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Assumptions: Psychodynamic Approach - Coggle Diagram
Assumptions: Psychodynamic Approach
Influence of Childhood Experiences:
Personality develops due to an interaction between our innate drives and our early experiences.
5 psychosexual stages - 1, 2 and 3 most important in determining personality.
Experiences in each stage result in distinct adult personality types.
Each stage - libido is attached to a part of the body.
Libido = drive for pleasure.
Overindulgence = too much pleasure.
Frustration = too little pleasure.
This leads to fixation -> personality types.
Stage 1 - Oral:
0 -1 years.
Id part of personality is present.
Libido = mouth. Pleasure focus = biting, sucking, swallowing and chewing.
Major life events - breast/bottle feeding and weaning onto solid foods (from milk).
Problems = fixation = specific personality traits.
Overindulgence = needy, gullible and optimistic.
Frustration = pessimistic, jealous, smokes and bites nails.
Stage 2 - Anal:
Libido = anus. Pleasure focus = withholding, expelling and playing with faeces.
1 - 3 years of age.
Ego starts to develop.
Major life event = potty training.
Fixations occur due to too much retention or expulsion = personality traits.
Frustration - Anal retention (rarely uses the potty) = Overly tidy and neat.
Overindulgence - Anal expulsion (uses the potty too much) = reckless and messy
Stage 3 - Phallic:
3 - 6 years of age.
Superego develops during this stage.
Libido = genitals. Pleasure focus = masturbation (awareness of own gender).
Major life events = Oedipus Complex (boys) and Electra Complex (girls).
Oedipus Complex:
. Boy feels sexually attracted to mother.
. Sees his father as a love rival.
. Wishes to kill his father - causes guilt.
. To resolve this the boy identifies to reduce guilt.
. Identification = development of superego.
Electra Complex:
. Girl develops 'penis envy'.
. They blame their mothers.
. Father becomes their love object.
. Girl swaps 'penis envy' for a wish to have children.
. Leads to identification with the mother = resolves conflict towards mother = development of a superego (weaker than the males).
Fixated = narcissistic and difficulty building and maintaining relationships.
Stage 4 - Latency:
6 - 12 years of age.
Libido is dormant. No pleasure focus.
Children spend time developing non-sexual activities (school and friends).
No fixation.
Stage 5 - Genital:
Puberty onwards.
Libido = genitals. Pleasure focus = heterosexual intercourse.
Explores heterosexual relationships.
If the child has passed through previous stages with no fixations - will be able to build normal relationships with people of the opposite sex.
Tripartite Personality:
Id:
From birth - innate. Oral stage.
Includes innate drives - sex, aggression and hunger.
Seeks pleasure - pleasure principle and gratification of basic needs.
Unconscious and described as selfish/impulsive.
In conflict with superego.
Person with a dominant id is impulsive and selfish. This developed either through the oral or phallic stage.
Ego:
Rational - brings behaviour in line with environment. Basically it works out realistic ways to balance the demands of the id in a socially acceptable way.
Develops around 2 years old. Anal stage.
Governed by the reality principle.
Conscious and described as a referee/mediator, due to conflict between id and superego.
Ideal person = strong ego.
Superego:
Develops around 4 years old. Phallic stage.
Moral development - sense of right and wrong.
Conscience.
Take on the values of same sex parent.
Governed by morality principle.
In conflict with id.
Person with a dominant superego is excessively guilty or moralistic. This developed either through the oral or phallic stage.
The Unconscious Mind:
Unconscious mind determines much of our behaviour.
Iceberg analogy - what goes on 'under the surface' of the mind = greatest influence.
Conscious = rational thought (ego) and reality.
Preconscious = recent experiences and dream state.
Unconscious = Innate drives (id) for pleasure, fears and anxieties and trauma.
Conflict between the ego, superego and id create and provoke anxiety.
Unconscious drives (unacceptable drives/urges) and unresolved conflicts from childhood are stored in the unconscious mind.
Regression - To retreat to an earlier psychological state/stage. For example, when a new born child comes into a family, the sibling will psychologically go back to being a younger form of themselves.
Ego creates ego defence mechanisms to protect itself from anxiety.
Repression - Pushing painful memories deep into our unconscious mind. For example, during the Oedipus Complex, aggressive thoughts about the same sex parent are repressed.
Displacement - Satisfying an impulse (e.g. aggression) with a substitute object. For example, someone who is angry with their boss may go home and kick their dog.
Projection - Undesirable thoughts are attributed to someone else. For example you may hate someone but your superego believes this is unacceptable and so you turn it into 'they hate me'.
Denial - The act of not believing something, when it is true.