INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

INTERNAL-1

RANGISETTI NAGA SUMALIKA

19010125448

BA LLB

E
Q1.

FOUNDER OF PSYCHOANALYSIS
Sigmond Freud is regarded and acknowledged as the Father and founder of Psychoanalysis. The
contributions of Freud in this practice have been remarkable and impacting role. The key concepts he
introduced was Defense mechanisms, Models of the mind, Fixations and the sub-division of a
personality as Ego, Super Ego and Id. Freud's work was resolute on understanding people’s behaviour
and their actions. He was a believer in presence of hidden irrational forces within human beings,
leading to the basis of the theory ‘Psychoanalysis. On the other hand, Edward Bernays, the nephew of
Freud has published a book- ‘General Introduction to Psychoanalysis using Freud’s ideologies for
manipulating and influencing the public mass to establish a field of public relations for himself.
Bernays has laid the practical implications of the theory and such theoretical impact on the people’s
political and consumer atmosphere.

The fundamentals of the theory are that such forces define shaping our personality by desires,
thoughts, childhood memories, conflicts and subconscious feelings. Surprisingly, these same
techniques are used by the companies for influencing people to buy products in the hope of
satisfaction of desires and happiness. Since this leads to unconscious purchases, Bernays stressed this
irrationality in his marketing. The advertising of cigarettes was portrayed as male sexual power to
suppress women smoking and their power.

Freud had a pessimistic personality and believed that humans are impossible creatures with no scope
for improvements or growth. He also didn’t believe in the concept of democracy and individual
freedom. For him, civilization is a means of social controlling the animal/human forces because of the
presence of irrational drives within them. Bernays also utilized the concept of life instinct and death
instinct given by Freud as an alternative to Democracy.

PREMISE OF PSYCHOANALYSIS
Sigmund Freud has been a scientist and a clinician where he observed people while treating
their emotional instabilities. He founded the theory of Psychoanalysis based on people’s
unconscious thoughts, desires and feelings. The aim behind this theory is to release all the
stressed thoughts and feelings to make the person conscious. This is a therapy as well as a
theory with a unique approach. This theory bases on the client to free themselves from all the
prenotion theories and open up themselves to come into a conscious state. The premise of the
theory is to reduce the psychological issues from the root where the theory of psychoanalysis
gives remedies to reduce the conflicts and bring them back to the conscious state. Such
practice is usually encouraged in a small focus group or rehabilitation group enabling it as a
strategy for the corporations to analyze the marketing and business strategies.

The therapy has analyzed views as a symbol of unconscious desires and feelings. In dreams,
generally one tends to attach themselves to the element of the dream. Therefore, this theory
persuades people to gradually abandon themselves being controlled. Moreover, people tend
to use the wrong language/words while speaking or reading committing errors. Henceforth,
the theory of Psychoanalytic aids in bringing a person from unconscious to conscious and
making them detached from the elements of emotions.

STRUCTURE OF PSYCHE
Sigmond Freud’s theory revolves around the origin and management of people’s emotional
journey and structuring them. He evolved two practices for structuring one’s personality.
They are topographical and structural or dynamic models. The topographical model picturizes
a human mind based on three types of consciousness. The first one is conscious where it
includes the person’s ideas, thoughts and feelings he is aware of. The second one being
precociousness or subconsciousness discusses the people who aren’t aware but be brought
into consciousness the activities. And the last unconscious involves conscious awareness of
instinctive and animalistic forces for avoiding psychological issues. One can consider Nazism
as an example of portrayal and manifestation of the unconscious inner wants.

The structural or dynamic model is categorized into three levels. The first one is id, where it
works on achieving its wants without any concerns the societal morals and notions. This level
shots up to satisfy its ego composed of unconscious aspects of sexual and aggressive forces
and the instinctual wants. These forces were exhibited in the First & Second World Wars.
Bernays advertised to boost consumerism using the techniques of id. The second ego bases
on the principle of reality. This category can be put into the conscious, unconscious and
preconscious. The third-super ego focuses on the principles of morals like the presence of ego
at the three levels of consciousness. This level has two aspects of views on ego-ideal and
conscience. Therefore, Freud has felt the need to strengthen the people’s ego for satisfying
their desires in a sociable and in reality, manner. Such principles and teachings of Freud have
been carried forward by Anna Freud by defence mechanisms to train one’s desires.
Q2.

DEFENCE MECHANISMS

The term-Defense mechanisms have been first used by Sigmund Freud in his paper-‘The
Neuro-Psychoses of Defense’. It can be termed defined as behaviour exhibited by people for
isolating themselves from uncomfortable feelings, emotions etc. These mechanisms aid in
establishing and maintain a professional and therapeutic state. It is a mental process enabling
people to compromise the unresolved conflicts. rather than facing them. In the words of Anna
Freud, it is defined as an unconscious resource used by the ego for minimizing mental stress.
Sigmond Freud has also stated that people attempt to escape from stress and anxiety
especially when the desires conflict with the ego or superego. Henceforth, people consider
and being aware of the defence mechanisms are defending defend their ego with the
instinctual needs. and look at it as a positive mechanism to deal with stress. Initially, Anna
Freud created ten methods of defence mechanisms but later the methods increased by works
of later psychoanalysts. There are essentially two types of defence mechanisms-Primitive
Defense Mechanisms and Higher-level Defense Mechanisms.

Listed below are few used methods of Defense Mechanisms:

 Repression:
In this, one tends to suppress the painful moments and try to act normal. They dismiss
all the emotional and anxious situations encountered unconsciously. Here, the
documentary has encased similar situations faced by nearly 40% of American soldiers
in World War II. The primary reason behind such unstable mental behaviour is
because of the trauma faced in childhood rather than the war! The methods practised
and taught by Anna Freud further suppresses people’s emotions leading to
maladjustments.
 Regression:
In this, one turns to comforting places to get over the stressful emotions and events.
Here, an example of a smoker has been discussed. When he encounters a stressful
situation, he smokes. Therefore, taking the advantage of this, the cigarette makers in
their advertisements convey stressful situations leading to provoking smokers to
smoke.
 Displacement:
 In this, one tends to control one’s actions and mend one’s emotions to better
acceptable behaviour. They direct their emotions and feelings, frustration, anger.
Here, a situation where the banks have taken this situation in hand and promoted the
idea of purchasing the shares leading to borrowings from the banks. When the stock
market has crashed, people vented out their frustration on the corporations rather than
the banks who has promoted the idea of buying shares by advertising that market
crashes were a thing in the past.
 Suppression:
Suppression is a part and process of repression. Here, when the socialites encounter
embarrassing and uncomfortable situations, they tend to act in a socially rational
manner where they suppress their emotions and deal with those emotions in private.
 Denial:
Under this, people tend to ignore or refuse to accept the real situation as it is
unpleasant or discomfort. They protect the ego from the pain leading to addiction as a
way of manifestation. Such a situation has been observed in the case where Marilyn
Monroe was addicted to illegal activities like drugs and alcohol.
 Projection:
In this, a person attributes undesirable situations and behaviour to others. Here, the
Nazi’s propaganda along with World War I can be taken as an example for the
mechanism of projection. Both sides have imbibed violence into them leading to the
creation of irrational and unacceptable behaviours upon each other.
 Rationalization:
In this, one creates new reasons for substituting the actual reasons for avoiding
embarrassments or unpleasant moments. Here, the example of advertisements of
cigarette makers can be taken. The depiction of women smoking is considered as
deprivation of male sexual power when in reality it was meant to depict it as an
irrational activity that could lead to health deterioration.
 Reaction formation:
This is a more positive mechanism as it helps in reducing anxiety by adopting positive
beliefs and desires. Here, a story of nuns has been described where the emergence of
self has targeted the nuns leading to leaving of the covenants, becoming radical
lesbian nuns while continuing with their religious lives. The whole description is a
paradox.
 Intellectualization:
This mechanism focuses on the intellect of the person than the emotions. Anna Freud
despite being faced with the death of two of her friend’s children, still stood strong
and advocated her theories by focusing and concentrating on her rationality.
 Undoing:
This includes human involvement howsoever minor participation to compensate one’s
actions in something. For instance, here, Betty Crocker while selling premixes for
cakes has added an instruction to add eggs so that there wouldn’t be any guilt of lack
of any efforts for the final product.
 Sublimation:
In this, one overturns one’s motives through a socially acceptable medium. They
change the unacceptable impulsive to productive deeds. In the documentary, initially,
the people in opposition to mass consumerism adopted violent measures. But when
the opposition party-American State also chose violence mode, they changed the
strategies to more mind efficiency. They made sure to eliminate the previous
inhibitions made by the state and corporations.
 Compensation:
Here, to substantiate one’s weaker performance, they work hard in another field to
compensate for their performance and failures. This can be seen when a student scores
fewer grades, compensates it with extra-curricular activities.
Q3.

PRACTICAL LESSONS CAN BE TAKEN FROM DOCUMENTARY IN TERMS

OF ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS/WANTS/ DESIRES

The enlightening documentary ‘Century of the Self’ revolves around the practical
implications and applications of the theory-Psychoanalysis founded by Sigmond Freud and
studied by Edward Bernays. The belief of Sigmund Freud that there exist hidden irrational
forces within oneself has evolved this theory. The usage of this theory by Bernays in the era
of consumerism has credited him as the originator of the empathetic idea of connection of
emotions to the products. He tried to persuade people to act irrationally and link emotions,
desires to capitalist purposes.

Similarly, people also react in the same way and succumb to the strategies in the presence of
id of psyche controlling the pleasure principle. For controlling their id, people need to work
on controlling their ego by conforming to the unethical standards of the society and
succumbing to their desires and wants. The whole process of attracting to the products need
to be natural, voluntary and without any force or unethical values lying at the core of the
psychological experiments. Moreover, the products advertised by practicing the theory of
Bernays were termed as necessities. Therefore, when people look out at such products tagged
as necessities they tend to lean over the chances/anticipation of usage of these products
prompting them to buy and behave irrationally. And the advertisements of cigarettes posing
women challenging the male sexual authority was challenged and targeted by audience.

Next, even Celebrities were engaged to endorse the products and spread messages of
necessity of these products for fulfilling needs and satisfying the inner self emotions of
personality and the character. As the celebrities are involved, people who admire them and
believe that it is true purchase them leading to unintentional irrational movements.

Surprisingly, this pessimistic outlook has been appreciated and applied in World War I and
during the Nazi atrocities. By displaying their irrationality, the Nazis has paved the way for
their wants and desires without any societal regards, where such irrationality needs to be
curtailed. For this, there can be any legal sanctions and international law for strengthening the
principle of ego and aiding in curbing the id seeking pleasure of wants and desires.

Therefore, all the experiments and theories formulated for controlling and suppressing the
human desires and emotions irrationally psychologically are unethical principles which needs
to be scrutinized and questioned. Hence, any psychological experiments or theories made
needs to be in compliance with ethics to reach the zenith of fame than influencing by any
drugs or impact on people’s pleasures. Overall, one need to question their own wants and
necessities than getting influenced by external factors. And for a good life, one need to work
for themselves to achieve both physically and mentally as well as rationally.

Q4.

CRITIQUE THE THEORY OF PSYCHOANALYSIS AND ITS USE AS SHOW

IN THE DOCUMENTARY
The documentary ‘Century of the Self’ revolves around human’s emotions and the methods
of controlling them. In this theory is of the pessimistic nature present in human beings. Since
the theory focuses on the suppression of the irrational emotions in a person caused by
irrational forces, hence undermines the nature of human beings. According to Sigmond
Freud, humans are sadistic beings during the World War I because of aggressive nature and
irrational tendencies.

Initially, the documentation went very well and inspired people however, the point of
commission of suicide by Marilyn Monroe led to the emergence of the criticism towards
psychoanalysis. Marilyn committed suicide while undergoing psychoanalytic treatment under
Ralph Greenson. Moreover, the perspectives of Herbert Marcuse have led to criticisms. He
believed that the role of psychoanalysis controlling people is wrong and that it has no
consideration towards the political system and technological usages. People generally need
help for their emotions created by the society and they by default aren’t violent. To be
evaluating, the points put out by Herbert is true as the amount of influence the society
impacts a person is huge resulting in maladjustments of inner-self conflicts. This realization
point has been highlighted when her children were affected and used her method leading to
their death of addiction and overdosage.

Not to forget about the strategies exhibited in consumerism to manipulate the masses. The
exercise of theory of psychoanalysis hits on the emotional desires of the consumers
prompting them to attract towards the goods and purchase. For example, as discussed in the
example of promotion of investment in stock markets by the banks in tag that crashing of
stock markets is a past thing has attracted huge masses in hope of good safe returns.
Furthermore, the advertising strategies of cigarettes depicting the symbol and superiority of
male sexuality incites the aggression to smoke. Such strategies used is unfair as it is a
negative method of approaching human’s emotions.

Another criticism that rose is that the emotions shouldn’t be suppressed but rather be given
the freedom and zone to express. This allows for the person to be comfortable in their spaces
than adjusting and following to all the theories aiming for suppressing their feelings and not
solving them. One of the greatest former disciples of Freud-Wilhelm Reich has challenged
this theory of psychoanalysis due to the same reason.

One of the experiments by Dr. Cameron where the usage of the drug and a Electro-
Convulsive Therapy (ECT) erases the data and memories of a person. He found this as an
efficient means than training to control their forces and emotions resulting in clean slate and
recording of new behavior. Therefore, this experiment is unethical and against human rights.

Further, in the protests by American Universities’ students against the corporations who were
exerting massive control on the masses, few theorists on Freudian Psychoanalysis have
brainwashed the mob/masses leading to repressing their inner-self and emotions. This attempt
of influencing people has been reversed leading to overthrowing of the corporations and the
state by killing the fear in their inner self and expressing their aggressive suppressed
problems.

Henceforth, these are some of the criticisms found in the Documentary-‘The Century of Self’
and this theory has been a repressive one as it is very pessimistic in nature as it is
incompliance with the ethical and prudent consideration.