Psychology Chapter 12
Personality
o A characteristic pattern of
Thinking
Feeling
Acting
Psychodynamic theories
o Theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious
and the importance of childhood experiences
o Psychoanalysis
Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and
actions to unconscious motives and conflicts
Techniques used in treating psychological disorders by
seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions
Freud’s psychoanalytic view
View personality with a focus on the unconscious
and the importance of childhood experience
Derived from Freud’s psychoanalysis
o Freud’s theories
The mind contains a large unconscious region (mostly
hidden) where feelings and ideas are repressed
He unconscious seeps in disguised forms
Use of free association helps patients find and release
forbidden thoughts
Free association
, o A method of exploring the unconscious in
which the person relaxes and says whatever
comes to mind, no matter how unimportant or
embarrassing
Personality structure
Freud believed human personality arises form a
conflict between one’s impulses and restraints
o With socialization, people internalize social
restraints against urges
o Personality results form people’s efforts to
resolve basic conflict
The Mind’s structure
Icebergs hide most of their bulk beneath the surface
of the water
Psychologists often use the image to illustrate
Freud’s idea that the mind is mostly hidden beneath
the conscious surface of our awareness
Three interacting systems
o Id
A reservoir of unconscious psychic
energy that strives to satisfy basic sexual
and aggressive impulses
Operates on the pleasure principle,
demanding immediate gratification
o Ego
Partly conscious “executive” part of
personality that balances the deamnds
of the Id, superego and reality
2
, Operates on the reality principle,
satisfying the id’s desired in way
that will realistically bring pleasure
rather than pain
o Superego
Partly conscious part of personality that
represents internalized deals and
provides standards for judgment (the
conscience) and for future goals
Development psychosexual stages
o Childhood stages of development during which
the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on
distinct erogenous zones
o Boys learn to cope with the Oedipus complex
by repressing them
Oedipus complex:
A boy’s sexual desires toward his
mother and a feelings of jealousy
and hatred for the rival father
Identification
Children incorporate their parents’
values into their developing
ssuperegos
Unresolved conflicts cause problems in
adulthood
Fixation
o Lingering focus of pleasure-
seeking energies at an earlier
psychosexual stage with
unresolved conflicts
3
Personality
o A characteristic pattern of
Thinking
Feeling
Acting
Psychodynamic theories
o Theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious
and the importance of childhood experiences
o Psychoanalysis
Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and
actions to unconscious motives and conflicts
Techniques used in treating psychological disorders by
seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions
Freud’s psychoanalytic view
View personality with a focus on the unconscious
and the importance of childhood experience
Derived from Freud’s psychoanalysis
o Freud’s theories
The mind contains a large unconscious region (mostly
hidden) where feelings and ideas are repressed
He unconscious seeps in disguised forms
Use of free association helps patients find and release
forbidden thoughts
Free association
, o A method of exploring the unconscious in
which the person relaxes and says whatever
comes to mind, no matter how unimportant or
embarrassing
Personality structure
Freud believed human personality arises form a
conflict between one’s impulses and restraints
o With socialization, people internalize social
restraints against urges
o Personality results form people’s efforts to
resolve basic conflict
The Mind’s structure
Icebergs hide most of their bulk beneath the surface
of the water
Psychologists often use the image to illustrate
Freud’s idea that the mind is mostly hidden beneath
the conscious surface of our awareness
Three interacting systems
o Id
A reservoir of unconscious psychic
energy that strives to satisfy basic sexual
and aggressive impulses
Operates on the pleasure principle,
demanding immediate gratification
o Ego
Partly conscious “executive” part of
personality that balances the deamnds
of the Id, superego and reality
2
, Operates on the reality principle,
satisfying the id’s desired in way
that will realistically bring pleasure
rather than pain
o Superego
Partly conscious part of personality that
represents internalized deals and
provides standards for judgment (the
conscience) and for future goals
Development psychosexual stages
o Childhood stages of development during which
the id’s pleasure-seeking energies focus on
distinct erogenous zones
o Boys learn to cope with the Oedipus complex
by repressing them
Oedipus complex:
A boy’s sexual desires toward his
mother and a feelings of jealousy
and hatred for the rival father
Identification
Children incorporate their parents’
values into their developing
ssuperegos
Unresolved conflicts cause problems in
adulthood
Fixation
o Lingering focus of pleasure-
seeking energies at an earlier
psychosexual stage with
unresolved conflicts
3
