PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY
OF PERSONALITY
By
Safdar Mehdi
Personality
 For psychologists, personality is a set of relatively
enduring behavioral characteristics and internal
predispositions that describe how a personality
reacts to the environment. Psychologists recognize
that an individual’s behavior is not consistent all the
time or in every situation.
Personality Theories
 Personality theories focus on a few key questions:
 Does nature or nurture play a greater role in day to day




behavior?
Do unconscious processes direct behavior?
Are human behavior patterns fixed?
Does a person’s behavior depend on the situation?
What makes people consistent in their behavior?
Psychoanalytic Approach
 This perspective emphasizes unconscious
thoughts, conflict between biological instincts and
society’s demands, and early family experiences.
Psychoanalytic Approach
 Key features of this approach are:
 Our behaviour and feelings as adults are rooted in our




childhood experiences.
Relationships (particularly parenting) are of primary
importance in determining how we feel and behave.
Our behaviour and feelings are powerfully affected by
the meaning of events to the unconscious mind.
Information can be obtained from dreams, irrational
behaviour and what patients say in therapy.
The personality is made up of three distinct structures:
id, ego and super ego.
Psychic Determinism
Id:
Ego:
Superego:
Instincts
Reality
Morality
www.psychlotron.org.uk
The Psyche (Personality)
Healthy Psyche
OK Guys – I’m in charge.
Anything you want has to go
through me.
OK.
Ego
Id
Superego
www.psychlotron.org.uk
OK.
Neurotic
Listen up! I’m in charge, and you are not
here to enjoy yourselves. Get ready for a
double-size portion of anxiety with a side
order of guilt!
No fun.
Superego
Id
Ego
www.psychlotron.org.uk
>whimper<
Unconscious Motivation
The Unconscious
The conscious. The small
amount of mental activity we
know about.
Thoughts
Perceptions
The preconscious. Things
we could be aware of if we
wanted or tried.
Bad
Worse
Really Bad
Fears
Unacceptable sexual desires
Violent motives
Irrational wishes
Immoral urges
Selfish needs
Shameful experiences
Traumatic experiences
www.psychlotron.org.uk
The unconscious. Things
we are unaware of and can
not become aware of.
Memories
Stored knowledge
Unresolved Conflicts
Fixation
 A fixation is an excessive attachment to some
person or object that was appropriate only at
an earlier stage of development.
 Parent’s behavior in the childhood may
results into emotionally disturbed children.
Defense Mechanisms
 A defense mechanism is a largely unconscious
way of reducing anxiety by distorting perceptions
of reality. When repress feelings or desires, they
become unaware of it.
Examples - Defense Mechanisms
 Denial. The mechanism by which people refuse to
accept reality or recognize the true source of their
anxiety.
 Sublimation. The mechanism by which socially
unacceptable impulses are redirected into acceptable
ones.
 Rationalization. The mechanism by which people
reinterpret undesirable feelings or behavior to make
them appear acceptable
Jung’s Analytical Psychology
 Carl Gustav Jung(1875-1961)
 Collective Unconscious
 Archtypes
Adler’s Fulfillment Approach
 Alfred Adler(1870-1937), focused on human
values and social interactions.
 Structure of Personality.
 Fictional Finalism.
 Development of Personality
Questions????
Thank you