Theories Applicable to Citizen Kane

Psychodynamic theory
 Psychosexual stages
 Phallic (3—5yrs.)
o Developmental Issue
 For boys—Oedipal
 Strongest relationship is between mother and son
 Boys begin to feel competitive with father for mothers
affection
 Boys notice physiological differences between genders
o Develop castration anxiety
o Scared, boy hides feelings and begins to emulate
father in hopes to get woman similar to mother
 Fixations
o Narcissistic, searching for a mate like parent
 Defense Mechanisms
 Displacement—taking emotion you have and shifting it onto another
target
Erikson’s Stages: Essential Elements
 Intimacy verse isolation
Jane Loveinger: Stages of Ego Development
o Early
o Pre-social—differentiation of self from non-self
o Symbiotic—starting to learn about the interplay between the self and
mother
o Impulsive—learning that you can exploit; have an impact on the
environment
o Having never passed this point Kane never realized the middle stage of social
development (begin to understand the notion of rules)
Ainseworth’s Strange Situation: Attachment
o Strange Situation—research experiment in which toddler is placed in
room with toys. The experimental factor occurs when the mother leaves
the room and then later returns.
 Secure attachment (70%)
 Mildly upset when mother leaves, happy when she returns
 Avoidant attachment (20%)
 Angry when mother leaves, punishes mother when she
returns by ignoring her
 Ambivalent (10%)
 Not upset when mother leaves, not excited when she
returns
o These patterns do seem to translate into adult attachment, in about the
dame rations (retrospective data indicates continuity)
o Theory s that adult patterns of behavior stem from child’s relationship
with their mother
The Five Factor Model (The Big Five) Cattel
 Neuroticism/Emotional instability
o Anxiety, angry hostility, depression, self-consciousness. Impulsiveness,
vulnerability
Abraham Maslow
 Basic Needs (D-needs) D stands for Deficiency
o Physiological (deficits such as hunger, thirst, fatigue)
o Safety (avoidance of pain & anxiety; desire for security)
o Belongingness/Love (affection, intimacy, roots in family or peer group)

Maslow (continued)
 Continued call for idiographic approach
 Importance of seeing through the eyes of others
 Emphasis on aloneness should prompt us to focus on ways we are not alone
 Show that we cannot “live” if we are shallow
 Demonstrate the limits of rationality