Advanced Theories of Personality:

Karen Danielsen Horney

Psychoanalytical Social Theory

Presented by:
Angeljoy P. Balawag
MAEd Guidance and Counselling 1
KAREN DANIELSEN HORNEY
Ψ She was born in Eilbek, a small town near
Hamburg, Germany, on September 15, 1885.
Ψ She was the only daughter of Berndt (Wackels)
Danielsen (1836-1910), a sea captain, and
Clothilda van Ronzelen Danielsen (1853- 1911), a
woman nearly 18 years younger than
her husband.
Ψ Had five siblings: four from Berndt’s
first marriage (all males) and one
older brother (also named Berndt).
Ψ Felt hostility towards
her father and regarded
him as religious
hypocrite but greatly
favored her mother.
Ψ Felt deprived of
affection because of her
father’s preference of her
older brother.
Ψ At age nine, she
developed a crush
towards her brother but
was turned down leading Karen, aged 7 and her brother Berndt, age 11
to her first depression.
Ψ At 13, she wanted to become a physician much
to his father’s opposition and society
Ψ In 1904, her parents divorced leaving Karen, 19
and Berndt, 23.
Ψ In 1906, she entered University of Freiburg
where she met Oscar Horney, political science
student (who then become a lawyer). In 1909, they
married and stayed in Berlin.
Ψ Earned an MD in 1911 in University
Of Berlin (after Freiburg and Gottingen).
Ψ Parents were divorced and died
a year after the other.
Ψ She gave birth to three
daughters in five years (1910:
Brigitte, 1913: Marianne,
1916: Renate)
Ψ Oskar was just like her
father, Berndt, as predicted
by Freud – harsh,
authoritative disciplinarian.
Ψ She had several love
affairs.
Ψ In 1926, they separated
but did not officially divorce
until 1938.
Ψ In 1923, Oskar developed meningitis and
lost his job and forced to live in Berlin. In the
same year, Horney's brother died at age
forty of pulmonary infection.
Ψ In 1913, she began an analysis with Karl
Abraham. In 1917, she wrote her first paper
on psychoanalysis, “The Technique of
Psychoanalytic Therapy”. In 1919, she
began to take in patients at Berlin
Psychoanalytic Clinic and Institute until
1932.
Ψ In 1932, she became
associate director of Chicago
Pychoanalytic Institute.
Ψ In 1950, she published her
most important work, Neurosis
and Human Growth.
Ψ In 1952, she established
Karen Horney Clinic.
Ψ After a short illness, Horney
died of cancer on December
4, 1952. She was 65 years
old.
 Overview of
Psychoanalytical Social Theory
Ψ The psychoanalytic social theory of Karen
Horney was built on the assumption that
social and cultural conditions, especially
childhood experiences, are largely
responsible for shaping personality.
 Horney believed that basic hostility and basic anxiety are “inextricably
interwoven.” Hostile impulses are the principal source of basic anxiety, but
basic anxiety can also contribute to feelings of hostility.

Basic Hostility Basic Anxiety

Ψ Caused by parents’ inability
or unwillingness to love their
child.
Ψ If parents do not satisfy the
child’s needs for safety and
satisfaction, the child develops
this feelings of hostility.
Ψ Repressed hostility leads to
profound feelings of insecurity
and a vague sense of
apprehension.
Ψ A feeling of being isolated
and helpless in a world
conceived as potentially hostile.
Four Protective Devices
Against Basic Anxiety:

1.Affection
2.Submissiveness
3.Power, Prestige
and Possession
4.Withdrawal
 Neurosis
Ψ According to Horney, it is an attempt to make
life bearable.
Ψ Irrational defenses against anxiety that
become a permanent part of personality and that
affect behavior.
Ψ Neurotic needs are unrealistic, unreasonable
and indiscriminate.
Ψ Compulsion is the noticeable characteristic of
all neurotic drives.
 10 Neurotic Needs
1. The neurotic
need for
affection and
approval.

2. The neurotic
need for a
powerful partner.
3. The neurotic need
to restrict one’s life
within narrow
borders.

4. The neurotic need

for power.

5. The neurotic need

to exploit others
6. The neurotic need for
social recognition or
prestige.

7. The neurotic need for

personal admiration.

8. The neurotic need for

ambition and personal
achievement.
9. The neurotic need
for self-sufficiency
and Independence.

10. The neurotic need

for perfection and
unassailability.
 Neurotic Trends
A. Moving Toward People
Ψ Compliant
Ψ Neurotic Needs: 1 and 2
B. Moving Against People
Ψ Hostile
Ψ Neurotic Needs: 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8
C. Moving Away From People
Ψ Detached
Ψ Neurotic Needs: 3, 9 and 10
 Intrapsychic Conflicts
1. The Idealized Self-Image 2. Self-Hatred
Ψ results in neurotics’ Ψ Is the tendency for
attempts to build a neurotics to hate and
godlike picture of despise their real self.
themselves.
Aspects of Idealized Self-Image
Ψ The Neurotic Search for Glory
 The need for perfection
 Neurotic ambition
 The drive toward a vindictive triumph
Ψ Neurotic Claims
Ψ Neurotic Pride
6 Major Ways in Expressing Self-
Hatred:
1. Relentless demands on the self
2. Merciless self-accusation
3. Self-contempt
4. Self-frustration
5. Self-torment, or self-torture
6. Self-destructive actions and impulses
 Feminine Psychology
Ψ Psychic differences between men and women are not the
result of anatomy but rather of cultural and social expectations.
Ψ Horney agreed with Adler that many women possess a
masculine protest; that is, they have a pathological belief that
men are superior to women. This perception easily leads to the
neurotic desire to be a man. The desire, however, is not an
expression of penis envy but rather “a wish for all those qualities
or privileges which in our culture are regarded as masculine”.
Ψ Womb envy- is in some men who feels envious of a woman’s
ability to bear children
Ψ As one of the first female psychiatrist, she was the first known
woman to present a paper regarding feminine psychiatry. The
fourteen papers she wrote between 1922 and 1937 were
amalgamated into a single volume titled “Feminine Psychology
 Psychotherapy
Ψ Horneyian therapy - The general goal is to help patients
gradually grow in the direction of self-realization.
Ψ The aim is to have patients give up their idealized self-image,
relinquish their neurotic search for glory, and change self-
hatred to an acceptance of the real self.
Ψ Although a therapist can help encourage patients toward
self-understanding, ultimately successful therapy is built on
self-analysis.
Ψ As to techniques, Horneyian therapists use many of the
same ones employed by Freudian
therapists, especially dream
interpretation and free association.