Discuss modern theories of psychoanalysis: object relations and attachment theory
Discuss important elements of several neo-Freudian theories: inferiority and compensation (Adler); collective unconscious, persona, and personality (Jung); feminine psychology and basic anxiety (Horney); psychosocial development (Erikson), object relations theory (Klein and Winnicott)
Activity 12-1. Interpretation and truthfulness of quotes
Clinical practitioners and theorists: Some are minor refinements of the theory to make it make sense in the current context; others are more drastic (less emphasis on sexual and aggressive instincts, more focus on interpersonal aspects of life, concern with early attachments).
Neo-Freudian psychology: a general term for the psychoanalytically oriented work of many theorists and researchers who are influenced by Freud’s theory
Anna Freud (defense mechanisms), Bruno Bettelheim (child psychiatry, parenting), Harry Stack Sullivan (interpersonal relationships, personifications), Henry Murray (refining projective measurement, needs, press). *These neo-Freudians are mentioned but no further information is given in the book on their areas of interest.
Used the same methods as Freud (case studies and introspection)
Reinterpretation of the libido: as a general motivation behind life and creativity
Ego psychology: focus on the processes driving the perception and conscious comprehension of reality; Loevinger believed the ego’s function is to make sense of everything a person experiences .
Thought Freud focused too much on sex: as the ultimate motivator and organizer of thought and behavior
Organ inferiority: the idea that individuals are motivated to attain equality with or superiority over other people and try to accomplish this to compensate for what they felt in childhood was their weakest aspect
Masculine protest: the desire of an adult to act and become powerful, because of feeling inadequate or inferior as a child; a particular kind of compensation
Also experienced by women: because everyone feels inferior as a child
Particularly acute for boys: because the most powerful person in their lives is their mother
Helps explain some universal needs: for power, love, and achievement; because they have their roots in early experience
Style of life: a particular mode of behavior based on compensations for perceived childhood inferiorities
Carl Jung: interested in mystical and spiritual matters
Collective unconscious: memories and ideas that all humans share, most of which reside in the unconscious, in the form of basic images
Appear in dreams, fantasies, mythology, and modern literature: often symbolically; example: snakes in a sinister role
Persona: the social mask one wears in public
Everyone’s persona is false to some degree: We all keep some aspects of our real selves private.
Possible danger: identifying more with the persona than with the real self, which leads to being shallow and having social success as one’s life purpose
Anima: the idea, or prototype, of the female, as held in the mind of a male
Animus: the idea, or prototype, of the male as held in the mind of a female
Shape responses to the other sex: leads to problems if the perception is not accurate
Introverts vs. extraverts: psychologically turned inward vs. outward
Ways of thinking: rational (recognize meaning), feeling (determine the value of things), sensing (establishing what is present in the world), and intuiting (figuring out where something comes from and where it is going)
People vary in which way predominates, but having a balance is best
Jung article in the reader—Psychological types
Disagreed with “penis envy” and women’s desire to be male: Women envy freedom to pursue interests and ambitions, which is due to the structure of society, not women’s bodies.
Basic anxiety: fear of being alone and helpless in a hostile world
Adult behavior is often based on efforts to overcome basic anxiety
Neurotic needs: needs that people feel but that are neither realistic nor truly desirable (finding a life partner who will solve all your problems; to be loved by everybody and to dominate everybody and to be independent of everybody); can lead to self-defeating behavior and relationship problems because the needs are contradictory
Horney article in the reader—The distrust between the sexes
Basic trust vs. mistrust (0–2 years): corresponds to the oral stage
Hope: a positive but not arrogant attitude toward life
Confidence that basic needs will be met
Autonomy vs. shame and doubt (3–4 years); corresponds to the anal stage
Figuring out who is in charge: adults or the child herself?
Initiative vs. guilt (4–7 years): corresponds to the phallic stage
Develop a sense of right and wrong: the beginning of adult morality
Industry vs. inferiority (8–12 years): corresponds to the latency period
Identity vs. identity confusion (adolescence): corresponds to the genital stage
Intimacy vs. isolation (young adulthood)
Generativity vs. stagnation (middle age)
Integrity vs. despair (old age)
Erikson article in the reader—Eight stages of man
Life-span development: Psychological growth is ongoing throughout life.
Based on the idea that the most important part of life is probably relationships and that the superego is built from childhood identifications with important people
Objects: emotionally important people
Object relations theory: the analysis of interpersonal relationships
The images do not always match reality: This causes problems.
Currently the most active area of psychoanalytic thinking
The mix of love and hate: important people are sources of pleasure and frustration
Distinction between parts of the love object and the whole person: breast vs. mother; wealth vs. whole person
Play therapy: communicating with and diagnosing children through play
Allows the symbolic expression of emotions: such as hate, anger, love, and fear
Splitting of love objects into good and bad parts: it is contradictory to love and hate the same person; may use neurotic defenses to ignore the bad (such as idealization of the person)
Transitional objects: used to bridge the gap between private fantasy and reality; source of comfort when the adult is not available; help the child face the world alone
The false self: similar to Jung’s persona; to some degree, this is normal and necessary (basic social etiquette and politeness)
Prevents exposure of the true self, which protects the true self from exploitation or harm
To help the client see important people in his life the way they actually are: as whole individuals with both good and bad parts
Most research is done by academics: not practicing psychoanalysts
Some researchers do not realize that what they study is Freudian: topics on this slide are related to Freudian or neo-Freudian theory
The influence of the past: especially childhood, on current functioning
The influence of sexual or aggressive wishes: on thought, feeling, and behavior
To prevent anxiety: supports the defense mechanism of denial
Recognition of dirty vs. neutral words: when flashed on a screen, participants do not report recognizing dirty words but do recognize other words; the unconscious mind realized the dirty words were obscene and blocked them from consciousness
PDP: the mind does many different things at once and only some of this is conscious; conscious thoughts and behavior are a compromise of the unconscious processes
Transference: applying old patterns of behavior and emotions to new relationships; focuses on patterns of relationships with others that are consistently repeated with different partners throughout life
Consistency of attachment styles is empirically supported
Based on evolutionary theory: Humans evolved in a risky environment and feared being alone, which motivated the desire for protection from someone else interested in the person’s survival and well-being; desire is especially strong in infancy and early childhood.
Based on childhood experiences: expectations about attachment relationships are developed, for what the other person will do and for how the self will feel and behave
Lessons learned by the child from early experiences with adult caregivers: reliability of attachment figure; whether one is the kind of person to whom attachment figures respond in a helpful way
Developed the strange situation task: child is briefly separated from, and then reunited with, the mother; look at reactions to mother leaving and returning to determine type of attachment
Anxious-ambivalent: vigilant about mother’s presence and becomes upset when she leaves
Adult characteristics: attempt to cling to others drives them away; obsessed with romantic partners; frequent worry that partners don’t really love them; extremely jealous; high rate of relationship failure; highly emotional when under stress
Avoidant attachment: not distressed when mother leaves (but there are physiological signs of tension and anxiety) and ignore her when she returns
Adult characteristics: angry self-reliance and cold, distant attitude toward others; feel uncomfortable being close to others; difficult to trust others completely; uninterested in romantic relationships; like to work alone; withdraw from romantic partners when under stress
Secure attachment: greet mother happily when she returns
Adult characteristics: positive attitude toward relationships; finds it easy to get close to others and depend on them; tend to have long and stable relationships; seek out others for emotional support when under stress
Attachment patterns are self-fulfilling: learned in childhood, reinforced across young adulthood
People high in anxiety and avoidance do not pay attention to signs of emotion from others
Evidence of unconscious priming of attachment figures: people responded faster to names of people with whom they were emotionally attached after a threatening subliminal prime than after a neutral prime; there was not a difference for names of people with whom they were not attached
The doctrine of opposites: too anxious or too avoidant is bad; the ideal is in the middle
Edelstein et al. article in the reader—Individual differences in emotional memory
It’s difficult to evaluate the theory because there are many different versions.
Much of mental life is unconscious: explain why sometimes people don’t understand their own behavior
Events of childhood shape adult personality: especially in styles of social relationships
Not everyone believes these conclusions or thinks they are relevant to psychoanalysis.