Psychoanalytic Theory

Psychoanalytic Theory and Its Social Application

Universal and apparent in human is the use of humor in social interaction. In this paper one will examine humor through the discipline of Psychology, centering the focus on that of Psychoanalytic Theory as expounded by Sigmund Freud. The first half of the paper will take the form of an analytic approach, addressing the underlying theories that drive and explain human behavior. The second half of the paper will concentrate on the application aspect, drawing concrete examples using the theories described in the first part of the paper. As a whole, the paper aim towards the integration of theory with its practices in everyday life.

The field of study under the school of psychology for which

Core to transactional analysis is the ideas that each and every human have a tripartite frame of mind or ego-state that they display in interpersonal relationship. The three ego-state described is that of the parent ego-state, the adult ego-state, and the child ego-state. The parent ego-state represent all thoughts, behaviors, and feelings associated with parental characteristic (Tilney, 1998, p. 86). The adult ego-state refers to all thoughts, behaviors, and feelings associated with that of an adult, it is the rational part of the self, whereupon reason and logic is at the forefront. The adult ego-state is often explained as dealing with the 'here and now' reality (Tilney, 1998, p. 2). The child ego-state, similar to the parent ego-state, consist of all thoughts, behaviors, and feelings associated with that of childhood (Tilney, 1998, p.

Allow us here to examine the psychological dimension between two individual who are engaged in a humorous conversation. There are a multiplicty number of possible outcomes that can result from the interaction, we will here limit it to the three most common outcomes. The first outcome described person A telling a joke and person B do not laugh but frown upon person B. Common scenerio of which this occur is in relationships involving employer and an employee(s) or that of any two unequal ranking individual. The individual of superior ranking, here person B, commonly is in the parent ego-state while person A is in the child ego-state. The playfulness nature of the joke send by person A is frown upon by person B as a parent would frown upon a child. The second outcome described person A telling a joke and B respond to person B very mechanically and does not laught. Common scenerio of which this occur is in relationship between a client/customer and it's providers. Again, person A is in the child ego-state and person B is in the adult ego-state. Here person B, due to the mechanical nature of his/her work remains professional in the interaction; almost analogous to person A speaking with a machine. The third outcome describes person A telling a joke and person B laughs and the conversation continue. Common