Sigmund Freud:
Sigmund Freud's studies on personality include his Iceberg Analogy ( explaining the role of the id, ego, and superego), psychosexual stages of development, defense mechanisms. Freud is thought to be the single most influential psychologist today especially because of his studies on personality.
Sigmund Freud's studies on personality include his Iceberg Analogy ( explaining the role of the id, ego, and superego), psychosexual stages of development, defense mechanisms. Freud is thought to be the single most influential psychologist today especially because of his studies on personality.
THE ICEBERG: THE ID, EGO, AND SUPEREGO
Freud developed his iceberg analogy to explain his theory of the id, ego, and superego. The id is a reservoir of unconcious psychic energy that strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id also operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification in all things. The ego is the largely conscious part of personality that mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. Lastly the superego is the part of personality that represents ideals and provides a standard for judgement and for future aspirations.
Freud developed the iceberg analogy to illustrate these 3 parts of the personality. The sections of the iceberg, which are part of the ego and part of the superego, that are above water are conscious things where those under the surface are unconscious.
Freud developed the iceberg analogy to illustrate these 3 parts of the personality. The sections of the iceberg, which are part of the ego and part of the superego, that are above water are conscious things where those under the surface are unconscious.
Psychosexual stages of development
We all grow up and develop in different ways, but Freud uses his psychosexual stages of development to tie together all of our drives and the development of our personalities. Each stage represents development in each of our pleasure-sensitive areas.
The 5 stages of psychosexual development are:
If there is too little or too much gratification in these stages fixation can occur. Fixation is the lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were not resolved.
The 5 stages of psychosexual development are:
- Oral (0-18 months): Pleasure centers are located in the mouth giving the infant the urge to suck, bite, and chew on anything and everything.
- Anal (18-36 months): Pleasure centers are focused on bowel and bladder elimination. Toddlers struggle with the demand for control of these pleasure centers.
- Phallic (3-6 years): Pleasure zone is in the genitals at this time. The children cope with incestuous sexual feelings toward their mother or father.
- Latency (6-puberty): Sexual feelings are dormant at this time. Children at this age have not development sexually and therefore do not have urges in those pleasure centers.
- Genital (puberty on): Sexual interests mature with age and those in this stage have sexual urges.
If there is too little or too much gratification in these stages fixation can occur. Fixation is the lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were not resolved.
Defense mechanisms
Freud himself said "Anxiety is the price we pay for civilization." and because of this we must find ways to cope with this anxiety. Defense mechanisms are tactics that reduce or redirect anxiety by distorting reality.
Some examples of defense mechanisms are:
Some examples of defense mechanisms are:
- Repression is banishing anxiety causing thoughts from our consciousness According to Freud, repression underlies all other defense mechanisms. An example of repression is human beings pushing out the lust they had for parents during the phallic psychosexual stage of development.
- Regression is when a person regrets to an earlier stage of development like a toddler reverting to sucking his thumb when facing his stressful first day of school.
- Rationalization is when we as humans justify our behavior in order to hide our real motives for action. For example a student who doesn't study might say "All work and no play makes Jack a dull person."
- Projection is when a person attributes traits to other people that they themselves struggle with. For example a person who does not trust others might attribute others as "not trusting them".
- Denial is when a person either rejects the reality or the seriousness of the reality in order to protect themselves. Anxiety causing things are often painful to deal with and denial is a way of getting out of it.