Theory: Freud & Jung’s Psychoanalytic Theories of Personality
Theorist: Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung
Biography:
Sigmund Freud an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, was born in
1856. His studies began at the University of Vienna in 1873 as a medical student where he
received his M.D. eight years later. Five years after graduating he established a very close
relationship with Dr. Josef Breuer at the General Hospital in Vienna.
It was here that he
observed Dr. Breuer treating a young woman suffering from hysteria by using self-hypnosis or,
as it was called at the time, the “talking cure”. This treatment was considered the prototype of
psychoanalysis. In 1891, Freud and his family moved to an apartment at Bergasse 19 where he
stayed for the next forty-five years analyzing patients and meeting with colleagues to discuss
new theories. Freud’s first published work was a study of the organic causes of loss of speech
ability in 1891. It was at this time that Freud began to investigate psychological causes of
neurological disorders. He theorized that hysterical symptoms are psychological manifestations
of un-discharged emotional energy associated with forgotten psychic traumas. The therapy
consisted of getting patients to recall traumatic experiences while under hypnosis to release
repressed emotions. In 1900 he formulated a theory base on the interpretation of dreams. This
work was translated in 1914 in English and caused a stir due to the atmosphere of sex that made
his book very unpleasant reading (Jones, 1953).
Freud’s first major speech in the U.S. was in 1909 at Clark University in Worcester,
Massachusetts with Jung and Ferenczi. One of his most famous books was published in 1923,
The Ego and the Id. The primary premise of this work is that the psyche is divided in to the id
(unconscious), dominated by the libido (energy) that powers the sex drive and aggression, and
the ego (conscious), which mediates between these drives and external reality (superego).
During the last decade of his life, he developed jaw cancer and his strength waned. He and his
family left Austria before the war and settled in London in 1938 and it was there that he died in
1939 (Jones, 1953).
Carl Gustav Jung was born in Switzerland in 1875 and is widely regarded as the founder
of analytical psychology. He obtained his medical degree from the Universitat Basel in 1900. In
1911, Jung founded The International Psychoanalytic Society focused on psychological
interpretation of the mythological elements in dream and fantasy. It was here that Jung
recognized in symbolic language, dreams, and the arts communicate truths known to the
unconscious mind. During World War I, he served as a medical officer in the Swiss Army and
was in charge of British prisoners of war. He further honed his collective unconscious theory
when in 1921, he observed natives in North Africa and again in Arizona and New Mexico in
1924 and 1925. In 1948 the C.G. Jung Institute Zurich was opened with a mission to carry on
research in analytical psychology and training of Jungian analyst. In later years until his death in
1961, he enjoyed walking his native mountains, yachting and swimming in Lake of Zurich (Bair,
2003).
Freud’s Theory Description:
Freud used psychoanalysis to provide insight into thoughts and actions by exposing and
interrupting the underlying unconscious motives and conflicts of an individual (Blair-Broeker,
Ernst, & Myers, 2008, pp. 325-326). In order to gain insights, Freud often experimented with
hypnosis, but he found that this method did not work for all patients. It was because of this, he
began to ask his patients to enter a state of relaxation and say whatever came to mind, a
technique he called free association. Freud believed this was the window into the unconscious
mind (Blair-Broeker, et al., 2008, pp. 325-326).
Freud’s Conscious, Preconscious, and Unconscious Mind
Freud compared the human mind to an iceberg consisting of three regions: the conscious,
preconscious, and unconscious. Figure 1 demonstrates the association of above and below sea
level to the three regions of the mind. Freud believed that most of the mind was hidden from
view. The conscious mind was the thoughts and feelings we are fully aware of, the part of the
iceberg above sea level. Just below sea level is the preconscious, a region of the mind that Freud
believed held information that is not in the conscious mind but is still retrievable (Blair-Broeker,
et al., 2008, pp. 325-326). At the deepest level below the water line, is the region of the mind
that Freud termed the unconscious, a region that holds mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes,
feelings, and memories. Freud believed this region of the mind held painful childhood memories
and if opened, could allow a “healing” treatment to occur (Blair-Broeker, et al., 2008, pp. 325326). It was through free association and dream analysis techniques that Freud attempted to
catch glimpses at the unconscious mind of patients with psychological disorders.
Freud’s The Id, the Superego, and the Ego
Also illustrates in Figure 1 is Freud’s three parts of personality: the id, the superego, and
the ego (Blair-Broeker, et al., 2008, pp. 325-326). Freud believed the id consists of sexual and
aggressive drives, demanding immediate gratification (Blair-Broeker, et al., 2008, pp. 325-326).
The superego consists of the internalized ideas and leads an individual’s moral judgments (the
conscious mind) (Blair-Broeker, et al., 2008, pp. 325-326). The superego will develop as a child
interacts with parents, peers, and society in general, striving for perfection. Freud believed those
with a weak superego were individuals who gave into their urges and impulses with disregard for
the rules or moral judgment (Blair-Broeker, et al., 2008, pp. 325-326). The ego mediates the
demands of the id, superego, and reality. The purpose of the ego is to make decisions after
listening to both the demands of the id and the judgment of the superego. The ego satisfies the
id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain. Freud believed the ego
represented a good sense and reason (Blair-Broeker, et al., 2008, pp. 325-326). Freud believed
that a healthy personality was one that was able to successfully express pleasure-seeking
impulses while being able to avoid the feeling of guilt. To achieve this healthy balance, the ego
often must utilizes defense tactics (Blair-Broeker, et al., 2008).
Freud’s Defense Mechanisms
Freud believed that anxiety was a price that we must all pay in order to live in a civilized
society. The conflict between the id’s wishes and the superego’s social rules is what produces
feeling of anxiety; however, Freud believed that the ego has an arsenal of unconscious defense
mechanisms (Blair-Broeker, et al., 2008, p. 327). There are several defense mechanisms;
however, this paper will focus on only seven: repression, regression, denial, reaction formation,
projection, rationalization, and displacement(Blair-Broeker, et al., 2008, p. 327). Repression
“banishes” anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from the conscious mind. Freud
believed that repression was the basis for all other anxiety-reducing defense mechanisms.
Regression allows the anxious person to retreat to a more comfortable, infantile stage of life.
Denial lets the anxious person refuse to admit that something unpleasant is happening, while
reaction formation reverses an unacceptable impulse, causing an anxious person to feel opposite.
Projection disguises the threatening feelings of guilty anxiety by attributing the problem to
others. A key example given by Blair-Broeker, el al. is Hamlet, “The lady doth protest too
much.” In other words, the guilty one often finds blame in everyone but themselves.
Rationalization displaces anxiety-provoking explanations with more comfortable justifications
for actions. This makes mistakes seem reasonable and often sounds like an excuse.
Displacement shifts an unacceptable impulse toward a more acceptable or less threatening object
or person. An example of this defense mechanism is the chain of command in a crisis situation.
The owner of a business becomes frustrated or mad and takes it out on the manager, who then
yells at employees, who then takes it out on their families (Blair-Broeker, et al., 2008, p. 327).
Freud’s Neurosis and Psychosis
A neurosis represents an instance where the ego's efforts to deal with its desires through
defense mechanisms such as repression or displacement fails (Felluga, 2011; Freud, 1953-74).
Freud believed this conflict of the ego and the id allowed the mind to experience pleasure in an
alternate method (Felluga, 2011; Freud, 1953-74). This substitutes for the instinctual impulse
with something that is so reduced, displaced, and distorted that it is often not recognizable as a
gratification but looks more like a compulsion or even an illness, resulting in neurosis. Someone
who experiences neurosis simply has more of these alternate impulse substitutions, referred to as
symptoms, that prevent enjoyment and active achievement in life (Felluga, 2011; Freud, 195374).
In contrast, a psychosis refers to a patient who has completely lost touch with reality.
Freud originally distinguished between neurosis and psychosis in that neurosis allowed the ego
to suppress part of the id from reality, while the psychosis lets itself be carried away by the id
and detached from reality (Felluga, 2011; Freud, 1953-74).
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Development
Through research and experimental analysis, Freud concluded that personality forms
during the first 5 or 6 years of life. He believed that an individual’s problems originated in
conflicts that were not resolved during these stages of development. The psychosexual stages of
development identified by Freud are oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital in which he
concluded the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on different parts of the body (Blair-Broeker,
et al., 2008, p. 328). Table 1 illustrates the differences among each stage.
Jung Theory Description:
Carl G. Jung, considered a great thinker of his time, expanded on the Freudian approach
to psychoanalytic theories of personality by defining his own perspective called analytical
psychology (Sahakian, 1977, p. 48). The framework and sexual undertones of Freud’s thinking
was too limiting for Jung, who wanted to expand his own theories on learning and the aspects of
self (Soylent Communications, 2011). Even though Carl Jung was Freud’s colleague and friend,
their relationship was severed over the publication of Jung’s renowned work about symbols,
which departed from the Freudian approach (Jadot, 1984). While Freud’s work was fixated on
the biological human, Jung’s work concentrated more on the reflective self or inner human
(Soylent Communications, 2011).
Jung contended that everyone has the accumulation of previous generations stored in
their unconscious as a “collective” along with individual unconscious which is based on actual
lived experience (Sahakian, 1977, p. 53). Sahakian (1977) described the collective unconscious
as being “made up essentially of archetypes” (p. 54). Archetypes, according to Vernon (2011)
“are elementary ideas, feelings, fantasies and visions that seem constant and frequently reemerge across different times and places” (p.48). These archetypes are also described as
symbols (Pervin, 1980). Jung’s theory suggests that both types of unconscious (individual and
collective) exist in everyone, playing an important part of their psychological makeup (Sahakian,
1977).
Jungian psychology also describes conditions where there are contrasting or conflicting
forces within people which should be balanced. The face or “persona” presented in public may
be different from the actual private person (Pervin, 1980, p. 88) and is only “the tip of the
iceberg” (Soylent Communications, 2011, p. 4). According to Jung, finding individual
equilibrium or balance between these opposing personalities is an important step toward
knowing one self. Striving for balance in life should be everyone’s objective, even though
perfect equilibrium according to Jung may not be possible (Pervin, 1980).
Jung contended that everyone possesses several opposing traits such as feminine and
masculine personality traits and introverted and extraverted personality types (Pervin, 1980).
These multiple personality traits usually exhibit themselves outwardly as the stronger individual
trait when in public. Engaging in activities that match the stronger individual personality trait
produces individual energy (Vernon, 2011). Jung considered striving for and achieving
equilibrium or balance as a life-long endeavor (Pervin, 1980).
This life-long balancing act Jung considered very important for people over forty, as an
imbalance could lead to a mid-life crisis (Vernon, 2011; Pervin, 1980). Jung was describing his
interpretation of the need for consciousness of self (Vernon, 2011). Interest in human
development extended well beyond youth for Jung, which was different than Freud’s focus.
Assuming a person is successful in maneuvering through Jung’s description of mid-life, they
should become content individuals with the benefit of age, wisdom, and energy on their side
(Vernon, 2011). This theory is evident today in the baby-boomer generation as they actively
engage in the milieu of society redefining perceptions about old-age (Vernon, 2011).
Educators especially need to be “well-adjusted” people, with well-rounded educational
preparedness, to avoiding imprinting children with their own personal malcontent (Ewen, 1988,
p.114). Jung encouraged continuing education or life-long learning for everyone, stressing the
importance especially for educators (Ewen, 1988, p.114). He was also concerned with the need
for teachers to “have some understanding of the common varieties of childhood
psychopathology” (Jung, as cited in Ewen, 1988, p.114). Teachers should pay close attention to
the educational needs of the introverted child as well as being prepared to meet the demands of
teaching gifted children, without over emphasizing either child’s abilities (Ewen, 1988). Jung
advocated for teachers to create an interactive learning environment such that any child could
“explore the inner world of their own psyche” (Ewen, 1988, p.114).
Measurement
Jung’s theory on personality traits was first implemented in an instrument developed by
Grey-Wheelwrights, then expanded by mother and daughter team of Katherine Briggs and Isabel
Meyers (Wilde, 2011). Meyers and Briggs added to the existing Jung variables, resulting in the
popular measurement instrument widely known as the Myers-Briggs type indicator (MBTI). The
MBTI is a personality oriented test and measurement instrument based on C.G. Jung’s clinical
work which has the ability to identify the individual personality types or traits (Wilde, 2011;
Vernon, 2011). This instrument is frequently use in work environments to identify and then
match up team members with certain combinations of personality traits. Popularity of the MBTI
instrument continues today with millions of copies sold on an annual basis (Vernon, 2011).
Prepared By: Brittany Bright, Robert Dionne, and Tony Smith
References
Bair, D. (2003). Jung: A Biography. New York, NY: Back Bay Books
Blair-Broeker, C. T., Ernst, R. M., & Myers, D. G. (2008). Thinking About Psychology: The
Science of Mind and Behavior. New York: Worth Publishers.
Ewen, R. B. (1988). An introduction to theories of personality. Hillsdale, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates, Publishers.
Felluga, D. (2011, January 31). "Modules on Freud" Retrieved November 6, 2011, from
http://www.purdue.edu/guidetotheory/psychoanalysis/freud4.html
Freud, S. (1953-74). The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund
Freud Trans. James Strachey. London: Hogarth.
Jadot, L. (1984). From the symbol in psychoanalysis to the anthropology of the imaginary. in R.
K. Papadopoulos, & G. S. Saayman, (eds.), Jung in modern perspective (pp. 109-119).
Middlesex, Great Britain: Wildwood House Ltd.
Jones, E. (1953-1957). The Life and Work of Sigmund Freud. 3 vols. New York, NY: Basic
Books
Pervin, L. A. (1980). Personality: Theory, assessment, and research. New York: Wiley.
Soylent Communications. (2011). Carl Jung. [NNDB, tracking the entire world]. Retrieved from:
http://www.nndb.com/people/910/000031817/
Vernon, M. (2011). Why Jung still matters. Management Today, 46-50. Retrieved from
EBSCOhost.
Wilde, D. J. (2011). Jung’s personality theory quantified. doi: 10.1007/978-0-85729-100-4_1.
Table 1
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Personality Development
Stage
Oral
Ages
Focus of Libido
Major Development
0-18 months
Mouth, Tongue Lips
Weaning of breast feeding or
formula
Anal
18 months-3 years
Anus
Potty training
Phallic
3 to 6 years
Genitals
Resolving Oedipus/Electra Complex
None
Develop defense mechanisms &
Latency 6 years-Puberty
begin “identification process”
Genital
Puberty+
Genitals
Sexual Maturity
Note. Adapted from Blair-Broeker, C. T., Ernst, R. M., & Myers, D. G. (2008). Thinking About
Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behavior. New York: Worth Publishers and Garcia,
J. L. (1995). Freud's Psychosexual Stage Conception: A Developmental Metaphor for
Counselors. [Article]. Journal of Counseling & Development, 73(5), 498-502.
Figure 1. Freud’s Iceberg Theory. Adapted from Blair-Broeker, C. T., Ernst, R. M., & Myers,
D. G. (2008). Thinking About Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behavior. New
York: Worth Publishers.