Psychodynamic Theory Of Personality Made Easy

Psychoanalytical Theory was first introduced by a German neurologist Sigmund Freud in his famous book “Studies in Hysteria” which he wrote with his colleague Dr. Joseph Breuer in 1896. The cornerstone of this theory was one of his patients named Bertha Papenheim which is known as Anna “O” in the literature.  She was complaining to be a patient of neurological disorders, a paralysis of her legs and right arm etc. She had been treated by many doctors before Freud and his colleague Dr. Joseph, but they found no organic cause of her illness. Then, Dr. Joseph started her treatment.  He treated her for two years. And most of the symptoms of her illness disappeared. Now she was feeling quite well. But when she proclaimed that she was pregnant with Dr. Joseph’s child and people began to rumor about them (though she had no real pregnancy and it was merely a delusion of her mind). Dr. Joseph and his wife were greatly shocked by this alarming situation. Consequently, Dr. Joseph resigned from Anna O’s therapist. Later on, her treatment was continued by Freud and he was successful in discovering the secret of her illness. Freud found that the origin of her illness is in the unconscious part of her brain. This illness was known as “hysteria” (no called as conversion disorder) in those days.   Ok, it was a short back story of this theory. Now let us come to the main story.
The Conscious and Unconscious
According to Sigmund Freud our behaviors and actions are controlled by two zones of our brain, the conscious zone and the unconscious zone. He says that most of our actions are caused by the unconscious part of our brain, which is about 90% of the total brain, while the conscious part plays a very little role in influencing our behaviors.  He gives an example of an iceberg floating in the sea.  He says that the peak, that part which is above the water level,  of the iceberg is the conscious zone, while the bottom of the iceberg, that part which is under the water level, is the unconscious zone of our brain. The third part of our brain is the preconscious zone which acts like a buffer zone between these two zones. Freud says that those things which are present in the unconscious zone are not easily accessible to our mind, while those in the conscious zone are always available to our mind. We are unaware of those things which are present in the unconscious zone.

We perform many activities and experience various things in our daily life. All these things affect our brain directly or indirectly, and they are stored in our memory. Some of these things are very embarrassing and make us unhappy. So we try to forget them and send them to the unconscious zone of our brain to keep ourselves cool and calm. Freud called this process Repression. But it is not always true. Sometimes they suddenly enter into the conscious zone of our brain and influence our behavior. Similarly, we make many mistakes in our daily conversations. Freud says that these slips of tongue are not due to chance but they are the results of those factors which are present in the unconscious zone of our brain.

Structural Model Of Psychodynamic Theory Of Personality

The Id, Ego and Super Ego

According to the Psychodynamic Theory our personality is consisted of three components, the id, ego and super ego. Let us examine these components one by one.

Id

Id belongs to our intrinsic drives, urges, desires or wishes like hunger, thirst, sex drive, feelings of love and hate etc.  Id works on the principle of pleasures.  It does not take care for social or moral values. It only knows how to fulfill its desires and needs immediately. For example when we are hungry, our Id induces us to get some food by hook or by Crooke. Id can better be observed in babies and infants. Baby is a good example of Id. We see that when a baby becomes hungry, she starts crying to tell you that she wants some milk. And when she gets milk, she stops crying. Think! Who taught her to behave like this in times of hunger? Of course, no one, but it is totally intrinsic and natural process. So we can say that Id is a built-in component of personality.  People who have this factor in abundance would be selfish, rude and egotist etc.

Ego

Ego is a rational component of personality. It works on the principle of reality. It tells us what is real and what is imaginary. Ego works like a guide. It guides our Id in fulfilling its needs in a socially acceptable way. Sometimes, it is said that Ego plays the role of mediator. When a conflict arises between Id and Super Ego, Ego mediates between them.

Super Ego

Super Ego is the third and most ideal element of personality.  This element is closely connected with our social life. Super Ego takes care for social and moral values. For example, when you need some money for your necessities but you don’t have any money. Your Id will tell you to get the money somehow, but Super Ego will stop you from adopting any illegal or socially unacceptable behavior. Super Ego is a very important element of personality and most of our daily actions and activities are directed by it.  It enables us to distinguish between right and wrong. It advises us what to do and what not to do. It teaches us that we should comply with the norms of the society. In short it tells us “Do at Rome as the Romans do.”

Stages of Personality

Freud described the following psychosexual stages of personality.

Oral Stage:

This stage starts from the birth of a child and lasts till the age of 18 months. During this stage the child gets pleasure through oral, mouth related, activities like sucking, biting and chewing. In adulthood its impact can be seen in the form of biting nails, smoking and the habit of overeating.

Anal Stage:

This stage starts from the age of 18 months and lasts till the age of three or four years. The child gets toilet training in this stage. The source of pleasure during this stage is anal, anus related, activities like holding it in and letting out at a suitable time. The impact of this stage in adulthood can be seen in the form of regularity, orderliness, neatness, cleanliness etc.

Phallic Stage:

This stage starts from the age of four years and lasts till the age of six or seven years. The child gets pleasure through phallic, penis related, activities like massaging or rubbing at the outer sex organs. Children become aware of gender differences in this stage. Masturbation is common in this stage. Children begin to internalize the values, attitudes and behavior of their same-sexed parent in this stage.

Latent Stage:

This stage starts from the age of seven and lasts till puberty i.e. till the age of 12 years. Sexual impulses become dormant or latent in this stage. Love for opposite sex disappears or becomes less obvious during this stage. Boys lose their interest in girls, and like to make groups with their peers. Similarly girls like to spend most of their time with other girls. This stage is a stage of learning and social development.

Genital Stage:

This is the last stage which starts from puberty i.e. from the age of 12 years. In this stage love for opposite sex reappears again. The source of pleasure is this stage is real love and affection. Sexual intercourse is the most pleasurable activity in this stage.

According to Freud all of the above five stages are very important and they have great impact on the future life of a person. He says that for balanced and healthy personality all these stages should be conquered successfully.

Defense Mechanisms:

Defenses Mechanisms consists of those techniques which are used by our Ego to protect us from anxiety, and to keep us psychologically healthy. As already mentioned, the job of Ego is to meet the demands of Id and Super Ego. But sometime, it is not possible for Ego to keep them both happy. If he keeps one happy the other will become angry and vice versa. To resolve this problem, Ego searches for an alternative solution. But, if it fails in finding a real solution, it will resorts to a false solution of the problem, because it does not want to bring the issue into the notice of our conscious. So it deceives our conscious and pretends that nothing has happened. In fact, Ego plays this illegal role for the sake of our psychological health. Hence we should thank our Ego. Following are some of the defense mechanisms which are used by our Ego.

Rationalization:

Rationalization is a technique which we use when we confront with failure in doing/achieving something. For example if I fails a screening test for a job. And someone ask me, “Why did you fail in the test? My possible answer would be that the questions were irrelevant. But it may not be true, because most of the candidates have passed in the same test. In fact, I am rationalizing my bad performance in the test by making false excuses. So I put all the responsibility on the shoulder of the examiner, just to prove myself innocent, and to protect myself from the resultant anxiety.

Projection:

This defense mechanism takes place when we think that other people have the same feelings as ours. In other words, we are projecting our undesirable feelings onto others. For example if I think that people hate me, while in fact, I hate myself. Similarly, if I say that a certain friend of mine is jealous of me, while in fact, I am jealous of him. Then, I am projecting my undesirable feelings onto my friend. This technique protects us from the feelings of guilt, thereby relieve our anxiety.

Sublimation:

Sublimation is a process of converting your unpleasant feeling into something creative or positive. For example when you are angry with someone, you may do vigorous exercise.  In fact, you are redirecting your anger towards positive activity, doing exercise. Sublimation sometimes, results in creative activities like poetry, painting and composing etc.  

Reaction Formation:

Reaction Formation takes place when we begin to react against our objectionable desires. For example if I have strong desire for alcohol but I think that it is not good for my health, so I begin to hate alcohol. Put simply, when we do just opposite of what we want to do, then we are using the Reaction Formation Mechanism.

Displacement:

Displacement is a technique through which we redirect our feelings from the target person or thing towards another person or thing.  For example when you are frustrated by your boss, you may go home and kick your pet dog, or bit your family member etc. In displacement we divert our feelings from the target to the substitute.

Denial:

When we are not ready to accept the ground reality about something undesirable, we are using the denial mechanism. For example if I am smoking addict and I know that smoking is injurious for heath, but I don’t accept this fact. Then I am using denial mechanism. In fact, I am deceiving my conscious. I do this because I want to safeguard myself against the feelings of guilt and shame.

Regression:

Regression means going back to an earlier or less mature position. This happens when you are under severe stress or pressure. For example when you are hurt or frightened you may cry or scream loudly. Similarly when you are under severe stress you may frown, suck your thumb, bite your finger’s nail, pout your lower lip etc.

The psychodynamic theory is a pioneer of modern personality theories. Since it is based on the case studies of Freud’s patients, not on empirical evidences, therefore many theorists have criticized it on the grounds that its validity can’t be measured through modern scientific tools. Another criticism on this theory came from feminists who are of the view that this theory is male oriented.

Read More