Ever wonder how you’ve become the person you are today? The truth lies in the concept of psychodynamic theory. Your past experiences, relationships, and influences have all contributed to your personality in some way or the other. In this post, we will discuss a number of psychodynamic theory examples to help you develop a better understanding of personality development from a psychological perspective.
What is the Psychodynamic Theory of Personality?
The psychodynamic theory is a collection of different psychological theories that together contribute to the psychodynamic perspective. These theories mainly emphasize on how one’s individual personality is an amalgamation of early childhood experiences and unconscious desires and impulses. Famous theorists such as Erik Erikson, Sigmund Freud and Alfred Alder have contributed to the psychodynamic theory.
Sigmund Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory
Sigmund Freud is among the most influential names in psychology. The Austrian neurologist is considered as the pioneers in the field of psychodynamics because of his extensive research.
Freud has also widely known for the wealth of work he has produced over the years. In his study, Freud categorized personality into three parts namely id, ego and superego.
According to Freud, a person is born with id – which drives us to fulfill our basic needs. The id can be inconsiderate, forcing one to run after their desires since it is fuelled by aggression.
However, as kids grow older, he or she develops the ego. Unlike id, ego is transfixed on the principle of reality and mediates between id and superego. The superego serves as a moral conscience which helps us differentiate between right and wrong.
Alfred Adler’s Inferiority and Birth Order
According to Alfred Adler’s theory, each one of us is born with a sense of inferiority. This is evidenced by how weak and fragile a newborn baby is. Adler believed that inferiority is an integral part of our personality. In fact, the very feeling of inferiority is what pushes us to become superior.
Alder also explained birth order and how older children may develop inferiority complex once they have a younger sibling. In this scenario, the middle child may feel more superior to their older sibling and consider themselves as healthy competition.
On the other hand, the youngest sibling is likely to feel the most helpless of the lot. Because of this, the younger child may develop a sense of inferiority that is quite similar to the sentiments of a newborn.
Erik Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development
Erik Erikson is widely known for his theory of Psychosocial Development. In it, Erikson discussed eight stages of personality development starting from infant-hood to adulthood.
In each stage, the person experiences a certain challenge that helps mold him into the person he/she ought to become, thus contributing to personality development.
Psychodynamic Theory Examples
To help you gain a better idea, we’ve compiled a list of psychodynamic theory examples. The key concept to keep in mind here is that early childhood memories greatly contribute to the person we are today. Some examples include:
- Early childhood events may cause some people to develop a nail-biting habit
- A childhood incident that caused fear in the past may trigger anxiety in adulthood
- Behaviors such as obsessive handwashing are often linked to may be linked to childhood trauma in the past
- Skin picking and hair plucking are compulsions which may be linked to developmental trauma
- Feeling pangs of nervousness after completing certain tasks may be associated or linked to a childhood memory.
- A childhood experience that caused fear of an open space may lead to the development of agoraphobia in adults
- Number aversion is another obsessive behavior that is commonly associated with childhood development
Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed reading about psychodynamic theory examples. For more information, check out our psychology section. Happy learning!
Introspection is figuring out your inner conflicts, like figuring out a maze.
Freud & Psychodynamics
Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory of Personality
Sigmund Freud proposed three levels of consciousness known as the id, the ego, and the superego. Freud believed that the id was an association of related desires that typically could not be contained and which represented the culmination of the subconscious and unconscious desires that cannot be acted out. The ego is the part of consciousness that understands societal and cultural rules such as etiquette, appropriate behavior, and laws. The superego is the regulator between the id and the ego and is in charge of balancing the conflict between the two.
If someone was entirely controlled by the id, (having no control over their emotions or actions) they would probably be arrested for many crimes. If someone was entirely controlled by the ego, (someone who always follows the rules and laws) they might be referred to as a “stick in the mud,” or someone unable to have any fun in life. The superego seeks to break up these two extremes and draw an equal line between the two; offering balance, while complying with cultural and socio-cultural ethics, without feeling like every emotion needs to be repressed by the individual. Freud felt dealing with the repressed desires would help the patient gain insight through introspection.
Freud’s Structural Model
Freud’s structural model did not address structures or various areas of the brain. He proposed the idea of the id, ego, and superego in a theoretical framework.
The concept of the id is a complete disregard for any of society’s rules or law and operates on the idea of whatever might bring the most pleasure to the person. An example of the id and acting on the desires of the id by someone would be the excess consumption of drugs or alcohol motivated by the pleasure of the euphoria for the individual without considering the potential physical and mental side effects.
The ego operates on the principle of self-preservation and the avoidance of pain. Someone who is in control of his or her ego might receive very upsetting news at work about the loss of a family or friend, but this upsetting news would not affect his or her work performance.
The superego helps to balance out the ego and the id. In psychology, there is the real self, who someone is today, and the ideal self, who they want to be in the future, and/or who they believe they are. These two selves tend to overlap with each other and someone does not want too much or too little overlap between the real self and ideal self. The superego works with these two different selves and the superego is the reason why someone in the military might jump on a landmine to save their other military comrades or why an adult might push a child out of the way of an oncoming bus and risk their own life. According to Freud, the superego is where guilt is housed.
Freud’s Topographic Model
Sigmund Freud viewed the conscious, subconscious, and unconscious topographically. He thought consciousness is what lies on the surface level of our thinking. The surface for Freud topographically would be the surface of the water or the iceberg that could be visibly seen on the water. He also thought that just below the surface, like the body of an iceberg, one could find the subconscious, and then, a little bit deeper, the unconscious could be found. He classified the id as the unconscious desires that want to come to the surface. He classified the ego as knowing the difference between right and wrong at the surface level, while the superego was in between these two classifications serving as a regulator.
Freud’s Psychosexual Stage Model
Freud also proposed the psychosexual model. He defined this into five stages:
- Oral stage – ages zero to one and half years
- Anal Stage – ages one and half years to three years
- Phallic Stage – ages three to six
- Latency Stage – ages six years to puberty
- Genital Stage – puberty to adulthood
Freud thought that each of these stages was associated with how pleasure was achieved. In the oral stage, pleasure is sought and achieved by the mouth. In the anal stage, pleasure is desired and accomplished through the anus. In the phallic stage, pleasure is ascertained and sought after in the genitals. In the latency stage, sexual urges and desires are hidden and not acknowledged by the individual. In the genital stage, the sexual urges and desires are no longer hidden and shift back to others that the individual is attracted to.
The idea of psychodynamic theory was to tap into the subconscious and, if possible, the unconscious as well, through introspection. Freud further argued that anyone not progressing successfully through the psychosexual stages would be caught in “fixation,” where being stuck in this stage of behavior would directly influence someone’s abnormal behavior.
Abnormal Behavior and the Four D’s
Abnormal behavior can be defined using the four Ds in psychology. The four Ds that define abnormal behavior are deviance, danger, distress, and dysfunction.
Four D’s of Abnormal Behavior Definition Example Deviance Breaking of social or cultural rules or laws by the individual Consumption of illegal drugs or alcohol in excess Distress Behavior that causes stress to the individual or others Someone standing in a shopping cart in a department store and shouting at the top of their lungs Danger Behavior causing danger to self or others Someone driving recklessly in speed and/or swerving in and out of traffic Dysfunction Behavior that disrupts the normal activity of the individual or others Not being able to keep a job for an extended period because of poor time management or drug or alcohol addiction
Carl Jung & Psychodynamics
Carl Jung‘s opinions differed from those held by Freud and his insights added another layer of theory to the concept of consciousness. Jung thought that there was an individual consciousness (both a subconscious and an unconscious), but also a collective unconscious. Jung went as far as to say that traumatic events experienced by a culture or society in the past would contribute to the collective unconscious of a group of people in the present. Therefore, in Jung’s view, events such as genocide, years of political uncertainty in a country, or any substantial event experienced by a group, culture, or family would contribute to the collective unconscious.
Psychodynamic Theory in Action
Psychodynamic Theory Examples:
- Someone who is still sucking his or her thumb as an adult is stuck or fixated at the oral stage. This behavior might provide comfort to the individual until the individual receives psychodynamic therapy and achieves insight to stop this behavior.
- Someone who has anxiety about talking to the people they are attracted to would be in the latency stage and needs psychodynamic therapy to achieve the insight necessary to overcome this fear.
- Someone might deny that abuse or trauma occurred when confronted about it or thinking about it. This represents the subconscious or unconscious desires of the id.
- A childhood fear of spiders might be from a latch-key child that had to wait at home for their parents and saw a spider move quickly but did not receive comfort from their parents when they called the parent at work. There may be fear associated with the lack of parental support, but the reason behind this fear is suppressed, so it lies in the subconscious or unconscious. It is only through introspection and psychodynamic therapy that the individual conquers this fear.
Psychodynamic Theory Applications
Psychodynamic theory is respected because there has been evidence showing that our earlier lives affect our later lives. A different approach to psychodynamic therapy is known as unconditional positive regard. This is where the therapist does not judge or advise the patient on the appropriateness of their behavior but focuses on supporting the client. This type of psychodynamic therapy was proposed by Carl Rogers and the idea is that the client will choose the best action or behavior for themselves because of being supported by the therapist.
It is proposed that there is the meaning behind our dreams; the manifest content and the latent content. The manifest content is the event that occurs in the dream. For example, if someone dreams about swimming with sharks, the manifest content is swimming with sharks. The latent content would be the meaning behind swimming with sharks. A latent meaning might be overcoming fear of something and represented by swimming with the sharks without issue or having a fear of the sharks attacking the person representing a fear of something else. The latent content is the symbolism of the dream.
Psychopathology addresses the different chemicals in the brain that affect behavior. It is a medical approach in the sense that by the proper regulation of the chemicals, abnormal behavior can be properly regulated.
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths of the Psychodynamic Theory of Personality
- Helps to resolve inner conflicts
- Clients understand themselves better
Limitations of the Psychodynamic Theory of Personality
- Requires introspection
- Can require several years of therapy before the therapy is effective
Lesson Summary
Psychodynamic treatment and how psychodynamic theory applies to the treatment are explained. Unconditional positive regard dream analysis and psychopathology are connected to psychodynamic theory. There are a variety of strengths and weaknesses of the psychodynamic theory of personality and psychodynamic treatment. The psychodynamic theory addresses the id, the ego, and the superego, as defined by Freud. The psychodynamic theory also addresses Freud’s theory of psychosexual development as well as his structural model and topographic model of consciousness.
Abnormal behavior can be understood by using the four D’s of psychology that define abnormal behavior: Deviance, dysfunction, danger, and distress. Psychopathology is treating mental illness by addressing the chemical imbalances in the brain. Carl Jung proposed and believed in the theory of a collective unconscious that held the memories of cultures and various groups of people.
The Psychodynamic Approach
Psychodynamic Approach
By Saul McLeod, updated 2020
Take-home Messages
- The psychodynamic theory is a psychological theory Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and his later followers applied to explain the origins of human behavior.
- The psychodynamic approach includes all the theories in psychology that see human functioning based upon the interaction of drives and forces within the person, particularly unconscious, and between the different structures of the personality.
- Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis was the original psychodynamic theory, but the psychodynamic approach as a whole includes all theories that were based on his ideas, e.g., Carl Jung (1912), Melanie Klein (1921), Alfred Adler (1927), Anna Freud (1936), and Erik Erikson (1950).
- The words psychodynamic and psychoanalytic are often confused. Remember that Freud’s theories were psychoanalytic, whereas the term ‘psychodynamic’ refers to both his theories and those of his followers.
- Freud’s psychoanalysis is both a theory and therapy.
Sigmund Freud (writing between the 1890s and the 1930s) developed a collection of theories which have formed the basis of the psychodynamic approach to psychology.
His theories are clinically derived – i.e., based on what his patients told him during therapy. The psychodynamic therapist would usually be treating the patient for depression or anxiety related disorders.
Basic Assumptions
Our behavior and feelings are powerfully affected by unconscious motives:
The unconscious mind comprises mental processes that are inaccessible to consciousness but that influence judgments, feelings, or behavior (Wilson, 2002).
According to Freud (1915), the unconscious mind is the primary source of human behavior. Like an iceberg, the most important part of the mind is the part you cannot see.
Our feelings, motives, and decisions are actually powerfully influenced by our past experiences, and stored in the unconscious.
Our behavior and feelings as adults (including psychological problems) are rooted in our childhood experiences:
Psychodynamic theory states that events in our childhood have a great influence on our adult lives, shaping our personality. Events that occur in childhood can remain in the unconscious, and cause problems as adults.
Personality is shaped as the drives are modified by different conflicts at different times in childhood (during psychosexual development).
All behavior has a cause (usually unconscious), even slips of the tongue. Therefore all behavior is determined:
Psychodynamic theory is strongly determinist as it views our behavior as caused entirely by unconscious factors over which we have no control.
Unconscious thoughts and feelings can transfer to the conscious mind in the form of parapraxes, popularly known as Freudian slips or slips of the tongue. We reveal what is really on our mind by saying something we didn’t mean to.
Freud believed that slips of the tongue provided an insight into the unconscious mind and that there were no accidents, every behavior (including slips of the tongue) was significant (i.e., all behavior is determined).
Personality is made up of three parts (i.e., tripartite): the id, ego, and super-ego:
The id is the primitive and instinctive component of personality. It consists of all the inherited (i.e., biological) components of personality present at birth, including the sex (life) instinct – Eros (which contains the libido), and the aggressive (death) instinct – Thanatos.
The ego develops in order to mediate between the unrealistic id and the external real world. It is the decision making component of personality.
The superego incorporates the values and morals of society which are learned from one’s parents and others.
Parts of the unconscious mind (the id and superego) are in constant conflict with the conscious part of the mind (the ego). This conflict creates anxiety, which could be dealt with by the ego’s use of defense mechanisms.
History of Psychodynamic Theory
The History of Psychodynamic Theory
- Anna O a patient of Dr. Joseph Breuer (Freud’s mentor and friend) from 1800 to 1882 suffered from hysteria.
- In 1895 Breuer and his assistant, Sigmund Freud, wrote a book, Studies on Hysteria.
In it they explained their theory: Every hysteria is the result of a traumatic experience, one that cannot be integrated into the person’s understanding of the world. The publication establishes Freud as “the father of psychoanalysis.
- By 1896 Freud had found the key to his own system, naming it psychoanalysis. In it, he had replaced hypnosis with “free association.”
- In 1900 Freud published his first major work, The Interpretation of Dreams, which established the importance of psychoanalytical movement.
- In 1902 Freud founded the Psychological Wednesday Society, later transformed into the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society.
- As the organization grew, Freud established an inner circle of devoted followers, the so-called “Committee” (including Sàndor Ferenczi, and Hanns Sachs (standing) Otto Rank, Karl Abraham, Max Eitingon, and Ernest Jones).
- Freud and his colleagues came to Massachusetts in 1909 to lecture on their new methods of understanding mental illness. .
Those in attendance included some of the country’s most important intellectual figures, such as William James, Franz Boas, and Adolf Meyer.
- In the years following the visit to the United States, the International Psychoanalytic Association was founded. .
Freud designated Carl Jung as his successor to lead the Association, and chapters were created in major cities in Europe and elsewhere. .
Regular meetings or congresses were held to discuss the theory, therapy, and cultural applications of the new discipline.
- Jung’s study on schizophrenia, The Psychology of Dementia Praecox, led him into collaboration with Sigmund Freud.
- Jung’s close collaboration with Freud lasted until 1913. Jung had become increasingly critical of Freud’s exclusively sexual definition of libido and incest. .
The publication of Jung’s Wandlungen und Symbole der Libido (known in English as The Psychology of the Unconscious) led to a final break.
- Following his emergence from this period of crisis, Jung developed his own theories systematically under the name of Analytical Psychology. .
Jung’s concepts of the collective unconscious and the archetypes led him to explore religion in the East and West, myths, alchemy, and later flying saucers.
- Melanie Klein took psychoanalytic thinking in a new direction by recognising the importance of our earliest childhood experiences in the formation of our adult emotional world. .
After becoming a full member of the Berlin Psychoanalytic Society in 1923, Klein embarks upon her first analysis of a child. .
Extending and developing Sigmund Freud’s ideas, Klein drew on her analysis of children’s play to formulate new concepts such as the paranoid-schizoid position and the depressive position.
- Anna Freud (Freud’s daughter) became a major force in British psychology, specializing in the application of psychoanalysis to children. .
Among her best known works are The Ego and the Mechanism of defense (1936).
Psychodynamic Summary
Psychodynamic Approach Summary
Strengths
It has given rise to one of the first “talking cure,” psychoanalysis, on which many psychological therapies are now based.
It could be argued that Freud was the first person to highlights the importance of childhood in mental health and this is an idea extensively used today.
The Psychodynamic approach takes into account both sides of the Nature/Nurture debate.
Freud claimed that adult personality is the product of innate drives- i.e., natural motivations or urges we are born with- and childhood experiences- i.e., the way we are raised and nurtured.
Limitations
Ignores mediational processes (e.g., thinking)
The psychodynamic approach places too much emphasis on the psychological factors, without considering the biological/genetic factors that influence and contribute to mental health problems.
Too deterministic (little free-will)
Unfalsifiable (difficult to prove wrong)
Case Studies – Subjective / Cannot generalize results
Simplifying the human mind into the id, ego, and superego and the five psychosexual stages make the approach reductionist.
Issues and Debates
Issues and Debates
Free will vs Determinism
It is strongly determinist as it views our behavior as caused entirely by unconscious factors over which we have no control.
Nature vs Nurture
The psychodynamic approach recognises the influence of social factors as it argues that we are driven by innate biological instincts, represented by the Id (nature), but the ways these instincts are expressed is shaped by our social and cultural environment (nurture).
Holism vs Reductionism
The psychodynamic approach is determinist as it rejects the idea of free will. A person’s behavior is determined by their unconscious motives which are shaped by their biological drives and their early experiences.
Idiographic vs Nomothetic
Freud argued that human behavior is governed by universal processes that apply to everyone e.g. the tripartite structure of the mind (nomothetic).
However, he also proposed that the ways in which these processes manifest themselves in the individual is unique (idiographic).
Are the research methods used scientific?
The concepts proposed by Freud cannot be tested empirically. The theory is not falsifiable as if people behave in the way predicted by the theory it is viewed as support, if they don’t it is argued that they are using defence mechanisms.
Critical Evaluation
Critical Evaluation
The psychodynamic approach has given rise to one of the first “talking cure”, psychoanalysis, on which many psychological therapies are now based. Psychoanalysis is rarely used now in its original form but it is still used in a shorter version in some cases.
The greatest criticism of the psychodynamic approach is that it is unscientific in its analysis of human behavior. Many of the concepts central to Freud’s theories are subjective, and as such, difficult to test scientifically.
For example, how is it possible to scientifically study concepts like the unconscious mind or the tripartite personality? In this respect, it could be argued that the psychodynamic perspective is unfalsifiable as its theories cannot be empirically investigated.
However, cognitive psychology has identified unconscious processes, such as procedural memory (Tulving, 1972), automatic processing (Bargh & Chartrand, 1999; Stroop, 1935), and social psychology have shown the importance of implicit processing (Greenwald & Banaji, 1995). Such empirical findings have demonstrated the role of unconscious processes in human behavior.
Kline (1989) argues that psychodynamic theory comprises a series of hypotheses, some of which are more easily tested than others, and some with more supporting evidence than others.
Also, while the theories of the psychodynamic approach may not be easily tested, this does not mean that it does not have strong explanatory power.
Nevertheless, most of the evidence for psychodynamic theories is taken from Freud’s case studies (e.g., Little Hans, Anna O).
The main problem here is that the case studies are based on studying one person in detail, and with reference to Freud, the individuals in question are most often middle-aged women from Vienna (i.e., his patients). This makes generalizations to the wider population (e.g., the whole world) difficult.
Another problem with the case study method is that it is susceptible to researcher bias. Reexamination of Freud’s own clinical work suggests that he sometimes distorted his patients’ case histories to ‘fit’ with his theory (Sulloway, 1991).
The humanistic approach makes the criticism that the psychodynamic perspective is too deterministic. Freud suggests that all thoughts, behaviors and emotions are determined by our childhood experiences and unconscious mental processes.
This is a weakness because it suggests we have no conscious free will over our behavior, leaving little room for the idea of personal agency (i.e., free will).
Finally, the psychodynamic approach can be criticized for being sexist against women. For example, Freud believed that females’ penis envy made them inferiour to males.
He also thought that females tended to develop weaker superegos and to be more prone to anxiety than males.
Is there a difference between psychodynamic and psychoanalytic?
The words psychodynamic and psychoanalytic are often confused. Remember that Freud’s theories were psychoanalytic, whereas the term ‘psychodynamic’ refers to both his theories and those of his followers.
What is psychodynamic in simple terms?
Sigmund Freud highlights the role of the unconscious mind, the structure of personality and the influence that childhood experiences have on later life. Freud believed that the unconscious mind determines most of our behavior and that we are motivated by unconscious emotional drives.
How to reference this article:
How to reference this article:
McLeod, S. A. (2017). Psychodynamic approach. Simply Psychology. www.simplypsychology.org/psychodynamic.html
APA Style References
Adler, A. (1927). Understanding human nature. New York: Greenburg.
Bargh, J. A., & Chartrand, T. L. (1999). The unbearable automaticity of being. American psychologist, 54(7), 462.
Erikson, E. H. (1950). Childhood and society. New York: Norton.
Freud, A. (1936). Ego & the mechanisms of defense.
Freud, S., & Breuer. J. (1895). Studies on hysteria. In Standard edition (Vol. 2, pp. 1–335).
Freud, S. (1896). Heredity and the etiology of the neuroses. In Standard edition (Vol. 3, pp. 142–156).
Freud, S. (1900). The interpretation of dreams. In Standard edition (Vols. 4 & 5, pp. 1–627).
Freud, S. (1909). Notes upon a case of obsessional neurosis. In Standard edition (Vol. 10, pp. 153–249).
Freud, S. (1909). Analysis of a phobia of a five year old boy. In The Pelican Freud Library (1977), Vol 8, Case Histories 1, pages 169-306.
Freud, S. (1915). The unconscious. SE, 14: 159-204.
Freud, A. (1936). The Ego and the Mechanisms off Defense. International Universities Press, Inc.
Greenwald, A. G., & Banaji, M. R. (1995). Implicit social cognition: attitudes, self-esteem, and stereotypes. Psychological review, 102(1), 4.
Jung, C. G. (1907). Ueber die Psychologie der Dementia praecox. Psychological Bulletin, 4(6), 196-197.
Jung, C. G. (1912). Wandlungen und Symbole der Libido: Beiträge zur Entwicklungsgeschichte des Denkens. F. Deuticke.
Jung, C. G., et al. (1964). Man and his Symbols, New York, N.Y.: Anchor Books, Doubleday.
Kline, P. (1989). Objective tests of Freud’s theories. Psychology Survey, 7, 127-45.
Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of experimental psychology, 18(6), 643.
Sulloway, F. J. (1991). Reassessing Freud’s case histories: The social construction of psychoanalysis. Isis, 82(2), 245-275.
Tulving, E. (1972). Episodic and semantic memory. In E. Tulving & W. Donaldson (Eds.), Organization of Memory, (pp. 381–403). New York: Academic Press.
Wilson, T. D. (2004). Strangers to ourselves. Harvard University Press.
How to reference this article:
How to reference this article:
McLeod, S. A. (2017). Psychodynamic approach. Simply Psychology. www.simplypsychology.org/psychodynamic.html
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