Chapter 3

Personality
Jerry M. Burger
© 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for
classroom use.
The Psychoanalytic Approach: Freudian
Theory, Application, and Assessment
Chapter 3
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Chapter Outline
Freud discovers the unconscious
Freudian theory of personality
Application: Psychoanalysis
Assessment: Projective tests
Strengths and criticisms of Freud’s
theory
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Freud Discovers the
Unconscious
In 1885, went to Paris to study with
another neurologist, Jean-Martin
Charcot
Charcot was experimenting with early
versions of hypnosis and its use in
curing what were then believed to be
unusual physiological problems
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Freud Discovers the
Unconscious
Shortly thereafter, Freud returned to
Vienna and began work with a
prominent physician, Joseph Breuer
Like Charcot, Breuer was using
hypnosis to treat hysterical patients
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Freud Discovers the
Unconscious
Hysteria is a disorder that consists of a
variety of physical symptoms
Blindness
Deafness
Inability to walk or use an arm, etc.
Most physicians  treated hysteria as
if it were a physically based illness
Breuer and Freud disagreed
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Freud Discovers the
Unconscious
Studies in Hysteria (1895), published
by Freud and Breuer
Case of Anna O. and use of hypnosis in
treating hysteria
Freud continued to use hypnosis to treat
his hysterical patients but soon grew
disillusioned with its limitations and
began looking for alternative methods
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Freud Discovers the
Unconscious
Free association: Description of
hidden memories by patients,that
seemed related to the causes and cure
of hysterical symptoms
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Freud Discovers the
Unconscious
Discovery: early traumatic sexual
experiences were responsible for
hysterical symptoms expressed by adult
patients
Vienna Psychoanalytic Society
Formed by Freud and his followers
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Freudian Theory of Personality:
Topographic Model
Personality is divided into different
levels of awareness
Conscious: Thoughts a person is
currently aware of
Preconscious: Retrievable information
Unconscious: Thoughts that cannot be
easily brought into awareness
Except under extreme situations
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Topographic Model
Understanding the
influence of the
unconscious, particularly
on what might be termed
“abnormal behaviour” is
the key to appreciating the
psychoanalytic perspective
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Freudian Theory of
Personality: Structural Model
Divides personality into the id, the ego,
and the superego
Id: Personality structure at birth
Selfish part, concerned only with satisfying
your personal desires
Actions are based on pleasure principle and
wish fulfillment
Buried entirely in the unconscious and
therefore outside of our awareness
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Freudian Theory of
Ego: Satisfies id impulses, but takes into
consideration the realities of the world
Actions are based on reality principle
Superego: Represents society’s, and in
particular, the parents’ values and standards
Provides ideals to determine if a behavior is
virtuous and worthy of praise
Powerful superego leads to moral anxiety
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Figure 3.1 - Relationship of the Id, Ego, and
Superego to the Three Levels of Awareness
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Freudian Theory of
In the healthy individual, a strong ego
does not allow the id or superego too
much control over the personality
But the battle is never ending!
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Freudian Theory of Personality :
Libido and Thanatos
The topographic model provides the
playing field
The structural model provides the
characters
But what sets Freud’s system in
motion?
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Freudian Theory of Personality :
Libido and Thanatos
Human behaviour is motivated by
strong internal forces
Triebe: referred as drives or instincts
Categories of instincts
Libido - Life or sexual instinct
Thanatos - Death or aggressive instinct
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Libido and Thanatos
Most human behaviour is attributed to
the life instinct
Includes action aimed at receiving
pleasure
Death instinct is turned outward and
expressed as aggression against others
Wish to die remains unconscious
Defense Mechanisms
Techniques of ego to deal with
unwanted thoughts and desires and
reduce or avoid anxiety
Descriptions of many of the defense
mechanisms were developed more
completely by some of his followers,
most notably his daughter, Anna Freud
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Defense Mechanisms
Repression
Active effort by the ego to push threatening
material out of consciousness
Because repression is a constant, active
process, it requires that the ego constantly
expend energy
Repressing a large number of powerful
thoughts and impulses leaves our ego with
little remaining energy with which to function
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Defense Mechanisms
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Defense Mechanisms
Sublimation
Ego channels threatening unconscious
impulses into socially acceptable actions
Productive in nature  id is allowed to
express its aggression, the ego doesn’t
have to tie up energy holding back the
impulses
Defense Mechanisms
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Defense Mechanisms
Displacement
Channelling impulses to nonthreatening
objects
Displaced impulses do not lead to social
rewards
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Defense Mechanisms
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Defense Mechanisms
Denial
Refusal to accept that certain facts exist
Extreme form of defense
Makes a person less realistic
Defense Mechanisms
Reaction formation
Hide from a threatening unconscious idea
or urge by acting in a manner opposite to
threatening unconscious desires
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Defense Mechanisms
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Defense Mechanisms
Intellectualization
Removal of emotional
content from the
thought before allowing
it into awareness
Helps bring difficult
thoughts into
consciousness without
anxiety
Defense Mechanisms
Projection
Attributing unconscious impulse to other
people
Frees a person from the perception that
he/she is the one who holds a certain
thought
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Defense Mechanisms
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Psychosexual Stages of Development
Among the most controversial aspects
of Freud’s theory is his description of
personality development
Personalities are heavily influenced by
what happens to us during the first 5 or 6
years of life
Progress through a series of
developmental stages during these years
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Because the chief characteristic of
each stage is the primary erogenous
zone, and because each stage has a
specific influence on the adult
personality  psychosexual stages of
development
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Sequence of development made up of
stages characterized by primary
erogenous zones and sexual desires
Each stage has a specific influence on the
adult personality
Adult personalities of people are
greatly influenced by the events of
early childhood
Children face specific challenges as
they pass through each stage and small
amounts of psychic energy are used up
resolving these challenges
If all goes well  have adequate
amount of psychic energy left to
operate a healthy personality by the
time we become adults
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Fixation - Stagnation of psychic
energy
Results when a child is unable to move
through a particular stage
Less energy available for normal adult
functioning
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Oral stage
First 18 months of life
Primary erogenous zones - Mouth, lips,
and tongue
Feeding problems can result in fixation
and development of an oral personality
Oral personality – tend to be dependent
on others (like a child)
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Fixation after teething may result in
excessive levels of aggression
People with an oral personality often
express an infantile need for oral
satisfaction
May smoke or drink excessively
Constantly putting their hands to their mouth
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Anal stage
Primary erogenous zone - Anal region
Children are toilet trained
Traumatic toilet training can result in fixation
and development of an anal personality
Phallic stage
Ages 3 to 6
Primary erogenous zone - Penis or clitoris
Oedipus complex - Children develop a
sexual attraction for their opposite-sex
parent
Boys develop castration anxiety and girls
develop penis envy
Eventually the children repress their desire
for their opposite-sex parent
Reaction formation – identify with the
same-sex parent
Resolving the Oedipus complex serves
several important functions
By identifying with the same-sex parent 
begin to take on masculine and feminine
characteristics respectively
Adopting their parents’ values and standards
paves the way for the emergence of the
superego
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Freud warned that Oedipal desires are
never fully eliminated
Rather, they are merely repressed and
have the potential to influence our
behaviour later in life
E.g., businessmen who aggressively go after
rivals are said to be expressing Oedipal urges
left over from their earlier competition with
their father
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Latency stage
Sexual desires abate
Boys and girls are uninterested in each
other
Genital stage
Initiated at puberty
Primary erogenous zone - Adult genital
regions
Getting at Unconscious Material
Strong id impulses do not disappear
when they are pushed out of
consciousness
Expressed in a altered form
Unconscious thoughts can be noticed
by observing innocent behaviors
Techniques to get at unconscious
material
Dreams
Provide id impulses with a stage for expression
A type of wish fulfillment; our dreams
represent the things we desire
Manifest versus latent contents
Trained psychoanalysts can identify common
dream symbols
Personality: Getting at
Unconscious Material
Projective tests: Assesses unconscious
material by asking test takers to respond to
ambiguous stimuli
Identifying objects, telling a story, or drawing
a picture
Free association
Used to temporarily bypass the censoring
mechanism employed by ego
Exposes strange, uncensored ideas
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Freudian slips: Misstatements or slips of the
tongue
May represent unconscious associations that
momentarily slipped out
Hypnosis
Ego somehow put into a suspended state during a
deep hypnotic trance
Allows the hypnotist to bypass the ego and get
directly to unconscious material
Drawback - Not everyone is responsive
Accidents
Intentional actions stemming from
unconscious impulses
 E.g. having argument with friend and “accidentally” knock off
an irreplaceable statue belonging to that friend
Resistance - Deliberate effort by the
unconscious mind to cover threatening
unconscious material
 E.g. accidentally forgetting regular therapy appointment
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Symbolic behavior
Daily behaviors can be interpreted as symbolic
representations of unconscious desires
Poses no threat to the ego because they are not
perceived for what they are
E.g., client with a great deal of hostility toward his
mother but would not consciously acknowledge
these feelings  expressed through a purchase of a
daisy doormat (the mother’s favourite flower), son
enjoyed rubbing his feet and stomping on the daisies
every time he entered the house
Application: Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis: System of psychotherapy
that focuses on uncovering the unconscious
material responsible for a patient’s disorder
Primary goal - Bring crucial unconscious
material into consciousness for rational
examination
Unconscious material must be dealt in a
manner to avoid manifestation of new
disorders
Therapist and client work together to help
the ego once again exercise appropriate
control over the id impulses and the
oppressive superego
Requires several hour-long therapy
sessions  weeks or years
 Expensive
Maximum time is spent in getting at the
crucial unconscious material causing the
disorder
Requires the therapist to actively interpret
the significance of client’s statements,
behaviours, and dreams
Development of resistance by client
implies the therapy is in progression
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Development of transference is also
necessary
Displacing of emotions associated with people
from past situations onto the therapist
Delicate and crucial part of the therapy process
Countertransference is not allowed
Studies indicate psychoanalytic therapies
are effective in treating several
psychological disorders
Assessment: Projective Tests
Psychoanalysts  unique problem when
developing ways to measure the personality
constructs of interest to them
The most important concepts are those the
test taker is unable to report directly
So how do psychoanalytic therapists and
researchers measure unconscious material?
Solution: bypass direct reports altogether!
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Rorschach inkblot test
Predicts behaviour from responses to inkblots
Designed by Hermann Rorschach
10 cards  blot of ink, sometimes in more
than one colour
Instructed to describe what they see in the
inkblot
Free to use any part of the inkblot; usually
allowed to give several responses to each card
Can be analysed with any of several
scoring systems developed over the years
Most rely on their personal insights and
intuition when interpreting responses
Unusual answers and recurring themes are
of particular interest, especially if there are
consistent with information revealed
during therapy sessions
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http://personality-testing.info/tests/HEMC
R/
http://theinkblot.com/
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Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
Test takers are asked to tell a story about a
series of ambiguous pictures
Who, what – led up to the scene, is going on,
outcome is going to be
Designed by Henry Murray
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Although most of the pictures contain
images of people, facial expressions and
the nature of the relationship between the
people are intentionally vague
Therapists often rely on their intuition
when interpreting TAT responses, but many
also use relatively objective scoring
procedures
http://www.utpsyc.org/TATintro/
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Human Figure Drawing test
Measures intelligence and important
personality constructs
Used as an indicator of psychological
problems in children
Blank piece of paper, draw a picture (e.g.,
person, family, tree)
Figure 3.2 - Human Figure Drawings by
Emotionally Disturbed Children
Source: From Koppitz, E. M. (1986). Psychological Evaluation of Children’s Human Figure Drawing. Reprinted by
permission of Grune & Stratton, Inc., and the author.
Evaluation of Projective Tests
Criticisms of Rorschach inkblot test
Low indices of reliability and lack of
evidence for the validity of the test
No scientific basis for justifying the use of
Rorschach scales in psychological assessment
Reviewers find usefulness of the test
when results from various studies are
analyzed
Newer systems for coding Rorschach
responses are reliable than earlier methods
Usage of projective tests extends beyond
psychotherapy
Evaluation of social and emotional
adjustment
Psychologists working with law enforcement
and court officials
Validity of projective tests remains open
to challenge
Advised not to rely heavily on the tests when
making diagnoses
Viewed as one source of information about a client
Should be taken into consideration along with
information collected through interviews,
observations, case histories, and other
psychological tests
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Strengths and Criticisms of
Freud’s Theory
Strengths
First comprehensive theory of human
behaviour and personality
Freud’s observations set the direction for
subsequent personality theory and research
First system of psychotherapy
Freud’s techniques have become standard tools
for many therapists
Promoted important psychological concepts
Strengths and Criticisms of
Freud’s Theory
Criticisms
Writers argue that Freud’s ideas are not
original
Freudian ideas appear in literature that
predates Freud’s work
Hypotheses generated from the theory are
not testable
Heavy reliance on case study data
Disagreements with the points of
emphasis and tone of Freud’s theory
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Personality

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