Freud Psychoanalytic Theory – Personality Of An Individual
Introduction
In psychology, personality can be described as “the patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion unique to an individual, and the ways they interact to help or hinder the adjustment of a person to other people and situations” (“personality,” 2013). Psychologists may make use of idiographic or nomothetic techniques in order to study personality of an individual. Many characteristics of human behavior can be examined while studying one’s personality. To put in simple words, personality theories are utilized for organizing what is known, stimulating new research, and specifying a view of personality in a formal way (Kasschau, 1985). Freud Psychoanalytic theory, person-centered theory and existential theory are three such theories which have been developed in the precedent century and cover a lot of information regarding the pathology, health/wellness, treatment and the weight or significance of early life.
Freud Psychoanalytic Theory Explained
The Psychoanalytic Theory was put forwarded by Sigmund Freud in which he considered the human personality as a whole by dividing it into 3 functional parts namely id, ego, and superego. Freud regarded the id as the unfathomable stage of the unconscious, subjugated by the gratification principle. He viewed it as having an object to gratify the instinctual drives. He saw the superego to have been originated in an infant through identification with parents. The supergo, according to him, has a purpose of functioning as an inner repressor of the urges of the id in response to social pressures. In contrast, ego was seen by him as a part of the id tailored by getting in touch with the outside world.
Despite the fact that personality development elaborated in Freud’s theory covers the early life of human beings, Freud did not work with children. Instead, he spent time with mature people to practice psychoanalysis. By recollecting their childhood memories, Freud propounded the theory of psychoanalysis. However, Freud’s psychoanalytic theory is widely acknowledged as the most influential one among all the personality theories till date.
In his theory, Freud made the assumption that “children were active creatures who passed through a series of psychosexual development phases, in which they were confronted with certain inner conflicts, desires and fantasies; the manner in which they overcame these was critical for whether they became mature adults capable of work and love, or whether they remained fixated at an earlier stage of development” (Diem-Wille, 2011). Freud associated development of personality with the development in early life and relationship of an individual with his/her parents and this thesis turned out to be a revolutionary one with an extensive influence.
Client-Centered Theory
Client-centered theory which is an exceptional psycho-therapeutic approach is also known as person-centered approach and was promulgated by Carl Rogers. Change is real and no one can deny it. People change with time. This person-centered theory has its main focus on “the person as a living process: moment-by-moment living, learning, growth, creativity, future orientation, interaction, the self-in-context, agency, the multiplicity of personal reality, communication, self–self relationships, experiencing and feeling, and the self-as-process” (Gurman & Messer, 2003).
Existential Theory
According to Existential theory, human beings’ primary tasks in life are completed through decision-making. It depicts that the exceptional self-determination powers possessed by the human beings help them to decide about something within the limits of biological conditions, society and psychology. Thus, existential theory is also considered as a humanistic theory as “it attributes to people an awesome freedom and responsibility for self-determination while recognizing the pain entailed in consciously relinquishing security for growth” (Kitano & LeVine, 1987). The existential theory demonstrates that people tend to find philosophical meaning of life when they are challenged with anxiety by choosing to feel and take action realistically and sensibly. Every human being has the responsibility of sensing the true meaning of his/her life and this meaning is shaped and derived by the experiences since early life.
Comparison and Contrast
On the whole, Freuds’ Psychoanalytic theory is deterministic in nature. On the other hand, both Person-Centered theory and Existential Theory are embedded in humanistic and existential ideas. Freud corresponded that the behavior of a person is mainly a reflection of what he/she experienced in his/her early life, particularly in the first 6 years of life. In simple words, deterministic view supported by Freud depicts that the present behaviors of people are unconsciously affected by their past experiences.
In contrast, Person-Centered theory and Existential theory are naturally humanistic in their approach and have a number of traits that are identical. The humanistic and the deterministic views are different In nature for the reason that humanism conceptualizes people as independent individuals who have the ability to make cognizant decisions that help them in developing their personalities in a positive manner. On the other hand, the philosophy behind determinism highlights the assumption that the individual’s behavior is driven by a spring of unconscious inspiration. On the other hand, person-centered theory and existential theory do not attribute with a particular techniques’ set. However, both these theories give attention to active listening, evidence, and amplification of ideas.
It is also important to mention here that even though person-centered theory and existential theory have a lot of similarities; they also are dissimilar in a number of ways. Existential theory motivates people to be aware of the true meaning of their lives and contemplate over their existence to become acquainted with the numerous options that are present to make their existence consequential, significant and focused. Its belief is rooted in the fact that personal transformation of people is driven by seeking the true meaning of their existence. Existential theory demonstrates that an individual starts to feel psychologically challenged or disturbed when he/she is not honest with him/herself. On the other hand, Person-centered Theory believes in the notion that people are driven to their natural self when faced with defensiveness, inadequacy, and dissimilar situations. According to person-centered theory, people can direct themselves really well without even the assistance of anyone. They have the ability to solve their problems by making changes that they consider necessary. Existential theory, on the other hand, “uses a positive approach that applauds human capacities while simultaneously maintaining a genuine perception of the limitations of the human being, human spirit, and human mind” (Kitano & LeVine, 1987).
Conclusion
To cut a long story short, the personality was seen by Freud as a set of three minds i.e. conscious, preconscious and unconscious. The conscious mind is aware of the present happenings whereas the unconscious mind deals with the memories, experiences and events that are forgotten or buried deep down. The preconscious mind deals with the unconscious and the conscious mind and the information stored in them. Rogers was of the belief that a majority of human beings are given the acceptance as children but that acceptance is conditional in nature. As a consequence, when people grow up, they behave in a manner to let themselves accepted by others. However, when they seek to get acceptance in such a way, people are found to behave in ways that do not match with their true self. Thus, when people act according to what they experience in early lives, they become disturbed in finding their real self and the ideal self. This contradiction makes them either secluded or alienated. Last but not the least, existential theory believes in individuals’ capability to write the stories of their life themselves by making appropriate choices.
It is to be noted that both freud’s pyschoanalytic theory and client-centered approaches are criticized to have certain inadequacies when it comes to practical applicability.
References
Diem-Wille, G. (2011). The Early Years of Life: Psychoanalytical Development Theory According to Freud, Klein and Bion. London: Karnac.
Gurman, A. S., & Messer, S. B. (2003).Essential Psychotherapies: Theory and Practice. New York: Guilford Press.
Kasschau, R. A. (1985). Psychology: Exploring Behavior. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs. Print.
Kitano, M. K., & LeVine, E. S. (1987). Existential theory: Guidelines for practice in child therapy. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 24(3), 404-413. doi:10.1037/h0085732
personality from The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. (2013). Questia. Retrieved August 3, 2013, from http://www.questia.com/read/1E1-persnlty/personality