Category: Sigmund Freud

Evaluation

Sigmund Freud was born on May 6, 1856 in the Moravian town of Freiberg in the Austrian Empire (now the city of Příbor, Czech Republic). In 1859, Freud and his family moved to Leipzig and then to Vienna, where he graduated with honors from the gymnasium. In 1873, he entered the medical faculty of the University of Vienna, graduating from it in 1881 and receiving the title of doctor of medicine. Because of the need to earn money, he could not stay at the department and entered the Physiological Institute, and then the Vienna Hospital, where he worked as a doctor. In 1885, Freud received the title of a docent in neuropathology and given a scholarship for a scientific internship abroad. In 1885-1886, he studied in Paris with the psychiatrist Jean-Martin Charcot at the Salpêtrière clinic.

Under the influence of Charcot’s ideas, he came to the conclusion that unobservable dynamic traumas of the psyche can be the cause of psychiatric disorders. Upon his return from Paris, Freud opened a private practice in Vienna, where he used the method of hypnosis to treat patients. At first, the method seemed effective: in the first few weeks, Freud achieved instant healing of several patients (Kennedy and Gioia). However, there were failures as well, and he eventually became skeptical about hypnotic therapy. From 1896 to 1902, Sigmund Freud developed the foundations of psychoanalysis. He substantiated an innovative dynamic and energetic model of the human psyche, consisting of three systems: the unconscious, the preconscious, and the conscious (Kennedy and Gioia). Freud’s works had a tremendous impact on pre-existing ideas about the human psyche and the interactions between people, laying the foundation for the formation of new groundbreaking ideas and psychological theories.

Many of Freud’s ideas and theories are interesting and highly influential. For example, he claimed that most of people’s actions, thoughts, and behaviors are motivated by unconscious desires and repressed memories of past experiences. He proposed that many problems can be addressed by discussing these experiences and making them conscious through talk therapy. Freud also treated women who suffered from hysteria and were not taken seriously by medical professionals at the time (Hopkins). He used his ‘talking cure’ with different types of patients, from women with depression to World War I veterans with PTSD, and it was helpful in many cases (Hopkins). The visibility he created for his patients allowed convincing the medical establishment that many psychological disorders were real. However, many of his ideas seem harmful or useless at best; for example, he considered homosexuality to be “a developmental glitch” (Hopkins para. 4). In addition, it seems that Freud took the idea of the “unconscious mind” too far, ascribing deep meanings connected to sexual desires to everything. Moreover, he believed that one’s ancestors’ traumas had an ongoing negative impact on that individual’s psychology, which definitely seems incorrect and misleading.

The Oedipus complex is arguably among the most well-known ideas proposed by Freud. In its simplest definition, the complex describes a child’s desire to become sexually involved with the parent of the opposite sex, and their jealousy and hatred directed towards the parent of the same sex (Hopkins). It can be argued, however, that this theory is much more complicated, and requires further consideration. For example, in his works, Freud admits that both boys and girls are initially more attracted to their mothers, as she is usually the parent who provides the required love and care. Moreover, the idea of sexual attraction is not as straightforward as may seem. At the Oedipal stage, children want to somehow possess their mother or father; they want to get satisfaction from the parent of the opposite sex and spend as much time with them as possible.

Personally, I partly agree with Freud’s Oedipus complex, but I only consider it beyond the context of sexual attraction. However, I believe that young children at the Oedipal stage have not yet developed the awareness required to understand the concept of sexual desire and satisfaction. They might develop a habit to cling to a parent of the opposite sex. There might also be competitive feelings and jealousy caused by the fact that that the ‘favorite parent’ often focuses on their spouse, the parent of the same sex. Therefore, for me, the Oedipus complex is more about love and exclusion, and hatred that weaves itself into the triangle between the child and their parents. I also agree with other elements of the Freudian model; for example, the statement that the father is often the authority figure. Finally, I agree that the Oedipal triangle can cause many conflicting feelings of love, hate, and anxiety connected with the discovery of the child’s hostile feelings.

Works Cited

Hopkins, Jim. “Freud and the Concept of Mental Health.” Health, vol. 12, no. 2, 2019, pp. 251-281.

Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. 14th ed., Pearson Education, 2015.

The name of Sigmund Freud is not unfamiliar to most people in the modern world regardless of their level of education. This name has become synonymous with psychoanalysis, the science he essentially invented at the beginning of the 19^th century. Sigmund Freud was a medical doctor who worked with mental patients in Vienna prior to 1959 and is considered one of the founding fathers of modern day psychology because of his development of the psychoanalytic theory. Originally trained as a neurologist, Freud’s work with his patients, frustrated by a mediocre ability to hypnotize, necessarily took on a more imaginative turn that revolutionized the way people approached the treatment of the mind (Robbins, 1999).

Although others had been doing work to understand the inner workings of the mind before him and others have come after him to refine and build on his theories, as well as add theories of their own, Freud is generally credited with the first break-through in treating the mind as an entity separate from the body. His identification of different levels of thought and how these levels interact and intertwine led to his development of psychotherapy. Within this theory, Freud outlines three major components of an individual’s psyche – the id, the ego and the superego. This intuitive leap, however, did not occur by accident. To understand Freud’s theories, his concept of the human mind and how that translates into his theories regarding human culture, then, it is necessary to understand a little bit about how these ideas were developed as well as how Freud himself expressed them.

With his origins in the medical field, it should not be surprising to learn that Freud’s psychoanalytic theory had its earliest basis in the fields of 19^th century biology and physics. One of the theories that held particular importance to Freud’s theories was that of Hermann von Helmholtz. According to Helmholtz’s dynamic theory of energy, “energy cannot be destroyed but can only be transformed into other states. Drawing upon this notion of undestroyable energy, Freud formulated a dynamic psychology, one of whose key points is that whenever a psychic drive or urge is suppressed, repressed or driven below (or out of) consciousness, its energy inevitably appears elsewhere” (Landow, 1988).

This idea is supported in Freud’s Civilization and its Discontents as he discusses the aggressive energy associated with the super-ego. “According to one view, that energy merely carries on the punitive energy of the external authority and keeps it alive in the mind; while, according to another view, it consists, on the contrary, of one’s own aggressive energy which has not been used and which one now directs against that inhibiting authority” (Freud, 1930: 85). In addition, he highlights this concept of energy transfer as a key element in the development of guilt: “When an instinctual trend undergoes repression, its libidinal elements are turned into symptoms, and its aggressive components into a sense of guilt” (Freud, 1930: 86). In other words, guilt is the aggressive energy of thwarted desire finding an alternate outlet rather than simply being destroyed by a controlling force. To understand the nature of that controlling force, it is necessary to understand Freud’s model of the human mind.

Prior to the turn of the Nineteenth Century, psychiatrists did not consider the role dreams or the unconscious mind played in an individuals psyche. Many believed that dreams emanated from an outside, supernatural influence that was transmitting messages during the sleep state. Freud’s findings altered this perception of dreams. He proposed that the individuals own mind creates dreams, a circumstance taken for granted by psychiatrists, scientists and laymen alike. “Freud’s theory on dreams became as significant to modern therapy, as the theory of relativity was to physics. He was the first person to demonstrate that dreams came from within you, it was not some spirit coming from the outside. But, dreams were created by the person himself” (Reynolds, 1999). Dreams are the bridge from the conscious to unconscious mind according to Freud. Dreams represented an individual’s unfulfilled conscious aspiration that remained unfulfilled. Freud claimed that the dream itself was “made up of images called the manifest content, or those seemingly random images that disguised the true message of the dream” (Reynolds, 1999).

He named this phenomenon latent content. So as to better appreciate the latent substance of dreams, Freud theorized that it must be scrutinized by a technique termed association. Essentially, association can be characterized as ‘brainstorming.’ The subject recalls an image within the dream then describes it with ideas and words without regard to how disturbing or peculiar. “He believed that traumatic dreams such as getting in a car accident could re-occur in order to help a person overcome something bad that happened in their life” (Reynolds, 1999). Freud’s theories of psychoanalysis and dream therapy became widely utilized following World War II when his methods were successful in treating soldiers with returning with traumatic physical, emotional and psychological injuries. “Probably 90 percent of our thinking is outside of our awareness. Freud was the first person to really study the way the person’s mind works unconsciously” (Reynolds, 1999).

Although the concept of the unconscious mind had existed well before Freud began his work, and the concept of hypnosis had been around for at least a century prior to his failure to work with it, it was Freud’s understanding of what the effects of hypnosis were in the treatment of the mind, as well as why these effects manifested themselves, that ultimately led to his development of the psychoanalytic process and the concepts therein. To place his theory in basic terms, Freud determined that the human mind consisted of three main elements, which he called the Id, the Ego and the Super-ego. The id is the essentially biological element of the human mind that conceives of basic impulses and instinctual desires. As such, this element of the brain is treated as being essentially unconscious (Pagewise, 2002). The conscious mind was more associated with the ego, which was the socializing element of the human mind, functioning to help us navigate through the outer world by bringing the impulses and the desires of the id into socially acceptable bounds.

This was ruled over by the super-ego, what most people term their conscience, in which judgments are made regarding whether the individual’s determination to act or not to act on a specific impulse, including the methods in which any action is pursued, was good or bad. This area of the mind is also the one to dispense punishment whenever the rules are broken in the form of guilt. “Put more idiomatically: The Id says, ‘I want it now!!’; The Ego says, ‘No wait, please. Accept this substitute’ (sublimation); and the Superego judges either ‘Well done!’ or ‘You shouldn’t have done that. Now you will have to suffer guilt.’” (Landow, 1988). Through the concept of the preconscious mind, Freud introduced the possibility that the conscious and unconscious mind were indeed linked in sophisticated ways, each affecting the other in a process ultimately geared toward protection and defense against traumatic events. It is the conflict between doing what we want to do, doing what we need to do and doing what we feel is right and moral that leads to the development of individual defense mechanisms (Pagewise, 2002).

There are several different types of defense mechanisms that are appropriate at differing times depending on the issues being dealt with and the types of anxiety they might cause. Repression is considered the foundation of all other defense mechanisms and occurs in order to completely block unacceptable impulses out of the individual’s conscious state. “Repression is the foundation from which all other defense mechanisms work; the goal of every defense mechanism is to repress, or push threatening impulses out of awareness” (Pagewise, 2002). A child who has experienced early abuse in their life might use repression to completely block out all memory that the abuser was even a part of their life, much less what was done to them. One of the pitfalls of repression, though, is that a person may develop a phobia bringing related fears into the open without ever having recalled the originating causes for that fear (Clark, 2004). It is an unconscious reaction to a traumatic event or threatening feelings (Just, n.d.). Denial is somewhat similar to repression in that the mind works to ignore a situation, threatening impulse or other unpleasant idea, but in this case, there is some conscious understanding of what has taken place. “As a defense mechanism, denial becomes more difficult to maintain as one matures. Its use requires much energy and the mind looks at other possibilities of defense” (Clark, 2004).

Rationalization “simply involves making excuses to defend the behavior, or defend how you might feel about it” (Clark, 2004). Displacement allows an individual to transfer negative feelings to a less threatening target as a means of relieving tension. Suppression involves consciously not thinking about an event because the individual realizes that they will bring up sad or unpleasant feelings (Just, n.d.). Projection is a form of unconscious defense mechanism that allows an individual to transfer unacceptable traits onto others while reaction formation involves turning unacceptable wishes into acceptable behaviors. “This defense goes a step further than projection to the point of not even acknowledging unwanted impulses or thoughts and convincing yourself you are not one of ‘them’ who do engage in those patterns” (Clark, 2004). Finally, sublimation has been identified as the driving force behind human aggression. This involves redirecting a threatening or forbidden desire into a socially acceptable behavior. “This is similar to displacement but operates on an unconscious level” (Just, n.d.).

Within the complex development of the individual as they develop first the ego, then the super-ego as well as all or some of the defense mechanisms listed above, Freud suggests the very foundations of civilization and organizing factions such as religions are laid. In his attempts to explain the ‘oceanic’ feeling of limitless connection felt with the rest of humanity described by a friend of his, which perhaps provides the basis of religious persuasion, he explores the development of the ego as it changes from the infant to the adult. According to Freud, the ego of the infant makes few distinctions between what is the infant and what is the other, external object.

By constantly making adjustments to its understanding of the internal as it begins to distinguish those aspects of itself that are internal against those aspects that are external objects, the individual begins to narrow his field, deriving a sense of himself through the definition of what is not himself. However, he may also retain some aspect of that greater connection felt when an infant, thereby explaining, logically, this ‘oceanic’ feeling of a limitlessness and a bond with the universe (Freud, ). While he cannot fully appreciate this feeling himself, he indicates that it is the infant’s need for protection that leads him to identify this universal feeling with the concept of an all-mighty and invisible Father watching out for his children below. “Life, as we find it, is too hard for us; it brings us too many pains, disappointments and impossible tasks” (Freud, 1930: 22). In order to deal with it, we need other means of distracting ourselves from these miseries, such as finding a purpose for being in existence.

In addition to the oceanic feeling of connection, Freud indicates that the question regarding the purpose of human life, a question that continues to be asked throughout the ages, is only seen to be answered satisfactorily to those individuals who believe in religion, by religion. However, a look into the ways in which men live their lives suggests a different answer. Examining the way in which people live their lives, the answer seems obvious, people seek happiness. “As we see, what decides the purpose of life is simply the programme of the pleasure principle. This principle dominates the operation of the mental apparatus from the start” (Freud, 1930: 23). Although we strive to feel pleasure in all things, Freud points out that the human being is incapable of feeling anything more than contentment in the absence of any strife. On the other hand, there are many aspects of life that are, by their nature, capable of inflicting pain or discomfort, including biological forces upon the human body, the external world in general and the actions of other men in particular. To ensure a life full of happiness, Freud suggests people use several different means of fulfilling the pleasure principle while attempting to ignore reality. The pleasure principle refers to the demand felt by all humans to take care of needs immediately. “Just picture the hungry infant, screaming itself blue. It doesn’t ‘know’ what it wants in any adult sense; it just knows that it wants it and it wants it now” (Boeree, 2006).

It is a known fact that human beings cannot exist without the presence of other human beings, at least to some extent, for companionship. Even when the social group is taken down to its most basic elements, that of the immediate family unit comprised of mother, father and child or children, there remains a need for association and a built-in mechanism to re-establish that association at any time it might begin to break down. This mechanism is identified by Freud in the emotion of guilt. “Since civilization obeys an internal erotic impulsion which causes human being to unite in a closely-knit group, it can only achieve this aim through an ever-increasing reinforcement of the sense of guilt. What began in relation to the father is completed in relation to the group” (Freud, 1930: 80).

In making this argument, Freud suggests that the sense of guilt is “the most important problem in the development of civilization” and that “the price we pay for our advance in civilization is a loss of happiness through the heightening of the sense of guilt” (Freud, 1930: 81). This pervading sense of guilt, Freud asserts, is not always recognized as such because it sinks into the unconscious. “It appears as a sort of malaise, a dissatisfaction, for which people seek other motivations” (Freud, 1930: 83). Here, too, then, it is seen how religion becomes a crutch for humanity in its recognition of this guilt, renaming it sin, and its promise to release the individual from sin, or guilt, through proper behavior as it is defined through the church. However, in looking at the ways in which the community operates, Freud makes connections between the problems of the community and the problems of the individual.

In much the same way that he sees the individual developing first an ego then a super-ego, Freud sees a similar process occurring in society as it develops first an idea of itself and then a conscience, or self-awareness, that judges whether or not its doing a good job by the community members’ standards. “It can be asserted that the community, too, evolves a super-ego under whose influence cultural development proceeds” (Freud, 1930: 88). This super-ego, Freud says, is usually based on the ideas and reputations of great leaders of the community who distinguished themselves through a “great force of mind” or strongest expression.

Far from being hailed as wise ones during their lifetimes, Freud indicates most, if not all, of these great leaders of the past had not been recognized as such while alive and often died torturous deaths in support of their cause. However, these heroes can be defined in later times as men who stood up for their sense of ethics and morale. “The cultural super-ego has developed its ideals and set up its demands. Among the latter, those which deal with the relations of human beings to one another are comprised under the heading of ethics” (Freud, 1930: 89). With this relationship established, in which it can be seen that the individual’s development closely mirrors the development of a civilization, Freud is then able to ask the question if whether too rigid a control by the cultural super-ego might lead to societal neuroses comparable to those suffered by individuals. This turns out to be a prophetic question in hindsight.

Freud’s development of the psycho-analytic theory leads him to conclusions that have long-reaching effects not only on psychology, but also many other fields outside of the strict realm of psychiatry. Literary works began to take on new depth of character, or new modes of communication, such as Gertrude Stein’s free association exploration novel with the simple Freudian title “Id”. Literary criticism also took on new flavor as not only the characters, but the authors were examined for their mental state at the time of writing or for true to life motivations for actions taken. Film was equally affected as the viewing public demanded a more realistic, full-bodied and full-minded character regardless of the film genre.

Another field significantly affected by Freud’s theories was that of philosophy. As more and more understanding emerged regarding the ideas Freud brought forward, such as transference, libido and repression, as well as the involvement of dreams in revealing what this inner mind was thinking, philosophy began to take a closer look at such theories as Marxism and feminist ideas. Even the world of advertising was overhauled with the widespread acceptance of Freud’s ideas as commercials began to take on more subconscious imagery as a means of selling a product by appealing to a deeper level of being. With his observations regarding the true nature of religion, Freud managed to offset the balance of theology enough to spur new debate and discussion in that field. Finally, by making connections between the neuroses of individuals and the similarities between the individual mind and the community structure, he was able to suggest new directions for sociology.

References

Boeree, C. George. (2006). “Sigmund Freud.”Personality Theories. Web.

Clark, Patricia. (2004). “An Introduction to the Defenses.” Back to School – The Psych Major. Web.

Freud, Sigmund. (1930). Civilization and its Discontents.

Just, Helen. “Freud: Defense Mechanisms.” St. Edwards University. (n.d.). Web.

Landow, George P. (1988). “Freud and Freudianism.”Victorian Web. Web.

Pagewise. (2002). “Freud’s Personality Theory.” Essortment. Web.

Reynolds, Cynthia (1999). “The dream according to Freud” Science Today. Web.

Introduction

For millennia, people have been trying to unlock the mysterious realm of the human psyche and examine the mechanisms that drive changes in people’s psychological well-being. Due to the multitude of perspectives on the subject matter, the theories explaining the factors behind psychological changes observed in individuals my contradict one another and challenge one another’s premise. The stark contrast between theoretical perspectives is particularly visible in the theories by Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Though both Yung’s and Freud’s theories focus on psychoanalysis as the foundational framework for analysis, the implications underlying the core tenets of Freudian and Jungian analysis are strikingly different.

Unconscious Mind

When comparing Freud’s and Jung’s theoretical perspectives on human psychology, as well as the practical implications of the specified approaches, one should mention the notion of unconscious mind and the associated practice of psychoanalysis first. The concept of the unconscious mind as the cornerstone of the study of the human psyche and core psychological changes represents the principal similarity between the two theories (Balenci, 2021). As a result, both Young and Freud acknowledged the role of psychoanalysis in the identification of patients’ psychological issues and the associated concerns.

Conscious Mind

However, apart from the common focus on psychoanalysis as the essential tool in exploring the human psyche, the two theories had very little in common. For instance, Freud’s interpretation of the role that the conscious mind played in the management of core psychological processes represented an essential point of difference when compared with that one of Yung. Specifically, in the Freudian perspective, the conscious mind serves to suppress the expression of people’s desires (Balenci, 2021). In contrast, Yung believed that conscious mind serves to negotiate people’s emotions and, therefore, contributes to a better understanding of self (Balenci, 2021). The specified discrepancy in the theorists’ understanding of the conscious mind’s role indicated that the two frameworks shared only a few genera ideas.

Lived Experiences

In fact, the concept of personal lived experienced serves as a major divisive point between the theoretical frameworks offered by Freud and Jung. Specifically, when examining the unconscious mind and the factors that drive its performance, Freud believed that sexual instincts, namely, libido, as well as aggression, activated it (Ponterotto & Moncayo, 2018). In comparison, Jung incorporated the notion of lived experiences mentioned above into his interpretation of the factors driving the functioning and activation of the unconscious mind. Therefore, the specified aspect of the two theories also allows driving a line between them.

One could argue that the difference highlighted above does not represent a major point since both perspectives are founded on similar constructs. Namely, in Freud’s perspective, sexual desires as the main motivation source for the unconscious mind to remain awaken could be interpreted as the examination of one’s instincts and the manner in which they shape behaviors (Ponterotto & Moncayo, 2018). In turn, Yung’s idea of lived experiences as the core contributors to one’s choices and decision-making could be seen as the introduction of instinctively selected behaviors as well (Ponterotto & Moncayo, 2018). While in Freud’s case, basic instincts are introduced, while Yung focuses on learned instincts, both seek to embrace the concept of instinct and the notion of instinctive behaviors as the platform on which they built their theories.

Dreams

Another essential incongruence between Freudian and Jungian theories is linked to the concept of as dream. Remarkably, both theories view dreams as a crucial piece of evidence and a source of multiple insights that will guide the further choice of the therapeutic approach 9). However, the function of dreams in Freud’s analytical framework is slightly different for that one of Jung’s. Namely, Freud believed that dreams were manifestations of people’s desires, especially those that had been repressed for a substantial amount of time (Swan-Foster, 2020). Consequently, in Freud’s analytical paradigm, dreams served as the release vault that allowed one to get rid of internal tension.

The outlined perspective exists in strong disagreement with that one of Jung, who viewed dreams as the source of changes within one’s personal life. Namely, the notion of dreams as a untie language that the unconscious mind uses to communicate essential changes within people’s bodies and, therefore, indicate the presence of possible health concerns. Therefore, unlike the Freudian perspective, which suggests that dreams represented a complex code that has to be deciphered, the Jungian approach insists that dreams are, in essence, straightforward messages (Swan-Foster, 2020). Consequently, the Jungian approach to interpreting dreams concerned applying language archetypes in order to identify the message and integrate it into further decision-making as an essential piece of information. The described difference between Freud’s and Jung’s theories represented a major point to be considered when comparing the two approaches.

Temporal Context

Additionally, the context in which psychoanalysis should occur is different in each theory. Remarkably, both theorists applied the notion of the temporal framework to introduce a certain structure into the psychoanalytical process (Niaz et al., 2019). However, while Freud believed that psychoanalysis had to be tethered to an individual’s past, Jung insisted that the focus on present was the crucial perspective to be applied to psychoanalysis (Niaz et al., 2019). Specifically, Freud’s psychoanalytical framework required delving into an individual’s childhood and introducing retrospect and introspect into the core events that transpired on the specified time slot (Niaz et al., 2019). Believing childhood experiences to be the formative ones that shaped an individual’s present attitudes and desires, Freud focused explicitly on the analysis of the past (Niaz et al., 2019). The perspective in question is quite reasonable since changing perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors in a patient requires studying the circumstances in which the behaviors and attitudes in question were formed.

The outlined approach conflicted with Jung’s idea of past being negligible and present being the essential source of vital patient data (Niaz et al., 2019). For instance, Jung viewed psychological disorders in the context of current factors, seeking the solution in the present-day context (Niaz et al., 2019). Remarkably, Jung did not deny the role that past events played in a patient’s psychological issues. Instead, he saw the past as a fixed phenomenon that did not provide major insights into the choice of actions for addressing a patient’s condition (Niaz et al., 2019). The described approach might seem to be less rational than the framework offered by Freud, especially given Yung’s focus on personal experiences. Indeed, the past and the associated experiences define one’s attitudes and behaviors to a notable extent since response patterns are learned fairly early in life (Niaz et al., 2019). Therefore, the refusal to consider the role of the past in the development of a framework for a patient’s recovery seems to be somewhat inefficient, which implies that Freud’s theory is more credible and efficient.

Transference

Finally, describing the differences between Jung’s and Freud’s approaches to psychoanalysis, one must mention the concept of transference. While both Freud and Yung used it actively in their theoretical frameworks and their practical application, their stances on the role of transference in therapy were quite dissimilar. Specifically, Freud envisioned transference as a one-way type of relationships, in which the therapist remains entirely neutral, whereas the patient experiences an entire gamut of emotions and transformations, projecting the experienced changes onto the therapist and, therefore, using the latter as a tabula rasa (DeRobertis, 2021). Remarkably, the concept of the clean slate, which represented a crucial part of the Blank Slate Theory, was a rather old idea that was rooted in Locke’s philosophy (Włodarczyk, 2020). However, Freud rejuvenated the specified notion, incorporating it into the psychotherapeutic context, which makes his contribution slightly greater.

In contrast to the described perspective on the human experience, Yung encouraged the framework based on mutual involvement in the therapy process. Specifically, Yung insisted that transference should occur from a patient to ta psychotherapist and vice versa (Balenci, 2021). From the perspective of personal experience, which Yung prioritized as the central concept in his theoretical framework, the described approach as quite legitimate. Namely, the offered model allowed a patient to experience development along with the therapist, thus, creating a chance to receive new insights. However, the offered paradigm was misaligned with the Freudian one, which encouraged active distancing between a patient and a therapist. Arguably, the Freudian approach minimizes risks to the patient, which makes it a more effective tool.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that both Freudian and Jungian theoretical frameworks are rooted in the same notion of psychoanalysis, the essential concepts and tenets that constitute the bulk of the specified theoretical frameworks still remain drastically different. Namely, the focus on the unconscious mind that Freud promoted as the key to understanding changes in the human psyche represented a striking difference from the approach that Jung adopted, namely, the exploration of individual experiences. Thus, while both experts popularized the concept of psychoanalysis, the approaches that they constructed to examine core psychological changes and the underlying processes were strikingly different.

Reference List

Balenci, M. (2021). Jung’s and Groddeck’s Analytic Practice: Alternative Methods That Have Prevailed over Freud’s Psychoanalysis. International Journal of Jungian Studies, 14(1), 20-46.

DeRobertis, E. M. (2021). The humanistic revolution in psychology: Its inaugural vision. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 61(1), 8-32.

Niaz, A., Stanikzai, S. M., & Sahibzada, J. (2019). Review of Freud’s psychoanalysis approach to literary studies. American International Journal of Social Science Research, 4(2), 35-44.

Ponterotto, J. G., & Moncayo, K. (2018). A cautious alliance: The psychobiographer’s relationship with her/his subject. Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology, 18(sup1), 97-108.

Swan-Foster, N. (2020). CG Jung’s Influence on Art Therapy and the Making of the Third. Psychological Perspectives, 63(1), 67-94.

Włodarczyk, J. (2020). Beyond Bizarre: Nature, Culture and the Spectacular Failure of BF Skinner’s Pigeon-Guided Missiles1. Polish Journal for American Studies, 14, 7-140.

Sigmund Freud is one of the distinguished psychologists of the twentieth century. He is considered the founder of the contemporary psychoanalytical school of thought. He has maintained profound curiosity into the complexities of the human brain and sustained brilliant insight into the functions and derives of the human brain that regulates personality’s activities. Freud was the first person to coin the terms id, ego and superego that he denotes to the unconscious, the conscious and the superego respectively. His innovative ideas and unique views on unconsciousness and sub-consciousness invite future theorists and scholars to make further experiments on the topic in order to examine and discover divergent functions and complexities of the human brain. “An ‘unconscious’ mental process or event, for Freud, is not one which merely happens to be out of consciousness at a given time, but is rather one which cannot, except through protracted psychoanalysis, be brought to the forefront of consciousness.” (Bettlelheim 1982).

Being a physiologist, Freud had studied the structure and functions of the human brain and nervous system. He did not want to provide the patients with temporary mental relief; rather, Freud was curious to find out the root cause of the neural disturbances in patients, so that all the mental, emotional and physical problems could be resolved to cure the body in a comprehensive way. Freud had developed great tastes for basic human drives especially the ones that cause physical and sexual pleasures and gratification. By this, he was eager to discover the sources that bring relief and pleasure to the mind of individuals. He had associated sexual pleasures with the unconscious, which according to him, maintained a direct link with sex desires. “Thus, instead of treating the behaviour of the neurotic as being causally inexplicable – which had been the prevailing approach for centuries – Freud insisted, on the contrary, on treating it as behaviour for which is meaningful to seek an explanation by searching for causes in terms of the mental states of the individual concerned.” (Encyclopaedia of Philosophy) He also declares dreams as the royal road of the unconscious, which describes suppressed and hidden wishes and desires an individual contains. It is, therefore, Freud give proper attendance to the words slide unconsciously from tongue or pen as well as the dreams one experiences while sleeping in an unconscious state of mind, because he insists that all these aggressive behaviours, slipping of words and other unintentional actions, reactions and uncontrollable behaviours have been stored in the unconscious mind.

Critics maintain divergent views regarding the reason behind the development of the concept of the unconscious by Freud. Stanley Fish (1986, 191) in his article, “Withholding the Missing Portion” argues that Freud’s primary concern in his writings is to convince the reader of the strength of his interpretations and the validity of his theory through his clever use of rhetoric. (Quoted in Maung 1990) Freud intended to project his own interpretations of dreams by declaring them the valid expression of suppressed sexual urges and unquenched wishes. By this, he aimed to explore the centre and source of the human brain that regulates these basic human desires. He declares dreams as the outcome of unfulfilled wishes and desires, which are stored in the unconscious and appear in dreams to quench some particular human needs and requirements. He illustrates the example of a hungry man, who always finds edibles of various kinds in his dreams. In the same way, an individual, forced by the call of nature, experiences the place to pass urine in the dream. Hence, Freud associates basic human needs with the unconscious and emphasises the development of the concept of consciousness in order to examine and observe keenly the sentimental and emotional problems of the patients, which they look quite unable to describe or express in a proper way through physiological treatment methodology. It is, therefore, Freud developed the concept of the unconscious in his works. “Freud was not content to speak merely of that-which-is- not-in-consciousness; he wanted to speak of an unconscious consisting of contents or processes. And he furthermore wanted to describe these contents or processes as ‘mental’ (in contrast to merely physical or physiological ones).” (Evans & Fudjack 1976, 93).

The concept of the unconscious has imperative effects on the everyday social behaviour of individuals. People unconsciously act and react to some particular situation, rather than doing everything and delivering every word deliberately. “Unconscious motives affect behaviour through symbolic and covert thought and action. Abnormal thoughts and actions provide clues to their sources to the trained psychoanalyst.” (Street, 2008) Hence, there are both positive and negative effects of the unconscious. The same is applied to university students. The students, seeking education at the university level, are regarded as the finest stratum of society and are considered as the most sophisticated, intelligent and talented people. Since the concept of unconscious has a direct connection with cognitive development, individuals enter into interaction with others on the basis of both innate and learned personality traits in their behaviour, it has significant effects on university students as well. At university, the students have sufficient knowledge regarding patterns of behaviour while interacting with teachers, fellow students, staff members, university employees and classmates. They unconsciously know to listen to the instructors, teachers and supervisors attentively in order to have command over their subject. They behave in a formal, moderate and modest way in the classroom. On the contrary, the students mingle and mix with their close friends and classmates in quite an informal way unintentionally. Through unconscious, an individual’s cognitive growth can be measured and his behaviour can be estimated and assessed. “The study of cognitive psychology is motivated by scientific curiosity, by the desire for practical applications, and by the need to provide a foundation for other fields of social science.” (Anderson 1990, 3).

The students, at university, gossip, chat and share jokes of every kind with the fellows of the same sex, and perform a somewhat decent role in the presence of the members of the opposite sex. It is rarely learnt behaviour and is innate passion altogether. The researches conducted on gender ideology behaviour emphatically lay stress upon the fact that even the idea of girls’ presence, in the classroom, changes the efficiency level and heart beating of boys. “The strong psychical emotions of students are revealed in such subjective feelings as fear, grief, depression, nervousness, etc. This is often accompanied often by physical reactions (e.g. blushing, trembling, tachycardia, sweating and other symptoms of the vegetative nervous system) and should be attributed to the after-effects of the state in which strong demands are placed on the nervous system, i.e. stress.”(Rogozin, 2005) The students’ immediate reaction to some theory, provocation of curiosity, raising the questions and entering into class discussions, while learning some specific topic in the classroom, are often the products of the unconscious of the university students.

In the same way, students look quite different while sitting in the café teria in comparison with their behaviour while attending the library under a peaceful and silent atmosphere. Thus, it appears very accurate that individuals establish and regulate their social relationships on the basis of their cognitive learning as well as memory storage hidden in their subconscious by making a comparison between their own self and other individuals called significant others. Significant others simply mean the individuals very close to a man having intimate relationships as well as constant and continuous interaction. The research conducted by Susan Andersen (1999) concludes that humans develop social cognition keeping in their memory the physical and emotional traits and features of the significant ones, which are preserved in their memory schema and help them while communicating with the people other than the significant ones, based on their resemblance with the significant others. Andersen introduced the idiographic presentation, which lay stress on the expectation of the same appearance and attitude in the person of significant others, which an individual has developed in his mind and memory. Divergence of some new person from the expected role from the significant one, not complying with the expectations an individual has preserved in his memory, as well as some different mode of behaviour and attitude may create disappointment and depression in man’s mind by disturbing his assessment as well as a judgment about the person in interaction with him leading him towards an uncertain mental and cognitive situation.

Making a judgment about an exemplar brings relevant categories (e.g., those the exemplar belongs to) to bear on information processing (Castelli, Zogmaister, Smith, & Arcuri, 2004). Hence, the mind stores the representation of significant others in the memory, and future behaviour is regulated on the basis of that positive (or even negative) unconscious perception regarding not only that person, but also some other individual resembling the significant others in even name, appearance, features and personality traits. For example, a child always motivates towards a person containing the name that resembles his parents, grandparents and siblings, and expects his appearance must be the same as his significant others maintain, though it is somewhat different from the stored memory regarding the behaviour attributed to the significant others. In the same way, the race and ethnicity of other persons stored in the “in-group” of the individuals’ memory, drives them to behave in some specific manner. Inter-group prejudice and biasedness are also the outcomes of the mental encoding and cognitive perception of individuals, which have been stored in their memory. Not only this, but also an event, incident or a place where an individual has interacted with others, is also stored in the memory, which he remembers and reminds either by visiting the previous place again, or the re-happening of the same incident, or while interacting with the individuals present there on some particular period of time. The same is the case with university students. The university students maintain special feelings for their classmates and unconsciously support them in the hour of need. They display their anger and wrath if any untoward attitude is being exercised against their classmate by some outsider. The students, quite unconsciously, are also very specific in respect of their subjects under study, and always seek the help of the faculty of their subject when required. They feel gratification on the publication of the topic of their subject in the monthly and annual periodicals and journals at university. The winning of a sports match, as well as a debate contest by their classmate especially, make them jubilant unconsciously. Similarly, divergence, diversification, distribution and difference in human societies on the basis of caste, class, communities, clans, regions, races, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, socioeconomic status—all are the outcome of unconscious social cognitive process, which not only has the ability to make a distinction between one’ own socio-cultural identity and that of others but also produces a sense of separation, superiority and prejudice in the individuals’ memory. The differences, competition, conflicts and antagonism between various groups are also the by-product of social cognition, which creates feelings, emotions and sentiments of love, hatred, liking, disliking and other sensations in humans. The university students maintain the passion of sacrifice and support one another in studies and remain friends in practical life too because they have unconsciously stored their classmates as their own group in their memory store or unconscious.

Similarly, sexual gratification and companionship of the member of the opposite gender also fascinate the university students without any prior intentions or deliberations. The trend, though, has witnessed a drastic change during the course of time, as same-sex preferences have also become a part of contemporary societies. Being the member of society, students also have the influence of the prevailing norms, values and mores both consciously and unconsciously. Hence, a student loves to attend and join the companies of those fellow students, with whom he has developed intimate cordial, sentimental, emotional, physical and sexual relationships. Wilson (2002) strongly believes in both adaptive and non-adoptive unconscious among individuals. “The Adaptive Unconscious, is our non-cognitive (or unaware and unknowable) filter that gathers, interprets, and evaluates information, emotions, and sets non-conscious goals quickly and efficiently into play. It plays a major executive role in our mental lives, but it is a mental feature that we do not have access to. Its evolutionary role is one of adapting one’s self to our environment and our environment to one’s self.”

The concept of the unconscious has its connection with the cognitive development of human personality. “It is the nature of education that students learn both by observation and by doing. We place a great value on developing a sense of professionalism in our medical students, and we expect faculty to follow policies about informed consent so medical students can emulate what they see in a positive way.” (Maya Hammoud, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology) The awareness of personality traits and developments being made in the personality is dependent on basic needs and desires. An individual is anxious to meet his basic needs whatever source they are to apply. It is why the study of the unconscious is highly supportive in respect of examining personality development and social behaviour. “One of the Freudian assumptions or unconscious is a romantic view of humankind. This is the idea of a non-social individual who possesses endogenous ideas, feelings, and motives but who cannot express them in an intolerant society. However, the person valiantly manages to circumvent this social pressure.” (Ratner 1994, 326) Since the unconscious is highly beneficial for the assessment and regulation of inner conflicts particularly for the students, its importance multiplies for the students to a great extent. “Freud recognises that a comprehensible means of explaining certain neurotic behaviour and the nature of dreams is to postulate the partitioning of the mind into a functional component that is accessible to awareness, and a functional component that is inaccessible.” (Muang, 1990) It is, therefore, scholars regard the concept of the unconscious as one of the most beneficial methods of cure in a comprehensive way. Thus, Freud declares unconsciousness as the most imperative part of the brain that serves as the stimulus behind all human actions and behaviour. The concept of the unconscious has imperative significance for all strata of society.

A healthy society is the sign of productive, creative, healthy and successful nation-building. It has often been said that students are the future builders of a nation as well as a society. Freud worked on fear and anxiety, but only a few thoughts reveal the sudden actions of the human soul without any predetermined feelings. He considers unconsciousness as the pivotal point around which all urges and motives resolve. It is why he declares unconsciousness as the most dynamic and interesting part of the human mind. Freud views the actions taking place in a state of consciousness as the outcome of unconscious thoughts prevailing in the mind. “According to Freud, human personality consists of Unconscious mind and Conscious mind. The greater part of “personality” is Unconscious mind. Conscious mind is a small part of the Unconscious mind and is wholly dependent on it.” (The Cyber city-online) Freud proclaims the thoughts hidden in the brain as the motives that stimulate and regulate human activities and help in discovering the realities around them. “Forces of which the person is totally unaware motivate most human behaviour, according to Freud. They are kept out of unconsciousness. These unconscious thoughts enter consciousness only in disguised or symbolic form and often with great difficulty, unlike preconscious thoughts.” (Liebert & Spiegler 1990, 89)

This unconscious part of the human brain can have access to the external world through the conscious mind only. The id is the part of the human brain, which has a relationship with the fulfilment of sexual and physical desires as well as all pleasure-seeking activities. On the other hand, consciousness or ego regulates the realistic and rational feelings of the human mind. Hence, the unconscious maintains superiority over consciousness. In the same way, the superego supports the consciousness in respect of performing ideal conduct. Freud regards the id, ego and superego in different ways i.e. he does not believe that they have any physical existence; rather, he regards them as containing a connection with the neural structure of human physiology. Unconscious is a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that exist outside of our conscious awareness. Most of the contents of the unconscious are unacceptable or unpleasant, such as feelings of pain, anxiety, or conflict. According to Freud, the unconscious continues to influence our behaviour and experience, even though we are unaware of these underlying influences. (Wagner: retrieved in about.com) According to Freud, individuals unconsciously have innate desires of seeking pleasures and fulfilling their physical desires. “These desires come under the fold of id. The id is an important part of our personality because as newborns, it allows us to get our basic needs met. Freud believed that the id is based on our pleasure principle.” (Psychology 101)

Bibliography

Anderson, J. R. 1990 Cognitive Psychology and Its Implications Third Edition, W.H. Freeman & Company, New York.

Andersen, Susan M. 1984 Self-Knowledge and Social Inference: The Diagnosticity of Cognitive/Affective and Behavioral Data.

Cavell, M. 1993. The Psychoanalytic Mind: From Freud to Philosophy. Harvard University Press,

Evans, C.O. & Fudjack, John 1974 CONSCIOUSNESS: An Interdisciplinary Study: Addendum B – The Preconscious and Unconscious in Freud 93. Web.

Fish S 1986. “Withholding the Missing Portion: Power, Meaning, and Persuasion in Freud’s ‘The Wolf Man’.” in Meltzer F (ed.), The Trials of Psychoanalysis (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987), 183-209.

Liebert & Spiegler 1989 PERSONALITY: Strategies & Issues. Brooks/Cole Publishing Company New York.

Maung, Hane Htut. 1990 Freud’s Unconscious: A Concept or a Rhetorical Device?(Quoted in Symposia On-line).

Hammound, Maya. 2003 Don’t ask, don’t tell: Medical students’ shifting attitudes about permission to examine. Web.

Rogozin, Georgy G. 2005. An Analysis Of Student Behaviour In Light of H. Selye and C.G. Jung’s Theories: Causes, Consequences and the Search for Solutions to theProblem. World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education Vol.4, No.1.

Street, Warren R. 2008 About Sigmund Freud’s An Outline of Psychoanalysis. Web.

Thomas, Henry & Thomas, Dana Lee. 1971 Great Philosophers. Bhavan’s Book University Bombay 232-240.

Wilson, Timothy. 2002. Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

The Theory of Unconsciousness. Web.

Wagner, Kendra Van. The Conscious and Unconscious Mind. Web.

Freud’s Structural and Topographical Models of Personality. Web.

Encyclopaedia of Philosophy. Sigmund Freud. Web.

www.humboldt1.com

www.skepdic.com

www.gateway.nlm.nih.gov

In his works, Sigmund Freud often focuses on the way in which the sexuality of an individual is developed. This author introduces such a concept as polymorphous perversity. This notion can be defined as the person’s ability and tendency to derive sexual pleasure from various parts of one’s body such as the mouth (Kristeva, 2007, p. 717). This description applies to children who are aged below five. It should be noted that at this point, children do not know that some forms of sexuality are forbidden by the existing cultural norms.

For instance, Freud focuses on homosexual sex or incest. In part, this behavior can be explained by the fact that children are driven by the desire to seek new knowledge (Kristeva, 2007, p. 717). According to Freud’s theory, deviant sexual behaviors should be suppressed during the first five years. Overall, people can be called polymorphously perverse, if they do not adjust their sexuality to the existing conventions.

It should be noted that according to the psychoanalytic theory, there are several stages in the development of a person’s sexuality. In particular, one should distinguish oral, anal, and phallic stages (Garcia, 1995, p. 499). During the oral phase, this child can develop an intimate bond with his/her mother. In this cause, much attention should be paid to breastfeeding. Later, the child learns that this form of intimacy is not socially acceptable.

Additionally, children do not know that bisexual relations are usually considered to be inappropriate. As a rule, parents suppress this polymorphous perversity of children. If this goal is not achieved, the eroticism of a person can take deviant forms. It is important to remember that Freud regarded heterosexuality as a norm. Additionally, the sexual pleasure has to be derived from genitals. One should bear in mind that social conventions have evolved considerably during the twentieth century. In part, this argument is relevant to homosexuality that is not viewed as some abnormality in many societies. Moreover, homosexual individuals are less likely to be stigmatized.

Overall, Freud’s theory is often applied to show how the sexuality of an adult is shaped. To a large extent, this process is based on the evaluation or even discrimination against various sexual predispositions. It is expected that polymorphous sexuality should be ended during the early childhood. Nevertheless, this framework is not entirely sufficient for showing how the norms of sexual behavior are enforced.

One should consider other theories that are useful for describing the development of adult sexuality. Some of them are based on the ideas introduced by Sigmund Freud. However, it is possible to examine the model advocated by Albert Bandura. This framework is based on the premise that a person evaluates the appropriateness of a particular behavior by observing the consequences that it can produce. Moreover, this theory emphasizes the importance of positive and negative reinforcements that can influence the conduct of an individual. In turn, a person discovers that some expressions of sexuality are regarded as normal.

For instance, one should consider heterosexuality. In contrast, children or adolescents can see that the intimacy between same-sex individuals is often stigmatized. Moreover, they learn that certain gender should be adopted by males and females (Bryan, 1979, p. 13).

Furthermore, it is possible to mention the role of mass media that shape people’s attitudes toward various forms of sexuality. For instance, they can demonstrate that rape is totally unacceptable (Hogben & Byrne, 1998, p. 68). They help people can see that some types of sexual behavior can lead to adverse consequences. In turn, social learning theory is useful for explaining how various norms can be enforced. Apart from that, this model implies that the sexual identity is formed during childhood and adolescence. This process cannot be completed during the first five years of a person’s life.

Nevertheless, it is important to remember that this model may not be sufficient for explaining why some people tend to depart from sexual norms established in the community. For instance, homosexuality can exist even in those communities in which this behavior is severely punished.

The advocates of the social learning theory cannot tell why such deviations exist. In turn, researchers focus on the importance of genetic factors that influence the sexual identity of an individual. One should not suppose that certain sexual behaviors can always be suppressed. This part of a person’s identity cannot be shaped only by positive or negative reinforcements such as rewards and punishments.

This discussion shows that researchers can apply different theories to explain the way in which the sexual identity is shaped. In each case, scholars focus on those factors that help a person distinguish between accepted norms and deviations. Freud’s model is useful for showing how various abnormalities can emerge. At the same time, Albert Bandura’s theory is useful for understanding how an individual can adjust to the existing standards. However, it is critical to identify the limitations of these models. They cannot always show why some standards of sexual behavior are not always enforced. Finally, it is vital to remember that the very notion of a sexual norm has changed considerably.

Reference List

Bryan, J. (1979). Sex-Role Learning: A Test Of The Selective Attention Hypothesis. Child Development, 49(1), 13-23.

Garcia, J. (1995). Freud’s Psychosexual Stage Conception: A Developmental Metaphor For Counselors. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 73(5), 498-502.

Hogben, M., and Byrne, D. (1998). Using Social Learning Theory To Explain Individual Differences In Human Sexuality. Journal Of Sex Research, 35(1), 58-71.

Kristeva, J. (2007). Adolescence, A Syndrome Of Ideality. Psychoanalytic Review, 94(5) 715-725.

Introduction: The meaning of personality

Personality is a term that refers to unique, relatively stable aspects of a given character . Personality normally deals with a wide range of human behavior. To most theorists, one can conclude that personality includes virtually everything about a person: mental, emotional, social, and physical. It is worth mentioning that there are certain aspects of human beings that may not be observable.

These include aspects such as thoughts, memories and dreams. On the other hand, there are certain aspects which are observable. These include overt actions. In addition to this, personality also includes aspects which might be concealed to oneself. These are termed as conscious or unconscious aspects which are normally within our awareness. Theories of personality

There are many theories which have been put across in an attempt to explain the nature of a man. It is worth noting the fact that there are four criteria that a theory of personality should satisfy: description, explanation, prediction and control of behavior.

Human behavior can be considered to be quite complicated. In this case, a coherent and clear theory enables a person to be able to bring order out of this chaos. A good personality theory explains the phenomena under study. It offers answers to such significant questions as the causes of individual differences in personality, why people are different in their own right and also why other people seem to be pathological as compared to other people.

To most psychologists, the litmus test of a theory is the ability of the theory to predict future events and behaviors among the human beings. A valuable theory usually leads to important practical applications. It facilitates control and change of the environment, for example, by bringing about better techniques of parenting, education, or even psychotherapy.

There are several theories which have been postulated in this light. These theories have been postulated by several psychologists who have attempted to explain the nature of man. In this case, we are going to be looking at two main theorists. These are Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

The Psychoanalytic theory

Freud named his theory Psychoanalysis. This term is also used to denote the form of psychotherapy that Freud originated. In essence, this theory is based on the belief that people could be cured when their thoughts, which were unconscious, were brought to a conscious state and thus they were able to know what they were going through.

This was important because it enabled them to gain insight of what they were going through in the course of life. The main focus of this theory was to enable people to release repressed emotions and experiences. Psychoanalytic theory is a theory which is based on the concept that forces motivating behavior is derived from the unconscious mental processes.

The common occurrence of perception implies that much of our personality is usually beyond what we can call our immediate awareness. Freud concluded that most of our personality which was largely influenced by our mental activity was unconscious.

This implies that it cannot be called to mind even with great effort. Information that is not conscious at a given moment, but which can readily become so, is described as preconscious. The preconscious is considered to be closer to the conscious because it is largely within our control. Freud’s major theories of the mind follow.

The topographic theory of the mind

In this case, the mind is made up of the unconscious mind. This mind contains repressed thoughts and feelings. These feelings and thoughts are usually unavailable to the unconscious mind. In this case, primary process is a type of thinking which is associated with primitive drives, wish fulfillment and pleasure.

This does not involve logic and time. On the other hand, the dreams represent gratification of the unconscious instinctual impulses and wish fulfillment. Secondly, the preconscious mind contains memories that, although not readily available, they can be accessed by the conscious mind. Lastly, the conscious mind contains thoughts that a person is currently aware of but does not have access to the unconscious mind.

The structural theory of the mind

According to this theory, the mind is divided into three parts. That is the id, ego and superego. The id is usually present at birth. This represents the instinctual drives that a person has. These include the sexual urges and drives. In addition, this structural component is characterized with pleasure principle. In essence, the id is not influenced by circumstances that might be taking place in the external environment at all.

The ego begins to develop at birth. This component controls the id in order to adapt to the changes which are taking place outside the world. It is the component that uses reality testing in order to make sense of what is going on around the world. It brings a balance between the super ego and id in the course of life.

The superego is a component which begins to develop about 6 years of age. It is the component which controls the id. It is usually associated with the moral values and the conscience.

The intra-psychic conflict occurs or takes place among the components of the mind. That is, the id, ego and super ego. This conflict is usually a direct result of behavior which might need justification in order to obtain balance. These conflicts at times lead to changes in personality as a person develops and learns to cope with the events within the environment. Personality development

Sigmund Freud developed five stages which he argued determined how a person’s personality develops over time. According to this theory, when a child is born, his or her center of pleasure revolves on the mouth. This is associated with activities such as suckling, chewing and biting. From one to three years, the centers of pleasure shift to the anal. This implies that the child derives her source of pleasure through defecating.

The third stage is the phallic stage; this takes place between three to six years. During this stage, the children derive sexual pleasure through stimulating their genitals. At this stage, the Electra and Oedipus complexes emerge. The fourth stage is the latency stage.

During this stage, the sexual urges are rechanneled to school work. The child, at this stage, internalizes societal values and the environment where one grows. Lastly, there is the genital stage, this is marked by the emergence of adolescence. It is worth noting that according to this theory, when a person does not fulfill the demands and pleasures at each stage, the person becomes fixated. Some of these traits later emerge in adulthood.

Application of psychoanalysis

This is a therapeutic approach which utilizes various techniques in order to ensure that the client is properly treated. These approaches include free association, resistance analysis, transference analysis and dream analysis. These techniques are used to treat anxiety disorders such as phobias.

In addition, these techniques are used to treat people who have depression. In this approach, treatment is a process which entails encouraging the client to speak and share their experiences. However, there is caution when it comes to dealing with transference and counter-transference issues when dealing with a client.

Psychoanalysis as a scientific theory

The scientific status of this theory has been under scrutiny by many. This debate has been raging on. This is because the basis of this theory is on the unconscious activities. These are activities which are not empirical.

Carl Jung: Analytical Psychology

Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist, called his new approach Analytical Psychology. This was done so that he could differentiate it from Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. Like Freud, he emphasized the unconscious determinants of personality. However, he had a different approach to the state of affairs when he proposed that the unconscious consists of two layers.

The first layer, he called it the Personal Unconscious, is essentially the same as Freud’s version of the unconscious. According to Jung, the personal unconscious houses material from one’s life that is within one’s conscious awareness because it has been repressed or forgotten. In addition, Jung theorized that the existence of a deeper layer he called the Collective Unconscious.

Essentially, the collective unconscious is a storehouse of latent memory traces inherited from people’s ancestral past that is shared with the entire human race. Jung called these ancestral memories Archetypes. They are not memories of actual personal experiences. Instead, archetypes are emotionally charged images and thought forms that have universal meaning.

These archetypal images and ideas show up frequently in dreams and are often manifested in culture’s use of symbols in art, literature, and religion. Jung felt that an understanding of archetypal symbols helped him make sense of great concern to him because he depended extensively on dream analysis in his treatment of patients. Let us have a detailed look at this theory.

Therapy

Jung contributed much to this field. Key among his contributions wes the use of the personality typologies to foster understanding and reduce interpersonal conflicts, and the use of dreams to enhance personal growth and highlight important aspects of the dreamer’s life and journey. Contrary to Freud, he believed that the person who had the dream was the most likely person to ultimately understand what it meant.

He was always willing to work with patients to help them to interpret their dream. According to him, there was no right interpretation, however, believed that the dream was rightly interpreted when it made sense to the client.

Jung’s religious upbringing and exploration of diverse religious perspectives made him be sensitive and open to spiritual and religious possibilities. Jung held the belief that the voices people hear in the dreams may not be of their own making, rather they came from a source which was transcending us.

Synchronicity

This was a term which was coined by Jung to explain the occurrence of events which seemed to be coincidental. He coined this term to refer to seemingly accidental life events that are tied together by the meanings we give them. These are acausal happenings, episodes that do not seem to follow the normal cause and effect processes. One can almost feel the flow of the interconnections and sometimes even laugh at them.

Essentially, Jung describes synchronicity in relation to his own etymological analysis of the linguistic unconscious of the term, finding the association with simple simultaneity. In this case, simultaneity as a term lacks the element of recognition that generates meaning due to mutuality of physical and psychological states.

Synchronicity, in Jung’s case, created the impression that some simultaneous activities which occurred in light of one or more external events appeared to be meaningful to a person subjective state.

Personality types

Jung described eight personality types, each characterized by a predominance of one of the four functions, used in either extraverted or introverted attitude. According to Jung, people can be classified using the human mental functions, that is, seeing – intuition and thinking – feeling, a person’s attitude, which is, extraversion – introversion.

In essence, according to him, a person’s personality is derived from certain dimensions which include

1. extraversion and introversion
2. sensing and intuition
3. thinking and feeling
4. judging and perceiving.

When establishing a personality type, there is an acronym which is used according to this theory.

This is the ISTJ which can be decoded to imply introvert, sensing, thinking and judging or ENFP which might be construed to imply extravert, intuitive, feeling and perceiving. This typology is used to determine the personality type. Personality structure

According to Jung, the structural nature of personality reflected a redefined and expanded view of the unconscious mind. In this theory, the conscious ego is the center of conscious awareness of the self.

The major functions of the conscious ego are to make the individual aware of his or her internal processes, for instance, thoughts or feelings off pain and the external world that is, surrounding noises through sensation and perceptions at a level of awareness necessary for day to day functioning.

Personal unconscious

This is directly next to the ego and it is completely below conscious awareness, Jung called it the personal unconscious region of the mind.

Its contents included all those thoughts, memories, and experiences that were momentarily not being though about or were being repressed because they were too emotionally threatening. In his description, he came up with a complex which implies a collection of thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and memories that center on a particular concept.

The collective unconscious

In this case, the collective unconscious was conceptualized as being transpersonal in nature. According to him, a person’s mind contains an unconscious region which is shared by all people. This region is usually developed over time and it is usually transferred from one generation to another.

The principal function of this wisdom in the collective unconscious is to predispose individuals to respond to certain external situations in a given manner. This maximizes the development of the individual. There are several aspects which are associated with this aspect. They include the archetypes; these are universal thoughts, symbols, or images having a large amount of emotion attached to them.

Their special status come from the importance they have gained across the many generations and the significant role they play in day to day living. For example, the archetype of the mother is an image of a nurturer. The persona is an archetype which develops over time as a result of the tendency to adopt the social roles and norms that go along with living with other people.

The animus and anima are the aspects which bring out the aspect of being male or feminine. The shadow, on the other hand, represents the dark and the more primitive side of the personality. The self is considered to be among the important archetypes because is that which predisposes the individual to unite all of the other aspects to bring out an individual.

Conclusion

In conclusion, both Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung had a similar perspective regarding human personality. In this sense, they embraced the fact that the unconscious mind played a major role towards personality development. They also had a similar approach to treating patients in their approaches.

However, their background influenced their differing views to a great extent. Furthermore, it is worth noting that the differences which ensued from their practice and theory had contributed a great deal to the field of psychology.

References

Ewen, R. B. (2003). An introduction to theories of personality. New York: Routledge.

Sommers-Flanagan, J., & Sommers-Flanagan, R. (2004). Counseling and psychotherapy theories in context and practice:skills, strategies, and techniques. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Brief review of Freudian ideas

Sigmund Freud is usually credited with the invention of psychoanalysis. This approach is based on several assumptions about the personality. In particular, one should mention the existence of subconsciousness or the part of the mind that is beyond people’s awareness (Berg, 2004, p. 5). It often reflects some traumatic or memorable events. Additionally, it incorporates some hidden desires as well as anxieties of a person (Berg, 2004).

Furthermore, the functioning of subconsciousness cannot be controlled through deliberation. One should pay close attention to this element to understand the underlying origins of various mental problems such as anxiety disorders or hysterias. Freud also focuses on the structure of the human psyche. This author distinguishes such components as id, ego, and super-ego (Brent & Lewis, 2013, p. 103). They represent such aspects as primitive desires, rationalization of behavior, and adherence to ethical principles (Brent & Lewis, 2013, p. 103).

In many cases, behavioral disorders can be attributed to the conflict between the desires of a person and some rational or moral restrictions. Additionally, Freud stresses the need to study dreams because they can give therapists insights into the inner world of an individual (Brent & Lewis, 2013). Sigmund Freud and his supporters relied on these assumptions to treat patients suffering from various disorders. So, it is necessary to explain how this framework can be applied to the development of individuals.

Freudian theory and human development

Freudian ideas can be used to describe the moral growth of children, adolescents, and adults. In the beginning, a person is driven primarily by the id or the part of the psyche that focuses on instinctive needs and desires. For instance, it is possible to mention physiological needs. Later, the ego of this individual is developed. This component of personality has to reconcile the instinctive desires with existing restrictions (Burns & Dobson, 2012, p. 314).

Finally, much attention should be paid to the role of the super-ego. It is required for identifying the moral standards and ideals that a person should always reach. One should mention that the super-ego begins to play a more important role during adolescence and adulthood. It is possible to illustrate the functioning of these elements. For instance, the id can urge a person to satisfy his/her sexual desires at any cost. In turn, the ego can show that this conduct can lead to adverse consequences such as punishment. Finally, the superego will lay stress on the idea that such behaviors as sexual aggression and promiscuity are not admissible under any circumstances.

This structure of personality should be considered by parents and educators. In particular, they must not focus only on the use of rewards or punishments. This approach does not help a child internalize some ethical principles. Instead, parents should provide examples showing that moral behavior is inherently valuable (Burns & Dobson, 2012). It is one of the tasks that should be performed.

The experiences of children, teenagers, and adults

Additionally, the concepts introduced by Freud have been used to assist patients suffering from mental illnesses such as phobias. Very often, these diseases can be attributed to the traumas sustained during childhood. In many cases, a therapist can identify the origins of this disorder by examining the subconsciousness of a person. Moreover, the techniques developed by Freud have been used to help children.

For instance, the emotional problems encountered by a child can be explained by the failure to develop an attachment to his/her mother. Therefore, the supporters of Freudian ideas believe that breastfeeding is essential for the proper development of a person (Zepinic, 2012, p. 236). This technique has been useful for resolving the conflicts between parents and children. Thus, these examples indicate that the ideas expressed by Sigmund Freud have found practical applications.

Limitation of the model

It is necessary to remember that Freud’s theories have often been criticized. In particular, researchers cannot falsify the hypotheses advanced by this scholar (Burger, 2009, p. 320). For instance, one cannot design and carry out experiments that can prove or disprove Freudian views on personality and human psychology (Burger, 2009, p. 320). Furthermore, there have been many debates about the value of psychoanalysis as a form of therapy (Gulerce, 2012). Therefore, it does not meet the criteria established for scientific theories. Nevertheless, his work continues to affect the work of various scholars. In particular, one should consider those researchers who study the sexuality of individuals and possible deviations from the established norms.

Conclusion

Overall, the concepts introduced by Sigmund Freud are helpful for describing the psychological development of children, adolescents, and adults. Certainly, one should not overlook the methodological drawbacks of this theory. However, it has been applied to help people representing various age groups such as children, teenagers, and adults. The primary benefit of this approach is that it enables therapists to anticipate the long-term effects of emotional traumas. Moreover, it highlights the role of attachments that a person should form during childhood. However, it is vital to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of this model that is not supported by experimental findings. Moreover, one should know how this method can be supplemented by other forms of psychotherapy.

Reference List

Berg, H. (2004). Freud’s Theory and Its Use in Literary and Cultural Studies: An Introduction. New York, NY: Camden House.

Brent, E., & Lewis, S. (2013). Learn Sociology. New York, NY: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Burger, J. (2009). Human Memory Modeled with Standard Analog and Digital C ircuits: Inspiration for Man-made Computers. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Burns, R., & Dobson, C. (2012). Introductory Psychology. Boston, MA: Springer Science & Business Media.

Gulerce, A. (2012). Reconfiguring Psychoanalysis: Critical Juxtapositions of the Philosophical, the Sociohistorical and the Political. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Zepinic, V. (2012). The Self and Complex Trauma. New York, NY: Xlibris Corporation.

One major personality theory

One of the major personality theories is the Freud’s Tripartite Theory of Personality. This theory embraces the psychodynamic model by “emphasizing the interplay of unconscious mental processes in determining human thought, behavior, and feelings” (Bornstein, 2006, p. 340). This theory works on the assumption that individuals have opposing forces, which are always conflicting. According to this theory, an individual has three psychodynamic constructs, viz. ego, id, and super-ego.

Its use in conducting an assessment

Human resources management researchers are developing interest in the role of personality traits in the employees’ performance. Conventionally, resource managers believed that the performance of an individual depended on efforts and motivation among other external factors. However, an emerging body of knowledge holds that certain personality traits contribute to the performance of a given employee. Therefore, resources managers use personality constructs, viz. the ego, id, and super-ego to determine how an individual will be affected by different factors within the workplace. For instance, an individual with a strong ego has well-balanced personalities and s/he can make a good employee. Liang (2011) posits, “The ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality” (p. 180).

The ego balances the id’s primitive instincts and the super-ego’s sense of entitlement. In the workplace, employees are supposed to be ambitious and hardworking and this aspect can be taken care of by the super-ego. However, organizations have to depend on teamwork in a bid to be successful. Therefore, a strong ego will enable an individual to fit in a team for the accomplishment of the set goals. Therefore, resources managers focus on one’s ego coupled with establishing how it balances the id and the super-ego to make a functional human being that can work in a team.

Personality assessment practices

One of the factors that stood out for me about personality assessment practices is the role that the ego plays in an individual. Apparently, some individuals have very weak egos that cannot control their base id characteristics. Therefore, such individuals end up acting unconsciously to portray some primitive behaviors that can be detrimental to team work. On the other side, I realized that some individuals have very strong super-egos, which lead to self-serving interests and this aspect can be damaging to any team. Such individuals end up pursuing personal goals at the expense of teamwork, thus creating discontentment and disarray amongst team members.

Therefore, I realized that individuals with strong egos are in a position to deal with the reality of the need for working with other team members. Such individuals are accommodating and willing to learn new things because they appreciate the importance of continued growth. Employees with strong egos are neither bound by their primitive ids nor blindfolded by their self-serving super-egos (Navaneed, 2012).

Current research trends and their variance across cultures

The current research trends are focused on unravelling more on the role of each construct in an employee’s performance, motivation, and job satisfaction. As aforementioned, organizations are moving form the conventional thinking that employees can only be motivated via extrinsic factors. Apparently, emerging evidence shows that monetary rewards cannot solely influence the performance, motivation, and job satisfaction amongst employees. The current research trends are focusing on the role of intrinsic motivators. Intrinsic motivators are linked to personality traits. For instance, an employee with poor ego can be motivated via compliments from the management.

However, the interpretation of these factors varies across different cultures. The culture in which an individual is brought up in plays a critical role in the formation of one’s personality traits. Nwoke (2012) posits, “Individual’s personality is the end product of an interaction between biological and experiential factors and experiential factors are culturally determined” (p. 100). Therefore, the interpretation of one’s personality constructs varies across cultures due to ethnic influences.

References

Bornstein, R. (2006). A Freudian Construct Reclaimed: The psychodynamics of personality pathology. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 23(2), 339-353. Web.

Liang, Y. (2011). Id, ego, and super-ego in pride and prejudice. International Education Studies, 4(2), 177-181. Web.

Navaneed, C. (2012). Balance of internal drive, ego, and super-ego through self Hypnosis. Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science, 2, 221-224. Web.

Nwoke, M. (2012). Impact of cultural value system on the personality development of Ogoni adolescents. Asian Social Sciences, 8(3), 100-112. Web.

Introduction

According to Clemens and Grigg (2006), psychoanalysis is the medicine’s last flower. The well-established diagnoses have come about as a result of psychoanalysis over the years. The human body structure, the way one thinks and the way human beings relate with each other are the structures that dictate the phenomenon of madness. Sigmund Freud and Jacquez Lacan are among the great contributors to this field of study. Sigmund Freud’s contribution to this field included his theory on the three structures of madness. Lacan, on the other hand, introduced the theory of divided subjects and the principles of four discourses.

Freud’s three structures of madness

According to Freud (1937), the three structures that exist in relation to human madness include neurotics, perversion, and psychosis.

In relation to the neurotic symptom, Freud identified the symptoms to be associated with obsessive behavior, compulsive behavior, phobias, as well as inhibition that were neurotic in nature. One of the characteristics of the structure is a libidinal satisfaction that is unconscious and relatively distorted.

The other structure of madness may take the form of perversion. Pervasive tendencies arise where a person’s behavior does not correspond to normal behavior. According to Freud (1937), a perversion is normally associated with sexuality. He concluded that most humans have perverse tendencies, which are natural and inborn. However, perversion varies among human beings as it is subject to a developmental process. In other words, this condition does not come from initial manifestations but is a product of a developmental process. In relation to psychotics, the patient loses touch with reality and deviates from normal behavior. The formation of condition of psychosis comes about unconsciously and takes up a permanent form (Freud, 1937).

Lacan’s divided subject and the four principle of discourse

The principle of the subject is one of the most important concepts in the study of Lacan’s thoughts. The purpose of the subject according to Lacan’s was to separate his ideology from the post Freudian interpretation of psychoanalysis in terms of the ego and treatment (Clemens and Grigg, 2006). According to Lacan, the subject was a symbolic order whilst the ego was associated with the imaginary order.

In Lacan’s teaching his main consideration involved the tension that existed between determination and decision-making. In this case, it entailed who the subject was and what makes the object of the decision. Arising from the structure of the signifier, the subject receives the determination. In this case the structure of language makes the determination as whether he is or not a subject under the three modes which are psychotic, pervasive and neurotic (Clemens and Grigg, 2006).

The principle of four discourses assumes that human beings continuously communicate, therefore, the process of communication is a failure. According to Clemens and Grigg, (2006), there would be no need for communication if everyone understood each other. Lacan defines a discourse as the determinant of concrete speech that comes before the spoken words. The four principles of discourse involve the four positions associated with speech.

The first position of any discourse comes about when somebody talks (agent). The second position arises when the agent directs his speech to someone else (other). The product is the third position, which involves the result of the discourse. The fourth position is the one that has psychoanalysis relevance. The fourth position is the position of truth (Clemens and Grigg, 2006).

References

Clemens, J., and Grigg, R. (2006) Jacques Lacan and the Other Side of Psychoanalysis: Reflections on Seminar XVII. Durham : Duke University Press.

Freud, S. (1937). The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense. London: Hogarth Press.

Psychoanalytic theory had a profound influence on the field of psychology. Its influence can be seen in the fact that it operates under the precept that our unconscious bears the key to understanding our behavior. According to Freud’s brand of psychoanalysis, the psyche of an individual consists of the id, ego and superego with the id serving as the driving force of a person’s personality.

Contained within the id is all the instinctual elements of a person’s personality. It operates solely on the pleasure principle in that it dictates that an individual will tend to do things that are pleasurable and will not do things that cause displeasure. In his topology of the mind Freud delineates a configuration of the mind wherein the mind is made up of three general types of elements—elements that are unconscious, those that are preconscious and those that are totally conscious.

He delineates a system where the mind is made up of three components—the id, the ego and the superego. The id is totally unconscious, while the ego and superego operates on all three level—the unconscious, the preconscious and the conscious. In his book, the ego and the id, he is emphatic about his belief that many individuals operate at the id level wherein they are driven by the desire to attain pleasure and to avoid pain. Some individuals, however, develop the propensity to rationalize their desire for pleasure.

In such cases, they will realize that immediate pleasure may not be the best for that individual therefore those individuals will delay gratification. In so doing, the ego was in effect. Essentially, in examining Freud’s topology of the mind, one can clearly see that the lion’s share of the activities we partake in are unconscious (Freud, 1923).

Each and every day we see the concepts of the unconscious mind controlling our behavior. One such concept is the notion of a Freudian slip. A Freudian slip or parapraxis is an error in speech, memory, or physical action that is believed to be caused by the unconscious mind (Wikipedia, n.d.). Errors such as referring to one person by another person’s name are clear indications of a Freudian slip. Errors such as this can have severe ramifications. Imagine when speaking to your significant other, you call him/her the name of an ex.

This can clearly cause a relationship problem in that your signification other would feel that you are referring to him/her by the name of your ex because you were thinking about your ex or worst, you could be involved with your ex. Freudian slips are not only restricted to speech. Freudian slips may extend to the area of perception in that you may see one thing and because you are preoccupied with another, you would think you saw something else. Have you ever had the occasion when you were in the process of doing some and you were engrossed in that activity when suddenly you see something out of the corner of your eyes?

At first, you thought you saw one image but then you realized that it is something completely different. When you think about your rationale for seeing what you thought you saw originally, you realized that you were previously pre-occupied with elements of what you saw. Your preoccupation did not occur immediately before the incident but it may have subsided the week before. That is an illustration of your unconscious at work.

Another example of your unconscious at work occurs when you often take the same path to different destinations with minor alteration. Often in the course of driving to a destination, I generally take the same path. If I have to go to another destination with the same starting path, I often find myself continuing on the path most frequently traveled. An example of this can be seen in the fact that I take the same path each day to attend classes. If I leave one day taking the path to school and I intend to go to a location which is a few blocks off of the path to school and leave with this thought in mind only to find myself at school and school is not in session, this is the unconscious mind at work.

References

Freud, Sigmund (1923). The Ego and The Id. W.W. Norton and Company, Inc.: New York, NY.

Wikipedia (n.d.). Freudian Slip. Web.