1. Dr. Sushma Rathee
Assistant Clinical Psychologist , PGIMER,
Chandigarh
Email: sushmaratheecp@gmail.com
Theories of Personality

2. Psychoanalytic theories –
Sigmund Freud
 Sigmund Freud developed psychoanalysis, which
refers to Freud’s theory of personality, and also to
his method of therapy (two conceptually distinct
concepts).
 Central to a psychoanalytic approach is the
concept of unconscious mental processes –
the idea that unconscious motivations and needs
have a role in determining our behaviour.

3. Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic approach assumed that unconscious motivations
and needs have a role in determining our behaviour. (Fig. 14.2)

4. Freud’s models of the mind
 Freud developed a number of hypothetical
models to show how the mind (or what he called
the psyche) works:
 a topographic model of the psyche – or how the
mind is organized;
 a structural model of the psyche – or how
personality works;
 a psychogenetic model of development – or how
personality develops.

5. Topographic model of the psyche
 According to Freud, the conscious is the part of
the mind that holds everything you are currently
aware of.
 The preconscious contains everything you could
become aware of but are not currently thinking
about.
 The unconscious is the part of the mind that we
cannot usually become aware of.

6.  Freud saw the unconscious as holding all the
urges, thoughts and feelings that might cause us
anxiety, conflict and pain.
 Although we are unaware of them, these urges,
thoughts and feelings are considered by Freud to
exert an influence on our actions.

7. Structural model of the psyche
 Alongside the three levels of consciousness, Freud
(1923/62, 1933) developed a structural model of
personality involving what he called the id, the ego
and the superego (see figure 14.3).

8. Figure 10.6
FIGURE 10.6 The approximate relationship between the id, ego, and superego, and the levels
of awareness.

9.  As the source of energy and impulse, the id has
two drives, closely related to the ‘pleasure
principle’:
1. Eros – a drive for life, love, growth and self
preservation;
2. Thanatos – a drive for aggression and death.
 The superego has two sub-systems:
1. Conscience, or images of what is right and what
deserves punishment – this is the basis for guilt;
2. Ego ideal, or images of what is rewarded or
approved of – this is the basis for pride.

10.  According to Freud, the ego, operating according
to the ‘reality principle’, mediates between id
impulses, superego directives and the real world.
 Conflicts in this process can lead to three types of
anxiety:
1. neurotic anxiety – that the id will get out of control;
2. moral anxiety – that past or future behaviour is
immoral;
3. reality anxiety – about objective dangers in the
environment.

11. Table 13.1
Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development

12.  Orally fixated adult personality: overeating, drinking
too much, chain smoking, talking too much, nail biting,
gum chewing, and a tendency to be either too
dependent and optimistic (when the oral needs are
overindulged) or too aggressive and pessimistic
(when the oral needs are denied) .
 Anal expulsive personalities (so called because as
children they expelled their feces purposefully) are
what most people would call “slobs.” Some children,
however, are terrified of making a mess and rebel
passively—refusing to go at all or retaining the feces.
No mess, no punishment. As adults, they are stingy,
stubborn, and excessively neat (Anal retentive
personality).

13.  boys develop both sexual attraction to their
mothers and jealousy of their fathers during this
stage, a phenomenon called the Oedipus
complex.
 Girls go through a similar process called the
Electra complex with their father as the target of
their affections and their mother as the rival.

14. Figure 13.5
Freud believed that psychoanalysis could bring parts of the unconscious into the conscious mind, where the client
could deal with them.

15.  When anxiety cannot be dealt with by realistic
methods, the ego calls upon various defence
mechanisms to release the tension.
 Defence mechanisms include:
 displacement – substituting an acceptable behaviour for
an anxiety-inducing one;
 projection – projecting the threatening thing on to
others;
 reaction formation – creating an attitude opposite to the
one that you hold;
 intellectualization – transforming emotional or affective
drives into rational intentions; and
 regression – reverting to modes of behaviour from
childhood in order to avoid conflict.

16. Erik Erikson’s psychosocial
theory
Erikson developed a theory
of personality development
with a focus on social adaptation.
He calls attention to the
problems of social adaptation.
With advancing age we face a wider
range of human relationships.
 He believed that “human personality in principle develops
according to steps pre-determined in the growing person’s
readiness to be driven toward, to be aware of, and to
interact with, a widening social radius”.

17. Stages of Personality
Development
1. Basic trust vs. basic mistrust :The mother carries out and reflects their
inner perceptions of trustworthiness, a sense of personal meaning, etc. on
the child. If successful in this, the baby develops a sense of trust, which
“forms the basis in the child for a sense of identity“.
2. Autonomy vs. Shame : During this stage the child is trying to master
toilet training.
3. Purpose - Initiative vs. Guilt : Does the child have the ability to or do
things on their own, such as dress him or herself? If "guilty" about making
his or her own choices, the child will not function well.
4. Competence - Industry vs. Inferiority : Child can recognize major
disparities in personal abilities relative to other children.

18. Cont…
5. Fidelity - Identity vs. Role Confusion - Questioning of self. Who am I,
how do I fit in? Where am I going in life? Erikson believes, that if the
parents allow the child to explore, they will conclude their own identity.
However, if the parents continually push him/her to conform to their
views, the teen will face identity confusion.
6. Intimacy vs. isolation - This is the first stage of adult development.
Dating, marriage, family and friendships are important during the stage
in their life. By successfully forming loving relationships with other
people, individuals are able to experience love and intimacy. Those who
fail to form lasting relationships may feel isolated and alone.
7. Generativity vs. stagnation: During this time people are normally
settled in their life and know what is important to them. During this time, a
person is enjoying raising their children and participating in activities,
that gives them a sense of purpose. If a person is not comfortable with
the way their life is progressing, they're usually regretful about the
decisions and feel a sense of uselessness.

19. Cont…
8. Ego integrity vs. despair : During this stage an individual has
reached the last chapter in their life and retirement is approaching or has
already taken place. Many people, who have achieved what was
important to them, look back on their lives and feel great
accomplishment and a sense of integrity. Conversely, those who had a
difficult time during middle adulthood may look back and feel a sense of
despair.
 Favorable outcomes of each stage are sometimes known as "virtues“.
 Erikson suggests that each individual must learn how to hold both
extremes of each specific life-stage challenge in tension with one
another, not rejecting one end of the tension or the other.
 Only when both extremes in a life-stage challenge are understood and
accepted as both required and useful, can the optimal virtue for that
stage surface.