The Psychoanalytic Approach

When discussing personality in psychology, it helps to think of it as a consistency in behavior and preferences among a variety of situations. Imagine you have won the lottery, for example. Even though many parts of your life would change forever, would many of your core personality traits shift as a result?

Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality Development

Imagine that you are a physician. What would you think of a patient who complained of partial paralysis in her arm, but after thorough examination no physical injury was evident?

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) encountered many similar situations when he practiced as a physician in Vienna, Austria. Freud would talk with patients who complained of painful symptoms, but lacked a physical explanation for the cause. He would ask them questions in hopes of uncovering their deepest thoughts and fears, and reveal hidden clues about the pain. Freud concluded that many of our truest intentions, thoughts, fears, and motivations are outside of our conscious awareness. In other words, he believed humans are not truly aware of "why we do what we do."

Take a moment to consider why you chose to take certain elective classes in school. You may say that you were simply interested in a particular subject, but Freud would likely argue that there are other unseen forces that influenced your decision. In this interactivity, you will study Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality development, and learn more about your decision-making based on this theory. Click the player to begin.

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Three Elements of the Mind: Id, Ego, and Superego

Freud believed war and struggle exists in three parts of our unconscious mind: the id, the ego, and the superego. Furthermore, he contended that an imbalance of these would produce personality problems and negative traits. Explore each of these unconscious elements.

Defense Mechanisms

Freud contended that feelings of anxiety result from a struggle between the id and superego. He proposed that anxiety escalates when society's social rules prevent you from giving into the id. His theory also involved the idea of defense mechanisms, which enable the ego to create strategies that protect and reduce anxiety. These defense mechanisms operate without your awareness. Click the player to begin.

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Freud's Psychosexual Stages of Development

A cornerstone of Freud’s theory is the idea that much of your personality forms during childhood. He believed that children pass through five psychosexual stages during development. If a child lacks proper nurturing or suffers from some kind of trauma, he or she may become stuck or fixated in a particular phase of development. Freud claimed that such a fixation would prompt the emergence of the stage's defining traits during adulthood.

According to Freud, from birth through adolescence, sexual energy focuses on different parts of the body, called erogenous zones. He believed these erogenous zones were connected to basic life functions that are pleasurable because they are necessary for survival. For example, a child who gains pleasure from breastfeeding will continue the activity, gaining vital nutrients. This interactivity will focus on Freud's psychosexual stages. Click the player to begin.

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Neo-Freudians

At the height of his career, Freud was the most popular figure in psychology and had many followers. A few of his followers went on to make their own important contributions to the field. These followers, called Neo-Freudians, agreed with Freud’s ideas of the unconscious mind; however, they disagreed with his overemphasis of the role of sexual conflict in the development of personality. In this interactivity, you will learn about a few of these Neo-Freudians. Click the player to begin.

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The Psychoanalytic Approach Review

Now that you have learned about Sigmund Freud and the psychoanalytic approach, it is time to review. Use your knowledge of the psychoanalytic approach to complete this non-graded interactivity. Click on the player to get started.