Psychodynamic

• Assumptions

  • the unconscious mind is the driving force for all behaviour
  • childhood experiences effect us later in life
• Structure of Personality (tripartite)

  Id - pleasure principle, present at birth

  Ego - reality principle, mediator - defence mechanisms

  Super Ego - morality principle, formed at the end of phallic stage
• Psychosexual Stages

  1. Oral - 0-1, mouth
  2. Anal - 1-3, anus
  3. Phallic - 3-6, genitals
  4. Latency - conflicts are repressed
  5. Genital - puberty, heterosexual relationships
• Defence Mechanisms

  • unconscious psychological strategies that protects a person from anxiety
  • e.g. denial, displacement, repression
• Strengths of the psychodynamic approach

  • real world application - psychotherapy
  • ability to explain human behaviour - + impact on psychology
• Limitations of the psychodynamic approach

  • untestable - not falsifiable - not open to empirical testing
  • pseudoscientific