159 CH 2 2021

Chapter 2
Sigmund Freud:
Psychoanalytic Theory
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Life of Freud
• 1856-1939
• Early years
– Father was a strict
authoritarian
– Mother was extremely
protective and loving
– Possessed a high degree of self-
confidence and an intense ambition to
succeed
– Explored the benefits of cocaine
Life of Freud (continued 1)
• Worked as a clinical neurologist

• Studied with Charcot
– Alerted Freud to the possible sexual
basis of neurosis
• Personal sexual conflicts
– Possessed a negative attitude toward
sex
Life of Freud (continued 2)
• Experienced a severe neurotic

episode
• Developed psychoanalytic practice
– Psychoanalyzed himself through the
study of his dreams
• Published his work and developed
group of disciples
Instincts
• Mental representations of internal
stimuli that drive a person to take
action
• Form of energy that connects needs
and wishes of the mind
• Homeostatic approach
– People are motivated to restore and
maintain a physiological equilibrium
Types of Instincts
Life instincts Death instincts

• Oriented towards • Unconscious drive
survival toward decay,
• Libido: Drives a destruction, and
person towards aggression
pleasurable behaviors • Aggressive drive:
and thoughts Compulsion to
destroy, conquer, and
• Cathexis: Investment
kill
of psychic energy in
an object or person
Figure 2.1 - Freud’s Levels and
Structures of Personality
Structure of Personality
• Id
– Aspect of personality allied with the
instincts
– Operates in accordance with the
pleasure principle
• Pleasure principle: Functions to avoid pain
and maximize pleasure
– Primary-process thought: Childlike
thinking by which the id attempts to
satisfy the instinctual drives
(continued 1)
• Ego
– Rational master of the personality
– Operates in accordance with the reality
principle
• Reality principle: Provide appropriate
constraints on the expression of the id
instincts
– Secondary-process thought: Mature
thought processes needed to deal
rationally with the external world
(continued 2)
• Superego
– Moral aspect of personality
– Components
• Conscience: Contains behaviors for which
the child has been punished
• Ego-deal: Contains moral or ideal
behaviors for which a person should strive
Anxiety
Conflicts threaten the ego:
Reality Anxiety
Fear of tangible dangers
Neurotic Anxiety Moral Anxiety

Conflicts between id Conflicts between id and
and ego superego
Purpose of Anxiety
• Signals a problem with personality

– Alerts the individual that the ego is
being threatened
• Induces tension in the individual
– Becomes a drive the individual is
motivated to satisfy
Defense Mechanisms
• Ego strategies to defend against

anxiety provoked by conflicts of daily
life
• Characteristics
– Involve denials or distortions of reality
– Operate unconsciously
Table 2.1 - Some Freudian
Defense Mechanisms
Psychosexual Stages
• Personality develops in stages

through which all children pass
– Gratification of id instincts depends on
the simulation of corresponding areas of
the body
• Each stage is defined by an erogenous
zone
• Must resolve conflict to move to next
stage
Psychosexual Stages (continued)
• Fixation: Portion of
libido remains
invested in one of
the stages
– Caused due to
excessive frustration
or gratification
Table 2.2 - Freud’s Psychosexual
Stages of Development
Phallic Stage
• In boys
– Oedipus complex: Unconscious desire
for the mother
• Desire to replace or destroy the father
• Castration anxiety: Fear that his penis will
be cut off by the father
• Resolve the complex by identifying with the
father
Phallic Stage (continued)
• In girls
– Electra complex: Unconscious desire
for the father
• Desire to replace or destroy the mother
• Penis envy: Envy of the male because of
penis possession and a sense of loss
Freud About Human Nature
• Freud’s view was deterministic

– Ultimate goal in life - To reduce tension
– Recognized universality in human
nature
– Personality is determined by early
childhood interactions
– Contended that psychoanalysis can
create free will
Assessments in Freud’s
Theory
Free Association Dream Analysis
• Saying whatever • Dreams show
comes to mind repressed desires,
• Catharsis: Expression fears, and conflicts
of emotion expected • Types
to reduce symptoms – Manifest content - Actual
• Problems dream events
– Latent content - Hidden
– Resistances: Block or
and symbolic meaning
refusal of painful
memories
Freud’s Research
• Freud used the case study method

• Scientific research is done with
subliminal perception
– Subliminal perception: Perception
below the threshold of conscious
awareness
• Some concepts are difficult to
measure
Freud’s Research (continued)
• Research supports Freud’s concepts

of:
– Influence of the unconscious
– Displacement, repression, denial, and
projection
– Dreams as a reflection of emotional
concerns
– Freudian slip
Extensions of Freudian
Theory
• Anna Freud and ego psychology
– Expanded the role of ego
– Held that the ego operates independent
of the id
Reflections on Freud’s
Theory
• Psychoanalysis has had an impact
on:
– Psychological theories and practices
– The image of human nature
– Understanding personality
– The emerging study of motivation
Reflections on Freud’s
Theory (continued)
• Criticisms of psychoanalysis
– Emphasis on biology, determinism, and
sex
– Lack of healthy and positive human
qualities
– Ambiguous definitions of Freudian
concepts

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Chapter 2

• Worked as a clinical neurologist

• Experienced a severe neurotic

Life instincts Death instincts

Conflicts threaten the ego:

Neurotic Anxiety Moral Anxiety

• Signals a problem with personality

• Ego strategies to defend against

• Personality develops in stages

• Freud’s view was deterministic

• Freud used the case study method

• Research supports Freud’s concepts

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