Summary
Summary Personality Theories PYC2601
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- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
Study notes made in preparation for the exam for Personality Theories PYC2601
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PERSONALITY THEORIESTHE PSYCHOANALYTICAL THEORY OF SIGMUND FREUD
(1856 – 1939)
THE STRUCTURE OF THE PERSONALITY
He sees the individual as a unit of three separate aspects that function together in order to attain
three primary goals:
To ensure the survival of the individual
To allow the individual to experience as much pleasure as possible
To minimise the individuals experience of guilt
The levels of consciousness
Contains thoughts, feelings and experiences, of which the individual is
Conscious level currently aware.
The contents change all the time
Information that can be recalled to consciousness without much effort.
Memories that are not painful or anxiety provoking, and experiences and
Preconscious level
observations which the individual is not concentrating on at any particular
moment
Contains the persons forbidden drives, memories of events and wishes that
Unconscious level cause the individual pain, anxiety and guilt
Cannot recall to the conscious mind.
Parts of the personality
Functions on the unconscious level, and at times in the preconscious level (dreams)
Is the innate, primitive component of the psyche
Obtains energy for all behaviour from the body
This energy is linked to the drives:
Life drives/eros (including sex drives)
Death drive/thanatos
The id Functions according to the primary processes and the pleasure principle
Seeks immediate and complete satisfaction of its drives without considering
anything but its own immediate pleasure
Not capable of any thought, self-reflection or planning
Selfish and unrealistic
Form of drive satisfaction – wish fulfilment – creates images of the desired objects
and fantasises that they have satisfied the drive
Functions primarily in the conscious level but does function on all three levels of
consciousness.
Develops from the id to ensure the individual’s survival
Formed through contact with the outside world
Serves the id’s needs by finding suitable objects for drive satisfaction
The ego It functions according to:
The secondary processes – evaluates and weighs up a situation before any
action is undertaken. Is able to reflect upon and plan the satisfaction of
drives, and to postpone satisfaction to an appropriate time and situation
The reality principle – takes reality into account by using conscious and
preconscious cognitive processes such as sensory perception, rational
Adapted from: Moore, C., Viljoen, H.G., Meyer, W., Hurst, A., Shantall, T. & Painter, D. (2016).
Personology: From individual to ecosystem (5th ed.). Johannesburg: Heinemann.
, thinking, memory and learning. Uses reality testing, object choice and
object cathexis (the ego’s investment of psychic energy in certain selected
objects).
When appropriate objects for drive satisfaction are found, they are invested with
psychic energy
Experiences constant pressure from the id
Has to accommodate the demands of the environment and the moral codes of
society.
Learns to take the demands of reality into account when it selects appropriate
objects.
Operates in terms of:
The id threatens the ego with tension and discomfort if the drives are not
satisfied.
The superego threatens the ego with punishment and guilt,
Physical reality does not always provide satisfactory objects for drive
satisfaction and sometimes even presents physical dangers.
It is the conflicting demands of the id and the superego that cause psychic
difficulties for the ego
Uses energy from the id, from the ego-drives.
Begins to develop during the first year of life and continues to change throughout a
person’s life
It learns through:
experience,
new ways of drive satisfaction
to adapt to changing id drives and circumstances in reality
Develops from the ego
Is active in the person (intra-physically)
Representative of society’s codes
Pressurises the individual into abiding by these codes
It functions according to the moral principle
It punishes the individual by making them feel guilty about immoral wishes and
behaviour and holds up a relentless, perfectionistic ideal of moral behaviour
Punishing element is called the conscience
Positive dimensions which encourages moral behaviour is called the ego-ideal
Exercises a constant pressure on the ego
Energy is obtained from the id – from the aggressive drive (death drive/thanatos)
Functions on all of the conscious levels, with the result that the person may feel
guilty about drives and wishes that occur on the preconscious level
The superego
Moral principle - the conscious experience of a forbidden wish or thought is as bad
as the action itself.
The superego pressurises the ego to keep forbidden drives and thoughts at an
unconscious level
Anticathexis refers to the moral taboo placed on an object by the superego.
Takes place when the ego blocks/represses the unacceptable cathexist desires of
the id.
Individuals are constantly subjected to simultaneous cathexis and anticathexis,
whichthey experience as anxiety
To protect oneself from this anxiety, a person develops anxiety and defence
mechanisms.
All psychological problems (anxiety, conflict and neurosis) are based on serious
conflicts of this nature.
THE DYNAMICS OF THE PERSONALITY
Adapted from: Moore, C., Viljoen, H.G., Meyer, W., Hurst, A., Shantall, T. & Painter, D. (2016).
Personology: From individual to ecosystem (5th ed.). Johannesburg: Heinemann.
,Motivation: Freud’s drive theory
The human psyche functions with the help of energy, converted from a physical form to psychic
energy.
The drives (id), and the internalised moral code (superego), both possess transformed energy
Internalisation – the process by which a person makes attitudes, values and beliefs of others or of the
community, a part of their own personality so that they can cope with things better in the future
This energy can either urge the individual to act or torture the person with guilt feelings.
The individual has to cope with a conflict between two forms of energy:
Drive energy in the form of (forbidden) wishes
Moral energy in the form of guilt feelings
The energy attached to wishes and guilt feelings does not disappear of its own accord.
Drives motivate the person to function, and determine the direction of behaviour.
General characteristics of drives
1. Source
Every drive has its source in different parts of the body
2. Impetus or energy
A certain quantity of energy/intensity.
Affected by:
The condition of the energy source at a given moment
The lapse of time since the last satisfaction of the drive
3. Goal (of satisfaction)
Experienced subjectively as desires to accomplish something specific
The pressure of such a desire remains operative until the drive is satisfied
The individual is not necessarily aware of the drive/desire (experienced unconsciously)
4. Object
Every drive requires an object suitable for its satisfaction
An object is chosen by the ego and invested with psychic energy
This process of object choice (cathexis) makes it possible for the individual to reduce drive
energy.
Objects can be substituted
The process of substitution (displacement) occurs when an earlier object choice is no longer
available, or when society and the superego, prohibits the use of a specific object
The initial object cathexis endures because the individual remains attached to the original
object
The substitute object is thus not as satisfying as the original object, with the result that
unconsumed psychic energy may accumulate in the psyche and cause problems.
Types of drives
Two basic inclinations of living organisms:
To develop constructively
To disintegrate and die
Adapted from: Moore, C., Viljoen, H.G., Meyer, W., Hurst, A., Shantall, T. & Painter, D. (2016).
Personology: From individual to ecosystem (5th ed.). Johannesburg: Heinemann.
, Drive groups:
1. Life drives (eros)
Serve to preserve life
Function in a constructive manner
Role – follow the general biological tendency of cell formation and development
Two types:
ego drives (individual survival)
sexual drives (survival of the species).
2. Death drive (thanatos)
Has the general tendency to break down, reduce complex cells to inorganic matter
Represents the tendency of the living organism to die.
THE EGO DRIVES
Associated with individual survival
Includes all drives that are aimed at satisfying basic life needs (e.g. eating, drinking and breathing)
Usually called primary needs
Are powerful and basic because survival depends on their satisfaction
Responsible for the development of the ego and provide the energy required for its functioning
THE SEXUAL DRIVES
The main concern is survival of the species
Primary function is erotic, the satisfaction of sexual drives provides erotic pleasure, while the non-
satisfaction causes discomfort
Sexual drives are present in the child at birth, but they start functioning for reproduction after
puberty
Constantly cause problems for the individual (from society’s strict moral codes)
Even babies have sexual drives (polymorphous perverse).
They seek erotic pleasure from any part of their bodies throughout development.
The satisfaction of sexual drives as they emerge is controlled or prohibited by society
Create ongoing psychological problems and therefore play an important role throughout people’s
lives
Play a significant role in the development of mental disturbance.
THE DEATH DRIVE
Intrapsychic explanation for war, aggression, murder, suicide and death.
The death drive’s basic function is to break down living cells and change them into dead matter
The original object of the death drive is the individual’s body
The death drive is brought into conflict with the life drives.
Adapted from: Moore, C., Viljoen, H.G., Meyer, W., Hurst, A., Shantall, T. & Painter, D. (2016).
Personology: From individual to ecosystem (5th ed.). Johannesburg: Heinemann.
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