The Psychology of the Person
Chapter 5 Neo-Freudians
Naomi Wagner, Ph.D
Lecture Outlines
Based on Burger, 8th edition
Background for the Emergence of the
Neo-Freudians
 Many scholars who gathered around
Freud in Vienna eventually broke away
from the Vienna group to develop their
own theories of personality and establish
their own schools of psychology.
 Collectively, these theorists are known
as the neo- Freudians because they
retained many basic Freudian concepts
and assumptions.
Limitations of Freudian Theory
According to the Neo-Freudians

Among the limits they saw in Freud's
theory were:
 His failure to recognize personality
change after the first few years of life
 His emphasis on instinctual over social
influences
•
The generally negative picture he
painted of human nature.
(Cont-d)
 They differed from Freud along some
aspects of his theory
 Freud put emphasis on early childhood
and on instinctual drives, without
considering social factors.
 The neo-Freudians also objected to the
overall pessimistic tone of Freud, and his
views of female inferiority.
Alfred Adler and Individual Psychology


Adler was an eye-doctor, who was a weak and
sick child
His autobiography is important for the
understanding of his ideas
Alfred Adler introduced the concept of striving
for superiority to account for most human
motivation.
It is the ONLY motivation in life
Superiority and Inferiority

Adler argued that we are motivated to
overcome feelings of helplessness that
are rooted in the infant’s dependence on
others
 The striving for superiority is not
expressed a an egotistic sense of
grandiosity, but rather in Social Interest
 Meaning- working to benefit others
Parental Behavior and Birth order
 Adler also identified parental pampering
and neglect as two sources of later
personality problems.
 He argued that middle born children were
the most achieving and were less likely to
experience psychological disorders than
were first-born or last-born.
Birth Order
Advantages Adler saw in the middle child
Picture shows 3 children, a young boy, and two girls
standing line-up, the boy on the left and the middle girl
are fighting and the girl at the right is screaming at the
middle girl.
Carl Jung and Analytical Psychology
Carl Jung proposed the existence of a
collective unconscious that houses
primordial images he called archetypes.
The collective unconscious contains
material each of us inherited from past
generations and is basically the same for
all people.
Evidence for the collective unconscious
was in ethnic myths, religions, dreams
Archetypes
Jung used the terms Archetypes or
Primordial Images to refer to the collective
unconscious materials.
Most important of the archetypes are the
anima, the animus, and the shadow. Jung
pointed to the recurrent surfacing of
archetypal symbols in folklore, art,
dreams, and psychotic patients as
evidence for their existence.
Symbol (?)
Picture shows a face of a girl above the face of a lion
and 2 profiles of people from the two sides of the middle
girl face
Erik Erikson and Ego Psychology
Role of ego: To establish and maintain a
sense of identity
Development across the lifespan: Erikson
divided the lifespan into 8 phases
Each phase had a developmental task to
accomplish, which Erikson called “crisis”
The crisis can be resolved either positively
or negatively, affecting further
development
The Eight Phases of Development
Infancy: Trust vs. mistrust
• Child depends on the responsiveness of
the caregivers
• Picture sh
Toddler: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
Allowing the child to explore provides a
sense of mastery over the environment
Early Childhood: Initiative vs. Guilt
Learn how to interact with others, seek out
playmates and resolve conflicts
Picture shows 3 children, 2 boys and a girl sitting in a
circle and clapping their hands with one another
Karen Horney and Feminine Psychology
Karen Horney rejected Freud's emphasis on
instinctual causes of personality development.
She argued that the differences Freud saw
between the personalities of men and women
were more likely the result of social factors than
inherited predispositions.
Horney maintained that neurotic behavior is
the result of interpersonal styles developed in
childhood to overcome anxiety. She identified
three neurotic styles, which she called moving
toward people, moving against people, and
moving away from people
Elementary School: Industry vs. Inferiority
Social comparison with classmates may
evoke a sense of competence or failure
Picture shows children seated at desk in the classroom
and some are raising their hands to respond
Adolescence: Identity vs. Role Confusion
Time of experimentation
Picture shows a teenage boy with an orangecolor Mohawk and pierced lips
Young Adulthood: Intimacy vs. Isolation
Developing intimate relationship
Picture shows a young man and a young woman kissing
Middle Adulthood: Generativity vs.
Stagnation
Guiding the next generation or involving in
self-indulgence
picture shows a middle-age man leaning his face against the
surface of a red car and stroking the car
Older Age: Ego Integrity vs. Despair
Reflection on past experience creates a
sense of integrity and acceptance
Picture shows the back of two elderly people walking, embraced, the
man is using a walking cane
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
. Among the personality assessment instruments
to come out of the neo- Freudian theories is the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
This test measures “psychological types”,
as outlined by Jung.
Test scores divide people into types along four
dimensions: extraversion-introversion, sensingintuitive, thinking-feeling, and judgmentperception. Researchers have challenged the
way the test divides people into categories.
Current Status of the Neo-Freudians
The Neo-Freudians are mentioned today primarily
because of their historical relevance
Among the strengths of the neo-Freudian theories are
the contributions they made to psychoanalytic theory.
Many later approaches to personality were no doubt
influenced by one or more of these theorists.
Criticisms of the neo- Freudians include their use of
biased and questionable data to support the theories. In
addition, critics have charged that some of the theories
are oversimplified and incomplete.