Definition
Psychoanalytic theory holds that most mental activity takes place at a level of which we are not aware, and that childhood experiences and repressed desires shape adult personality and symptoms. The term also refers to a therapeutic technique that makes the unconscious conscious through free association, dream analysis and interpretation of transference.
Psychoanalysis has strongly influenced personality psychology, developmental psychology, counseling and psychotherapy, social work practice, and even literary and art criticism. Although many of its claims are not accepted as they stand today, it is the classic theory covered first in units on personality.
Key Concepts
The topography of the mind: conscious, preconscious, unconscious
Freud divided the mind into the conscious, of which we are currently aware; the preconscious, which can be recalled with attention; and the unconscious, which rarely rises to awareness. Often compared to an iceberg, the model holds that much of the force driving behavior lies below the surface in the unconscious.
The structure of personality: id, ego, superego
- Id: the reservoir of innate instinctual drives, following the pleasure principle that seeks immediate gratification.
- Ego: follows the reality principle, regulating need satisfaction in light of reality and mediating between the id and the superego.
- Superego: the conscience and ego ideal formed by internalizing parental and social norms.
Anxiety and defense mechanisms
When conflict among the three structures grows, anxiety arises, and the ego unconsciously uses defense mechanisms to reduce it. Repression, denial, projection, rationalization, reaction formation, regression, sublimation and displacement are typical examples; his daughter Anna Freud organized them systematically in her 1936 book.
Stages and Components
| Stage | Approximate age | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Oral | Birth to about 1 | Gratification through the mouth and sucking. Fixation was thought to relate to dependency, overdrinking or overeating. |
| Anal | About 1–3 | Experiences of control around toilet training. Fixation was thought to relate to excessive orderliness or disorder. |
| Phallic | About 3–6 | Gender roles and the superego form through the Oedipus complex and identification. |
| Latency | About 6 to puberty | A relatively quiet period in which sexual energy is directed to schoolwork and peer activities. |
| Genital | From puberty | Mature romantic relationships, love and the capacity for work develop. |
Freud believed that excessive frustration or gratification of needs at a stage leads to fixation at that stage, which remains as an adult personality trait. This stage theory was inherited and revised by Erikson's psychosocial development theory, which covers the whole life span with a focus on social relationships.
Theorists and Background
Freud (1856–1939) was a neurologist in Vienna who, while treating hysteria patients with Josef Breuer, developed the idea that symptoms are related to repressed memories (Studies on Hysteria, 1895). He later called dreams “the royal road to the unconscious” in The Interpretation of Dreams (1900), presented psychosexual development in Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905), and proposed the structural model in The Ego and the Id (1923).
His theory developed as it split into the schools of disciples such as Jung and Adler, ego psychology and object relations theory. On the other hand, behaviorism, which proposed studying only observable behavior, and humanistic psychology, which emphasized human potential for growth, are often compared with it because they emerged as reactions against psychoanalysis.
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Criticisms and Limitations
- Lack of falsifiability: The philosopher Karl Popper argued that psychoanalysis does not meet the requirements of a scientific theory, because it can explain any outcome after the fact, leaving no way to show it is wrong.
- Limits of sample and method: The evidence for the theory came mainly from cases of middle-class patients in late 19th-century Vienna and from self-analysis, which limits generalization.
- Sexual motivation and gender bias: It has been criticized for overemphasizing sexual drives and explaining female development by male standards.
- Modern reappraisal: Westen (1998) concluded that although many specific claims are not supported, ideas such as the unconscious nature of many mental processes and the importance of early relationships are consistent with contemporary psychological research.
The phenomenon of changing one's thinking in order to accept an uncomfortable reality is now more often explained in experimental research by cognitive dissonance theory.
Applying It in a Report
Personality theory and counseling courses
“A case analysis through personality structure and defense mechanisms” is a typical assignment. Interpreting the behavior of a character in a film or novel as conflict among the id, ego and superego, identifying the defense mechanisms used, and closing with the falsifiability critique and the modern reappraisal gives a balanced structure.
The CampusDown library (in Korean) also has reports that apply this theory in practice, such as 「프로이트 정신분석학 이론 발표 대본: 마음의 구조, 성격 구조, 방어기제, 심리성적 발달 단계」, 「프로이트 정신분석이론의 성격 3원구조, 성격발달 5단계, 방어기제와 상담에서의 공헌점과 한계」. They show how the theory can be connected to real cases. For more, try the '프로이트' report search.
Human behavior and the social environment (social work)
In the social work course “Human Behavior and the Social Environment,” assignments often compare psychoanalytic, psychosocial, cognitive, behavioral and humanistic theories. Comparing in a table Freud, who emphasized childhood experience, Piaget, who emphasized the development of cognitive structures, and Erikson, who emphasized social tasks across the life span, makes the differences clear.
References
- Breuer, J., & Freud, S. (1895). Studien über Hysterie. Leipzig und Wien: Franz Deuticke.
- Freud, S. (1900). Die Traumdeutung. Leipzig und Wien: Franz Deuticke.
- Freud, S. (1905). Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie. Leipzig und Wien: Franz Deuticke.
- Freud, S. (1923). Das Ich und das Es. Leipzig, Wien, Zürich: Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag.
- Freud, A. (1936). Das Ich und die Abwehrmechanismen. Wien: Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag.
- Popper, K. R. (1963). Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- Westen, D. (1998). The scientific legacy of Sigmund Freud: Toward a psychodynamically informed psychological science. Psychological Bulletin, 124(3), 333–371.