CHAPTER SIX
OUTLINE
I.
Erich Fromm
A.
The Life of Fromm
1.
B.
C.
Fromm was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Frankfurt, Germany. Fromm
was greatly influenced by his Jewish tradition of reason and intellect and by the
emotional difficulties of being a member of a minority group. Fromm later
became an atheistic mystic. Fromm was astonished at the hatred and fanaticism of
the people of Germany as they prepared for World War One. Fromm could not
understand how his own relatives were so irrationally swept up into hysterical
fanaticism. Fromm developed a need to understand the causes of irrationality in
people. Fromm studied psychology, sociology, and philosophy. Fromm married
his own analyst, who was ten years older. Fromm was critical of Freud for his
refusal to admit the impact of socioeconomic forces on personality. Fromm
immigrated to the United States in 1934 where he met Karen Horney. After
working with Horney, Fromm divorced his wife and began a long affair with
Horney. Fromm taught at Columbia and Yale, where he published several books
and taught. Later, from established the department of psychology at the medical
school of the National University of Mexico. Fromm was active in the peace
movement of the 1960’s, was opposed to the Cold War, the nuclear arms race and
the Vietnam War. He died in 1980.
Freedom or Security: The Basic Human Dilemma
1.
Fromm believed people now have greater freedom than any other era, and yet; feel
more lonely, alienated, and insignificant than people did in centuries past. Fromm
argued that people are conscious beings, free of the instinctive biological
mechanisms that guide animal behavior. Although we have transcended nature,
we are left with a sense of isolation and feel alienated from nature. We fill this
void by identifying with tribes, share myths, and attain security within a group.
This “membership” gives us acceptance, affiliation, and a custom of rules.
2.
Fromm described the Middle Ages as the last era of stability. The feudal system
gave every person a determined place and role in life. The social upheavals of the
Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation destroyed this stability. However,
this gave people more control over their personal lives. This could also mean
another era of people who were beset by feelings of insecurity, insignificance, and
doubts about the meaning of life.
3.
Fromm proposed three psychic mechanisms for escaping from the negative
aspects of freedom. Authoritarianism involves some form of continuing
interaction with an object or person and can be manifested in either masochistic or
sadistic strivings. By contrast, destructiveness aims at eliminating that object or
person. Fromm saw evidence of this destructiveness in all societies. The most
socially significant escape mechanism is automaton conformity. We ease our
loneliness and isolation by striving to become exactly like everyone else.
Personality Development in Childhood
1.
D.
The Basic Psychological Needs
1.
E.
Fromm believed we grow to become free and independent. However, an infant or
young child has little freedom and are secure in their dependent relationships. As
children attempt to become mature, they become more independent, but may feel
some isolation and helplessness. Children will attempt to regain this security of
infancy and escape their growing freedom. Fromm describes three forms of
interpersonal relatedness between a parent and a child. The child may be lonely
or insecure and may never achieve independence in a symbiotic relationship with
their parent(s). A distance and separation from others characterizes the
withdrawal-destructiveness interaction between the child and parent(s). Love
becomes the most desirable parent-child interaction. A child’s positive
personality is formed by offering respect and a balance of security and
responsibility through this kind of relationship. Fromm differed with Freud on the
notion a child’s personality is fixed by the end of five years of life. Later events
in life can also influence personality.
Fromm outlined six basic psychological needs to gain security and escape
loneliness. The opposition of these drives determines all human cravings. The
need for relatedness arises from the disruption of our primary ties with nature.
The ideal way to create new relationships is through productive love, which
involves caring, responsibility, respect, and knowledge. Transcendence refers to
the need to rise above a passive animal state, a state in which we cannot be
satisfied because of our capacity for reason and imagination. The need for
rootedness arises out of our primary ties with nature, according to Fromm.
Feelings of kinship are the most satisfying kind of roots we can develop. Fromm
believed we need a sense of identity, even if this identity is part of conforming to
a group for a greater sense of shared identity. According to Fromm, we must
develop a consistent and coherent view of our environment within which to
perceive and understand our world. This is called a need for a framework of
orientation. In addition, we need an object of devotion or an ultimate goal or an
object to which we are devoted and through which we can find meaning and a
sense of direction. The need for excitation and stimulation refers to the drive for a
stimulating external environment in which we can function at a peak of alertness
and activity.
The Productive and Nonproductive Character Types
1.
According to Fromm, there are four nonproductive orientations that are unhealthy
ways of relating to the world. The person with (A) receptive character expects to
get whatever they want. This receptive character is similar to Freud’s oral
incorporative personality and Horney’s compliant personality type. The (B)
exploitative character type only wants to belong and is valued by others, whether
it is a spouse, an object, or an idea. This type is similar to Freud’s oral aggressive
type. In the (C) hoarding type, the person derives security from what he or she
can hoard and save. This parallels Freud’s anal retentive type and Horney’s
detached type (moving away from people). The (D) marketing character type
develops through capitalist societies, according to Fromm. This type has a set of
values the same for personalities as for goods; one’s personality becomes simply a
commodity to be sold.
2.
Fromm also outlined other productive and non-productive types, of which several
of these types could be combined. The (A) productive character type is the ideal
and represents the ultimate goal of human development. The (B) necrophilous
character type (a nonproductive orientation) is attracted to death, corpses, decay,
feces, and dirt. These types may also have a passion for technology and tend to
surround themselves with appliances, computers, and stereos just to manipulate
them. The opposite productive type would be (C) biophilous. These people are in
love with life and are attracted to growth, creation, and construction. The (D)
having character type is defined by what the person owns and possesses. This
could mean the idea of owning people and even ideas. Fromm believed that this
character type was similar to Freud’s anal retentive personality. (E) Being types
are not as competitive as the having types and participate in life, experience living
in the present, and being at one with their self and society. Fromm also proposed
an ideal society, which he called humanistic communitarian socialism; where love
brotherhood, and solidarity characterize all human relationships.
F.
Assessment in Fromm’s Theory
1.
G.
Fromm wrote little about his assessment techniques. He may have focused on
those comments from his patients that supported his theories. Fromm used a form
of free association and considered dream analysis an important therapeutic tool.
Fromm also developed a questionnaire which included items which would assess
the various character types.
Research in Fromm’s Theory
1.
Although Fromm affirmed the use of the case study as a research method, we do
not have many records to verify Fromm’s clinical observations. Fromm did admit
that his results could not be tested by experimental or correlational methods, but
could be tested by repeated analyses. A number of research studies support
Fromm’s contention that relatedness is a basic human need and that this is a
requisite for subjective well-being. Fromm, (later in his career); found some
evidence for the productive orientation and for some of his personal
characteristics, such as receptive, hoarding, exploitative, and productive.