preview

Karen Horney And Iurotic Theories

Decent Essays
Personally, I liked multiple theorists but I didn’t really like everything they spoke about. In the beginning, Karen Horney’s views on the three different neurotic trends and how she perceived basic anxiety. Yet, I also liked the way Raymond Cattell brokedown and organized personality traits and the way Carl Rogers broke down actualization into becoming a fully functioning person. I see that all of their theories had valid point of views on the mind and personality. Those three were the ones that stuck with me while learning about them. Although some of the theories may not be directly compatible, I think what they believed made sense. Karen Horney’s neurotic needs and trends made a lot of sense to me initially due to her views on basic anxiety which lead to neurotic trends. Although, I can see the flaws in it, the basic foundation of her theory clicked with me. She believed that in childhood, we have four basic mechanisms to protect against anxiety: securing affection, being submissive, attaining power, and withdrawing. If any of these mechanisms become ingrained in our personality, it leads to them becoming neurotic needs: affection/approval, dominant partner, power, exploitation, prestige, admiration, achievement/ambition, self-sufficiency, perfection, and narrow limits to life. These are irrational ways that a person may protect themselves from anxiety as an adult. These needs are capable of being further categorized into three trends: compliant, aggressive, or detached
Get Access