate the process of life, and old age and others healthy personality development. Childhood Anima Three Substages: - the feminine side of men’s personality Psychological Types (1) Anarchic phase – characterized by chaotic - represents irrational moods and feelings Attitudes. Jung defined it as a predisposition to and sporadic consciousness. Experiences of the Animus act or react in a characteristic direction. He anarchic phase sometimes enter consciousness - the masculine side of women’s personality insisted that each person has both an introverted as primitive images, incapable of being accurately - symbolic of thinking and reasoning and an extraverted attitude, although one may be verbalized. Great Mother conscious while the other is unconscious. - “Islands of consciousness” may exist but there is - derivative of anima archetype Intoversion little or no connection among these islands. - represents both positive and negative feelings: - is the turning inward of psychic energy with an (2) Monarchic phase – characterized by the fertility and nourishment and on the one hand, orientation toward the subjective. Introverts are development of ego and by the beginning of power and destruction tuned in to their inner world with all its biases, logical and verbal thinking. During this time, - Fertility and power combine to form the concept fantasies, dreams, and individualized perceptions. children refer to themselves in the third person. of rebirth, which maybe a separate archetype. Extraversion - The islands of consciousness become larger, Wise Old Man - is the turning outward of psychic energy with an more numerous and inhabited by a primitive ego. - The ego is perceived as an object, not as a (2) Dream Analysis problems (adopted from Freud). perceiver. - Jung objected to Freud’s notion that nearly all - The third stage is the education of patients as (3) Dualistic phase – The ego as perceiver arises dreams are wish fulfilments and that most dream social beings (adopted from Adler). during this stage and divided into the subjective symbols represent sexual urges; rather people - The fourth stage is transformation. By and objective. used symbols to represent a variety of concepts to transformation, he meant that the therapist must - Children now refer to themselves in the first try to comprehend the “innumerable things beyond first be transformed into a healthy human being, person and aware of their existence as separate the range of human understanding”. preferably by undergoing psychotherapy. Only individuals. - Dreams are our unconscious and spontaneous after transformation and an established philosophy - The islands of consciousness become attempt to know the unknowable. of life is the therapist able to help patients move continuous land, inhabited by an ego-complex that - The purpose of Jungian dream interpretation is to toward individuation, wholeness, or self-realization. recognizes itself as both object and subject. uncover elements from the personal and collective - He adopted an eclectic approach in Youth unconscious and to integrate them into psychotherapy. His treatment varied according to - the period from puberty until middle life consciousness in order to facilitate the process of the age, stage of development, and particular - Young people strive to gain psychic and physical self-realization. problem of the patient. independence from their parents, find a mate, - Jung felt that certain dreams offered proof for the - The ultimate purpose of Jungian therapy is to raise a family, and make a place in the world. existence of the collective unconscious. These help neurotic patients become healthy and to - A period of increased activity, maturing sexuality, dreams included big dreams, which have special encourage healthy people to work independently and growing consciousness. meaning for all people; typical dreams, which are toward self-realization. Middle Life common to most people; and earliest dreams - approximately begins at age 35 or 40 remembered. Critique of Jung - presents people with increasing anxiety, and a (3) Active Imagination - has a subjective and philosophical quality period of tremendous potential - This method requires a person to begin with any - the collective unconscious remains a difficult - If middle-aged people retain the social and moral impression—a dream image, vision, picture, or concept to test empirically values of their early life, they become rigid and fantasy—and to concentrate until the impressions - the acceptance of Jung’s archetype and fanatical in trying to hold on to their physical begins to “move”. The person must follow these collective unconscious rests more on faith than on attractiveness and agility. images and courageously face these autonomous empirical evidences Old Age images and freely communicate with them. - Analytical psychology is unique because it adds - people certainly fear death during this stage - The purpose of active imagination is to reveal new dimension to personality theory dealing with archetypal images emerging from the the occult, the mysterious, and the Self-realization unconscious. parapsychological - also called as psychological rebirth - Jung believed that active imagination has an - usefulness of most analytical psychology is - the process of becoming an individual or a whole advantage over dream analysis in that its images limited to those therapists who subscribe to basic person are produced during a conscious state of mind, Jungian tenets - the process of integrating the opposite poles into thus making them more clear and reproducible. a single homogenous individual Variations: - his view of personality was neither pessimistic - this process of “coming to selfhood” means that a - nonverbal manner (drawing, painting) nor optimistic, neither deterministic nor purposive person has all psychological components - people are motivated partly by conscious functioning in unity, with no psychic process (4) Psychotherapy thoughts, partly by images from their personal atrophying - The first stage is the confession of a pathogenic unconscious. - The self-realized person must allow the secret (adopted from Breuer’s cathartic method). - the theory leans strongly in the direction of unconscious to be the core of personality. - The second stage involves interpretation, biology explanation, and elucidation. This gives the - can be rated high on similarities among people Methods of Investigation patients insight into the causes of their neuroses and low in individual differences (1) Word Association Test but may still leave them incapable of solving social ________________________________________  their psychic structure the external objects. which it can tolerate some of its own destructive MELANIE KLEIN: Object Relations feelings rather than projecting them outward. Theory Positions - The infant experiences feelings of guilt for its - Klein stressed the importance of the first 4 to 6 - Infants attempt to deal with life instincts and previous destructive urges toward the mother. months after birth. death instincts, and they attempt to organize these - The feelings of anxiety over losing a loved object - an offspring of Freud’s instinct theory but differs experiences into positions, or ways of dealing coupled with a sense of guilt for wanting to destroy in three general ways: with both internal and external objects. The term the object constitute what Klein called the (1) It places less emphasis on biologically based “position” was used to indicate that positions depressive position. drives and more importance on consistent patterns alternate back and forth. They are not stages of - When the depressive position is resolved, of interpersonal relationships. development through which a person passes. children close the split between the good and the (2) It tends to be more maternal, stressing the (1) Paranoid-Schizoid Position (3-4mos.) bad mother. They are able not only to experience intimacy and nurturing of the mother, as opposed - a way of organizing experiences that includes love from their mother, but also to display their own to Freud’s rather paternalistic theory that both paranoid feelings of being persecuted and a love for her. However, an incomplete resolution of emphasizes the power and control of the father. splitting of internal and external objects into good the depressive position can result in lack of trust, (3) Object relations theorists generally see human and bad. morbid mourning at the loss of a loved one, and a contact and relatedness – not sexual pleasure as - Paranoid-Schizoid position develops during variety of other psychic disorders. the prime motive of human behavior. which the ego’s perception of the external world is subjective and fantastic rather than objective and Psychic Life of the Infant real. Psychic Defense Mechanisms - first 4-6 months of an infant is important - The child alternately experiences feelings of Infants adopt several psychic defense - To her, infants do not begin life with a blank slate gratification and frustration. In order to tolerate mechanisms to protect their ego against the but with an inherited predisposition to reduce the these feelings, the ego then splits itself, retaining anxiety aroused by their own destructive fantasies. anxiety they experience as a result of the conflict parts of the life and death instincts while deflecting produced by the forces of the life instinct and the parts of both instincts onto the breast. (1) Introjection power of the death instinct. The infant’s innate Persecutory breast - Infants fantasize taking into their body those readiness to act or react presupposes the Ideal breast which provides love, comfort, and perceptions and experiences that have had with existence of phylogenetic endowment, a concept gratification. the external object, originally the mother’s breast. that Freud also accepted. - Thus, the persecutory feelings are considered to - Introjected objects are not accurate Phantasies be paranoid; that is, they are not based on any real representations of the real objects but are colored - Infants, even at birth possesses an active or immediate danger from the outside world. by children’s fantasies. phantasy life. - In the young child’s schizoid world, rage and (2) Projection - Phantasies are psychic representations of destructive feelings are directed toward the bad - Projection is the fantasy that one’s own feelings unconscious id instincts breast, while feelings of love and comfort are and impulses actually reside in another person - It also springs from reality and universal associated with the good breast. and not within one’s body. predispositions. - Language is not used to identify the good and - By projecting unmanageable destructive - Infants possess unconscious images of “good” bad breast, they use a biological disposition. impulses onto external objects, infants alleviate the and “bad” (e.g. bad breast and good breast) (2) Depressive Position (5-6 mos.) unbearable anxiety of being destroyed by - As they mature, newer phantasies emerge - An infant begins to view external objects as dangerous internal forces Objects whole and to see that good and bad exist in the (3) Splitting - Humans have innate drives or instincts, including same person. - keeping part incompatible impulses, the good death instinct - The infant develops a more realistic picture of the and bad aspect of themselves and of external - The earliest object relations are with the mother’s mother and recognizes that she is an independent objects breast person who can be both good and bad. - In order to separate bad and good objects, the - In their active fantasy, they introject, or take into - The ego is beginning to mature to the point at ego must itself be split. Thus, infants develop a picture of both the “good me” and the “bad me” and anal stage and reaches its climax during the good and bad that enables them to deal with both pleasurable genital stage at around age 3-4 - During the early months; the boy shifts some of and destructive impulses toward external objects. (b) A significant part of the Oedipus complex is his oral desires from his mother’s breast to his - If splitting is not extreme and rigid, it has a children’s fear of retaliation from their parent for father’s penis. The little boy is in his feminine positive effect on the child. The child can see both their fantasy of emptying the parent’s body. position, a positive homosexual attitude toward his positive and negative aspects of their self. If (c) stressed the importance of children retaining father. splitting is excessive an inflexible, it can lead to positive feelings toward both parents during the - Next, he moves to a heterosexual relationship pathological repression. Oedipal years with the mother. (4) Projective Identification (d) Fourth, she hypothesized that during its early - As the boy matures, the boy develops oral- - A psychic defense mechanism in which infants stages, the Oedipus complex serves the same sadistic impulses toward his father and want to bite split off unacceptable part of themselves, project need for both genders, that is, to establish a off his penis and to murder him. This feeling them into another object, and finally introject them positive attitude with the good or gratifying object arouses penis castration, which resolves the boy’s back into themselves in a changed or distorted (breast or penis) and to avoid the bad or terrifying Oedipus complex. form. Then they identify with the object. object (breast or penis). In this position, children of * For both girls and boys, a healthy resolution - It exerts a powerful influence on adult either gender can direct their love either alternately of the Oedipus complex depends on their interpersonal relations. or simultaneously toward each parent. ability to allow their mother and father to Female Oedipal Development come together and to have sexual intercourse Internalizations 1st month – the little girl sees her mother’s breast with each other. No remnant of rivalry - When object relations theorists speak of as both good and bad. internalizations, they mean that the person 6 months – she begins to the view the breast as remains. Children’s positive feelings toward takes in (introjects) aspects of the external world more positive than negative both parents later serve to enhance their adult and then organizes those introjections into a - She sees her mother as full of good things (this sexual relations. psychologically meaningful framework. leads to her imagining of how babies are made). - She y by fantasizes that the father’s penis feeds Later Views on Object Relations (1) Ego her mother with riches, including babies (she MARGARET MAHLER - Klein largely ignored the id, and that the ego fantasizes that the father will her with babies). - Psychological birth begins during the first reaches maturity at a much earlier stage than - If the Oedipal stage flows smoothly, the little girl weeks of postnatal life and continues for the next 3 Freud had assumed. adopts a “feminine” position and has a positive years or so. It meant that the child becomes an - Ego’s has the early ability to sense both relationship with both parents. individual separate from his or her primary destructive and loving forces and to manage them - Under less ideal circumstances, the little girl will caregiver, an accomplishment that leads ultimately through splitting, projection, and introjection. see her mother as a rival and will fantasize robbing to a sense of identity. - before a unified ego emerges, it must first her mother of her father’s penis and stealing her - The child proceeds through a series of three become split mother’s babies. The little girl’s wish to rob her major developmental stages and four substages to (2) Superego mother produces a paranoid fear that her mother achieve psychological birth and individuation: - Klein’s conception of superego differs with Freud will retaliate against her by injuring her or taking First Stage: Normal Autism in three important respects: away her babies. - spans from birth until about age 3 or 4 weeks (a) emerges much earlier in life - This anxiety will only be alleviated when she later - Newborn infant satisfies various needs within the (b) it is not an outgrowth of Oedipus complex gives birth to a healthy baby. all-powerful protective orbit of a mother’s care. (c) it is much more harsh and cruel - Penis envy stems from the little girl’s wish to - This stage is a period of absolute primary - Early superego not produces guilt but terror internalize her father’s penis and to receive a baby narcissism in which an infant is unaware of any (3) Oedipus Complex from him. This precedes the desire to have an other person unlike Klein who conceptualized a - merely an extension not a refutation to Freud’s external penis. newborn infant as being terrified. ideas Male Oedipal Development - An “objectless” stage when an infant naturally (a) begins at much earlier stage, overlaps with oral - The little boy sees his mother’s breast as both searches for the mother’s breast. - She disagreed with Klein’s notion that the infants sight of their mother the infant takes in the selfobject’s responses as incorporate the good breast and other objects into - later, they begin to walk and to take in the outside pride, guilt, shame, or envy—all attitudes that their ego. world. eventually form the building blocks of the self. Second Stage: Normal Symbiosis Third Substage: Rapprochement - He believed that infants are naturally narcissistic - This stage occurs as infants gradually realize - about 16 to 25 months of age and self-centered. The self is crystallized around they cannot satisfy their own needs, and they - they desire to bring back their mother and two basic narcissistic needs: begin to recognize their primary caregiver and to themselves back together, both physically and (1) the need to exhibit the grandiose of self seek a symbiotic relationship with her. physiologically - The grandiose exhibitionistic self is established - begins around 4th or 5th week of age but reaches - their increased cognitive skills make them more when the infant relates to a “mirroring” selfobject its zenith during the 4th or 5th month aware of their separateness and make various who reflects approval of its behavior. The infant - The symbiosis is characterized by a mutual cuing ploys to regain the desired unity thus forms a rudimentary self-image from of infant and mother. Fourth Substage: Libidinal Object Constancy messages such as “If others see me as perfect, - objects relations have not yet begun – mothers -approximates the 3rd year of life then I am perfect.” and others are still preobjects - children will continue to depend on their mother’s (2) the need to acquire an idealized image of Third Stage: Separation-Individuation physical presence for their own security if they do one or both parents - spans the period from about the 4th or 5th month not develop a constant inner representation of their - The idealized parent image is opposed to the of age until about the 30th or 36th month. mother. grandiose self because it implies that someone - Children become psychologically separated from - children must also learn to consolidate their else is perfect. Nevertheless, it too satisfies a their mothers, achieve a sense of individuation, individuality, that is they must learn to function narcissistic need because the infant adopts the and begin to develop feelings of personal identity. without their mother and to develop other object attitude “You are perfect, but I am part of you.” - they no longer experience a dual unity with their relations mother, they must surrender their delusion of *Both narcissistic self-images are necessary for omnipotence and face their vulnerability to external *The strength of Mahler’s theory is its elegant healthy personality development. Both, however, threats description of psychological birth based on must change as the child grows older. If they empirical observations of mother-child interactions. remain unaltered, they result in a pathologically Overlapping Substages of Separation- Although many of her tenets rely on inferences narcissistic adult personality. Individuation gleaned from reactions of preverbal infants, her - Grandiosity must changed into a realistic view of First Substage: Differentiation ideas can easily be extended to adults. self. The idealized parent image must grow into a - lasts from about the 5th month until the 7th to 10th realistic picture of the parents. month of age HEINZ KOHUT - marked by a bodily breaking away from the - He emphasized the process by which the self JOHN BOWLBY: Attachment Theory mother-infant symbiotic orbit evolves from a vague and undifferentiated image - He realized that object relations theory could be - Psychologically healthy infants who expand their to a clear and precise sense of individual identity. integrated with an evolutionary perspective. But world beyond the mother will be curious about - He defined the self as “the center of the this he believed that he can correct the empirical strangers and will inspect them; unhealthy infants individual’s psychological universe” and “the shortcomings of the theory end extend it into a will fear strangers and recoil from them. center of initiative and recipient of impressions”. new direction. Second Substage: Practicing - He also focused on early mother-child - Attachment theory also departed from - a period from about 7th to 10th month of age to relationship as the key to later development just psychoanalytic thinking by taking childhood as about the 15th or 16th month like other object relations theorists. starting point and then extrapolating toward - an autonomous ego begin to develop, a specific - Infants require adult caregivers not only to gratify adulthood. bond with the mother is established, and the physical needs but also to satisfy psychological - Bowlby firmly believed that the attachments children easily distinguish their body from their needs. The adults or selfobjects must treat infants formed during childhood have an important impact mother’s as if they had a sense of self. on adulthood. Childhood attachments are crucial - during the early stages, they do not like to lose - Through the process of empathic interaction, to later development. - Humans just like primate infants go through a (1) secure attachment – Infants are confident in tend to be chronically worried about the state of clear sequence of reactions when separated from the accessibility and responsiveness of their relationship so they express a strong desire to gain their primary caregivers. caregiver. more information about their romantic partner. (2) anxious-resistant attachment – Infants are ambivalent. They seek contact with their mother, Attachment Style and Leadership Three Stages of Separation Anxiety while on the other hand, and reject attempts at - Leaders with a secure attachment style (neither (1) protest – When the caregiver is first out of being soothed. anxious nor avoidant) are more effective than sight, infants will cry, resist soothing by other (3) anxious-avoidant attachment - With this insecurely attached (anxious or avoidant) leaders. people, and search for their caregiver. style, infants stay calm when their mother leaves; (2) despair – As separation continues, infants they accept the stranger, and when their mother Critique of Object Relations Theory become quiet, sad, passive, listless, and apathetic. returns, they ignore and avoid her. - low on its ability to generate research Psychotherapy - Since it grew out of the orthodox psychoanalytic (3) detachment – The last stage the only one - Klein insisted that negative transference was an theory, it suffers from some of the falsifications that unique to humans. During this stage, infants essential step toward successful treatment. confront Freud’s theory. become emotionally detached from other people - She substituted play therapy for Freudian dream - Klein used needlessly complex phrases and including their caregiver. If their caregiver returns, analysis and free association. concepts to express her theory. infants will disregard and avoid her. As they - The aim of Kleinian therapy is to reduce - It has the ability to organize information about the become older, their interpersonal relations are depressive anxieties and persecutory fears and to behavior of infants. Objects relations theory has superficial and lack warmth. mitigate the harshness of internalized objects. speculated on how humans gradually come to a sense of identity. Bowlby’s theory rests on two fundamental Object Relations and Eating Disorders - It is built on careful observations of the mother- assumptions: - As applied to eating disorders, when these child relationship. (a) A responsive and accessible caregiver must individuals feel anxious, they look for comfort in - Parents of young infants can learn the create a secure base for the child. If this external sources; and food is a primary means of importance of a warm, accepting, and nurturing dependability is present, the child is better able to soothing and regulating their anxiety. caregiver. develop confidence and security in exploring the - Bulimia is associated with overseparation world. (detachment) from parents, whereas anorexia was - high on determinism, low on free choice (b) A bonding relationship (or lack thereof) associated with high levels of guilt and conflict - can either be pessimistic or optimistic becomes internalized and serves as a mental over separation from parents. - tends to be more causal, expectations of the working model on which future friendships and Attachment Theory and Adult Relationships future play a very minor role love relationships are built. - People who had early secure attachments with - high on unconscious determinants of behavior * Attachment style is a relationship between two their caregivers would experience more trust, - biology as more important than environment in people and not a trait given to the infant by the closeness, and positive emotions. shaping personality in terms of the concept of caregiver. It is a two-way street—the infant and the - Avoidant adults would fear closeness and lack phylogenetic endowment and death instinct caregiver must be responsive to each other and trust, whereas anxious-ambivalent adults would be - the biologically based infantile stages lean more each must influence the other’s behavior. preoccupied with and obsessed by their toward social determinants of personality relationships. - it tends toward similarities MARY AINSWORTH: Strange Situation - Attachment is also related to the type of ________________________________________ - influenced by Bowlby’s theory information people seek or avoid regarding their - Ainsworth and her associates developed a relationship and romantic partner. Avoidant KAREN HORNEY: Psychoanalytic Social technique for measuring the type of attachment individuals strive to maintain emotional Theory style that exists between caregiver and infant, independence, so they would not seek out Overview known as the Strange Situation. additional information about their partner’s intimate - Culture, especially childhood experiences, plays Three attachment styles: feelings and dreams. While anxious individuals a leading role in shaping human personality, either neurotic or healthy. form as a basic anxiety, the profound feelings of affection are perhaps the two greatest neurotic - Social rather than biological forces are insecurity and vague sense of apprehension. It is needs. The need for power is usually combined paramount in personality development. further defined as a feeling of being isolated and with the needs for prestige and possession and - Horney criticized Freud on several accounts: helpless in a world conceived as potentially hostile. manifests itself as the need to control others and (1) strict adherence to orthodox psychoanalysis to avoid feelings of weakness or stupidity. would lead to stagnation in both theoretical and - Hostile impulses are the principal source of basic (5) The neurotic need to exploit others. therapeutic practice. anxiety, but basic anxiety can also contribute to Neurotics frequently evaluate others on the basis (2) She objected to Freud’s ideas on feminine feelings of hostility. of how they can be used or exploited, but at the psychology same time, they fear being exploited by others. (3) psychoanalysis should move beyond instinct Protective mechanisms from feelings of isolation (6) The neurotic need for social recognition or theory emphasize the importance of cultural (1) affection prestige. Some people combat basic anxiety by influences in shaping personality (2) submissiveness trying to be first, to be important, or to attract The Impact of Culture (3) striving for power, prestige or possession attention to themselves. - Modern culture is based on competition among (4) withdrawal individuals. - Everyone uses these various protective devices (7) The neurotic need for personal admiration. - Competitiveness and the basic hostility it to guard against the rejection, hostility, and Neurotics have a need to be admired for what they spawns result in feelings of isolation. These competitiveness of others. People become are rather than for what they possess. Their feelings of being alone in a potentially hostile world unhealthy when people feel compelled to rely on inflated self-esteem must be continually fed by the lead to intensified needs for affection, which in them. admiration and approval of others. turn, causes people to overvalue love. (8) The neurotic need for ambition and - They see love and affection as solution to their Compulsive Drives personal achievement. Neurotics often have a problems. Desperate need for love can lead to the - Compulsion is the salient characteristic of all strong drive to be the best. They must defeat other development of neuroses. neurotic drives. people in order to confirm their superiority. The Importance of Childhood Experiences Neurotic Needs (9) The neurotic need for self-sufficiency and - Childhood is the age from which the vast majority (1) The neurotic need for affection and independence. Many neurotics have a strong of problems arise. approval. In their quest for affection and need to move away from people, thereby proving - Horney hypothesized that a difficult childhood is approval, neurotics attempt indiscriminately to that they can get along without others. primarily responsible for neurotic needs. These please others. They try to live up to the (10) The neurotic need for perfection and needs become powerful because they are the expectations of others, tend to dread self- unassailability. By striving relentlessly for child’s only means of gaining feelings of safety. assertion, and are quite uncomfortable with the perfection, neurotics receive “proof ” of their self- - But it should be the sum total of childhood hostility of others as well as the hostile feelings esteem and personal superiority. They dread experiences, no single early experience is within themselves. making mistakes and having personal flaws, and responsible for later personality. (2) The neurotic need for a powerful partner. they desperately attempt to hide their weaknesses Lacking self-confidence, neurotics try to attach from others. Basic Hostility and Basic Anxiety themselves to a powerful partner. This need - Each person begins life with the potential for includes an overvaluation of love and a dread of Neurotic Trends healthy development, but favorable conditions for being alone or deserted. - The 10 neurotic needs can be grouped into three growth are needed conditions that provide feelings (3) The neurotic need to restrict one’s life categories, each relating to a person’s basic of safety and satisfaction and permit them to within narrow borders. Neurotics frequently attitude toward self and others (also referred as grow in accordance with their real self. strive to remain inconspicuous, to take second basic conflict). - If parents do not satisfy the child’s need for safety place, and to be content with very little. They (1) moving toward people and satisfaction, the child develops feelings of downgrade their own abilities and dread making (2) moving against people basic hostility toward the parents. demands on others. (3) moving away from people - This hostility is often repressed and takes the (4) The neurotic need for power. Power and  Normal Defenses (Spontaneous Movement) admired, and (5) to achieve. (1) The Neurotic Search for Glory * Moving towards others and moving against - As neurotics come to believe in the reality of their Toward people people are “polar opposites”. The compliant idealized self, they begin to incorporate it into all (friendly, loving personality) person needs affection from others while the aspects of their lives—their goals, their self- Against people aggressive person sees everyone as a potential concept, and their relations with others. (a survivor in a competitive society) enemy. - It includes three other elements: Away from people * For both types, “the center of gravity lies outside (a) the need for perfection – Refers to the drive to (autonomous, serene personality) the person”. mold the whole personality in to the idealized self. Moving Away From People They try to achieve perfection by erecting a - To resolve basic conflict of isolation, people complex set of ‘shoulds’ and ‘should nots’, referred Neurotic Defenses (Compulsive Movement) behave in a detached manner and adopt a as the “tyranny of the should”. neurotic need. (b) neurotic ambition – Refers to the compulsive Toward people (1-3) - an expression of needs for privacy, drive toward superiority. (compliant personality) independence, and self-sufficiency (c) the drive toward a vindictive triumph – The Against people (4-8) - this needs become neurotic when people try to most destructive element of all. It may be (aggressive personality) satisfy each of these needs by compulsively disguised as a drive for achievement or success Away from people (9-10) putting emotional distance between themselves but its chief aim is to put others to shame or defeat (detached personality) and other people them through one’s very success, to attain power.. - Neurotics are limited to the use of a single trend, - they want to attain autonomy and separateness. to inflict suffering on them–mostly of a humiliating whereas normals can choose a variety of kind. strategies. Intrapsychic Conflicts (2) Neurotic Claims - Neurotics are unaware of their basic attitude and - Horney did not neglect the impact of intrapsychic - In their search for glory, neurotics build a fantasy they are forced to act. factors in the development of personality. world – a world that is out of sync with the real Moving Toward People The two important intrapsychic conflicts are: world. - refers to the neurotic need to protect oneself the idealized self-image and self-hatred - They proclaim that they are special and therefore against feelings of helplessness through The Idealized Self-Image entitled to be treated in accordance with their compliance - If given an environment of discipline and warmth, idealized view of themselves. - complaint people comply either or both of the first people will develop feelings of security and self- - Neurotic claims grow out of normal needs and two neurotic needs: (1) they desperately strive for confidence and a tendency toward self- wishes, however when neurotic claims are not affection and approval of others (2) they seek a realization. Yet, early negative influences often met, neurotics become indignant, bewildered, and powerful partner who will take responsibility of their impede people’s natural toward self-realization, unable to comprehend why others have not lives growing sense of alienation from themselves. granted their claims. - Horney referred to this need as “morbid - This dilemma can only be solved by acquiring a (3) Neurotic Pride dependency” stable sense of identity, an extravagantly positive - A false pride based not on a realistic view of the Moving Against People view of themselves that exists only in their true self but on a spurious image of the idealized - they move against others by appearing tough or personal belief system. self. ruthless to resolve feelings of hostility - The idealized self-image is not a global - It is qualitatively different from healthy pride or - they are motivated by the strong need to exploit construction. As it becomes solidified, they lose realistic self-esteem. others and to use them for their own benefit touch with their real self and use the idealized self - Genuine self-esteem is based on realistic - compulsively driven to appear perfect, powerful, as the standard for self-evaluation. Rather than attributes and accomplishments and is generally and superior growing toward self-realization, they move toward expressed with quiet dignity. Neurotic pride on the - Neurotic needs incorporated include: (1) the actualizing their idealized self. other hand, is based on an idealized image of self need to be powerful, (2) to exploit others, (3) to - Horney recognized three aspects of the idealized and is usually loudly proclaimed in order to protect receive recognition and prestige, (4) to be self. and support a glorified view of one’s self.  masculine protest (men are superior than women) the ability to recognize threats in the environment Self-Hatred that leads to the neurotic desire to be a man, not and would be related to decreased negative mood. People with a neurotic search for glory can never an expression of penis envy. be happy with themselves because when they realize that their real self does not match the Psychotherapy Critique of Horney insatiable demands of their idealized self, they will -The general goal of Horneyian therapy is to help - The strength of Horney’s theory is her lucid begin to hate and despise themselves. patients gradually grow in the direction of self- portrayal of the neurotic personality. Her - Horney recognized six ways in which people realization. More specifically, the aim is to have comprehensive descriptions of neurotic express self-hatred: patients give up their idealized self-image, personalities provide an excellent framework for (1) relentless demands on the self relinquish their neurotic search for glory, and understanding unhealthy people. (2) merciless self-accusation change selfhatred to an acceptance of the real - A serious limitation to her theory is that her (3) self-contempt self. references to the normal or healthy people are (4) self-frustration - Self-understanding is the key to positive change. general and not well-explicated. There was no (5) self-torment or self-torture - Successful therapy is built on patient’s self- clear picture of what self-realization would be. (6) self-destructive actions and impulses analysis (idealized self-image vs. real self). - In terms of techniques, Freudian dream -deterministic for neurotic individuals, but a healthy Feminine Psychology interpretation and free association are employed. person would have a large element of free choice * Psychic differences between men and women Horney saw dreams as attempts to solve conflicts. - somewhat more optimistic than pessimistic, are not the result of anatomy but rather of cultural - When therapy is successful, patients gradually people possess inherent curative powers that lead and social expectations develop confidence in their ability to assume toward self-realization. - Oedipus complex is not universal, instead is responsibility for their psychological development, - a middle position on causality vs. teleology: found only in some people and is an expression for they move toward self-realization. childhood experiences can block the movement the neurotic need for love. toward self-realization - A child may passionately cling to one parent and Related Research - most people have limited awareness of their express (neurotic need for love) and express - The Neurotic Compulsion to Avoid the Negative. motives jealousy toward the other, as means of alleviating Neuroticism is associated with setting avoidance - strongly emphasized social influences more than basic anxiety and not manifestations of an goals rather than approach goals. High levels of biological ones anatomically based Oedipus complex. neuroticism is also associated with experiencing - it highlights similarities among people more than - The child’s main goal is security not sexual more negative emotion and being more likely to uniqueness intercourse. develop generalized anxiety disorder. - Horney agreed with Adler that women possess a - Neuroticism can also be seen in a positive light. For those people high in neuroticism, they have