Psycho Analysis

Psychoanalysis was founded

by Sigmund Freud (1856-
1939). Freud believed that
people could be cured by
making conscious their
unconscious thoughts and
motivations, thus gaining
insight. Psychoanalysis is a
type of therapy that aims to
release pent-up or repressed
emotions and memories in or
to lead the client to catharsis
or healing. In other words, the
goal of psychoanalysis is to
bring what exists at the
unconscious or subconscious
level up to consciousness.
This goal is accomplished
through talking to another
person about the big
questions in life, the things
that matter and diving into the
complexities that lie beneath
the simple-seeming surface.
The Founder of
Psychoanalysis: Sigmund
Freud and His Concepts
Sigmund Freud was born in
Austria and spent most of his
childhood and adult life in
Vienna (Sigmund Freud
Biography, 2017). He entered
medical school and trained to
become a neurologist, earning
a medical degree in 1881.
Soon after his graduation, he
set up a private practice and
began treating patients with
psychological disorders. His
attention was captured by a
colleague’s intriguing
experience with a patience;
the colleague was Dr. Josef
Breuer and his patient was the
famous “Anna O.”, who
suffered from physical
symptoms with no apparent
physical cause.
Dr. Breuer found that her
symptoms abated when he
helped her recover memories
of traumatic experiences that
she had repressed or hidden
from conscious mind.
This case sparked Freud’s
interest in the unconscious
mind and spurred the
development of some of his
most influential ideas.
Models of the Mind
Perhaps the most impactful
idea put forth by Freud was
his model od the human
mind. His model divides the
mind into three layers, or
regions:
1. Conscious: This is
where our current
 thoughts, feelings and
focus live
2. Preconscious
(sometimes called the
subconscious): This is
the home of
everything we can
recall or retrieve from
our memory
3. Unconscious: At the
deepest level of our
minds resides a
repository of the
processes that drive
our behavior,
including primitive
and instinctual desires
( McLeod, 2013)
Later, Freud posited a more
structured model of the mind,
one that can coexist with his
original ideas about
consciousness and
unconsciousness.
There are three metaphorical
parts to the mind:
1. ID: The ID operates at
an unconscious level
and focuses solely on
instinctual drives and
desires. Two
biological instincts
make up the ID,
according to Freud:
Eros, or the instinct to
survive that drives us
 to engage in life-
sustaining activities
and Thanatos, or the
death instinct that
drives destructive,
aggressive and violent
behavior.
2. Ego: The ego acts as
both a conduit for and
a check on the ID,
working to meet the
ID’s needs in a
socially appropriate
way. It is the most
tied to reality and
begins to develop I n
infancy
3. Superego: the
superego is the
 portion of the mind in
which morality and
higher principles
reside, encouraging us
to act in socially and
morally acceptable
ways ( McLeaod,
2013)
Defense Mechanisms
Freud believed these three
parts of the mind are in
constant conflict because
each part has a different
primary goal. Sometimes,
when the conflict is too much
for a person to handle, his or
her ego may engage in one or
many defense mechanisms to
protect the individual.
These defense mechanisms
include:
1. Repression: The ego
pushes disturbing or
threatening thoughts
out of one’s
consciousness
2. Denial: The ego
blocks upsetting or
overwhelming
experiences from
awareness, causing
the individual to
refuse to acknowledge
or believe what is
happening
3. Projection: The ego
attempts to solve
discomfort by
attributing the
individual
unacceptable
thoughts, feelings and
motives to another
person
4. Displacement: the
individual satisfies an
impulse by acting on a
substitute object or
person in a socially
unacceptable way
(e.g., releasing
frustration directed
toward your boss on
your spouse instead)
5. Regression: As a
defense mechanism,
the individual moves
backward in
development in order
to cope with stress
(e.g., an overwhelmed
adult acting like a
child)
6. Sublimation: Similar
to displacement, this
defense mechanism
involves satisfying an
impulse by acting on a
substitute but in a
socially acceptable
way (e.g., channeling
energy into work or a
 constructive hobby) (
McLEod, 2013)

The 5 Psychosexual Stages of

Development
Finally, one of the most
enduring concepts associated
with Freud is his
psychosexual stages. Freud
proposed that children
develop in five instinct
stages, each focused on a
different source of pleasure
1. First Stage: Oral- the
child seeks pleasure
from the mouth (e.g.,
sucking)
2. Second Stage: Anal-
the child seeks
pleasure from the anus
(e.g., withholding and
expelling feces)
3. Third Stage: Phallic-
the child seeks
pleasure from the
penis or clitoris (e.g.,
masturbation)
4. Fourth Stage: Latent-
the child has little or
no sexual motivation
5. Fifth Stage: Genital-
the child seeks
pleasure from the
penis or vagina (e.g.,
sexual intercourse;
McLeod, 2013)
Freud hypothesized that an
individual must successfully
complete each stage to
become a psychologically
healthy adult with a fully
formed ego and superego.
Otherwise, individuals may
become stuck or “fixated” in
a particular stage, causing
emotional and behavioral
problems in adulthood
(McLeod, 2013)
The Interpretation of Dreams
Another well-known concept
from Freud was his belief in
the significance of dreams.
He believed that analyzing
one’s dream can give
valuable insight into the
unconscious mind.
In 19000, Freud published the
book THE
INTERPRETATION OF
DREAMS in which the
outlined his hypothesis that
the primary purpose of
dreams was to provide
individuals with wish
fulfillment, allowing them to
work through some of their
repressed issues in a situation
free from consciousness and
the constraints of reality (
Sigmund Freud Biography,
n.d.). In this books, he also
distinguished between the
manifest content ( the actual
dream) and the latent content
) the true or hidden meaning
behind the dream)
The purpose of dreams is to
translate the forbidden wishes
and taboo desires into a non-
threatening form through
condensation ( the joining of
two or more ideas),
displacement ( transformation
of the person or object we are
concerned about into
something or someone else),
and secondary elaboration (
the unconscious process of
turning the wish-fulfilment
images or events into a
logical narrative)
(McLeod,2013)
Freud’s ideas about dreams
were game-changing. Before
Freud, dreams were
considered insignificant and
insensible ramblings of the
mind at rest. His book
provoked a new level of
interest in dreams, an interest
that continues to this day.
Jungian Psychology: Carl
Jung

Freud’s work was continued,

although in altered form, by
his student Carl Jung, whose
particular brand of
psychology is known as
analytical psychology. Jung’s
work formed the basis for
most modern psychological
theories and concepts.

Jung and Freud shared an

interest in the unconscious
and worked together in their
early days, but a few key
disagreements ended their
partnership and allowed Jung
to fully devote his attention to
his new psychoanalytic
theory.

The three main differences

between Freudian psychology
and Jungian (or analytical)
psychology are related to:
1. Nature and Purpose of
the Libido: Jung saw
libido as a general
source of psychic
energy that motivated
a wide range of
human behaviors—
from sex to
spirituality to
creativity—while
Freud saw it as
psychic energy that
drives only sexual
gratification;
2. Nature of the
Unconscious: While
Freud viewed the
unconscious as a
storehouse for an
individual’s socially
 unacceptable
repressed desires,
Jung believed it was
more of a storehouse
for the individual’s
repressed memories
and what he called the
collective or
transpersonal
unconscious (a level
of unconscious shared
with other humans
that is made up of
latent memories from
our ancestors);
3. Causes of Behavior:
Freud saw our
behavior as being
caused solely by past
experiences, most
 notably those from
childhood, while Jung
believed our future
aspirations have a
significant impact on
our behavior as well
(McLeod, 2014).

Lacanian Psychoanalysis:
Jacques Lacan

In the mid to late 1900s, the

French psychoanalyst Jacques
Lacan called for a return to
Freud’s work, but with a
renewed focus on the
unconscious and greater
attention paid to language.
Lacan drew heavily from his
knowledge of linguistics and
believed that language was a
much more important piece
of the developmental puzzle
than Freud assumed.

There are three key concepts

of Lacanian psychoanalysis
that set it apart from Freud’s
original talk therapy:

1. The Real;
2. Symbolic Order;
3. Mirror Stage.

The Real
While Freud saw the
symbolic as being indicative
of a person’s unconscious
mind, particularly in dreams,
Lacan theorized that “the
real” is actually the most
foundational level of the
human mind. According to
Lacan, we exist in “the real”
and experience
anxiety because we cannot
control it.

Unlike the symbolic, which

Freud proposed could be
accessed through
psychoanalysis, the real
cannot be accessed. Once we
learn and understand
language, we are severed
completely from the real. He
describes it as the state of
nature, in which there exists
nothing but a need for food,
sex, safety, etc. (The Real,
2002).

Symbolic Order

Lacan’s symbolic order is one

of three orders that concepts,
ideas, thoughts, and feelings
can be placed into. Our
desires and emotions live in
the symbolic order, and this is
where they are interpreted, if
possible. Concepts like death
and absence may be
integrated into the symbolic
order because we have at
least some sense of
understanding of them, but
they may not be interpreted
fully.

Once we learn a language, we

move from the real to the
symbolic order and are
unable to move back to the
real. The real and the
symbolic are two of the three
orders that live in tension
with one another, the third
being the imaginary order
(Symbolic Order, 2002).

Mirror Stage

Lacan proposed that there is

an important stage of
development not covered by
Freud called the “mirror
stage.” This aptly named
stage is initiated when infants
look into a mirror at their
own image. Most infants
become fascinated with the
image they see in the mirror,
and may even try to interact
with it. But eventually, they
realize that the image they are
seeing is of themselves.

Once they realize this key

fact, they incorporate what
they see into their sense of
“I,” or sense of self. At this
young stage, the image they
see may not correspond to
their inner understanding of
their physical self, in which
case the image becomes an
ideal that they strive for as
they develop (Hewitson,
2010).

The Approach:
Psychoanalytic Perspective

In the psychoanalytic
approach, the focus is on the
unconscious mind rather than
the conscious mind. It is built
on the foundational idea that
your behavior is determined
by experiences from your
past that are lodged in your
unconscious mind. While the
focus on sex has lessened
over the decades since
psychoanalysis was founded,
psychology and talk therapy
still place a big emphasis on
one’s early childhood
experiences (Psychoanalytic
Perspective, n.d.).

Methods and Techniques

A psychoanalyst can use

many different techniques,
but there are four basic
components that comprise
modern psychoanalysis:

1. Interpretation;
2. Transference analysis;
3. Technical neutrality;
 4. Countertransference
analysis.

Interpretation

Interpretation is the verbal

communication between
analysts and clients in which
analysts discuss their
hypotheses of their clients’
unconscious conflicts.

Generally, analysts will help

clients see the defensive
mechanisms they are using
and the context of the
defensive mechanisms, or the
impulsive relationship against
which the mechanism was
developed, and finally the
client’s motivation for this
mechanism (Kernberg, 2016).

There are three classifications

of interpretation:

1. Clarification, in which
the analyst attempts to
clarify what is going
on in the patient’s
consciousness;
2. Confrontation, which
is bringing nonverbal
aspects of the client’s
behavior into his or
her awareness;
3. Interpretation proper,
which refers to the
 analyst’s proposed
hypothesis of the
unconscious meaning
that relates all the
aspects of the client’s
communication with
one another
(Kernberg, 2016).

Transference Analysis

Transference is the term for

the unconscious repetition in
the “here and now” of
conflicts from the client’s
past. Transference analysis
refers to “the systematic
analysis of the transference
implications of the patient’s
total verbal and nonverbal
manifestations in the hours as
well as the c patient’s direct
and implicit communicative
efforts to influence the
analyst in a certain direction”
(Kernberg, 2016).

This analysis of the patient’s

transference is an essential
component of psychoanalysis
and is the main driver of
change in treatment.

In transference analysis, the

analyst takes note of
all communication, both
verbal and nonverbal, the
client engages in and puts
together a theory on what led
to the defensive mechanisms
he or she displays. That
theory forms the basis for any
attempts to change the
behavior or character of the
client.

Technical Neutrality

Another vital piece of

psychoanalysis is what is
known as technical neutrality,
or the commitment of the
analyst to remain neutral and
avoid taking sides in the
client’s internal conflicts; the
analyst strives to remain at an
equal distance from the
client’s id, ego, and superego,
and from the client’s external
reality.

Additionally, technical
neutrality demands that the
analyst refrains from
imposing his or her value
systems upon the client
(Kernberg, 2016).

Technical neutrality is
sometimes considered
indifference or disinterest in
the client, but that is not the
goal; rather, analysts aim to
serve as a mirror for their
clients, reflecting clients’
own characteristics,
assumptions, and behaviors
back at them to aid in their
understanding of themselves.

Countertransference Analysis

This final key component of

psychoanalysis is the analysis
of countertransference, the
analyst’s reactions to clients
and the material they present
in sessions. According to
Kernberg:

“contemporary view of
countertransference is that of
a complex formation
codetermined by the analyst’s
reaction to the patient’s
transference, to the reality of
the patient’s life, to the
reality of the analyst’s life,
and to specific transference
dispositions activated in the
analyst as a reaction to the
patient and his/her material”
(2016).

Countertransference analysis
can be generally understood
as the analyst’s attempts to
analyze their own reactions to
the client, whatever form they
take.

To engage in psychoanalytic
treatment, the analyst must
see the client objectively and
understand the transference
happening in the client and in
their own experience.
Transference and Other
Forms of Resistance in
Psychoanalysis

Speaking of transference, it is
one of the many forms of
resistance considered in
psychoanalysis. In
psychoanalytic theory,
resistance has a specific
meaning: the blocking of
memories from consciousness
by the client (Fournier, 2018).
Resistance is the client’s
general unwillingness to
change their behavior and
engage in growth through
therapy. This resistance can
develop by myriad reasons,
some conscious and some
unconscious, and can even be
present in those who want to
change.

Transference occurs when

clients redirect their emotions
and feelings from one person
to another, often
unconsciously, and represents
a resistance or obstacle
between clients and their
desired states (healing).

It frequently occurs in
treatment in the form of
transference onto the
therapist, in which the client
applies their feelings and
expectations toward another
person onto the therapist.

There are many different

types of transference, but the
most common include:

 Paternal transference:
In this type, the client
looks to another
person as a father or
idealized father figure
(e.g., wise,
authoritative,
powerful);
 Maternal transference:
The client looks to
another person as a
mother or an idealized
mother figure (e.g.,
 comforting, loving,
nurturing);
 Sibling transference:
This type may occur
when parental
relationships break
down or are lacking;
instead of treating
another person as a
parent (in a
leader/follower type
relationship), the
client transfers a more
peer-based
relationship onto the
other person;
 Non-familial
transference: This is a
more general type of
transference in which
 the client treats others
as idealized versions
of what the client
expects them to be,
rather than what they
truly are; this type of
transference can lead
the client to form
stereotypes (Good
Therapy, 2015).

Transference is not
necessarily harmful but may
be a form of client resistance
to treatment. If the client is
projecting inappropriate or
unrealistic expectations onto
the therapist, he or she may
not be entirely open to the
change that treatment can
provoke.

Resistance to treatment can

also be understood in a more
general, non-psychoanalytic
manner. After all, resistance
to treatment is not an
uncommon occurrence.

Examples of ways in which a

client may resist change in
treatment include:

 Silence or minimal
discussion with the
therapist;
 Wordiness or
verbosity;
 Preoccupation with
symptoms;
 Irrelevant small talk;
 Preoccupation with
the past or future;
 Focusing on the
therapist or asking the
therapist personal
questions;
 Discounting or
second-guessing the
therapist;
 Seductiveness;
 False promises or
forgetting to do what
is agreed upon;
 Not keeping
appointments;
  Failing to pay for
appointments (Lavoie,
n.d.).

On the Couch: Why You

Lie Down During
Treatment

Although it has frequently

been used in satire and
cartoons to poke fun at
psychoanalysis, there are
some good reasons why the
couch is an important aspect
of the psychoanalytic
treatment experience.
Dr. Harvey Schwartz explains
that having the client lie on
the couch instead of sitting
face-to-face with the analyst
frees both participants from
the social constraints
established by looking at one
another:

“Both have the opportunity to

let their minds run free in
relation to each other. The
unconscious communication
that can result fosters a more
profound intimacy and deeper
self-discovery” (2017).

Further, Schwartz notes these

important points regarding
the couch:
1. It is used when the
client is ready, and
there is no pressure to
use it;
2. There is no “right”
way to use the
couch—each client’s
experience is unique;
3. The couch can
facilitate greater
levels of honesty that
aid in the treatment
process;
4. It can facilitate self-
acceptance and reduce
inhibitions;
5. The couch can be
considered a place of
freedom, in which you
can explore the deeper
 aspects of your pains
and your passions
(2017).

While the couch isn’t

necessary for patients in
psychoanalysis, it is
recommended and
encouraged for optimal
results.

Psychoanalysis Test: The

Freudian Personality Test

If you’re interested in taking

a quick and easy test to
determine whether you are
stuck, or fixated, at a stage of
development, you can find
one here. It presents 21 items
that may or may not describe
your personality, and you
decide how well it describes
you, generally on a scale
from Very Inaccurate to Very
Accurate.

Although you will need to

visit a psychoanalyst if you
want a more valid and
reliable diagnosis, this test
can give you an idea of where
your personality lies.
However, please note that
you will need to make an
account with Psychologist
World to obtain your results.

For a test with free access to

your results, check out this
Freudian Personality Style
Test from the Individual
Differences Research Labs.
This test is composed of 48
items rated on a 5-point scale
from Disagree to Agree. Your
results are in the form of
scores ranging from 0% to
100% on eight personality
styles:

1. Oral-Receptive;
2. Oral-Aggressive;
3. Anal-Expulsive;
4. Anal-Retentive;
5. Phallic-Aggressive;
6. Phallic-
Compensative;
7. Classic Hysteric;
8. Retentive Hysteric.
Psychodynamic vs.
Psychoanalytic Theory

With all of the theories and

disciplines sporting the
“psycho” prefix, it’s easy to
get them confused.

Psychodynamic theory and

psychoanalytic theory have
quite a bit in common; in fact,
psychoanalytic theory is a
sub-theory of psychodynamic
theory. “Psychodynamic”
refers to all psychological
theories of human functioning
and personality and can be
traced back to Freud’s
original formulation of
psychoanalysis.

By contrast, psychoanalytic
theory refers exclusively to
Freud’s psychoanalytic
theory.

Given the relationship

between the two theories,
there are several core ideas
and assumptions that they
have in common, including:

 The significance of
internal drives;
 The impact of the
unconscious on
human personality
and behavior;
  Human thoughts,
feelings, and
behaviors as being
rooted in our earliest
experiences;
 All behavior as being
determined by internal
factors (i.e., it is never
random and behavior
cannot be completely
controlled by the
individual) (McLeod,
2017).

Psychoanalysis vs.
Psychotherapy
So, given the difference
between the two “psycho-”
theories above, what is the
difference between
psychoanalysis and
psychotherapy?

The main distinctions

between psychoanalysis and
psychotherapy lie in both the
goals of the treatment and the
methods used to achieve
those goals.

Psychotherapy is a type of
“talk therapy” that is offered
as a treatment for a wide
range of ailments and mental
disorders. The goal is to solve
a problem and/or address
symptoms that are affecting
the client’s quality of life, and
there are many ways to go
about working to reach this
goal.

Those methods vary

depending on the type of
psychotherapy in question.
Some of the most common
types include:

 Cognitive therapy;
 Behavioral therapy;
 Cognitive behavioral
therapy;
 Marital or family
therapy;
 Eye Movement
Desensitization and
 Reprocessing (EMD
R);
 Narrative therapy;
 Emotion-focused
therapy;
 Brief solution-
focused
therapy (Lee, 2010).

Psychoanalysis also falls

within this list of common
types of psychotherapy, but it
has a more specific goal:
helping the client (or patient)
overcome the desires and
negative influences of his or
her unconscious mind.
The techniques used in
psychoanalysis differ from
most other types of
psychotherapy, demonstrated
by the stereotypical image of
psychoanalysis of the client
reclining on a couch facing
away from the therapist (or
analyst) while discussing his
or her past.

Psychotherapy can be
undertaken with a variety of
length and duration
combinations, from once a
month to several times a
week. On the other hand,
psychoanalysis is almost
always applied in an intensive
manner, often requiring three
to five sessions a week for
several years (Lee, 2010).

A Psychoanalyst vs. a
Psychotherapist: Is There a
difference?

In case the descriptions above

didn’t make it clear, there is
certainly a difference between
a psychoanalyst and a
psychotherapist.

A psychoanalyst has a
particular set of skills gained
from specific psychoanalysis
training. While
psychotherapists may practice
multiple types of therapy
(although they often
specialize in a certain type of
therapy or in treating a
particular mental health
issue), psychoanalysts
generally stick to practicing
only psychoanalysis.

However, the two professions

both focus on helping people
via talk therapy, and both use
their skills to help their
clients gain insight about
themselves, address their
mental and emotional issues,
and heal.

In fact, a psychoanalyst is
often considered to be a type
of psychotherapist, just one
who specializes in
psychoanalysis. With that in
mind, every psychoanalyst is
also a psychotherapist, but
not every psychotherapist is a
psychoanalyst.

Popular Books on
Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis has been

around for more than 100
years and has generated
plenty of debate—much of it
heated. Unsurprisingly, given
how long it has been
practiced, there are many,
many books available on the
subject.
Some of the most popular and
well-reviewed books on
psychoanalysis are listed
here:

 Psychoanalysis: A
Very Short
Introduction by
Daniel Pick
(Amazon);
 Psychoanalysis: The
Impossible
Profession by Janet
Malcom (Amazon);
 Psychoanalytic
Perspectives on
Developmental
Psychology by Joseph
M. Masling and
 Robert F.
Bornstein (link);
 Practical
Psychoanalysis for
Therapists and
Patients by Owen
Renik (Amazon);
 Psychoanalysis and
Psychoanalytic
Therapies (Theories
of Psychotherapy) by
Jeremy D.
Safran (Amazon);
 The How-To Book for
Students of
Psychoanalysis and
Psychotherapy by
Sheldon
Bach (Amazon).
Psychoanalysis in Art and
Literature

Due to psychoanalysis’s
tenure as an influential theory
and form of therapy, it’s had
a sizable presence in art,
literature, and films. If self-
help books tend not to thrill
you, you might find some
interesting works on
psychoanalysis in other
places.

For a fascinating look at how

art has been influenced by
psychoanalysis, check out
Laurie Schneider
Adams’s book Art and
Psychoanalysis. For a briefer
look at the interaction
between the two, you can find
a good, concise overview
through Ivy Roberts’s online
lesson titled “The Impact of
Psychoanalysis on Art.”

Psychoanalysis has also left

its mark on literature, both by
inspiring works of fiction that
incorporate aspects of
psychoanalysis and/or
psychoanalytic theory and by
serving as the basis for
psychoanalytic literary
criticism, in which literature
is critiqued through the lens
of psychoanalytic theory.
For a brief overview of the
effects of psychoanalysis on
literature, check out Susan
van Zyl’s article
“Psychoanalysis and
Literature: An Introduction”
by clicking here.

At the Movies: 15 Films

Influenced by
Psychoanalysis

The impact of psychoanalysis

on movies is perhaps even
more salient than its impact
on art and literature. The list
below is just a sampling of
the many films inspired
and/or influenced by
psychoanalysis:
 Sisters (1973) directed
by Brian de Palma;
 Un Chien
Andalou (1928)
directed by Luis
Buñuel;
 A Dangerous
Method (2011)
directed by David
Cronenberg;
 The Enigma of Kaspar
Hauser (1974)
directed by Werner
Herzog;
 The Piano
Teacher (2001)
directed by Michael
Haneke;
 Dogtooth (2009)
directed by Yorgos
Lanthimos;
 Blue Velvet (1986)
directed by David
Lynch;
 Black Swan (2010)
directed by Darren
Aronofsky;
 Shame (2011) directed
by Steve McQueen;
 A Clockwork
Orange (1971)
directed by Stanley
Kubrick;
 Psycho (1960)
directed by Alfred
Hitchcock;
  Fight Club (1999)
directed by David
Fincher;
 Antichrist (2009)
directed by Lars van
Trier;
 My Winnipeg (2007)
directed by Guy
Madden;
 Another
Woman (1988)
directed by Woody
Allen.

To read more about how

psychoanalysis ties into each
of these movies, see Bryan
Norton’s article on the
subject here.

Criticisms of
Psychoanalytic Therapy

Although psychoanalytic
theory laid the foundations
for much of modern
psychology, it is not without
its flaws. Psychoanalysis is
still practiced today, and
psychoanalytic theory has
been updated to fall more in
line with current knowledge
about human behavior and
the brain, but there are many
criticisms of the theory and
its applications.

The major criticisms are:

 Many of the
hypotheses or
assumptions of
psychoanalytic theory
cannot be tested by
empirical means,
making it nearly
impossible to falsify
or confirm;
 It overemphasizes the
deterministic roles of
biology and the
unconscious, leaving
little room for
 influence from the
conscious mind;
 Psychoanalytic theory
was deeply rooted in
Freud’s sexist ideas,
and traces of this
sexism still remain in
the theory and
practice today;
 It has generally not
been supported across
cultures, and may
actually apply only to
Western culture;
 Freud may have relied
too much on a
pathology framework,
seeing behaviors as
inappropriate and/or
harmful when they
 might be inherent to
the normal human
experience;
 The theory was not
developed through the
application of the
scientific method but
from (likely highly
subjective) personal
reports from Freud on
his experience with
clients;
 There is little
evidence of many of
Freud’s theories,
including the
repression of
childhood sexual
abuse and trauma.
Given these many valid
criticisms of psychoanalytic
theory, it is probably wise to
approach Freud and his
theories with a grain of salt.
Although his work formed
the basis for modern
psychology, that basis was
lacking in empiricism and
falsifiability, and his students
and followers bore the larger
burden of providing evidence
to back the resulting
psychological theories.
Personality Wheel Trait

Personality refers to the long-

standing traits and patterns
that propel individuals to
consistently think, feel, and
behave in specific ways. Our
personality is what makes us
unique individuals. Each
person has an idiosyncratic
pattern of enduring, long-
term characteristics and a
manner in which he or she
interacts with other
individuals and the world
around them. Our
personalities are thought to be
long term, stable, and not
easily changed. The
word personality comes from
the Latin word persona. In
the ancient world, a persona
was a mask worn by an actor.
While we tend to think of a
mask as being worn to
conceal one’s identity, the
theatrical mask was originally
used to either represent or
project a specific personality
trait of a character.
Happy, sad, impatient, shy, fearful,
curious, helpful. What characteristics
describe your personality?

HISTORICAL
PERSPECTIVES
The concept of personality
has been studied for at least
2,000 years, beginning with
Hippocrates in 370 BCE
(Fazeli, 2012). Hippocrates
theorized that personality
traits and human behaviors
are based on four separate
temperaments associated with
four fluids (“humors”) of the
body: choleric temperament
(yellow bile from the liver),
melancholic temperament
(black bile from the kidneys),
sanguine temperament (red
blood from the heart), and
phlegmatic temperament
(white phlegm from the
lungs) (Clark & Watson,
2008; Eysenck & Eysenck,
1985; Lecci & Magnavita,
2013; Noga, 2007). Centuries
later, the influential Greek
physician and
philosopher Galenbuilt on
Hippocrates’s theory,
suggesting that both diseases
and personality differences
could be explained by
imbalances in the humors and
that each person exhibits one
of the four temperaments. For
example, the choleric person
is passionate, ambitious, and
bold; the melancholic person
is reserved, anxious, and
unhappy; the sanguine person
is joyful, eager, and
optimistic; and the
phlegmatic person is calm,
reliable, and thoughtful
(Clark & Watson, 2008;
Stelmack & Stalikas, 1991).
Galen’s theory was prevalent
for over 1,000 years and
continued to be popular
through the Middle Ages.
In 1780, Franz Gall, a
German physician, proposed
that the distances between
bumps on the skull reveal a
person’s personality traits,
character, and mental
abilities. According to Gall,
measuring these distances
revealed the sizes of the brain
areas underneath, providing
information that could be
used to determine whether a
person was friendly, prideful,
murderous, kind, good with
languages, and so on.
Initially, phrenology was very
popular; however, it was soon
discredited for lack of
empirical support and has
long been relegated to the
status of pseudoscience
(Fancher, 1979).

The pseudoscience of measuring the

areas of a person’s skull is known as
phrenology. (a) Gall developed a chart
that depicted which areas of the skull
corresponded to particular personality
traits or characteristics (Hothersall,
1995). (b) An 1825 lithograph depicts
Gall examining the skull of a young
woman. (credit b: modification of
work by Wellcome Library, London)

In the centuries after Galen,

other researchers contributed
to the development of his four
primary temperament types,
most prominently Immanuel
Kant (in the 18th century) and
psychologist
Wilhelm Wundt (in the 19th
century) (Eysenck, 2009;
Stelmack & Stalikas, 1991;
Wundt, 1874/1886). Kant
agreed with Galen that
everyone could be sorted into
one of the four temperaments
and that there was no overlap
between the four categories
(Eysenck, 2009). He
developed a list of traits that
could be used to describe the
personality of a person from
each of the four
temperaments. However,
Wundt suggested that a better
description of personality
could be achieved using two
major axes:
emotional/nonemotional and
changeable/unchangeable.
The first axis separated strong
from weak emotions (the
melancholic and choleric
temperaments from the
phlegmatic and sanguine).
The second axis divided the
changeable temperaments
(choleric and sanguine) from
the unchangeable ones
(melancholic and phlegmatic)
(Eysenck, 2009).
Developed from Galen’s theory of the
four temperaments, Kant proposed
trait words to describe each
temperament. Wundt later suggested
the arrangement of the traits on two
major axes.

Sigmund Freud’s
psychodynamic perspective
of personality was the first
comprehensive theory of
personality, explaining a wide
variety of both normal and
abnormal behaviors.
According to Freud,
unconscious drives
influenced by sex and
aggression, along with
childhood sexuality, are the
forces that influence our
personality. Freud attracted
many followers who modified
his ideas to create new
theories about personality.
These theorists, referred to as
neo-Freudians, generally
agreed with Freud that
childhood experiences matter,
but they reduced the
emphasis on sex and focused
more on the social
environment and effects of
culture on personality. The
perspective of personality
proposed by Freud and his
followers was the dominant
theory of personality for the
first half of the 20th century.