(Freud, 1949) Help is provided to the clients to enable them strengthen their EGO and protect it from being in any conflict between their ID and SUPEREGO. This theory is used to rectify the client’s character and their system of personality if found to have issues. The theory aims at making the unconscious, conscious by releasing the repressed emotions and experiences. Psychoanalytic theory also aims at helping clients work through their developmental stages not previously resolved well to solve the problem of fixation. Basic Assumptions of Psychoanalytic Theory The first basic assumption of Psychoanalytic theory is that all mental processes are not spontaneous but are caused by the unconscious or pre-existing mental complexes.
Help is provided to the clients to enable them strengthen their EGO and protect it from being in any conflict between their ID and SUPEREGO. This theory is used to rectify the client’s character and their system of personality if found to have issues. The theory aims at making the unconscious, conscious by releasing the repressed emotions and experiences. Psychoanalytic theory also aims at helping clients work through their developmental stages not previously resolved well to solve the problem of fixation. Basic Assumptions of Psychoanalytic Theory The first basic assumption of Psychoanalytic theory is that all mental processes are not spontaneous but are determined by the unconscious or pre-existing mental complexes.
1. Context From Ancient Greece to modern times, individual differences in behaviour have been commonly understood as linked to temperament or personality. Some psychologists, starting with Freud, believed that such differences could be the result of hidden unconscious factors (psychodynamic approach). The promoters of behaviourism, such as Skinner, believed that personality aspects may be the result of conditioning by external factors. Some (for instance, Kelly) focused on cognition, others (such as Mischel) on social factors, while others (Maslow, Rogers) put an emphasis on individuals’ goals in the realization of their potential (humanistic approach).
The ego considers social realities and norms, etiquette and rules in deciding how to behave. The Superego: The superego incorporates the values and morals of society which are learned from one 's parents and others. It develops around the age of 3 – 5 during the phallic stage of psychosexual development.The superego 's function is to control the id 's impulses, especially those which society forbids, such as sex and aggression. It also has the function of persuading the ego to turn to moralistic goals. The superego consists of two systems: The conscience and the ideal self.
Meanwhile, Freud concepts of the id, ego, and superego are ways of describing people personality and characteristics; the id is a desire drive that wants to be fulfilled. The examples that Freud gave to explained the purpose of the id is: "to seek pleasure... unencumbered by restrictions of ego and superego with no regards to what is possible, or what is proper" (Feist 30). The ego is described as people everyday personality. The superego is described as human’s cultural norms and their social impact. In addition Freud believed that our personality is largely developed through the stage of development.
Furthermore, Cloninger (2008) also tells that ego is working as the major conscious centre to resolve the issues arise from both the impulsive urge of id and the moral restriction from the superego. In a simple way, ego is the information centre of the mind that carries out duties to maintain a harmonious balance between id and superego: first to receive knowledge from internal and external environments, second is to reserve the information either in consciously or unconsciously way and third is to process the information and carry out the decision making to decide a response or a reaction based on the need of id and superego (Goldwater,
The trait of extraversion–introversion is a central dimension of human personality theories. The terms introversion and extraversion were first popularized by Carl Jung, although both the popular understanding and psychological age differ from his original intent. Extraversion tends to be manifested in outgoing, talkative, energetic behavior, whereas introversion is manifested in more reserved and solitary behavior. Extraversion and introversion are typically viewed as a single continuum. Thus, to be high on one it is necessary to be low on the other.
To have a better understanding in this introduction about the three concepts of personality and its validity as a whole; first there is need to understand Freud 's theory in the three stages of the model of the mind, which are the conscious, meaning being aware of the surroundings, preconscious, being less aware, and unconscious, being a part of the mind that one is not aware like dreaming or fantasizing. Freud had divided that only part of the ego is 'conscious ' which are ideals or thoughts that 'can be seen ' while the id and superego are 'unconscious ' which are the thoughts and beliefs that are 'hidden
It relies on the morality principle acting as a censor and conscience by telling what is right and wrong. (Thompson & Meggit, 2004) Freud proposed a “stage theory”. He believed that an individual must pass through one stage to reach the next stage of development and thought that each stage could have a negative outcome and an individual could become stuck or fixated in a stage (O 'Brien, 2013). Freud’s five stages of psychosexual development are: • Oral (0-2 years) • Anal (2-3 years) • Phallic (3-6 years) • Latent (6-11 years) • Genital (11+ years) He also studied a number of defence mechanisms. “Defence mechanisms are mental processes which are automatically triggered when anxiety occurs”
He said that only about one-tenth of our mind is conscious, and the rest of our mind is unconscious. Our unconscious refers to that mental activity of which we are unaware and are unable to access. According to Freud, unacceptable urges and desires are kept in our unconscious through a process called repression. For example, we sometimes say things that we don’t intend to say by unintentionally substituting another word for the one we meant. You’ve probably heard of a Freudian slip, the term used to describe this.