Thinking About Psychology:
The Science of Mind and
Behavior 2e
Charles T. Blair-Broeker
Randal M. Ernst
Developmental Domain
Personality Chapter
Module 17
Psychodynamic and
Humanistic
Perspectives on
Personality
Personality
• Individual’s characteristic pattern of
thinking, feeling, and acting
Module 17: Psychodynamic and Humanistic Perspectives
The Psychodynamic
Perspective
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
• Founder of psychoanalysis
• Proposed the first complete
theory of personality
• A person’s thoughts and
behaviors emerge from tension
generated by unconscious
motives and unresolved
childhood conflicts.
Neurologist, not a Psychologist
• Freud was not a psychologist. At the time he
received his education, there were only one or
two “psychology” programs in the world.
• Freud was trained as a neurologist and treated
mostly women for what were called “neuroses”.
• The so-called neuroses typically had a sexual
component because the Victorian social norm of
sexual inhibition was popular when Freud began
practicing medicine.
Psychoanalysis
• Freud’s theory of personality
• Also a therapeutic technique that
attempts to provide insight into one’s
thoughts and actions
• Does so by exposing and interpreting
the underlying unconscious motives and
conflicts
Psychodynamic Perspective
• View of personality that retains some
aspects of Freudian theory but rejects other
aspects
• Retains the importance of the unconscious
thought processes
• Less likely to see unresolved childhood
conflicts as a source of personality
development
Do you Know These Terms?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fixated
Repressed
Regressed
Anal-retentive
Oedipus complex
Rationalize
• Activity: Fifteen Freudian Principal Statements,
Handout 17-4
Module 17: Psychodynamic and Humanistic Perspectives
The Psychodynamic
Perspective:
Freud’s View of the
Mind
Free Association
• Method of exploring the unconscious in
which the person person relaxes and
says whatever comes to mind, no matter
how trivial or embarrassing
Try it: free associate with each of the
following words, write down the first word
that comes to mind.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cat
Mitten
Glass
Tangerine
Red
Brick
Button
• So, do any of these words seem to reveal any hidden
feelings you might have about something or someone in
your life?
• Would you want people to read meaning into this list of
freely-associated words? Why or why not?
Conscious Mind
• The thoughts and feelings one is
currently aware of
Preconscious Mind
• Region of the mind holding information
that is not conscious but is retrievable
into conscious awareness
• Holds thoughts and memories not in
one’s current awareness but can easily
be retrieved
Unconscious Mind
• Region of the mind that is a reservoir of
mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes,
feelings, and memories
The Mind According to Freud
Module 17: Psychodynamic and Humanistic Perspectives
The Psychodynamic
Perspective:
The Id, Ego, and
Superego
90% of the Iceberg Rests Beneath
the Surface of the Water.
• Freud believed that people were like icebergs –
only allowing a bit of their personalities to be
seen and hiding the rest from others.
• Do you, yourself, show your true self to others?
– Do you feel others around you know “the real you”?
Why or why not?
– What types of things do people keep hidden from
casual friends & acquaintances? Why?
– What types of things DO you share? Why?
Freud’s Concept of the “Id”
• The part of personality that consists of
unconscious, psychic energy
• Strives to satisfy basic sexual and
aggressive drives
• Operates on the “pleasure principle” demanding immediate gratification
• Is present from birth
Freud’s Concept of the “Superego”
• The part of personality that consists of
internalized ideals and standards
• One’s conscience; focuses on what the
person “should” do
Freud’s Concept of the “Ego”
• Largely conscious, “executive” part of
personality that mediates among the
demands of the id, superego, and reality
• Operates on the reality principle satisfying the id’s desires in ways that
will realistically bring pleasure rather
than pain
Brother Cartoons
• Devil = the id
• Angel = superego
• Character = ego
• Each would give the character advice, and that character
would have to choose to whom it would listen. The devil,
the id, encourages more licentious behavior; the angel,
representing the superego, advises obedience to moral
and ethical principles. The character, the ego, must take
in both types of advice and make the most realistic
decision.
Examples
•
•
•
•
•
•
A Simpsons episode features Bart suffering from a moral dilemma,
complete with good and bad angels; the good angel knocks out the bad
angel by throwing its halo like Captain America's shield, at which point Bart
remarks, "It figures that my conscience would suffer from mood swings".
In Disney's version of Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket is hired by the "Blue
Fairy" to act as Pinocchio's conscience. Note that "Jiminy Cricket" has the
same initials as "Jesus Christ." This is intentional, as at the time this was
the acceptable replacement term.
Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End gives Jack Sparrow two smaller
Jacks that appear to come out of his hair. Instead of the traditional good and
evil, the dilemma is between rum and immortality without rum, at least until
they point out to him that having rum once every ten years for eternity is still
more rum than having it every day of a normal lifetime.
The 30 Rock episode "Black Tie" played with this in a rather surreal way.
Pete is about to cheat on his wife when Kenneth pops in through a vent and
tells him not to. Then Tracy pops through another vent, so that he's framed
above Pete's other shoulder, and argues with Kenneth. Finally, Pete turns to
dramatically declare "I'm sorry, I can't do this - I love my wife!"
http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/#clip120030
The Cat in the Hat Group Activity and then individual assignment,
psychoanalyzing someone.
Module 17: Psychodynamic and Humanistic Perspectives
The Psychodynamic
Perspective:
Defense Mechanisms
Defense Mechanisms
• In psychoanalytic theory, the ego’s
protective methods of reducing anxiety
by unconsciously distorting reality
Repression
• Puts anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings,
and memories into the unconscious
mind
• The basis for all other defense
mechanisms
Regression
• Allows an anxious person to retreat to a
more comfortable, infantile stage of life
Denial
• Lets an anxious person refuse to admit
that something unpleasant is happening
Reaction Formation
• Reverses an unacceptable impulse, causing
the person to express the opposite of the
anxiety-provoking, unconscious feeling
• Ex: if you are interested in someone who is
unavailable, you find yourself feeling a
curious dislike (instead of fondness).
Projection
• Disguises threatening feelings of guilty
anxiety by attributing the problems to
others
• Ex: I don’t trust him becomes “I don’t
trust myself”, or the thief thinks
everyone else is a theif.
Rationalization
• Displaces real, anxiety-provoking
explanations with more comforting
justifications for one’s actions
• Ex: the smoker rationalizes that she just
smokes “to look older”, or “only when
I’m with my friends.”
Displacement
• Shifts an unacceptable impulse toward a
more acceptable or less threatening object or
person
• Ex: the company owner becomes upset and
yells at the manager, who yells at the clerk,
who goes home and yells at the kids and the
kids kick the dog. All have been displacing
(except the dog).
Defense Mechanisms
Create a Narrative
• In your group, create a narrative (or story)
using the defense mechanisms as
characters. Each mechanism should
behave according to the description given
in your text.
• Ex: Ruby Repression might be trying to
banish feelings she’s having, that are
causing her anxiety and guilt, so she
enlists the help of her friends.
Skits
• Enact the skit that your group is assigned.
• You will have 10 minutes to review before
you act it out.
• The others will guess which defense
mechanism you are illustrating and why
they give the answer they do.
• Handouts 17-6a and 17-6b
• Also, handout 17-5 “Defense Mechanisms”
Module 17: Psychodynamic and Humanistic Perspectives
The Psychodynamic
Perspective:
Freud’s Psychosexual
Stages
Psychosexual Stages
• In Freudian theory, the childhood stages
of development during which the id’s
pleasure seeking energies focus on
different parts of the body
• The stages include: oral, anal, phallic,
latency, and genital
• A person can become “fixated” or stuck
at a stage, leading to problems as an
adult
Oral Stage
• Pleasure comes from chewing, biting,
and sucking.
• Weaning can be a conflict at this stage.
• 1-18 months
• The person weaned too early would
show signs of oral fixation later in life –
always putting objects in the mouth,
chain smoking, or overeating.
Freud’s Stages of Development
Anal Stage
• Gratification comes from bowel and bladders
functions.
• Potty training can be a conflict at this stage.
• 18-36 months
• Fixation occurs in one of two ways: 1) if potty
training occurs too early, a person can become anal
retentive (overly neat and fussy about organization
and details) and 2) if potty training is not
encouraged or allowed to happen haphazardly, the
person can become anal-expulsive (overly messy)
Freud’s Stages of Development
Phallic Stage
• The pleasure zone shifts to the genitals.
• Boys cope with incestuous feelings toward their
mother and rival feelings toward their dad (Oedipus
conflict).
• Freud based his theory on the case study of a little
boy named Hans. Five-year-old Hans had
developed a fear of horses, which Freud believed
was actually a displaced fear of his father. In
addition, he had developed castration anxiety, a fear
of having his penis cut off because his parents had
told him if he continued to play with it, it would be
cut off. He had noticed that his sister lacked a
penis, so he concluded that his parents had cut her
penis off.
Freud’s Stages of Development
Latency Stage
• Sexual feelings are dormant.
• Child identifies with and tries to mimic the
same sex parent to learn gender identity.
• Instead of fearing the same-sex parent, girls
and boys start to “buddy up” to Mom and
Dad, respectively. Freud called it the
“identification process”. This theory offers
one explanation of gender identity, which is
our sense of what it means to be either male
or female.
Freud’s Stages of Development
Genital Stage
• Begins at puberty with the maturation of
sexual interests
• Freud believed that unresolved conflicts
in any of the psychosexual stages could
cause problems later in life.
Freud’s Stages of Development
Module 17: Psychodynamic and Humanistic Perspectives
The Psychodynamic
Perspective:
Neo-Freudians
Neo-Freudians
• Followers of Freud’s theories but
developed theories of their own in areas
where they disagreed with Freud
• Include Adler, Jung, and Horney
Alfred Adler (1870-1937)
• Neo-Freudian who thought
social tensions were more
important than sexual
tensions in the development
of personality
• Believed psychological
problems were the result of
feelings of inferiority
Inferiority Complex
• According to Adler, a condition that
comes from being unable to compensate
for normal inferiority feelings
• This is the origin of a label you’ve
probably already heard.
Carl Jung (Yoong)(1875-1961)
• Neo-Freudian who believed that humans
share a collective unconscious
Collective Unconscious
• Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited
reservoir of memory traces from our
ancestors
• Information everyone knows from birth
• Archetypes (AR-kuh-types) – universal
symbols found in stories, myths, and art.
• Ex: the shadow archetype is the darker, evil
side of human nature. Supposedly, we hide
this from the world and ourselves.
Inherited Memory
• Contemporary psychologists reject the
notion of inherited memory. However,
many believe that our shared evolutionary
history has contributed to some universal
behavior tendencies (like hiding our worst
secrets from others), or dispositions (evil).
Karen Horney (HORN-eye)(1885-1952)
• Neo-Freudian who found
psychoanalysis negatively
biased toward women
• Believed cultural/social
variables are the
foundation of personality
development
Neurosis
• Horney fully developed the idea of
neurosis, or a driving need for something
or someone. She believed neuroses
helped to make life bearable, giving us a
sense of something to strive for. Only
when people didn’t fulfill a need or became
obsessed with a particular neurotic need
did these become problematic and
interfere with life.
Ten Neurotic Needs, Three
Categories
1) Compliance includes needs for affection,
a partner, and simplifying one’s life.
2) Aggression includes needs for power,
exploitation of others, prestige, personal
admiration, and personal achievement.
3) Withdrawal includes needs for
independence and perfection.
Module 17: Psychodynamic and Humanistic Perspectives
The Psychodynamic
Perspective:
Assessing Personality
Projective Tests
• Personality tests that provide ambiguous
stimuli to trigger projection of one’s
inner thoughts and feelings
• Include:
– Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
– Rorschach Inkblot Test
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
• Projective test in which
people express their inner
feelings and interests through
the stories they make up
about ambiguous scenes
• The person makes up a story
of a picture they are shown
Rorschach Inkblot Test
• Personality test that seeks to
identify people’s inner
feelings by analyzing their
interpretations of 10 inkblots
• Most widely used
personality test
•
•
Note: Hermann Rorschach was Swiss;
couldn’t find a publisher for his book, which
was poorly received. Died at 37
(appendicitis).
Current controversy about the Rorschach
being online!
Make a Connection…
• Remember the term Projective Tests by linking
that term to Freud’s defense mechanism of
projection
– With projection, clients attribute their negative
feelings to someone or something else,
making it safer for them to have those types of
feelings
– Projective tests enable people to apply their
feelings to a picture, which the analyst
interprets to explain hidden feelings &
experiences
Module 17: Psychodynamic and Humanistic Perspectives
The Psychodynamic
Perspective:
Evaluating the
Perspective
Updating Freud’s Theory
• Most psychodynamic psychologists
agree:
– Sex is not the basis of personality.
– People do not “fixate” at various
stages of development.
– Much of a person’s mental life is
unconscious.
– People struggle with inner conflicts,
and childhood experiences shape us.
Module 17: Psychodynamic and Humanistic Perspectives
The Humanistic
Perspective
Humanistic Psychology
• Perspective that focuses on the study of
conscious experience, the individual’s
freedom to choose, and capacity for
personal growth
• Studies fulfilled and healthy individuals
rather than troubled people
Module 17: Psychodynamic and Humanistic Perspectives
The Humanistic
Perspective:
Abraham Maslow and
Self-Actualization
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
• Humanistic
psychologist who
proposed the hierarchy
of needs
• Believed selfactualization is the
ultimate psychological
need
Hierarchy of Needs
• Maslow’s pyramid of human needs,
beginning at the base with physiological
needs, proceeding through safety needs
and then to psychological needs
• Higher-level needs won’t become active
until lower-level needs have been
satisfied.
Self-Actualization
• According to Maslow, the ultimate
psychological need
• Arises after basic physical and
psychological needs are met and selfesteem is achieved
• The motivation to fulfill potential
Self-Actualization
• Characteristics include:
– Self aware and self accepting
– Open, spontaneous, loving, and caring
– Not paralyzed by other’s opinions
– Focused on a particular task
– Involved in few deep relationships
– Have been moved to peak experiences
Maslow’s
Hierarchy
of Needs
Maslow’s
Hierarchy
of Needs
Maslow’s
Hierarchy
of Needs
Maslow’s
Hierarchy
of Needs
Maslow’s
Hierarchy
of Needs
Why Aren’t More Adults SelfActualized, if the Tendency is Innate?
1.
2.
3.
4.
It’s the weakest of need and the most easily impeded.
Jonah Complex: we doubt our own abilities (and aren’t
courageous enough)
The cultural environment stifles self-actualization (ex:
definitions of “manliness” prevent the male child from
developing traits of sympathy, kindness, and
tenderness, all of which characterize the selfactualized person.
Childhood experiences may inhibit personal growth.
Children from warm, secure, friendly homes are more
likely to choose experiences that lead to personal
growth. Excessive control and coddling is harmful but
so is excessive permissiveness.
Debunk Maslow?
• Can you come up with experiences that
contradict Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
– Can students learn when they are hungry?
– Why do people go on hunger strikes to protest
in favor of a cause they believe in?
– Why are there such things as “starving
artists”?
Module 17: Psychodynamic and Humanistic Perspectives
The Humanistic
Perspective:
Carl Rogers and the
Person-Centered
Approach
Carl Rogers (1902-1987)
• Humanistic psychologist who stressed
the importance of acceptance,
genuineness, and empathy in fostering
human growth
Unconditional Positive Regard
• According to Rogers, an attitude of total
acceptance toward another person
Genuineness
• Freely expressing one’s feelings and not
being afraid to disclose details about
oneself
Empathy
• Sharing thoughts and understanding
• Listening and reflecting the other
person’s feelings
Module 17: Psychodynamic and Humanistic Perspectives
The Humanistic
Perspective:
Assessing Personality
and the Self
Humanistic Measures
• Humanistic measures of personality
center on evaluating a person’s self
concept--all of our thought and feelings
about ourselves
• Answer the question “Who Am I?”
Module 17: Psychodynamic and Humanistic Perspectives
The Humanistic
Perspective:
Evaluating the
Perspective
Evaluating Humanism
• Humanism has influenced therapy,
child-rearing, and the workplace
• Laid the foundation for positive
psychology
Evaluating the Humanistic
Perspective
• Unintentional Effects:
– Mistakenly interpreted unconditional positive regard
for children as meaning we should never offer
constructive criticism to a child, or, worse, never tell a
child no.
– Critics also point out that many humanistic terms are
vague and hard to define precisely so that other
researchers can test them: spontaneous, loving,
productive.
– It did, however, lay the ground for the positive
psychology movement of the past decade. Many
researchers are studying the human strengths and
virtues, like courage and hope, of healthy people,
rather than just the disorders of those who are not
psychologically healthy.
Self-Ratings & Self-Concepts
• Try some self-ratings quizzes.
• Handouts 17-7, 17-8, 17-9, 17-10, 17-11,
17-12
Comparing Forces in
Psychological Thought
• Two different views about human behavior come
together in this module and present opposed views on
human nature, causes of mental illness, and goals of
therapy. Yet, they share some similarities.
– Psychodynamic Perspective believes people are born
with a strong, selfish id and develop a sense of
morality and reality.
– Humanistic Psychologists believe people are naturally
good & full of potential, which must be drawn out with
love and empathy.
– Plus, Freudian thinkers sought to uncover the past
while humanistic thinkers were concerned with
helping clients discover how they could maximize
their present circumstances.
Videos
• The Mind Hidden and Divided
(Discovering Psychology)
• Personality
• Freud Under Analysis (Nova)
• Feel Good About Failure (20/20)
• The Truth About Lies (PBS, The Public
Mind).
The End
Name of Concept
• Use this slide to add a concept to the
presentation
Name of Concept
Use this slide to add a table, chart, clip art, picture, diagram, or video clip. Delete
this box when finished