Thompson
Freudian Psychoanalytic Theory
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and his followers: The emphasis is on the unconscious determinants of
behavior and the primacy of early childhood experiences, on the dynamic interaction of components of
the psyche as they move through psychosexual stages of development, and on the use of defense
mechanisms to protect the ego.
Freud’s psychoanalytic model has three major components:
the structure of the personality
the defense mechanisms
the stages of psychosexual development
Freud’s Structure of the Mind: id, ego, superego. “Smooth integration of these three components
minimizes anxiety and intrapsychic conflicts. The underlying unconscious conflicts, the anxiety that
results and the defense mechanisms activated result in neurosis or neurotic disorders. (The term
neurosis was dropped from the DSM in 1980).
In Sigmund Freud's topographical model of personality, the ego is the aspect of personality that deals with
reality. While doing this, the ego also has to cope with the conflicting demands of the id and the superego.
The id seeks to fulfill all wants, needs, and impulses while the superego tries to get the ego to act in an
idealistic and moral manner.
What happens when the ego cannot deal with the demands of our desires, the constraints of reality, and
our own moral standards? According to Freud, anxiety is an unpleasant inner state that people seek to
avoid. Anxiety acts as a signal to the ego that things are not going right.
Freud identified three types of anxiety:
Neurotic anxiety is the unconscious worry that we will lose control of the id's urges, resulting in
punishment for inappropriate behavior.
Reality anxiety is fear of real-world events. The cause of this anxiety is usually easily identified. For
example, a person might fear receiving a dog bite when they are near a menacing dog. The most common
way of reducing this anxiety is to avoid the threatening object.
Moral anxiety involves a fear of violating our own moral principles.
In order to deal with anxiety, Freud believed that defense mechanisms helped shield the ego from the
conflicts created by the id, superego, and reality.
Ego Psychology:
Anna Freud, Freud’s daughter, named and described the major psychological defense mechanisms, which
are still broadly accepted. Heinz Hartmann described psychological development from the perspective of
adaptation, the employment of the defense mechanisms to allow the ego to fit together with its
environment.
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Ego Psychology focuses on this process as the central element of normal function and
psychopathology.
Ego psychological theory maintains that an undifferentiated matrix of psychic structure is present
from birth, and that id, ego, and superego differentiate from it.
There is a conflict-free sphere of development that encompasses the achievement of capacities such
as motor skills and intelligence.
Ego development continues beyond childhood.
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Defense Mechanisms: conflict between id and superego insists that the ego activate defense mechanisms
to protect against anxiety. “Some ego defense mechanisms are adaptive and become coping strategies…”
(humor, anticipation, affiliation, altruism, self-assertion, self-observation, suppression, sublimation) and
“some are maladaptive and self-defeating.” They also include Action Level Defenses (acting out,
regression, apathetic withdrawal, help-rejecting complaining and passive aggression).
Anna Freud’s Ego Defense Mechanisms Chart