freud

• eros

  focused on the enjoyment and preservation of life
• Thanatos

  a drive towards death and destruction
• human behaviour is seen as an interaction between the two opposing forces of Eros and Thanatos and consequently prevent us from hurting ourselves
• human are not uncontrollably aggressive all the time Freud believed this is due to catharsis
• Freud's theory of personality development was based around his structural model of the mind (id, ego & superego)
• catharsis is a way of satisfying our urges without resorting to violent impulses by watching or taking part in minor aggression such as video games or sports
• The id operates according to the pleasure principle - it seeks immediate gratification of its desires without regard for reality or consequences
• the ego develops around age two
• the id is the most primitive part of the personality that is completely driven by the impulses of eros and thanatos with no thought for consequences
• at age two the ego emerges
• the ego is driven by the reality principle and it urges the id to be controlled and delayed
• when the ego develops the norms and rules of society are learned but the ego does not understand from right or wrong
• the superego develops between age three and six
• the superego operates on the morality principle and has an understanding from right and wrong
• the development of the superego makes it so that the urges of the id are not only delayed until and appropriate time and place, but the child begins to feel pride for acting correctly and guilt for incorrect behaviour
• assuming the superego is well developed aggressive impulses should be well controlled
• according to Freud any issues in the development of the ego or superego could result in problems in managing the impulsive urges of the id and therefore aggressive behaviour could be frequent
• catharsis 


  the process of releasing negative energy in the mind
• morality principle 


  the concept of understanding what is right from wrong
• reality principle 


  the rules of what is socially acceptable, the ego uses these principles to control the demands of the id
• Bushman (2002)


  Experiment into the role of catharsis in controlling aggression. Found that participants who engaged in catharsis and vented their anger were more aggressive than those who did nothing after they had been purposely angered by another person.
• many scientifically tested studies into Freuds concepts actually contradict his claims
• Freuds concepts are subjective and difficult to test as they cannot be seen
• Freud believed the three aspects of personality are id, ego and superego and can be separated into the conscious, preconscious and unconscious