psychodynamic approach

• The psychodynamic approach attempts to explain human behaviour in terms of underlying forces
• Influence of childhood experiences
• Freud suggested that childhood experiences can influence our adult personality
• He suggests that each individual goes through a series of 5 psychosexual stages
• Each stage focuses on the libido of a different part of the body
• If a problem occurs at any stage of development the child may get fixated
• Fixation can occur in 2 forms:

  Frustration (child has not received enough satisfaction at that stage)

  Overindulgence (child has received too much satisfaction at that stage
• oral (0-18 months)

  mouth

  breastfeeding, weaning

  frustration - pessimism, envy, sarcasm

  overindulgence - optimism, gullibility, neediness
• anal (18 months - 3 years)

  anus

  potty training

  frustration - stubborn, possessive, overly tidy

  overindulgence - messy, disorganised, reckless
• phallic (3-5 years)

  genitals: masturbation

  oedipus/electra complex

  self assured, vain, problems with sexuality, problems maintaining relationships
• latency (5 years - puberty)

  no sexual motivation

  acquiring knowledge and understanding

  no fixation as no pleasure focus
• genital (puberty onwards)

  genitals: heterosexual intercourse

  well developed adult personality, well adjusted if problems during phallic stage are resolved
• example: Little Hans (1908)
• young boy who had a fear of horses, freud believed was due to unconscious mind
• freud suggested the fear of horses symbolised deeper fears. Little Hans associated his dad with horses, and saw both as a threat
• The Unconscious Mind
• Freud suggested that our mind is structured like an iceberg
• The conscious mind is the part of our mind that we are aware of, it

  is logical e.g. conscious thought processes
• The preconscious mind occurs just below the surface and is accessible when we need it e.g. memories
• The unconscious mind is the part of our mind that determines most of our behaviour and is ruled by pleasure seeking. It can only be accessed indirectly e.g. through dreams
• Ego Defence Mechanisms
• In the unconscious mind, ego defence mechanisms are used to protect the ego from anxiety
• Repression – pushing painful memories into the unconscious mind so that they are forgotten
• Projection – undesirable thoughts are attributed to someone else
• Displacement – transferring impulses from a target onto another object or person
• Regression – Reverting back to a previous stage of psychosexual development
• Example: Gothelf et al. (1995)
• Gothelf et al. (1995) found that regression, denial, projection and repression were common to psychiatric patients suffering from severe adolescent anorexia
• These patterns distinguished them from adolescents without any psychiatric disorder.
• It was found that anorexic adolescents relied on more mature defence mechanisms than other adolescents.
• The Tripartite Personality
• Freud believed that adult personality is structured into 3 parts that develop at different stages in our lives
• Id – Unconscious and present from birth. Demands immediate satisfaction, is referred to as the pleasure principle
• Ego – Conscious and rational part of our mind, develops around the age of 2. Its function is work out realistic ways of balancing the demands of the Id and Superego. Is referred to as the reality principle
• Superego – Forms around the age of 4. Represents right and wrong and the ideal self and is learned from identification with parents and others. It is referred to as the morality principle
• Example: Bowlby (1944)
• An example of the tripartite personality within psychology, concerns Bowlby’s 44 thieves research
• In this study it was suggested that damage to the relationship between mother & child could affect the development of the superego.
• This could lead to a reduced sense of right & wrong and explain the thieving behaviour of the children in the study
• Application to the formation of a relationship