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founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology. Freud is best known for his theories of
the unconscious mind and the defense mechanism of repression.
Freud has been influential in two related but distinct ways. He simultaneously developed
a theory of how the human mind is organized and operates internally, and a theory of
how human behavior both conditions and results from this particular theoretical
understanding. This led him to favor certain clinical techniques for attempting to help
cure psychopathology. He theorized that personality is developed by the person's
childhood experiences.
INDEX:
I - Three concepts of the Unconscious
II - Unconscious Mind or Unconsciousness
III - Libido (by Freud and Jung)
IV - The Reality Principle
1. The descriptive unconscious - referred to all those features of mental life of which
people are not subjectively aware.
2. The dynamic unconscious - referred to mental processes and contents that are
defensively removed from consciousness as a result of conflicting attitudes.
(examples:
-Twilight fans vs. anti-twilight individuals;
-the defense of “if you don’t like it then don’t read it”;
-“refer to the comments in amy2609’s 101 reasons why the twilight saga sucks”)
3.a. Id: a selfish, primitive, childish, pleasure-oriented part of the personality with no
ability to delay gratification. "The Child".
3.b. Superego: internalized societal and parental standards of "good" and "bad", "right"
and "wrong" behavior. "The Parent".
3.c. Ego: the moderator between the id and superego which seeks compromises to pacify
both. It can be viewed as our "Sense of Self." "The Adult".
The unconscious mind can be seen as the source of night dreams and automatic thoughts
(those that appear without apparent cause).
Freud divided mind into the conscious mind or Ego and two parts of the Unconscious: the
Id or instincts and the Superego. He used the idea of the unconscious in order to explain
certain kinds of neurotic behavior.
In this theory, the unconscious refers to that part of mental functioning of which subjects
make themselves unaware.
For psychoanalysis, the unconscious does not include all that is not conscious, rather only
what is actively repressed from conscious thought or what the person is averse to
knowing consciously. In a sense this view places the self in relationship to their
unconscious as an adversary, warring with itself to keep what is unconscious hidden. The
therapist is then a mediator trying to allow the unspoken or unspeakable to reveal itself
using the tools of psychoanalysis. Messages arising from a conflict between conscious
and unconscious are likely to be cryptic. The psychoanalyst is presented as an expert in
interpreting those messages.
For Freud, the unconscious was a repository for socially unacceptable ideas, wishes or
desires, traumatic memories, and painful emotions put out of mind by the mechanism of
psychological repression. However, the contents did not necessarily have to be solely
negative. In the psychoanalytic view, the unconscious is a force that can only be
recognized by its effects — it expresses itself in the symptom.
Unconscious thoughts are not directly accessible to ordinary introspection, but are
supposed to be capable of being "tapped" and "interpreted" by special methods and
techniques such as random association, dream analysis, and verbal slips (commonly
known as a Freudian slip), examined and conducted during psychoanalysis.
Libido in its common usage means sexual desire; however, more technical definitions,
such as those found in the work of Carl Jung, are more general, referring to libido as the
free creative—or psychic—energy an individual has to put toward personal development
or individuation.
Sigmund Freud popularized the term and defined libido as the instinct energy or force,
contained in what Freud called the id, the largely unconscious structure of the psyche.
Freud pointed out that these libidinal drives can conflict with the conventions of civilized
behavior, represented in the psyche by the superego. It is this need to conform to society
and control the libido that leads to tension and disturbance in the individual, prompting
the use of ego defenses to dissipate the psychic energy of these unmet and mostly
unconscious needs into other forms. Excessive use of ego defenses results in neurosis. A
primary goal of psychoanalysis is to bring the drives of the id into consciousness,
allowing them to be met directly and thus reducing the patient's reliance on ego defenses.
According to Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung, the libido is identified as psychic
energy. Duality (opposition) that creates the energy (or libido) of the psyche, which Jung
asserts expresses itself only through symbols: "It is the energy that manifests itself in the
life process and is perceived subjectively as striving and desire." (Ellenberger, 697)
Defined more narrowly, libido also refers to an individual's urge to engage in sexual
activity.
The reality principle
Id impulses are not appropriate in civilized society, so society presses us to modify the
pleasure principle in favor of the reality principle; that is, the requirements of the external
world.
(Example: by not acting childish in front of many; do not show your beyond-100% real-
self in the society; adjunct proper manners and conduct in personality helped in
diminishing or restraining the Id principle)
He further argued that, as humans develop, they become fixated on different and specific
objects through their stages of development. He called them as ‘psychosexual
development’.
3. Phallic stage - during the ages 3-6 (Oedipus and Electra Complexes)
4. Latency Stage - occurs during ages 7-10 until puberty; though people do not tend to
fixate at this stage, but if they do, they tend to be extremely sexually unfulfilled.
The latency stage is typified by a solidifying of the habits that the child developed in the
earlier stages. Whether the Oedipal conflict is successfully resolved or not, the drives of
the id are not accessible to the ego during this stage of development, since they have been
repressed during the phallic stage.
Hence the drives are seen as dormant and hidden (latent); and the gratification the child
receives is not as immediate as it was during the three previous stages. Now pleasure is
mostly related to secondary process thinking. Drive energy is redirected to new activities,
mainly related to schooling, hobbies and friends. Problems however might occur during
this stage, and this is attributed to inadequate repression of the oedipal conflict, or to the
inability of the ego to redirect the drive energy to activities accepted by the social
environment.
5. Genital Stage – occurs in ages 11 until puberty stage and beyond; this is where sexual
interests mature; consequences of this stage results in frigidity, impotence, and
unsatisfactory relationships.
This lasts from puberty, about the twelfth year of age, and onwards. It actually continues
until development stops, which is ideally in the eighteenth year of age, when adulthood
starts.
This stage represents the major portion of life, and the basic task for the individual is the
detachment from the parents. It is also the time when the individual tries to come in terms
with unresolved residues of the early childhood.
In this stage the focus is again on the genitals, like in the phallic stage, but this time the
energy is expressed with adult sexuality. Another crucial difference between these two
stages is that, while in the phallic gratification is linked with satisfaction of the primary
drives, the ego in the genital stage is well-developed, and so uses secondary process
thinking, which allows symbolic gratification. The symbolic gratification may include the
formation of love relationships and families, or acceptance of responsibilities associated
with adulthood.
The trait approach to personality is one of the major theoretical areas in the study of
personality. The trait theory suggests that individual personalities are composed broad
dispositions. Consider how you would describe the personality of a close friend. Chances
are that you would list a number of traits, such as outgoing, kind and even-tempered. A
trait can be thought of as a relatively stable characteristic that causes individuals to
behave in certain ways.
• Cardinal Traits: Traits that dominate an individual’s whole life, often to the
point that the person becomes known specifically for these traits. People with
such personalities often become so known for these traits that their names are
often synonymous with these qualities. Consider the origin and meaning of the
following descriptive terms: Freudian, Machiavellian, narcissism, Don Juan,
Christ-like, etc. Allport suggested that cardinal traits are rare and tend to develop
later in life.2
• Central Traits: These are the general characteristics that form the basic
foundations of personality. These central traits, while not as dominating as
cardinal traits, are the major characteristics you might use to describe another
person. Terms such as intelligent, honest, shy and anxious are considered central
traits.
• Secondary Traits: These are the traits that are sometimes related to attitudes or
preferences and often appear only in certain situations or under specific
circumstances. Some examples would be getting anxious when speaking to a
group or impatient while waiting in line.
Trait theorist Raymond Cattell reduced the number of main personality traits from
Allport’s initial list of over 4,000 down to 171,3 mostly by eliminating uncommon traits
and combining common characteristics. Next, Cattell rated a large sample of individuals
for these 171 different traits. Then, using a statistical technique known as factor analysis,
he identified closely related terms and eventually reduced his list to just 16 key
personality traits. According to Cattell, these 16 traits are the source of all human
personality. He also developed one of the most widely used personality assessments
known as the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF).
British psychologist Hans Eysenck developed a model of personality based upon just
three universal trails:
1. Introversion/Extraversion:
Introversion involves directing attention on inner experiences, while extraversion
relates to focusing attention outward on other people and the environment. So, a
person high in introversion might be quiet and reserved, while an individual high
in extraversion might be sociable and outgoing.
2. Neuroticism/Emotional Stability:
This dimension of Eysenck’s trait theory is related to moodiness versus even-
temperedness. Neuroticism refers to an individual’s tendency to become upset or
emotional, while stability refers to the tendency to remain emotionally constant.
3. Psychoticism:
Later, after studying individuals suffering from mental illness, Eysenck added a
personality dimension he called psychoticism to his trait theory. Individuals who
are high on this trait tend to have difficulty dealing with reality and may be
antisocial, hostile, non-empathetic and manipulative.4
Both Cattell’s and Eysenck’s theory have been the subject of considerable research,
which has led some theorists to believe that Cattell focused on too many traits, while
Eysenck focused on too few. As a result, a new trait theory often referred to as the "Big
Five" theory emerged. This five-factor model of personality represents five core traits
that interact to form human personality.5 While researchers often disagree about the exact
labels for each dimension, the following are described most commonly:
1. Extraversion
2. Agreeableness
3. Conscientiousness
4. Neuroticism
5. Openness
While most agree that people can be described based upon their personality traits,
theorists continue to debate the number of basic traits that make up human personality.
While trait theory has objectivity that some personality theories lack (such as Freud’s
psychoanalytic theory), it also has weaknesses. Some of the most common criticisms of
trait theory center on the fact that traits are often poor predictors of behavior. While an
individual may score high on assessments of a specific trait, he or she may not always
behave that way in every situation. Another problem is that trait theories do not address
how or why individual differences in personality develop or emerge
The "big five" are broad categories of personality traits. While there is a significant body
of literature supporting this five-factor model of personality, researchers don't always
agree on the exact labels for each dimension. However, these five categories are usually
described as follows:
5. Openness: This trait features characteristics such as imagination and insight, and
those high in this trait also tend to have a broad range of interests.
These dimensions represent broad areas of personality. Research has demonstrated that
these groupings of characteristics tend to occur together in many people. For example,
individuals who are sociable tend to be talkative. However, these traits do not always
occur together. Personality is a complex and varied and each person may display
behaviors across several of these dimensions.
Endomorph
The Endomorph is physically quite 'round', and is typified as the 'barrel of fun' person.
They tend to have:
• Wide hips and narrow shoulders, which makes them rather pear-shaped.
• Quite a lot of fat spread across the body, including upper arms and thighs.
• They have quite slim ankles and wrists, which only serves to accentuate the fatter
other parts.
• Sociable
• Fun-loving
• Love of food
• Tolerant
• Even-tempered
• Good humored
• Relaxed
• With a love of comfort
• And has a need for affection
Ectomorph
The Ectomorph is a form of opposite of the Endomorph. Physically, they tend to have:
Even though they may eat as much as the endomorph, they never seem to put on weight
(much to the endomorph's chagrin). Psychologically they are:
• Self-conscious
• Private
• Introverted
• Inhibited
• Socially anxious
• Artistic
• Intense
• Emotionally restrained
• Thoughtful
Mesomorph
The mesomorph is somewhere between the round endomorph and the thin ectomorph.
Physically, they have the more 'desirable' body, and have:
• Adventurous
• Courageous
• Indifferent to what others think or want
• Assertive/bold
• Zest for physical activity
• Competitive
• With a desire for power/dominance
• And a love of risk/chance
So what?
Psychological profiling based on anatomical features is generally not considered to be
reliable these days. Nevertheless, such patterns do have some level of interest, and old
theories are often ingrained in society, as well as being based on some form of
observation.
The best approach is to use this as a test. When you meet a person who seems to fit in
with the physical characteristics above, be curious to see if they also fit into the
psychological profile. If it all works as predicted, then well and good (it may be that they
are actually in a self-fulfilling prophesy, where they fit themselves to the appropriate
model). Otherwise, look elsewhere for ways to understand the person.
Sheldon's original work included attempts to characterize criminals (in the style of
Lombroso's original work in this area). Unsurprisingly, he found that a number were
muscular mesomorphs, as violent crimes are likely to be carried out by strong men. The
trap beyond this is to assume that all mesomorphs are criminal in nature. This is not
unlike the work that 'proved' women to be less intelligent than men because they have
smaller brains!
The Personality Theory of Carl Jung
Understanding Introversion, Extroversion, and the Eight
Orientations
After some argument over the validity of psychoanalysis, Jung and Freud went their
separate ways, and Jung went on to develop the analytical psychology, which
differentiated the personal unconscious from the collective unconscious, which reflects
the shared unconscious thoughts among humans. Another notable contribution to
psychology involves Jung's personality theory, which was particularly notable due to its
definitions of introversion and extroversion.
The first of Jung’s general psychological types was the general attitude type. An attitude,
according to Jung, is a person’s predisposition to behave in a particular way. There are
two opposing attitudes: introversion and extroversion. The two attitudes work as
opposing, yet complementary forces and are often depicted as the classing yin and yang
symbol.
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The introvert is most aware of his or her inner world. While the external world is still
perceived, it is not pondered as seriously as inward movement of psychic energy. The
introverted attitude is more concerned with subjective appraisal and often gives more
consideration to fantasies and dreams.
Clearly, it is not a case of one versus the other. Many people carry qualities of both
attitudes, considering both subjective and objective information.
For Carl Jung, there were four functions that, when combined with one of his two
attitudes, formed the eight different personality types. The first function — feeling — is
the method by which a person understands the value of conscious activity. Another
function — thinking — allows a person to understand the meanings of things. This
process relies on logic and careful mental activity.
Read on
The final two functions — sensation and intuition — may seem very similar, but there is
an important distinction. Sensation refers to the means by which a person knows
something exists and intuition is knowing about something without conscious
understanding of where that knowledge comes from.
Jung developed a theory of eight different personality types. Jung's personality types are
as follows:
• Extroverted Thinking – Jung theorized that people understand the world through a
mix of concrete ideas and abstract ones, but the abstract concepts are ones passed
down from other people. Extroverted thinkers are often found working in the
research sciences and mathematics.
• Introverted Thinking – These individuals interpret stimuli in the environment
through a subjective and creative way. The interpretations are informed by
internal knowledge and understanding. Philosophers and theoretical scientists are
often introverted thinking-oriented people.
• Extroverted Feeling – These people judge the value of things based on objective
fact. Comfortable in social situations, they form their opinions based on socially
accepted values and majority beliefs. They are often found working in business
and politics.
• Introverted Feeling – These people make judgments based on subjective ideas
and on internally established beliefs. Oftentimes they ignore prevailing attitudes
and defy social norms of thinking. Introverted feeling people thrive in careers as
art critics.
• Extroverted Sensing – These people perceive the world as it really exists. Their
perceptions are not colored by any pre-existing beliefs. Jobs that require objective
review, like wine tasters and proofreaders, are best filled by extroverted sensing
people.
• Introverted Sensing – These individuals interpret the world through the lens of
subjective attitudes and rarely see something for only what it is. They make sense
of the environment by giving it meaning based on internal reflection. Introverted
sensing people often turn to various arts, including portrait painting and classical
music.
• Extroverted Intuitive – These people prefer to understand the meanings of things
through subliminally perceived objective fact rather than incoming sensory
information. They rely on hunches and often disregard what they perceive directly
from their senses. Inventors that come upon their invention via a stroke of insight
and some religious reformers are characterized by the extraverted intuitive type.
• Introverted Intuitive – These individuals, Jung thought, are profoundly influenced
by their internal motivations even though they do not completely understand
them. They find meaning through unconscious, subjective ideas about the world.
Introverted intuitive people comprise a significant portion of mystics, surrealistic
artists, and religious fanatics.
A person is not usually defined by only one of the eight personality types. Instead, the
different functions exist in a hierarchy. One function will take have a superior effect and
another will have a secondary effect. Usually, according to Jung, a person only makes
significant use of two functions. The other two take inferior positions.
In his 1921 work, Psychological Types, Jung compared his four functions of personality
to the four points on a compass. While a person faces one direction, he or she still uses
the other points as a guide. Most people keep one function as the dominant one although
some people may develop two over a lifeti