Sigmund Freud's Object Relations Theory

Related Theories:

The idea that the human mind-that faculty of the intellect which we use to define and discern the truth-might also be used to deceive itself is not new. The classic orator Demosthenes warned of this possibility in 349 B.C. when he wrote that "Nothing is easier than to deceive one 's self; what a man wishes he generally believes to be true." Even Jean Jacques Rousseau, who suggested the possibility of man as "noble savage," alerts us to this paradox, when he writes "Jamais fa nature ne nous trompe; c 'est toujours nous qui nous trompons" ("Nature never deceives us; it is always we who deceive ourselves”). But it was Sigmund Freud who placed this idea firmly into the field of psychopathology and then, later, into a general

Based on psychodynamic theory, the object relations theory suggests that the way people relate to others and situations in their adult lives are shaped by family experiences during infancy. For example, an adult who experienced neglect or abuse in infancy would expect similar behavior from others who remind them of the neglectful or abusive parent from their past. These images of people and events turn into objects in unconscious that the "self" carries into adulthood, and they are used by the unconscious to predict people 's behavior in their social relationships and

Some view development as a discontinuous process. They believe development involves distinct and separate stages with different kinds of behavior occurring in each stage. This suggests that the development of certain abilities in each stage, such as specific emotions or ways of thinking, have a definite starting and ending point. However, there is no exact time at which ability suddenly appears or disappears. Although some types of thinking, feeling or behaving may seem to appear suddenly, it is more than likely that this has been developing gradually for some