Freudian Perspective of Human Psychology

Freudian Perspective of Human Psychology

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was the original psychodynamic psychology theorist who first proposed that the unconscious mind is substantially responsible for human psychological behavior (Gerrig & Zimbardo 2008). He developed his theoretical perspective through his work with clinic patients afflicted with mental disorders, the fundamental tenet of which is that repressed feelings and conflicts determine much of our psychological identity and the manner in which we relate to others throughout our lives (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2008).

The Freudian psychodynamic therapeutic model involves a long-term counselor-patient relationship in which the therapist provokes independent recognition of underlying psychological themes through questions relating to specific areas of psychological development based on narrative information from the patient (McWilliams,

2004). Freudian psychology suggests that the traumatic experiences and ordinary frustrations of infancy and childhood, as well as those arising as a function of sexual urges are become repressed into the subconscious mind. Subsequently, those unresolved conflicts and traumas direct our external behavior.

The Freudian Model of Human Psychology:

According to Freud, the human mind consists of three main components. The Id represents the most primitive human wants and desires and corresponds most closely to the childhood phase of psychological development where the individual relates to the outside world primarily in terms of wants. Freud developed the concept of the Id-based

"pleasure principle" to explain the dominance of sexual pleasure among all other human social needs (Mitchell & Black, 1995). The Id is opposed by what Freud called the Super Ego which is the main control mechanism or the "conscience" that limits the influence of the Id on our behavior (Pinker 2002). More specifically, the Super Ego allows human beings to absorb social rules and values of society.

Freud proposed that the Super Ego is the source of human guilt which represents the interrelationship with the types of behavior the individual knows are desired by others and the need of the individual not to violate those expectations of the ideal values in society (Pinker, 2002). According to Freud, in between the Id and the Super Ego, the Ego is a moderating influence that allows both the Id and the Super Ego to contribute to psychological behavior without either overwhelming the other (Gerrig & Zimbardo,

2008; McWilliams, 2004). In common terms, the Ego is the "voice of reason" in the adult human being that allows for rational behavior instead of either uncontrolled pursuit of wants and needs of the Id or the complete inhibition of self-interested behavior by the Super Ego (Pinker, 2002).

The Role of Sex and Developmental Stages in Freudian Psychology:

One of the most unique and controversial aspects of Freudian psychodynamic

psychology is the emphasis of sexuality as the primary psychological motivation in general, and the direct relationship between parental bonding frustrations in infancy and early childhood and dominant themes in the adult individual, in particular (McWilliams,

2004). Specifically, Freud proposed that the subtle (or not so subtle) rejections of the parents and any parental neglect in infancy establish psychological themes in the long-

term.

In that regard, Freud maintained that children typically develop a romanticized attachment to the opposite-sex parent called the Oedipal Complex in the case of male children's maternal issues and the Electra Complex in the case of female children's paternal issues (McWilliams, 2004; Pinker, 2002). More specifically, children whose

transition through the Oedipal or Electra Complex and those whose parents neglected to fulfill their other crucial emotional needs during their developmental years retain long-

lasting negative psychological attachments to those areas in which their needs where unfulfilled. Alternatively, they may retain a fundamental psychological orientation that

corresponds to the precise stage of development (i.e. oral or anal phase, etc.) where their essential needs where unfulfilled within their family of origin (McWilliams, 2004).

Most significantly, whereas most children experience the psychological "loss" of the parent through this process, the manner in which parents interact with their children and the specific experiences of the child during that stage determines many aspects of the psychological issues that develop within the individual in connection with subsequent romantic urges and relationships (McWilliams, 2004). Similarly, Freud proposed that the other stages of infancy such as the oral phase and anal phase also contribute to later expression of various psychological issues, particularly those involving sexual relations

(Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2008; Mitchell & Black, 1995).

Repression, the Repetition Compulsion, and Dream Interpretation:

Another fundamental component of Freudian psychology is that extremely unpleasant thoughts, desires, and traumatic experiences are forgotten by the conscious mind as a natural coping strategy that fulfils the same purpose psychologically that swelling does around a sprained joint. In both cases, the purpose is to allow the individual to continue functioning (whether physically or psychologically) despite the injury (McWilliams, 2004). However, Freud cautioned that the process by which conscious thoughts, feelings, and experience are repressed into the unconscious mind is imperfect (Pinker, 2002) and that there are considerable consequences associated with the long-term repression of unresolved fundamental psychological conflicts and issues