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KAREN HORNEY:Adjustment to Basic Anxiety, Adjustment Techniques

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Personality Psychology ­ PSY 405
VU
Lesson 11
KAREN HORNEY
Horney developed a theory based on two concepts:
1- Basic Anxiety
2- Neurotic Personality
1- Basic Anxiety - anxiety created when a child is born into the bigger and more powerful world of
older
children and adults.
2- Neurotic Personalities ­ maladaptive ways of dealing with relationships, especially parent child
relationship-based on hostility or rejection.
A woman and a parent focus on the concept of:
1- Child's feeling of insecurity creates anxiety
2- Faulty parent child relationship creates neurotic personality
Concepts of Theory
1- Basic Hostility and Basic Anxiety
2- Adjustment to Basic Anxiety
3- Classified people according to ten neurotic needs in three categories.
4- Relationship between Real Self and Ideal Self
5- Adjustment Techniques
6- Goal of Therapy
Karen Horney was born in 1885 when she was twelve year's old, she was treated by a doctor who
impressed her so much that she decided to become a doctor herself.
During the economic depression years in America people were worried about their jobs, not having enough
money to pay the rent, to provide good education to their children, to provide good medical care to their
children and to buy food. It was this philosophy that Karen Horney began to develop her own theory of
personality.
1- Basic Hostility and Basic Anxiety
In 1937, Karen Horney wrote a book called "The Neurotic Personality of our Time" in this book, Karen
Horney tried to discuss that a child has two basic needs, which are safety and satisfaction
2- Adjustment to Basic Anxiety
Karen Horney has listed ten neurotic needs or ten abnormal trends in people.
1- The neurotic need for affection and approval.
2- The neurotic need for a partner who will run one's life.
3- The neurotic need to live ones life with in narrow limits.
4- The neurotic need for power.
5- The neurotic need to exploit others.
6- The neurotic need for social recognition.
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 un-assailability.
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Personality Psychology ­ PSY 405
VU
3- In 1945, Karen Horney in her book "Our Inner Conflicts" classified ten neurotic needs in three
categories.
1-Moving Towards People
2-Moving Against People
3-Moving Away from People
4- Relationship between Real Self and Ideal Self
The real self represents all those things that are true about an individual, the ideal self reflects what one
would like to become. So the real self is the actual you and the ideal self is that what you aspire to become.
The relationship between real self and ideal self is important.
Example
The real self and the ideal self actually are the two sides of the same coin.
5- Adjustment Techniques
Freud's ego defense mechanisms and Karen Horney's adjustment techniques are the same. However, Karen
Horney has added few new and usable techniques of adjustment which are:
·
Blind Spots
·
Rationalization
·
Excessive self-control
·
Compartmentalization
·
Externalization
·
Arbitrary Rightness
·
Elusiveness
·
Cynicism
6- Goal of Therapy
In her book called Self Analysis, Karen Horney says, "that many people do not have emotional problems
because they learn to minimize conflict and try to maintain a relationship between their real and ideal self.
So the goal of psychotherapy is create a realistic relationship between the real self and ideal self." Those
people who accept themselves what they really are, they develop realistic goals for future and they have
peace and harmony with themselves.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Karen Horney was born in 1885 when she was twelve year's old, she was treated by a doctor who
impressed her so much that she decided to become a doctor herself. After becoming a doctor, she received
psycho-analytic training at Berlin. Then she began practicing psycho-analysis. In 1932 she came to
America, in New York she started her private practice and trained psycho-analysts. While practicing
psycho-analysis, Karen Horney soon discovered that Freud's theory did not fit the problems that people
were having during the economic depression in America. People were worried about their jobs, not having
enough money to pay the rent, to provide good education to their children, to provide good medical care to
their children and to buy food. It was this philosophy that Karen Horney began to develop her own theory
of personality.
BASIC HOSTILITY AND BASIC ANXIETY
In 1937, Karen Horney wrote a book called "The Neurotic Personality of our Times" in this book, Karen
Horney tried to discuss that a child has two basic needs, which are safety and satisfaction and the child is
dependent on the parents for their satisfaction and gratification. The child is helpless and dependent in the
early years of his life. Two things can happen, the parent can demonstrate true love and affection towards
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Personality Psychology ­ PSY 405
VU
the child and satisfy his safety and satisfaction need or they can be indifferent towards the child, rejects the
child, be hostile towards the child, show obvious preference to another child, show unfair, punishment
towards the child, ridicule the child, humiliate the child, have un kept promises to the child or isolate the
child from the others. A child who is abused and rejected, develops hostility towards his parents, he tries to
repress this hostility and generalizes it towards the entire world and all the people in it. When a child
experiences love and warmth he will develop normally. But when he is abused, rejected, he will develop a
neurotic behavior or an unhealthy personality.
Adjustment to Basic Anxiety
Karen Horney has listed ten neurotic needs or ten abnormal trends in people. They are following:
1.
The neurotic need for affection and approval.
2.
The neurotic need for a partner who will run ones life.
3.
The neurotic need to live ones life with in narrow limits.
4.
The neurotic need for power.
5.
The neurotic need to exploit others.
6.
The neurotic need for social recognition.
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.
All normal people experience all the above ten needs but a normal satisfies one need at a time and then
moves on to others. The neurotic person hangs on to one need even when it is not fulfilled, he still is fixated
over it and invests all his energy in it and ignores all his other needs.
In 1945, Karen Horney in her book "Our Inner Conflicts" classified ten neurotic needs in three categories.
1-Moving Towards People
2-Moving Against People
3-Moving Away from People
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Table of Contents:
  1. THE NATURE OF PERSONALITY THEORY:Objectives of Personality Psychology
  2. PERSONALITY MEASUREMENT:Observational Procedures, Rating Scales
  3. MAIN PERSPECTIVES:Psychometrics, observation, Behavioral Coding Systems
  4. SIGMUND FREUD: A PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY OF PERSONALITY
  5. INSTINCT: WHAT MOTIVATES HUMAN BEHAVIOR?, The Oral Stage
  6. PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY OF SIGMUND FREUD:The Ego, Free association
  7. THEORY OF CARL JUNG:Biographical Sketch, Principles of Opposites, The Persona
  8. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPES:Childhood, Young Adulthood, Middle Ages
  9. ALFRED ADLER:Biographical Sketch, Individual Psychology, Feeling of Inferiority
  10. INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY:Fictional Finalism, Social Interest, Mistaken Styles of Life
  11. KAREN HORNEY:Adjustment to Basic Anxiety, Adjustment Techniques
  12. ADJUSTMENT TO BASIC ANXIETY:Moving Towards People, Moving Against People
  13. ERIK ERIKSON:Anatomy and Destiny, Ego Psychology, Goal of Psychotherapy
  14. ERIK ERIKSON:Human Development, Goal of Psychotherapy
  15. SULLIVAN’S INTERPERSONAL THEORY:Core Concepts, The Self-System
  16. SULLIVAN’S INTERPERSONAL THEORY:Cognitive Process, Tension
  17. CONSTITUTIONAL PSYCHOLOGY:The Structure of Physique, Evaluation
  18. SHELDON’S SOMATOTYPE THEORY:The Structure of Physique
  19. MASLOW’S THEORY:Self-Actualizers Aren't Angels, Biographical Sketch
  20. MASLOW’S THEORY:Basic Concepts of Humanistic Psychology, Problem Centering
  21. ROGERS PERSON CENTERED APPROACH:Humanistic, Actualizing tendency
  22. ROGERS PERSON CENTERED APPROACH:Fully functioning person
  23. ROGERS PERSON CENTERED APPROACH:Client Centered Therapy,
  24. KELLY’S COGNITIVE THEORY OF PERSONALITY THEORY:Biographical Sketch
  25. CORE CONCEPTS OF GEORGE KELLY’S COGNITIVE THEORY OF PERSONALITY
  26. GORDON ALLPORT: A TRAIT THEORY OF PERSONALITY:Personality as a
  27. GORDON ALLPORT: A TRAIT THEORY OF PERSONALITY:Secondary Traits
  28. FACTOR ANALYTIC TRAIT THEORY:Factor Analysis, The Nature of Personality
  29. FACTOR ANALYTIC TRAIT THEORY:The Specification Equation, Research Methods
  30. HENRY MURRAY’S PERSONOLOGY:Need, Levels of Analysis, Thema
  31. HENRY MURRAY’S PERSONOLOGY (CONTINUED)
  32. ALBERT BANDURA’S SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY:BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
  33. ALBERT BANDURA’S SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY:Reciprocal Determinism
  34. THE STIMULUS RESPONSE THEORY OF DOLLARD AND MILLER:Core Concepts
  35. THE STIMULUS RESPONSE THEORY OF DOLLARD AND MILLER:Innate Equipment
  36. SKINNER’S THEORY OF PERSONALITY:Biographical Sketch, Books
  37. SKINNER’S THEORY OF PERSONALITY:Positive Reinforcement, Generalization
  38. ALBERT ELLIS THEORY OF PERSONALITY:Biographical Sketch, Social Factors
  39. THE GRAND PERFECT THEORY OF PERSONALITY:Genes and Biology
  40. PERSPECTIVES OR DOMAINS OF PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY:Dispositional
  41. PERSPECTIVES OR DOMAINS OF PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY
  42. PERSPECTIVES OR DOMAINS OF PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY:Need
  43. THE GRAND THEORY OF PERSONALITY:Psychosexual Stages of Development
  44. PERSONALITY APPRAISAL:Issues in Personality Assessment
  45. PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY: NEW DIRECTIONS IN THE DISCIPLINE