Introduction
Personality and its formation and development processes are the key concepts in psychology. One of the first fundamental psychological theories of personality is Freud’s psychodynamic theory. Nowadays, most scientists still need to share the views of the outstanding Austrian psychiatrist completely, but also to refute empirically key points of psychoanalytic teachings can not. Thus, it is essential to identify the theory’s main postulates and develop their application.
Description of the Psychodynamic Theory of Freud
The psychodynamic theory of personality is one of the most widespread theories that emerged during the clinical period of the study of personality. In 1895, Breuer and Freud, in their joint work “A Study of Hysteria,” argued that the cause of hysteria was repressed memories of past traumatic events (Shulman, 2021). At this period, Freud already began to emphasize the unique role of sexuality in the occurrence of hysteria. In the second half of the 19th century, when psychology emerged as a separate science, its primary goal was to reveal the main elements of the human psyche through introspection in laboratory conditions. Therefore, the emergence of a radically different approach to studying people had a stunning effect. Developed by Freud, the theory of personality presented a person not as a being of reason and awareness of his behavior but as a being in perpetual conflict (Shulman, 2021). Its origins lie in another, a broader sphere of the psyche and the unconscious.
It is worth noting that Freud’s psychodynamic theory of personality is the first developed theory of personality. Freud was the first to characterize the psyche as a battlefield between the irreconcilable forces of instinct, reason, and consciousness, and he advanced the theory (Shulman, 2021). According to this theory, humans are in a state of endless conflict, the source of which lies in unconscious sexual and aggressive urges. The term “psychodynamic” indicates this continuous struggle between the various components of the human personality (Shulman, 2021). According to this theory, human behavior is involuntary or random; it also underscores the importance of unconscious psychic processes in regulating human behavior. According to Freud, actions are irrational, and the meaning and reasons for a person’s behavior are rarely available to awareness.
According to Freud, the primary source of personality development is innate biological factors (instincts), or more precisely, the general biological energy of the libido. This energy is directed, first, toward procreation (the sexual urge) and, second, toward destruction (the aggressive urge). Personality is also formed during the first six years of life and is dominated by the unconscious in the personality structure. However, the sexual and aggressive urges, which constitute the bulk of the libido, are not realized by the individual. Freud asserted that the personality possesses no free will. A person’s behavior is entirely determined by his sexual and aggressive motives, which he calls the id. A human being is also a prisoner of his inner world; the actual content of the explanation is hidden behind the behavior.
The basic psychological properties of individual personality elements are often referred to as character traits. These traits are formed in a person in early childhood. In the first, so-called “oral” phase of development (from birth to 1.5 years), a mother’s abrupt and rude refusal to breastfeed a child forms such psychological properties as distrust, overdependence and overactivity in the child (Jennings, 2022).
Conversely, prolonged nursing (more than 1.5 years) can lead to the formation of a trusting, passive and dependent personality. In the second from 1.5 to 3 years, the “anal” phase, rough punishment of the child in the course of toilet training generates “anal” character properties of greed, cleanliness, punctuality (Jennings, 2022). A permissive attitude of parents in teaching the child toilet skills can lead to the formation of a non-punctual, generous and even creative personality.
At the third, “phallic”, the most important stage of child development (from 3 to 6 years old), the formation of the “Oedipus complex” in boys and the “Electra complex” in girls occurs. The Oedipus complex is expressed in the fact that the boy hates his father for interrupting his first erotic attractions to the opposite sex. Hence, the aggressive character, unruly behavior associated with rejection of the family and social norms symbolized by the father (Jennings, 2022). The Elektra complex of attraction to the father and rejection of the mother forms an alienation in the relationship between the daughter and the mother for girls.
Application of the Theory
It is important to note that Freud also identifies a latent stage, from 6 years to puberty. This is the fourth stage in which libido ceases and no further psychosexual development occurs. Meanwhile, Freud believed that most sexual urges are suppressed in the latent stage and sexual energy can be sublimated into school work, hobbies and friendships. Thus, in this period the child’s development is actively taking place.
Practically, this can be explained by the fact that most of the child’s energy is directed to the development of new skills and gaining new knowledge. Moreover, during this period children begin to communicate and spend more time with other children of the same sex, so friendships are formed between groups of girls and boys (Breger, 2017). Thus, it leads not only to the development of children’s skills and attention to learning, but also to the establishment of social connections.
Conclusion
Thus, within the framework of the psychodynamic theory, personality is a system of sexual and aggressive motives on the one hand and defense mechanisms on the other. Freud believed that libidinous energy associated with the instinct of life is the main factor in the formation of the human character. The personality passes through several stages in its development; they are associated with the displacement of erogenous zones. These stages influence the formation of children’s behavior and their ability to grow.
References
Breger, L. (2017). From instinct to identity: The development of personality. Routledge.
Jennings, J. L. (2022). Freud’s Case of Dora: Wellspring of Discovery and Discourse. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 10(1), 290-314.
Shulman, M. E. (2021). What use is Freud?. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 69(6), 1093-1113.