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Psychoanalytic Personality Assessment Lainie Goodell PSY/250 March 6, 2011 Dr. Deborah Watson Psychoanalytic Personality Assessment Personalities are often very hard to figure out. Each person has a unique and sometimes complex personality and sometimes they do not mix with others. Different psychologists have different theories as to why people are the way they are. One theory is the psychoanalytic theory. Psychoanalytic theory digs into a person’s mind to find out where their problems stem from. The theories stem from childhood and then dig deep into who each person is as an adult.
The following reflects on the theories of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Alfred Adler; they all have similarities, yet are completely different. Theories of Freud, Jung and Adler Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung both believed in the unconscious personality. However, Freud believed more in the sexual energy of the unconscious and based his theory on the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is part of the newborn personality. Freud believed that the id is based on the pleasure principal; for example, when a child wants something such as food or a diaper change he or she speaks up by crying (AllPsych, 2004).
After a few more years the ego develops. According to AllPsych (2004) “The ego is based on the reality principle. The ego understands that other people have needs and desires and that sometimes being impulsive or selfish can hurt us in the long run” (para. 4). After the ego, by age five, the superego develops and that is when morality starts to take part in the personality. The consciousness of right and wrong start to develop and ethical matters areweighed moreheavily on the mind. In a healthy person, according to Freud, the ego is the strongest so that it can satisfy the needs of the id, not upset the superego, and still take into consideration the reality of every situation” (AllPsych, 2004, para. 6). According to Carl Jung’s theory, the mind is divided into three parts; the conscious ego, the personal unconscious, and the collective unconscious (Friedman and Schustack, 2009). The conscious ego is part of the personality that is conscious and also defines the sense of self (Friedman and Schustack, 2009). The personal unconscious contains thoughts that are not relevant to the point in time.
In other words, when I am at work, I am thinking about work, not necessarily the assignments that need to be turned in for school. Those thoughts are not repressed those thoughts are simply put on hold until the relevant time comes along. The collective unconscious is experiencing something that a person feels has happened before. This theory is perhaps Jung’s most controversial because it goes into a deeper level of unconsciousness; much like the feeling of deja vu (Friedman and Schustack, 2009). Carl Jung believed in the theory of dreams. He believed that dreams are a way of communicating with a person’s unconscious self.
In other words, a dream could be a solution to a problem that a person might be having in his or her conscious life. Alfred Adler called his theory Individual Psychology because he believed in people’s motivations and their place in society (Friedman and Schustack, 2009). Adler also believed in birth order. He believed that the order that a person was born in directly affects the personality. Adler believed that the older children are affected the most because they are given undivided attention until the little brother or sister is born; now the older child feels second best.
He did, however, believe in Freud’s issues relating to parenting skills. He believed, like Freud that spoiling a child will eventually lead to problems in adulthood. Adler identified two theories on parenting. One theory was pampering or overprotecting a child by giving him too much attention and sheltering him from the negatives of the outside world (AllPsych, 2004). Adler believes that sheltering a child from the realities of the world would affect his or her own decision-making and cause dependency on another person. The other theory on parenting is neglect.
This theory is exactly the opposite of pampering as there is no attention at all. Adler believes that neglect will cause a child to fear the world in his or her adulthood (AllPsych, 2004). A child who is from neglect will have trouble with relationships and trust. I believe in the parenting theories of Alfred Adler. I truly believe that children will have trust issues if neglected and will have trouble forming intimate relationships with another person. I also believe that over-protecting a child from the realities of life will hinder his or her ability to make decisions without the approval of someone else.
I believe that spoiled children can also have problems forming relationships in the fact that they might trust people too much or have different points of view that are unrealistic. Children need to learn how to take care of themselves and learn to fend for themselves when problems arise. People are not always going to be around to help them out of a bad situation. Children must learn to fight their battles as this will help them to mature during adulthood. One characteristic that I do not necessarily believe is that dreams are solutions to problems. I believe that dreams do play a part with what a person is going through in his or her life.
However, I do not believe that they offer solutions to the problem. I think dreams are just a reflection of what happened throughout the day or what a person is thinking about it or concerned about. Another characteristic I do not believe in is the theory of birth order. I was the oldest child of two. I do not ever remember feeling neglected or second best. I always felt my sister needed more attention than I did at the time because she was much younger. However, that could also be because I was older and I was more understanding of what was going on around me.
Stages of Freud’s Theory Several stages of theory exist through the psychosexual stages of development. The first stage is called the oral stage which starts when someone is born. This stage is weaning and the theory is believed that the baby is preoccupied with sucking and accepting things, such as food, in the mouth. Frustration is prevalent in this stage because the baby does not know how to speak up for him or herself without crying. The anal phase is second. The anal stage comes with potty training and is believed that the child becomes obsessed with his or her private parts.
According to Stevenson (1996), “This represents a classic conflict between the id, which derives pleasure from expulsion of bodily wastes, and the ego and superego, which represent the practical and societal pressures to control the bodily functions” (para. 4). The phallic stage begins sexual development. Freud believes that the child becomes more interested in his genitalia and the genitalia of others and that is when conflict, such as the desire to possess the opposite sex, begins (Stevenson, 1996). The latency period is a stage in which the sexual drive is basically undeveloped.
According to Stevenson (1996), “During the latency period, children pour this repressed libidal energy into asexual pursuits such as school, athletics, and same-sex friendships. But soon puberty strikes, and the genitals once again become a central focus of libidal energy” (para. 10). The last stage is the genital stage in which the child’s main focus is on his genitals and relationships. This stage is believed to show trouble with the development of relationships in the child’s life is he or she remains fixated on the genitals in the phallic stage.
Freudian Defense Mechanisms Freud has several defense mechanisms that people use to lessen the anxiety they feel. Three of those defense mechanisms are denial, rationalization, and sublimation. I believe denial is one of the biggest and most popular defense mechanisms. Denial is used with alcoholics and other addicts. I am a food addict. I have been dealing with the problem for several years and have to face my problem each and every minute of every day. Food addiction is a something I will struggle with for the rest of my life. I used food as self worth.
I am working on my problem and intend to go full force with recovery. When I first discovered my problem, of course I denied it. I denied I was an addict. I did not have any other problems and my job or my relationships were never compromised, or so I thought. I denied my relationship with food my entire life. I defended me. I defended my relationship with food. Rationalization is another Freudian defense mechanism. Rationalization is something I used with my relationship with food. Everyone has to eat. I just felt that I received the bad genes from my parents.
Because of the bad genes through my family history my relationship with food was completely normal. The genes were the problem with my weight. I rationalized my relationship through bad genes from my family history. I had nothing to do with my food problem. The problem was not my fault; the problem was with my family genes. Sublimation is another defense mechanism that often used. I use this defense mechanism now with my food addiction and turn my fixations on something else useful. I have created a hobby in jewelry making. Whenever I feel the need or food I think about something else I can be doing and actually make something useful through my creative energy. I will feel the need for comfort from food probably for the rest of my life. However, I am learning to recognize the problem and think about something else that I could be doing that is not only useful but for something else that can someone else can love by wearing my creations. Conclusion Freud, Jung and Adler all had different personality theories. Almost everyone could probably compare his or her personalities with one of their theories.
Each person is different. However, we are all the same because we all have problems that we suffer from. If each and every person were to come together, we would probably all find that we had a great deal in common with the same life problems. All people use Freud’s defense mechanisms throughout life. Most everyone probably does not even know that they are using the specific mechanisms. Freud, Jung, and Adler had something in common in that they all believe in the theories of development of nature. References AllPsych, (2004). Chapter 3: Personality development. Psychology 101.
Retrieved March 6, 2011 from http://allpsych. com/psychology101/ego. html AllPsych, (2004). Chapter 5: Psychodynamic and Neo-Freudian theories. Personality Synopsis. Retrieved March 6, 2011 fromhttp://allpsych. com/personalitysynopsis/adler. html Friedman, H. and Schustack, M. , (2009). Personality: classic theories and modern research. (4th ed. ) New York: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon. Stevenson, D. , (1996). Freud’s psychosexual stages of development. The Victorian web. Retrieved March 6, 2011 from http://www. victorianweb. org/science/freud/develop. html