Ego
Rational component, mediating, ruled by “reality principle”
- conscious mind
- mediator between Id and Superego
Superego
Moralistic component, internalizing parental and social rules
-preconscious outside awareness but accessible
Id
Irrational component, impulsive, ruled by “pleasure principle”
-unconscious mind
What are Freud’s Psychosexual Stages?
1) Oral (0-18 months)
2) Anal (18-36 months)
3) Phallic (3-6 years)
4) Latency (6 to puberty)
5) Genital (puberty on)
Oral Stage
Pleasure enters on the mouth - sucking, biting, chewing
Anal Stage
Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; coping with demands for control
Phallic stage
Pleasure zone is the genitals; coping with incestuous sexual feelings
Latency stage
A phase of dormant sexual feelings
Genital stage
Maturation of sexual interests
Ego (defence mechanism)
protects itself with tactics that reduce and redirect anxiety by reality distortion
Defence Mechanisms function:
indirectly and unconsciously
Repression
underlies all other defence mechanisms. It is sometimes incomplete and may be manifested as symbols in areas or slips of the tongue
6 defence mechanisms
1) regression
2) reaction formation (displacement, repression)
3) projection
4) rationalization
5) displacement
6) denial
Repression (defence mechanism)
- unconscious mechanism to keep disturbing or threatening thoughts from becoming conscious
ex: aggressive thoughts about the same sex parents are repressed
Denial (defence mechanism)
- blocking external events from awareness. If some situation is too much to handle the person refuses to experience it
ex: smokers may refuse to admit to themselves that smoking is bad for their health –> can not see that their spouse is having an affair even thought it is obvious
Projection (defence mechanism)
- individuals attributing their own unacceptable thoughts, feelings and motives to another person
ex: you might hate someone but your superego tells you that this hatred is unacceptable. You can solve this problem by believing that they hate you
Displacement (defence mechanism)
- satisfying an impulse (e.g. aggression) with a substitute object
ex: someone who is frustrated with his or her boss at work may go home and kick their dog
Regression (defence mechanism)
- a movement back in psychological time when someone is distressed
ex: a child may begin to suck their thumb again or wet the bed when they need to spend some time in the hospital
Sublimation (defence mechanism)
satisfying and impulse (e.g. agression) in a socially acceptable way
ex: exercise
How does modern research contradict many of Freud’s ideas?
- Development is lifelong, not fixed in childhood
- Parental influence is overestimated and peer influence is underestimated
- belief that dreams disguise and fulfill wishes is disputed as is idea that suppressed sexuality causes psychological disorders
- freud’s scientific methodology is criticized
- after-the-fact explanations of characteristics fail to predict behaviours and traits
Karen Horney
Feminist psychology - disputed Froids view of penis envy
Alfred Adler
Feelings of inferiority - inferiority complex –> plays a role in personality development
Abraham Maslow
Discovered the Hierarchy of needs and self-actualization
Self-actualization
a person’s “full use and exploitation of talents, capacities, and potentialities”
- realism and acceptance
- spontaneity
- problem centring
- autonomy
- continued freshness of appreciation
- peak experiences
