INSTINCT: WHAT MOTIVATES HUMAN BEHAVIOR?, The Oral Stage

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Personality Psychology PSY 405

Lesson 5

INSTINCT: WHAT MOTIVATES HUMAN BEHAVIOR?

Accordance with the law of conservation of Energy (i.e. energy may be converted from one state to

another, but is all the same energy).Freud accepted this principle of nature, translated it into psychological

terms, and theorized that the source of psychic energy derives from neurophysiologic states of excitation.

He further postulated that each individual has a limited amount of such energy avai1able for mental

activity, and that the goal of all human behavior was the reduction of tension created by the unpleasant

accumulation of energy over time. For example, if most of your energy is presently being expanded to

recognize the words on this page, then little is left for other types of mental activity like daydreaming or

viewing a TV program.

A Matter of Life and Death

Freud recognized the existence of two basic groups of them-life and death instincts. The former group

includes all the forces which serve to maintain. Vital life processes and assures propagation of the species.

Because of the significance attributed to them in the psychic organization of individuals, the sex instincts

were singled out by Freud as the most salient of the life instincts for the development of personality. The

energy force underlying the sexual instincts is called libido (from the Latin word for "wish" or "desire") or

libidinal energy.

The other group represents destructive side of the personality.

Human Development Viewed Psychosexually

The psychoanalytic theory of development is based on two premises. The first, the genetic approach,

emphasizes that adult personality is shaped by various types of early childhood experiences. The second is

that a certain amount of sexual energy (libido) is present at birth and thereafter progresses through a series

of psychosexual stages that are rooted in the instinctual processes of the organism.

The formation of personality; oral, anal, phallic, and genital. A period of latency, normally occurring

between the ages of 6 or 7 and the onset of puberty, was included by Freud in the overall scheme of

development, but, technically speaking, it is not a stage. The first three stages of development extend from

birth to 5 years of age and are called pregenital stage.

The Oral Stage (birth-to -18 months):

The oral stage of psychosexual development extends throughout the first year of life. Infants are totally

reliant upon others for survival; dependence is their only way of obtaining instinctual gratification. The

mouth is obviously the body structure most frequently associated at this time with both reduction of

biological drives and pleasurable sensations.

The Anal Stage (18 months to 3 years) :

During the second and third years of life, the focus of libidinal energy shifts from to the anal region. Young

children derive considerable pleasure from both the retention and expulsion of feces and gradually learn to

enhance this pleasure by delaying bowl movements (i.e. allowing minor pressure to be exerted against the

lower intestine and anal sphincter).

The Phallic Stage (3 years to 5 years):

During the fourth and fifth years, the child's libidinal interest one again shift to a new erogenous zone of

the body, the genitals. During this phallic stage of psychosexual development, children can be observed

examining their sex organs.

The Latency Period (5 years to 12 years):

Between the ages of 6 or 7 and the onset of adolescence, the child passes through a period of comparative

sexual quiescence. During the latency period, the libido is sublimated i.e. channeled into nonsexual

activities such as intellectual interests, athletics, and peer relationships.

The Genital Stage (12 years -puberty):

Personality Psychology PSY 405

With the advent of puberty comes a resurgence of sexual and aggressive impulses coupled with an

increased awareness of and interest in the opposite sex. The initial phase of the genital stage (a period

extending from adolescence until death) is brought about by biochemical and physiological changes in the

organism. The reproductive organs mature, and the endocrine system secretes hormones that result in

secondary sex characteristics (e.g., beards in males, breast development in females).

The Nature of Anxiety

Freud's initial interest in the phenomenon of anxiety was motivated by his interest in explaining neurotic

symptoms and treating people suffering from them. This Interest at first led him to propose that anxiety is a

consequence of inadequately discharged libidinal energy. He further theorized that the state of increased

tension resulting from blocked libido and un-discharged excitation was converted into and manifested by

anxiety neuroses.

Types of Anxiety

Realistic Anxiety:

The emotional response to threat and/ or perception of real dangers in the external environment (e.g.,

poisonous snakes, wild animals, earthquakes, final examinations) is called realistic, or objective, anxiety. It

is essentially synonymous with fear and may have a debilitating effect on the individual's ability to cope

effectively with the source of danger.

Neurotic Anxiety:

An emotional response to the threat that id impulses will become conscious is called neurotic anxiety. It is

caused by the fear that the ego will be unable to control the id instincts particularly those of a sexual or

aggressive nature. The small child quickly learns that active discharge of his or her libidinal or destructive

urges will be met by threats of retaliation from parents or other social agents.

Moral Anxiety:

When the ego is threatened by punishment from the superego, the ensuing emotional response is called

moral anxiety. It occurs whenever the id strives toward active expression of immoral thoughts or acts and

the superego responds with feeling of shame, guilt, and self-condemnation.

Ego Defense Mechanisms

The major psychodynamic functions of anxiety are to help the individual avoid conscious recognition of

unacceptable instinctual impulses and to allow impulse gratification only indirectly. Ego defense

mechanisms help to carry out these functions as well as to protect the person from overwhelming anxiety.

(1) By blocking the impulse from expression in conscious behavior

(2) By distorting it to such a degree that the original intensity is markedly reduced or deflected.

They operate an on unconscious level and are therefore self-deceptive and they distort one's perception of

reality, so as to make anxiety less threatening to the individual and they protect the ego.

The ego fights a battle to stay at the top of id and super ego. The conflicts between id and super ego

produce anxiety that is a threat to ego. The threat or anxiety experienced by ego is a signal that alerts the

ego to use unconscious protective processes that keep primitive emotions associated with conflicts in

check. These protective processes are defense mechanisms or coping styles.

↓

Coping Styles

Ego

↑

Super ego

Personality Psychology PSY 405

Sublimation: According to Freud, sublimation is an ego defense that enables the individual adaptively to

divert impulses so that they may be expressed via socially approved thoughts or actions. Sublimation is

considered to be the only healthy, constructive strategy against objectionable impulses because it allows the

ego to change the aim or object (or both) of impulses without inhibiting their expression.

Repression: Freud regarded repression as the primary ego defense. Described as selective forgetting,

repression completely obstructs the expression of unconscious sexual and aggressive impulses so that they

cannot be admitted to awareness, at least as long as they remain objectionable to the person. Hence, no

tension reduction is permitted.

Projection: As a defense mechanism, projection ranks next to repression in terms of theoretical

importance. It refers to the process of unconsciously attributing one's own unacceptable impulses, attitudes,

and behaviors to other people or to the environment. Projection thus enables us to blame someone or

something else for our own shortcomings.

Displacement: In displacement, when viewed specifically as a defense mechanism (as opposed to the more

general meaning of the term described earlier in this chapter), the expression of an instinctual impulse is

redirected from a more threatening person or object to a less threatening one. For example, the student

angered by his professor instead swears at his roommate. Or the child scolded by her parents proceeds to hit

her little sister, kick her dog, or smash her toys.

Rationalization: Another important way in which the ego attempts to cope with frustration and anxiety is

to distort reality and thus protect self-esteem. Rationalization refers to "fallacious reasoning" in that it

misrepresents irrational behavior In order to make it appear rational and thus justifiable to oneself and

others. One's mistakes, poor judgments, and failures can be explained through the magic of rationalization.

Reaction Formation: Sometimes the ego can control or defend against the expression of a forbidden

impulse by consciously expressing its opposite. This is known as reaction formation. As a defensive

process it operates in tow steps: first, the unacceptable impulse is repressed: next, the opposite is expressed

on a conscious level.

Regression: Still another common defense mechanism that we use to defend ourselves against anxiety,

regression involves a reversion to an earlier stage of psychosexual development or to a mode of expression

that is simpler and more childlike. It is a way of alleviating anxiety by retreating to an earlier period of life.

Techniques of Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis is a therapeutic process which reveals unconscious mental process and conflicts through

catharsis and insight.

1. Free association: The patient is asked to lie on a couch and the therapist sits behind the client, then the

patient is asked to give a running account of his thought pattern uninterrupted without social censoring it.

This technique brings to the conscious level emotionally loaded material that at times can be painful,

threatening to be discussed at conscious level.

2. In his book interpretation of the dreams in1900 he refers to the dream analysis as a process in which the

contents of the dream usually the id impulses (wishes) related to the unconscious conflicts. The therapist

interprets the contents of dreams and relates them to various unconscious wishes.

Example:

Suppose you go to the bazaar and you want to buy a very expensive pair of shoes, costing a fortune. Your

mother refuses to buy and says that you are out of your mind. So at night, you dream that you are owner of

that shoe shop so your id desire has been fulfilled in a dream.

3. The relationship between the patient with the therapist / clinician / psychoanalyst / counselor is very

important.

Patient

→

therapist

Relationship

The patient may relate with therapist positively as with an important person in his life like parents, teachers,

and friends. We label it as positive transference phenomenon.

Personality Psychology PSY 405

The patient may relate negatively with the therapist with anger resentment or dislike. We say negative

transference has occurred. The patient may at times like the therapist while at times resent him so an

ambivalent transference takes place. The therapist (is human) he also at times projects his feelings, emotion

usually positive ones towards the patient this is counter transference. This should not happen.

Therapist

←

Client

Ambivalent (positive negative).

Therapist

→

Client

Counter transference

4. In his book The Psychopathology of Every Day Life he talks about the slip of tongue and pen.

Freudian slips means you wanted to say something but you said something wrong or embarrassing say

Freud went to USA to deliver lectures on Psychoanalysis and a professor introduced him as Dr. Fraud,

though he apologized but that is a Freudian slip.

5. Humor is an essential part of psyche.

What sort of humor do you read and enjoy? For Freud humor is mostly related to death and sex two

unknown areas of your life about which you are not sure.

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