Psychodynamic Assumptions

• Influences of childhood experiences

  • Early childhood experiences have an effect on later development

  • Aspects of our behaviour + emotions as adults can be linked to stages + events in childhood

  Frustration or overindulgence at stages can then be reflected In adult personality characteristics

  • During each stage libido (life force) is attached to a specific part of the body 
  • If a child becomes frustrated or overindulged at a stage it can lead to fixation - becoming stuck at a stage due to being too comfortable or not enough.
• Oral stage(0-1 years old)-id part of personality is present

  • Libido is focussed on the mouth

  • Pleasure gained from biting, sucking and chewing

  • Major life events include breast feeding and weaning from milk to solid foods

  Frustration needy,gullible,optimistic

  Overindulgence pessimistic.jealous,smokes

  Anal stage(1-3 years old)-ego starts to develop

  • Libido is focussed in the anus

  • Major life events include potty training

  Anal retention(rarely uses potty) =overly tidy

  Anal expulsion (uses potty too much) = reckless,messy
• Phallic stage(3-6 years old)-superego develops during this stage

  • Libido is focussed on the genitals

  • Major life events include Oedius complex for boys and Electra complex for girls

  • These happen unconsciously

  Oedipus complex

  • Boys sexually attracted to their mother

  • Sees father as love rival

  • Wishes to kill father which causes guilt

  • To resolve boys identify with father takes on his behaviour and values) to reduce guilt

  • Identification development of superego
• Phallic stage(3-6 years old)-superego develops during this stage

  Electra complex

  • Girls develop penis envy which is an envy for what boys have

  • Blame their mothers for this

  • Father become their love objects

  • Girls soon swap the envy for wish to have children

  • Identification with mother to resolve conflict development of a superego(weaker than a males)

  • Fixation at this stage leads to narcissistic behaviour
• Latency stage(6-12 years old)

  • Libido is dormant(asleep/not active)

  • Children in this stage spent time developing non sexual activities e.g. school,friendship

  • No fixation at this stage

  Genital stage(puberty onwards)

  • Libido is focussed on genital

  • Explore sexual relationships

  • If passed through other stages with no fixations, able to build normal relationships with opposite sex
• Tripartite personality

  • Freud believed the adult personality is split into three parts that develops at different stages

  The id

  • Unconscious, primitive and present from birth

  • Represents our innate,biological drives and impulses

  • Operates on pleasure principle

  • Seeks immediate gratification of basic needs/hunger,sexual desires)

  • Impulsive and ignores social norms or consequences
• The ego

  • Around age 2

  • Conscious and rational

  • Works on balancing demands of id and superego in a socially normal way

  • Governed by reality principle

  The superego

  • Around age 4

  • Sense of right and wrong

  • Contains our ideal self

  • Gained through identification with parent (inherit moral value from same sex parent)

  • Governed by morality principle
• The id and superego are in conflict with one another

  When these are in conflict with one another the ego acts as a referee in order to resolve the conflict

  • Depending on the dynamic of the threes parts of the personality, different behaviour traits can be displayed

  Dominant id:

  • Impulsive,selfish,irrational, uncontrollable

  Dominant superego:

  • Excessive guilt, very moralistic,judgemental

  Ego strength:

  • Well balanced, rational
• The Unconscious Mind

  • Freud believe that the unconscious mind determines much of our behaviour, similar to an iceberg whatever goes on underneath of it has the greatest and biggest influence

  • In the unconscious mind, unconscious drives(pleasure,sex, aggression from the id) and any unresolved conflicts from childhood are stored

  • Drives much if our behaviour in later life

  • Provokes anxiety within
• The ego which is the conscious part of the mind, defends itself from the anxiety created with various ego defence mechanism

  Examples of defence mechanisms

  • Repression

  Pushing painful memories deep down into our unconscious mind, sometimes known as 'motivated forgetting'

  • Displacement

  Satisfying an impulse with a msubstitute object

  • Projection

  Undesirable thoughts are attributed to someone else