...Psychodynamic Personalities Overview Angela Harris PSY/405 December 4, 2012 Dr. Patricia Stem Personality Overview Theories of Personality like other topics in psychology consist of many theories along with a very diverse group of theorists who developed these theories. Like other theories in psychology there are strengths and weaknesses that have to be examined. The purpose of this paper is to discuss two theories of personality, the psychoanalytic theory and the interpersonal theory. This paper will focus on a comparison of the two theories, the basic assumption of each, deterministic versus free will and the conscious motives versus the unconscious motives in a person’s behavior. The creator of the Psychoanalytic Social theory was Karen Horney. Horney’s psychoanalytic social theory devoted the same emphasis on society, just like Adler and Erikson. She developed her theory based on the assumptions that society and culture are major contributors to one’s personality development. One assumption in her theory is that a person’s social and the cultural experiences are primarily responsible for the shaping of an individual’s character. (Feist, & Feist, 2009). Other assumptions that Horney had was the importance of a child being raised in a stable loving environment. Horney believed that if a child’s parents did not provide a loving, stable environment, he or she could develop basic hostility, which could lead to basic anxiety. Horney also...
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...University of Phoenix Material Psychodynamic Personality Theories Matrix Using the text for this course, the University Library, the Internet, and/or other resources, complete the following table. Theory | Assumptions | Reliability | Validity | Application | Psychoanalytic Theory | -First developed by Sigmund Freud.-Negates influenced by free will.-Influenced by genetics as well as the environment.-behavior occurs as a result of internal conflict unresolved from childhood.-behavior is motivated by unconscious motives and desires.-these unconscious motives sometime resulted in what were termed Freudian slips.-occurred as a result of childhood experiences.-proposed that personality is driven by sex and aggression.-states that the mind influences one’s personality.-personality includes the id, ego, and superego. Id- holds aggressive energy, driven by one’s unconscious impulses and desires, seeks immediate gratification. Ego- caught between the id and the superego, works to balance the two and uses defense mechanisms to resolve conflicts and solve problems. Superego- conscious, includes morals, self control and values.Psychosexual stages :-Oral- 0-18 mths-Anal- 2-3 yrs-Phalic- 4-6 yrs-Latency- 7-11 yrs-Genital- 12+ yrs | -Based merely on clinical observations, Freud had no scientific evidence to prove his theory.-Theory was based off of Freud’s background, his personal philosophy, experiences and observations. -No experiments were used to prove his theory, no one could...
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...University of Phoenix Material Psychodynamic Personality Theories Matrix Using the text for this course, the University Library, the Internet, and/or other resources, complete the following table. |Theory |Assumptions |Reliability |Validity |Application | |Psychoanalytic Theory |Psychological tools within our brains require|Defense mechanisms |Psychoanalysis as a philosophy has been |Personality (Freud and Erikson) | | |a certain type of power in order to function |Creation of thesis technique |questioned since the 1900’s |Gender role improvement | | |This type of power also is also used in |Discuses importance of infancy |Pros and cons evaluators of psychoanalysis|Affection | | |various tasks that are psychologically |Fantasy examination |affirms that psychoanalysis works well as |Therapy- psychoanalysis | | |related like: emotions, and thoughts. |Projective exams |an aspect in behavior and must be given |Moral development –superego (Freud) | | | ...
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...Outline and evaluate psychological explanations of depression: at least two Psychodynamic theories: * Outline : * Fixation at the oral stage (over or under gratification at the oral stage) results in dependency on caregiver and on other people. The dependant personality makes the constantly seek love and approval of others. * if the needs are not met the anger turns inwards ( later in life events like death, relationship break-up, job loss results in regression to the oral stage) results in depression. * Freud explained how, when a loved one is lost there is first a mourning period and then, after a while, life returns to normal. For some people however, the mourning period never seems to come to an end, they continue to exist in a state of permanent melancholia (depression). * Bibring psychodynamic theory states that depression is due to poor parenting. The child develops low self-esteem in contrast to the ideal self because the parents expect perfection on the child and can be critical. Evaluation: * This theory shows that early childhood experiences can affect vulnerability to depression, in later life the effects of early childhood experiences is supported by bowlby where the child attachment whether secure or insecure can affect later life relationship. * Freud’s theory is a good theory and is linked to the theory of Bowlby, insecure parent attachment. * Freud’s theory lacks falsifiability, because it cannot be operationalized and is based...
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...Psychodynamic Theories Jayme Terrigno PSY/405 October 6, 2014 Patti Tolar Psychodynamic Theories According to "Good Therapy" (2014), “The psychological interpretation of mental and emotional processes—is rooted in traditional psychoanalysis and draws from object relations, ego psychology, and self psychology” (para. 1). Psychodynamic theories draw most of their information from the idea of the unconscious, especially in the development of early childhood. This paper will describe personality, discuss the mail tenets of the theories presented, discuss how each theory applies to personality and behavior, and discusses the strengths and limitations of each theory. The degree to which individual humans vary from one another, both physically and psychologically, is quite astonishing and somewhat unique among species (Feist, Feist, & Roberts 2013). Personality id the physical characteristics of a person and how it reflects toward others. Personality is the thoughts and feelings that each person holds and shows to others. It is collection of a person, but these pieces of each person tend to remain the unchanged through the years. Psychodynamic theory was developed by a Sigmund Freud, a well-known theorist, and in his own words, scientist. Sigmund Freud began to combine philosophical speculations with a primitive scientific method. As a neurologist trained in science, Freud began to listen to his patients to find out what...
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...expectations. Images we inherit from our ancestors are called archetypes. Personal unconscious holds repressed thoughts of one individual. Consciousness is a very small piece of personality. Jung believed personality comes from mostly unconscious. Just like Freud, Jung’s theory is hard to prove or disprove. Jung was a follower of Freud and his theory held some similar traits. This theory includes the conscious, the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. Carl Jung believed we are motivated by images passed down by our ancestors as well as our repressed experiences. The things we inherited from our ancestors he named the collective unconscious. His theory is full of past events and future expectations. Images we inherit from our ancestors are called archetypes. Personal unconscious holds repressed thoughts of one individual. Consciousness is a very small piece of personality. Jung believed personality comes from mostly unconscious. Just like Freud, Jung’s theory is hard to prove or disprove. Carl Jung- Analytical Psychology Carl Jung- Analytical Psychology Adler-Individual Psychology Adler-Individual Psychology Adler believed people’s behavior was driven by one of two things, the need for success or the need for the success of mankind. He believed this is what formed a personality. All things are done with social interest in mind. Adler believed all humans are aware of what they are doing. He was the exact opposite of Freud. Adler believed all...
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...Answer any five of the following questions. 2. What is the General Adaptation Syndrome, explain with an example. Scientist Hans Selye (1907-1982) introduced the General Adaptation Syndrome model in 1936 showing in three phases what the alleged effects of stress has on the body. In his work, Selye - 'the father of stress research,' developed the theory that stress is a major cause of disease because chronic stress causes long-term chemical changes. He observed that the body would respond to any external biological source of stress with a predictable biological pattern in an attempt to restore the body’s internal homeostasis. This initial hormonal reaction is your fight or flight stress response - and its purpose is for handling stress very quickly! The process of the body’s struggle to maintain balance is what Selye termed, the General Adaptation Syndrome. Pressures, tensions, and other stressors can greatly influence your normal metabolism. Selye determined that there is a limited supply of adaptive energy to deal with stress. That amount declines with continuous exposure. Going through a series of steps, your body consistently works to regain stability. With the general adaptation syndrome, a human’s adaptive response to stress has three distinct phases: ALARM STAGE - Your first reaction to stress recognizes there’s a danger and prepares to deal with the threat, a.k.a. the fight or flight response. Activation of the HPA axis, the nervous system (SNS) and the adrenal glands...
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...Psychodynamic & Humanistic/Existential Approaches Psychodynamic & Existential/Humanistic Theories Psychodynamic and existential/humanistic theories vary greatly in their approach, dynamic, and assumptions. The succeeding compares and contrasts the two theoretical approaches paying attention to the assumptions presented by each approach, motives for behavior, and whether the approach is deterministic or not. To gain more perspective into each approach it is essential to learn about the different theories and theorists that developed and contributed to each. The key psychodynamic theorists presented include Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, Carl Jung, Melanie Klein, Karen Horney, and Harry Stack-Sullivan. On the other side, the theorists that contributed to the existential/humanistic approach include Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Rollo May. Psychodynamic Theorists and Theories The founder of the psychodynamic approach to personality and psychoanalysis was Sigmund Freud. Freud’s views were focused mainly on sex and aggression as the basis for human motivation (Feist & Feist, 2009). According to Freud there are three distinct parts of human personality; the id, the ego and the super ego. And also three levels of consciousness; unconscious, preconscious and conscious. The two sets of three coincide with the id being part of the unconscious, the ego a part of both pre-consciousness and consciousness and the super ego also a part of the unconscious. A general assumption...
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...Personality Analysis The personality of an individual is what makes him or her unique among others. That same uniqueness is what makes each person interesting to study and observe. The same set of identical twins may have all the same genetic makeup, but he or she will still have an individual personality to call his or her own. The study of personality is quite complex and involves many ideas and theories from wide variety of scholars. Personality is also something people can share and relate to with one another. According to Allport, “Personality is about what is unique to the individual, but it is also about what is shared across people” (Allport, 1962). Although there are several approaches to the personality analysis, this paper will specifically focus on the psychodynamic, humanistic and existential approaches. This paper will compare and contrast these theories, explore the characteristics that accompany these theories, and explain the interpersonal relational aspects associated with these particular theories. Psychodynamic Theory The theory of psychodynamics is the basic study of all psychological abilities that place an influence on human behavior (Feist & Feist, 2009). This may especially include the compelling relationships among the motivation of the conscious and unconscious, which were the ideas of Sigmund Freud. Although Freud established the ideas of “psychodynamics” to explain the mind flow of the libido, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, and Melanie Klein should...
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...Scott Johnson 1/28/2013 Psychodynamic theory is defined as the study of the psychological forces that underlie human behavior. It is primarily the dynamic relations between our conscious and unconscious motivation. Sigmund Freud is noted as the Father of psychodynamic theories. Our unconscious processes shape who we are and what our personality is. Freud’s structure of personality is your Id, Ego and Super ego. Id is our basic want to need, an “I want it now” idea. It’s our unconscious instincts. Ego keeps us in reality, it is more of a research idea. It is the mediator between the ego and super ego. It manages our personality and our decision making. Super ego is what’s right vs. what’s wrong. It is our individual moral values. The psychodynamic theory is the interactions and battle of id, ego and super ego. A focus of psychodynamics is the forces that are in conflict in our subconscious that form our personality and behavior. Our conscious layer is thoughts and feelings we are fully aware of. Preconscious is info that is just beneath our awareness. Unconscious layer includes feelings we are not aware of but greatly influence our behavior. Defense mechanisms are largely unconscious reactions that protect us from painful emotions such as anxiety or guilt. I think this is the more interesting part of the psychodynamic theory. Defense Mechanisms include repression, denial, rationalization, displacement, projection, regression and reaction formation. For example, one of my friends...
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...Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper Wendy Gray PSY/360 June 11, 2012 Devlin Crose, BA, MA In this paper I hope to show what cognitive psychology is and how it was used and how it is used in today’s time. Cognitive psychology is the way a person thinks and the behavior a person has. It also deals with the mental process of a person’s brain and the neuroscience. Behavior has to do with the activity of a human and neuroscience has to do with the nervous system. Perception and memory is also in this area. It all started with the Greeks “approximately 2,400 years ago, the philosophers of ancient Greece left the first written record displaying consistent curiosity about and speculations on the workings of the mind.” (Willingham, D. T. (2007). The Greeks started all the assumption of how our brains working and it went on from there. The Greeks seemed to ask a lot of question three to be exact such as perception, memory, and nature and nurture The next area was the dark ages and middle ages. Not much was added at this time because there was not much knowledge at this time and the work was not so centered around the mind which left this area of time with not good information. Then you had the renaissance through the 19th century In the renaissance time this was the rise of knowledge these people seem to wise beyond their years and had lots of information we still use today. Even though they did make some mistakes they still did well in observation...
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...Personality Analysis Personality Analysis The personality of an individual is what makes him or her unique among others. That same uniqueness is what makes each person interesting to study and observe. The same set of identical twins may have all the same genetic makeup, but he or she will still have an individual personality to call his or her own. The study of personality is quite complex and involves many ideas and theories from wide variety of scholars. Personality is also something people can share and relate to with one another. According to Allport, “Personality is about what is unique to the individual, but it is also about what is shared across people” (Allport, 1962). Although there are several approaches to the personality analysis, this paper will specifically focus on the psychodynamic, humanistic and existential approaches. This paper will compare and contrast these theories, explore the characteristics that accompany these theories, and explain the interpersonal relational aspects associated with these particular theories. Psychodynamic Theory The theory of psychodynamics is the basic study of all psychological abilities that place an influence on human behavior (Feist & Feist, 2009). This may especially include the compelling relationships among the motivation of the conscious and unconscious, which were the ideas of Sigmund Freud. Although Freud established the ideas of “psychodynamics”...
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...Brief Psychodynamic Therapy This paper deals with my preference for Brief Time Limited Treatment vs. open ended treatment vs. open-ended or extended treatment. If I were to enter counseling I would prefer this treatment because it deals with the presenting problem quickly and would not require me to continue to come back and stay in treatment for an extended period of time. I am a person who prefers to deal with the problem head on and not draw it out through continue discussion of my family background and how this effects me today. I feel that this type of treatment promotes mindfulness and keeping me focused on what is pertinent in my life. However, the obvious limitations of this type of therapy would be that in the future I would not be able to engage in counseling again without changing therapist. I would have to start again perhaps, with a new therapist with whom I have no rapport and who is not familiar with my case. Open-Ended treatment would allow me to discontinue treatment when necessary such as during a latent period in my life. When a life crisis arises again I could start back up with a therapist who would understand my case and history without having to repeat these details again. Limitations with this type of therapy would be that there is no formal set goal of termination. I feel that this is so necessary as I have experience so many clients who are dependent on their case managers and clinicians to make most decisions in their life. Extended therapy...
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...In. R.J. Perelberg. (Eds). Freud: A Modern Reader. London: Whurr Publishers. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Carl Jung (1875 – 1961) Synthetic happiness is an unconscious process that can help individuals to cope with not getting their every wish fulfilled (Gilbert 2009). This has links to Freud’s ego and superego as they help to manage the id which demands that its every wish is catered for. In self-management it could be useful as it would help individuals recover from setbacks. This correlates to Maslow’s hierarchy as it can help individuals to reach self-actualisation by making them more secure in their self-esteem. However, none of these theories are 100% successful as they are subject to individual personality differences in both employees and the manager. In addition these are theories which do not always translate well to the...
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...The expression “I feel depressed” is used normally as a throwaway comment when we are feeling sad or miserable. Normally these feeling will pass us by, and we then continue with our everyday life without another thought. But what if these feeling didn’t disappear over time? What happens when these start to interfere with our everyday life? What if the enviorment around us is the major cause of depression? It’s not really hard to believe when you think about it as we are faced with mass unemployment, and a recession which can put heavy strain on even the most balanced of individuals and their interpersonal relationships around them. There are many interpersonal instances that can have the ability to lead to the onset of depression, such as the family environment, the socialization setting, and the discrimination against gender in certain cultures and instances. Depression has many brothers and sisters in the medical world, ranging from disorders such as Dysthymia, postnatal depression and in some extreme cases of depression such as Bio polar, and major depression (Unipolar). But no matter what the diagnosis is or how serious the depression is, depression is not trivial and is a real health condition contrary to what some people believe. It is not something that you can just snap out of and more importantly it is not a sign of weakness. For many people depression can affect them in different ways to other people with the same condition but normally the symptoms are similar...
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