Personality Theory

Personality Theory Paper – Psychodynamic

Alisa M. Davis

Psych/504 Personality Theories

March 16, 2011

Instructor Gloria So-Lloyd

Personality Theory Paper – Psychodynamic

Within the study of psychology, there are many different personality theories. This paper will discuss psychodynamics and where Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung stand on this theory. This paper will provide key figures and concepts of personality formation; explain disorder of personality, validity, comprehensiveness, applicability and cultural utility for each theory. According to the text, Personality: Theory and Research, (2010) psychodynamics is defined as the theory and systematic study of the psychological forces that underlie human behavior; the dynamic relations between conscious and unconscious motivation.

Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939) Psychodynamics was initially developed by Sigmund Freud and three other individuals, one of whom will be discussed later within this paper. Sigmund Freud is best known for his theory of the unconscious mind. He theorized that conscious part of an individual’s mind made up only a minuscule portion and that the unconscious mind determined an individual’s actions and feelings without being aware of it. Although the idea was brand new and far fetched Sigmund Freud did succeed in popularizing the theory.
Disorder of Personality and Validity At the heart of psychological processes, according to Freud, is the ego, which he sees battling with three forces: the id, the super-ego, and the outside world. Hence, the basic psychodynamic model focuses on the dynamic interactions between the id, ego, and superego. Freud writes about the “engines of human behavior,” the disorder of personality and validity. Are the theories that Freud writes about valid or credible. Psychodynamics attempts to interpret or explain behavior and mental states in terms of innate emotional processes or forces. According to Freud, psychodynamic therapies are dependent upon a theory of inner conflict, the action of repressed emotions and behaviors surface into the patient’s consciousness; however, one conflict is generally subconscious.
Comprehensiveness
Psychodynamic theory is based largely upon the unconscious; however, some believe the unconscious does not exist. Freud developed his ideas in an era of great repression both sexually and socially lacking. In today’s modern society many individuals do not believe in or understand Freud’s theory. For example one of Freud’s theories or views was an individual who suffered from bulimia or anorexia used food as a substitute for sexual desires. The comprehensiveness of Freud’s work is understood differently by each individual who studies it.
Applicability and Cultural Utility On this same subject Westen (p. 334) gives as the first, and most central, proposition to which all psychodynamic theorists generally adhere that "much of mental life... is unconscious." A little later (p. 335) he acknowledges that "Freud was not the first to notice unconscious processes: poets and philosophers beat him to it. He was, however, the first to build a systematic psychological theory on this proposition, which was attacked vociferously by psychologists of nearly every persuasion for almost a century." What is obscured by this way of presenting the facts is that the Freudian extensions of the widely-held notion of unconscious mental processes were, for the most part, *deservedly* criticised by psychologists in the twentieth century.

Carl Jung (1875 – 1961)

Among psychodynamic theorists, the name Carl Jung is probably second only to Freud in terms of popular recognition. Though at one time he was a close friend of Freud, and seen by Freud as his potential successor, Jung was already a practicing therapist before he first made contact with Freud. As the text notes, Freud had a poor track record in terms of mentoring, with many of his best students ultimately separating from him on bad terms, usually because of disputes about the theory of psychoanalysis. (Freud was a pioneer, but he seemed to have little tolerance for critics.)

Jung ultimately developed his own theory, which differed in important respects from Freud 's. Most significant were his de-emphasis of the importance of sexuality and aggression as motives, and his division of theunconscious into the personal (much like Freud 's original concept) and the collective (a universal unconscious, containing symbolic patterns called archetypes). (For more information, see text and or links below.)

At the turn of the 20th century, during these decisive years, a young Swiss psychiatrist named Carl Jung had been following Freud’s writings and had sent him copies of his articles and his first book, the 1907 Psychology of Dementia Praecox, in which he upheld the Freudian psychodynamic viewpoint, although with some reservations. That year, Freud invited Jung to visit him in Vienna. The two men, it is said, were greatly attracted to each other, and they talked continuously for thirteen hours. This led to a professional relationship in which they corresponded on a weekly basis, for a period of six years.

Carl Jung 's contributions in psychodynamic psychology include:

1. The psyche tends toward wholeness.

2. The self is composed of the ego, the personal unconscious, the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious contains the archetypes which manifest in ways particular to each individual.

3. Archetypes are composed of dynamic tensions and arise spontaneously in the individual and collective psyche. Archetypes are autonomous energies common to the human species. They give the psyche its dynamic properties and help organize it. Their effects can be seen in many forms and across cultures.

4. The Transcendent Function: The emergence of the third resolves the split between dynamic polar tensions within the archetypal structure.

5. The recognition of the spiritual dimension of the human psyche.

6. The role of images which spontaneously arise in the human psyche (images include the interconnection between affect, images, and instinct) to communicate the dynamic processes taking place in the personal and collective unconscious, images which can be used to help the ego move in the direction of psychic wholeness.

7. Recognition of the multiplicity of psyche and psychic life, that there are several organizing principles within the psyche, and that they are at times in conflict.

References

Cervone & Pervin, (2010). Personality: Theory and Research (11th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Retrieved March 08, 2011 from https://portal.phoenix.edu/classroom.edu/classroom/ coursematerials/psych_504/20110345/
Santrock, J. W. (2010). A topical approach to life-span development (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Retrieved March 08, 2011 from https://portal.phoenix.edu/classroom. edu/classroom/coursematerials/psych_500/20110126/
Westen, D. (1998). "The Scientific Legacy of Sigmund Freud: Toward a Psychodynamically Informed Psychological Science." Psychological Bulletin, 124 (3), 1998, pp. 333-371.

References: Cervone & Pervin, (2010). Personality: Theory and Research (11th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Retrieved March 08, 2011 from https://portal.phoenix.edu/classroom.edu/classroom/ coursematerials/psych_504/20110345/ Santrock, J. W. (2010). A topical approach to life-span development (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Retrieved March 08, 2011 from https://portal.phoenix.edu/classroom. edu/classroom/coursematerials/psych_500/20110126/ Westen, D. (1998). "The Scientific Legacy of Sigmund Freud: Toward a Psychodynamically Informed Psychological Science." Psychological Bulletin, 124 (3), 1998, pp. 333-371.