PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY

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 THE APPROACH:
PSYCHOANALYTIC
PERSPECTIVE
- the focus is on the unconscious mind
rather than the conscious mind.
- it is built on the foundational idea that
your behavior is determined by
experiences from your past that are
lodged in your unconscious mind
 PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY

- is a theory formed by Sigmund

Freud that the things that happen to
someone in childhood can contribute
to their actions and traits when they
are an adult.
 TRADITIONAL
PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY
- states that all human beings are born with
instinctual drives that are constantly active even
though a person is usually not conscious of thus being
driven.
Two drives
1. For sexual pleasure called libido
2. Motivate and propel most behavior called
aggression
 - inthe infant the libido first manifests itself by
making sucking an activity with pleasurable sensations
in the mouth.
- later similar pleasures are experienced in the
anus during the bowel movements
- finally these erotically tinged pleasures are
experienced when the sex organ is manipulated.
Phallic in psychoanalytic theory, refers to both male
and female sex organs.
 During the height of the Phallic phase,
about ages 3-6, these libidinal drives focus on
the parent of the opposite sex and lend an
erotic cast to the relation between mother and
son or between father and daughter, the so
called OEDIPUS COMPLEX for boys, ELECTRA
COMPLEX for girls.
.
 Most societies strongly disapprove of these
sexual interests of children. This is considered a
TABOO on incest rules universally
Thus, parents influence children to push such
pleasurable sensations and thoughts out of their
conscious minds into the unconscious by a
process called REPRESSION.
 Id
According to Freud
“I want this”
the human behavior is
formed through an Super Ego
interaction between three “this is not
Ego
components of the mind, the way to get
“Let’s work
on it"
i.e. Id, Ego and Super Ego it”
 ID

Id : is the primitive part of the mind that seeks

immediate gratification of biological or instinctual
needs.
The biological needs are the basic physical needs
and while the instinctual needs are the natural or
unlearned needs such as hunger , thirst sex etc.
- the unconscious part of the mind
 Example:
If your Id passed through a boy playing with a
ball, the immediate urge to get that ball will drive you
to snatch it by any means, this is irrational and may
lead to the conflict between the boys.

Thus, Id is the source of psychic energy, a force that is

behind all the mental forces.
 SUPER-EGO

Related to the social or the moral values that an

individual inculcates as he matures. It acts as an
ethical constraint on behavior and helps an individual
to develop his conscience
As the individual grows in the society ,he learns
the cultural values and the norms of the society which
help him to differentiate between right and wrong.
 Example: If the SUPER-EGO passed that boy playing
with a ball, it would not snatch it, as it would know that
snatching is bad and may lead to quarrel.
 Thus, it act as a constraint on your behavior and
guides you to follow the right path.
 EGO

- is the logical and the conscious part of the

mind which is associated with the reality
principle. This means it balances the demands
of id and super-ego in
the context of real life situations. Ego is
conscious and hence keep a check on id
through a proper reasoning of an external
environment.
Example:
If you pass through the same boy playing a ball,
your ego will mediate the conflict between the id and
super-ego and will decide to buy a new ball yourself.
This may hurt you id, but the ego would take this
decision to reach to a compromise situation between
the id and super-ego by satisfying the desire of getting
a ball.
The Psychodynamic Family dynamics
Approach influence individuals at
a subconscious level
-is based on Freud’s
theory of psychosexual and this leads to the
development of internal
development
gender identities.
 GENDER DEVELOPMENT

 Freudian perspectives psychosexual stages of

development take place with possibility of particular
conflicts at different stages.

 Gender roles develop as a result of resolution process

of conflict at phallic stage. Feelings of rivalry and
hatred develop against the father at this stage.
 The father is seen as stronger and
unconquerable; this leads to conflict.
The defense mechanism of identification is
used for resolving the conflict.
This gender identification leads to sex-
typed behavior and development of
gender roles.
Absence of a parent, particularly, the
same-sex parent affects the normal
process of gender development.
Stevenson and Black (1988): boys with
absent fathers around the oedipal stage
show less sex-typed behavior.
 MODERN CONCEPT OF
PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY
 THEORIES OF GENDER
DEVELOPMENT

Karen Horney’s Perspective

She reexamined some of Freud’s basic concepts.
Although she remained within the psychoanalytic
paradigm, and accepted the role of unconscious as a
driving force, she digressed from Freud on gender
differences in personality development.
 S

 She differed from Freud the concept of envy in

females, their feelings of inferiority, and
masculinity complex, whereby females express
masculine attitudes and behavior.
 She also differed on Freud’s emphasis on early
childhood experiences, and the significance
that he attached to the role of biological forces.
 She argued that the envy that females have
against males, was symbolic, and did not emerge out
of a desire to physically match them, instead it
represented a desire to attain the social prestige and
position that men enjoy. Horney emphasized the
significance of social forces.
 She hypothesized that men envy women’s ability to
reproduce
i.e. womb envy. According to Horney, men seek and
struggle for achievement because they are trying to
overcompensate for the lack of ability to reproduce. In
comparison to women, men feel inadequate, and as a
result they attribute evil to women. In order to deal
with them the feeling of inferiority; men need to feel
more adequate, for which they see women as inferior.
Men’s feelings of resentment result in
attempts to weaken women and leave
women with feelings of inferiority and
insecurity
 Unlike Freud, Horney believed that female’s inferiority
had origin in male insecurity, she disagreed from
Freud over the idea that females inferior because of
a perceived physical inferiority.
 It is men’s behavior, and a society with masculine bias
that generates females’ inferiority.
 It is men’s behavior, and a society with masculine bias
that generates females’ inferiority.
 CONTEMPORARY
PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES

The Feminist thought affected the Freudian school og

thought as well.
PSYCHOANALYTIC FEMINISM
It has roots in the work of Freud. Gender is not a
biologically determined phenomenon.
 Psychosexual development leadsto the gender role that we
adopt and play. Childhood experiences are responsible for
making the male believe that he is masculine and a female
believe that she is feminine. These experiences lead to gender
inequality. This situation is a result of a male dominated society.

Nancy Chodorow (1979), a sociologist, and Ellyn Kaschak (1992),

a psychologist, developed their versions of the psychodynamic
thought, which is quite different from the traditional Freudian
approach.
 Nancy Chodorow’s Theory
A perception of gender differences starts emerging when
children begin to develop a sense of self. This process is easier to the
female child, since she has already identified with the mother, and
now the identification has to get only stronger. How ever the boys
have a tougher task at hand.
Having lived in a mother-centered world, and having already
identified with her , they have to develop an identity different from the
mother. The male child has to face separation from mother in order
to develop his gender identity and to become masculine.
 REFERENCES

 welldoing.org/article/psychology-gender-are-different-perspectives
 search.yahoo.com/search/fr=mcafee&type=E211US714G0&p=psych
oanalytic+theory+on+gender+development
 zeepedia.com/read.php?theories_of_gender_development_3_psych
oanalytic_femnism-gender_issues_development
 tutor2u.net/psychology/topics/freuds-psychoanalytic-theory-gender-
development