Psychodynamic Theory Of Personality

Self-actualization refers to the desire to achieve one’s greatest potential or as Maslow writes “what a man can be, he must be” (Maslow). Abraham Maslow, a researcher and a pioneer in the field of psychology, strongly believed that people can control their own behavior and have the abilities to reach their full potential. Maslow is perhaps best known for his “Hierarchy of Needs” that culminates in self-actualization. This hierarchy begins with so-called “basic needs” - psychological, safety, social, and esteem - and concludes with the “growth need”. Among other characteristics, Maslow describes self-actualized people as highly creative, independent, genuine individuals who are resistant to enculturation and accept themselves for who

The psychological positivism theory concentrates on all of the mental aspects of why an individual commits a crime, and associates it with their intelligence, personality, learning, and criminal behaviour. It looks at the determinations, thoughts, intentions and reactions of criminals and all that contributes in the criminal behaviour. Explanations of criminal behaviour were explained by looking at the work of Sigmund Freud (1956-1939). He established the psychoanalytical model in which he believed that a human progresses, early in life. Freud discusses that the human personality has three sets of interacting forces. These include the id, the ego and the superego. These are three components in a human personality that pledge them to behave in the manner they do and make individuals they are. Firstly Freud believes that humans are born with their id. He suggests that the id holds importance for personality. The id allows a new-born to get its desires met by crying. Freud mentions that the id is set on getting pleasure and the id wants whatever feels good despite the circumstances. In addition to this Freud had mentioned the second component of the personality develops. This is known as the ego, it understands feeling and emotions of others and takes them into account. Freud then suggest that the ego meets the needs of the id, at the same time looking at the reality of the condition. Lastly Freud mentions that when a child is five the development of the third personality

The psychodynamic perspective focuses on the role of the unconscious mind in the development of personality. Freud believed that the personality develops in a series of five stages that develop the three divisions of personality. In the oral stage, the fixation is in the mouth, and would be the cause of his introverted nature; likewise, in the anal stage, Roberto would discover his reserved nature, while the phallic stage, he would further refine his reserved nature as a sense of humility in his actions, also defining his mild mannered portion of his personality. In the latency stage, his social skills would refined and he would become introverted. Freud would think that Roberto’s mild-mannered, reserved, and invertedness is caused by intense suppressing of the id by the ego, having Roberto adopt the personality that he does; however, Karen Horney would classify Roberto’s personality in respect to her theory of neurotic personalities- personalities typified by maladaptive ways of dealing with relationships- with moving away from people by withdrawing from personal relationships.

Freud developed the psychoanalytic theory of personality development, which argued that personality is formed through internal conflicts among three fundamental structures of the human mind: the id, ego, and superego. According to this model of the psyche, the id is the set of uncoordinated trends; the super-ego plays the critical and moralizing role; and the ego is the organized, realistic part that mediates between the desires of the id and the super-ego (Wikipedia, 2017).

The unconscious mind houses the preconscious, a small section that houses material that is non-threatening, and easily brought to mind. But deeper in the unconscious mind are the instinctual drives, the wishes, desires, demands, and needs that are kept hidden from out conscious selves because of the conflicts and pain they would cause if they were brought to bear every day. Psychoanalytic personality theory tells us that the personality consists of three separate, but forever intermingling elements, id, ego, and superego. The id section of a personality is by far the largest, the only section that we are born with, and the section that contains the unconscious thoughts, it is raw, unorganized, and from the time of birth it tries to reduce tension caused by our primary drives. The ego, a section that develops soon after birth, balances the instinctual desires of the id and the realities of the outside world. Last of course is the superego, the final personality structure that is developed in childhood, and represent the rights and wrongs of society, contained within the superego is the conscience, the part of us that prevents us from behaving in a morally deplorable way and is responsible for guilt. Psychoanalytic personality theory is not without its virtues; Freud’s proposed five psychosexual stages – oral, anal, phallic-oedipal, latency and genital – are all supported in life.

Psychodynamic Theory The psychodynamic theory, also known as the psychoanalytic theory is based on personality and the dynamics of mental energy. The psychodynamic process exhibits how mental energy flows from one personality structure to another. There are three main structures of the mind. ID is the personality system everyone is born with.

The second article I reviewed looked into the psychodynamic approach when studying personality; many will use a social-behaviorist approach instead when studying personality. Within the article several studies were summarized to support the hypothesis that connects attachment with personality research, social cognition, and interpersonal relationships (Shaver & Mikulincer, 2004). In one study that was summarized, they talked about thought suppression. Research has been done to show that thought suppression can lead to a post-suppression rebound effect which can cause an increased intrusion into consciousness of undesired ideas after the suppression of these thoughts (Shaver & Mikulincer, 2004).

Sigmund Freud was a well known psychologist whose theories have founded the understanding of the human psyche. Freud’s theory of personality is one of his most known theories. It details that there are three segments of consciousness. The id is desire, immorality and is what drives us to do wrong. The superego exists to counteract and overpower the id, as it is morality, commonly known as our conscious. The ego exists to balance out both extremes and devises a solution to sate each segment. Then there are the defense mechanisms, repression, denial, projection, displacement, regression and sublimation. These are employed by the ego to keep the balance between the id and the superego and to protect the psyche, especially in traumatic times. Last, the Oedipus complex which Freud believed, only exists in children from the ages of 3-5, when they become attracted to

The psychodynamic theory focuses on unconscious processes and early childhood experiences. Psychodynamic theories, especially concerning criminology, believe an individual’s personality is directed by unconscious mental processes established in early childhood (Siegel). Sigmund Freud pioneered this theory and specified three aspects of human personality; Id, ego, and superego. According to Freud, the Id represents an individual’s basic and unconscious biological wants and needs. This is present at birth and remains infantile in its function throughout the individual’s life (McLeod).

One advantage of Freud’s concept of the ego, id and superego in relation to understanding human development and individual behaviour is that it gives a good overall description of development of the human psyche. It recognises the

Evaluation of a Psychodynamic Theory of Personality Development The basis of Freud's psychoanalytic theory was that the mind contained three parts: The Id, Ego, and Superego. He argued that the Id controlled the primal instincts such as aggression and sexual desire ('libido'), and was found in the unconscious mind. Its purpose is to gain immediate gratification, according to the 'pleasure principle'. The Id, he said, was in competition with the ego.

The Psychodynamic Approach was first approach by Sigmund Freud; he dealt with the understanding that personality came from our unconscious state of mind. And that unconscious state interacted to determine our thoughts, behaviors, and feelings (Bernstein, 425). Freud also created the psychoanalytical theory stating that personality led the way to handling psychological disorders. He divided personality into three main topics; which are the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is the basis of each human being’s instincts we are all born with. It is the immediate wants I crave; it may show more selfish side. The ego is the part that subdues the id and calms it down. It allows me to think and realize certain actions may upset someone else around me. The superego is

The psychodynamic approach was proposed by Freud. This approach towards personality is based on the notion of underlying forces such as the id, ego and superego which are either present from birth or develop during childhood shape our behaviour and personality as such. Experiences in childhood are proposed to be the basis of human personality, according to Freud and as such Psychodynamic theory proposes that some undesirable unbalances between the id and superego can create the arising of ego defence mechanisms which explain individual differences in behaviour. Freudian theory has been adapted by neo-Freudians, however while psychodynamic

Over the variation of the project, subject A has been tested over three different models of personality. Each one provided different points to her personality and allowed for the most in-depth explanation of the subject’s personality. Each of these models are also capable of acting as a check and balance for the other. For example, between the trait and psychodynamic models. One could compare the results from the Big 5 and how that matches to the Myers-Briggs since essentially those gave similar feedback. Once those are both taken accounted for, these could give rise to a more accurate basis for the biological model, which is mainly inferred and not factual in the first place.

Freud proposed the psychological structure of personality to include three systems called the id, the ego, and the superego. At birth, the id is the original system of personality and is ruled by the pleasure principle. It is driven towards satisfying instinctual needs. The ego can be described as a mediator between ones instincts and their surrounding environment. The ego is ruled by the reality principle, using realistic and logical thinking to formulate action plans for satisfying needs. The superego includes a person’s moral code and strives for perfection, not pleasure. Psychic energy is distributed between these three systems creating dynamics of personality. This psychic energy is what determines behavior (Day, 2008).