The Psychology of the Person Chapter 5 Neo-Freudians

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The Psychology of the PersonChapter 5
Neo-Freudians

• Naomi Wagner, Ph.D
• Lecture Outlines
• Based on Burger, 8th edition

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Background for the Emergence of the Neo-Freudians

• Many scholars who gathered around Freud in Vienna
  eventually broke away from the Vienna group to
  develop their own theories of personality and
  establish their own schools of psychology.
• Collectively, these theorists are known as the
  neo- Freudians because they retained many basic
  Freudian concepts and assumptions.

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Limitations of Freudian Theory According to the
Neo-Freudians

• Among the limits they saw in Freud's theory
  were
• His failure to recognize personality change
  after the first few years of life
• His emphasis on instinctual over social
  influences
• The generally negative picture he painted of
  human nature.

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(Cont-d)

• They differed from Freud along some aspects of
  his theory
• Freud put emphasis on early childhood and on
  instinctual drives, without considering social
  factors.
• The neo-Freudians also objected to the overall
  pessimistic tone of Freud, and his views of
  female inferiority.

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Alfred Adler and Individual Psychology

• Adler was an eye-doctor, who was a weak and sick
  child
• His autobiography is important for the
  understanding of his ideas
• Alfred Adler introduced the concept of striving
  for superiority to account for most human
  motivation.
• It is the ONLY motivation in life

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Superiority and Inferiority

• Adler argued that we are motivated to overcome
  feelings of helplessness that are rooted in the
  infants dependence on others
• The striving for superiority is not expressed a
  an egotistic sense of grandiosity, but rather in
  Social Interest
• Meaning- working to benefit others

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Parental Behavior and Birth order

• Adler also identified parental pampering and
  neglect as two sources of later personality
  problems.
• He argued that middle born children were the
  most achieving and were less likely to experience
  psychological disorders than were first-born or
  last-born.

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Birth Order

• Advantages Adler saw in the middle child

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Carl Jung and Analytical Psychology

• Carl Jung proposed the existence of a collective
  unconscious that houses primordial images he
  called archetypes.
• The collective unconscious contains material
  each of us inherited from past generations and is
  basically the same for all people.
• Evidence for the collective unconscious was in
  ethnic myths, religions, dreams

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Archetypes

• Jung used the terms Archetypes or Primordial
  Images to refer to the collective unconscious
  materials.
• Most important of the archetypes are the anima,
  the animus, and the shadow. Jung pointed to the
  recurrent surfacing of archetypal symbols in
  folklore, art, dreams, and psychotic patients as
  evidence for their existence.

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Symbol (?)
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Erik Erikson and Ego Psychology

• Role of ego To establish and maintain a sense of
  identity
• Development across the lifespan Erikson divided
  the lifespan into 8 phases
• Each phase had a developmental task to
  accomplish, which Erikson called crisis
• The crisis can be resolved either positively or
  negatively, affecting further development

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The Eight Phases of DevelopmentInfancy Trust
vs. mistrust

• Child depends on the responsiveness of the
  caregivers

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Toddler Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

• Allowing the child to explore provides a sense
  of mastery over the environment

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Early Childhood Initiative vs. Guilt

• Learn how to interact with others, seek out
  playmates and resolve conflicts

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Karen Horney and Feminine Psychology

• Karen Horney rejected Freud's emphasis on
  instinctual causes of personality development.
• She argued that the differences Freud saw between
  the personalities of men and women were more
  likely the result of social factors than
  inherited predispositions.
• Horney maintained that neurotic behavior is the
  result of interpersonal styles developed in
  childhood to overcome anxiety. She identified
  three neurotic styles, which she called moving
  toward people, moving against people, and moving
  away from people

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Elementary School Industry vs. Inferiority

• Social comparison with classmates may evoke a
  sense of competence or faliure

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Adolescence Identity vs. Role Confusion

• Time of experimentation

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Young Adulthood Intimacy vs. Isolation

• Developing intimate relationship

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Middle Adulthood Generativity vs. Stagnation

• Guiding the next generation or involving in
  self-idulgence

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Older Age Ego Integrity vs. Despair

• Reflection on past experience creates a sense of
  integrity and acceptance

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Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

• . Among the personality assessment instruments to
  come out of the neo- Freudian theories is the
  Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
• This test measures psychological types, as
  outlined by Jung.
• Test scores divide people into types along four
  dimensions extraversion-introversion,
  sensing-intuitive, thinking-feeling, and
  judgment-perception. Researchers have challenged
  the way the test divides people into categories.

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Current Status of the Neo-Freudians

• The Neo-Freudians are mentioned today primarily
  because of their historical relevance
• Among the strengths of the neo-Freudian theories
  are the contributions they made to psychoanalytic
  theory.
• Many later approaches to personality were no
  doubt influenced by one or more of these
  theorists.
• Criticisms of the neo- Freudians include their
  use of biased and questionable data to support
  the theories. In addition, critics have charged
  that some of the theories are oversimplified and
  incomplete.