Psy/405 - Theories of Personality - Freud and Jung

Personality Theories – Freud and Jung

Two of the most influential psychologists when it comes to the psychodynamic perspective are Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Although the two men used to have a close relationship, both personally and professionally, irreconcilable differences in ideas and perspectives brought an end to their friendship. However, even though the psychologists grew apart, the psychology world gained so much knowledge and information from their different theories, which are still valued, respected and applied, even if both theories were highly criticized. 

Underlying Assumptions

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud was the first psychologist to create a theory based on the idea of unconscious processes, and how they influence our lives. In fact, his proposition about the unconscious mental processes was the main aspect that differentiated psychoanalysis from other theories at the time it was exposed. It is safe to say that two of the main concepts in Freud’s theory are sex and aggression, on which most of it is based. By analyzing patients and observing his own dreams, Freud developed the theory based on the influence that unconscious mental processes have on behavior (Feist & Feist, 2009).

The main idea behind Freud’s theory is the group of fundamental elements present in the human mind, which are the conscious, the preconscious, and the unconscious. The first, the conscious mind, represents what humans are aware of any time, like thoughts, feelings, sensations, memories and fantasies. The preconscious is the part of the mind associated with the part of the memory that can be easily accessed and brought up. The unconscious, on the other hand, which was considered by Freud to be the most influential aspect of the human mind, represents the instincts and drives that humans are not aware of. Those drives were created within the unconscious, and are the main source of motivation in humans.

Carl Jung

Carl Gustav Jung, also commonly referred to as C.G. Jung, was born in Kesswil, in the Swiss canton of Thurgau, in 1875. Jung and Freud were originally friends and colleagues, and Jung was elected as a member of the International Psychoanalytical Association with the help and support of Freud. However, after several disagreements and conflicting ideas, the relationship ended, resulting in Jung’s withdraw from the association, and consequently, the formation of his own analytical psychology theory.

Unlike Freud’s psychoanalysis, which presented the unconscious mind as the primary force behind human motivations, Carl Jung believed that repressed memories, associated with the collective unconscious, is what provoked human motivation the most. The analytical psychology theory has its foundation on the idea that the human mind resides in the world, and plays an important role in influencing behaviors and thought processes in humans (Feist & Feist, 2009). The collective unconscious is a collection of inherited characteristics and repressed experiences. One of the concepts most referred to by Jung is the idea of self-realization, which could only be accomplished by having different the personalities existing within the self being balanced. In other words, this internal opposition and its balance are the main concepts in this theory, as Jung believed that people are formed by opposing forces and ideas – introversion and extroversion, rationality and irrationality, conscious and unconscious. By balancing these opposing forces, wholeness could be achieved (Feist & Feist, 2009).

The important differentiation between Freud’s and Jung’s theory is that Freud did not considered inherited characteristics as an important part of the mind unless he could not find any other explanations for the case, whereas Jung believed the collective unconscious to be a crucial element in human motivation. 

Determinism versus Free Will

Freud’s belief was that most behaviors had their foundation in events from the past, primarily from early childhood experiences. Most of these experiences lied in the unconscious mind, and Freud believed that it was important for humans to bring this suppressed memories to surface and become aware of where their motivations truly came from, at the risk of living life being controlled by unconscious strings. Although most individuals tend to believe that they are in control of their lives and destinies, Freud disagreed. He once stated that "the ego is not master in its own house" (Freud, 1933, p. 143 as cited by Feist & Feist, 2009). Based on these facts, it is safe to say that psychoanalysis was primarily deterministic, as Freud explained that experiences from the past influenced behaviors the most. 

Jung’s opinion on the matter was not as extreme as Freud’s, as he believed in the existence of conflicting poles within each individual. Unlike Freud, Jung did not believe that past childhood experiences were the only source of motivation present in humans, and they could participate in the decision-making processes of their lives and destinies. Jung believed that the collective unconscious represented the possibility for individuals to work towards self-realization.

Analysis of Self Awareness

Freud’s belief was that human behavior was motivated exclusively by unconscious directives, which individuals had no control over. He also believed that humans may be aware of behaviors and thoughts, but they are usually not aware of the mental processes behind those behaviors.  Because of Freud’s deterministic views, he believed that individuals themselves and the environment had little influence on the person’s destiny, and the unconscious was where the entire individual’s motivation came from.

Jung, on the other hand, believed that individuals must make an aware decision to find balance between opposed forces within themselves, to finally achieve the ultimate goal of self-realization. To achieve that self-realization, both the conscious and the unconscious worked together to bring motivation, in the hopes of reaching self-realization. Jung’s ideas were not as extreme as Freud’s, as he believed that humans made conscious decisions towards their goals.

Conclusion

It is safe to say that although Jung’s and Freud’s ideas had some conflicting points, both psychologists have tremendously impacted the psychology community. Their ideas on the self, the conscious and the unconscious mind were ground-breaking, at a time when only observable behaviors were considered valid for study. The most important conflicting points studied in this essay were Freud’s idea of exclusively unconscious sources of motivation, and Jung’s combination of the collective unconscious and past experiences. Freud’s psychoanalysis was the foundation for Jung’s theory, as he learned many concepts and ideas from his old mentor. However, he was able to express his own individual ideas and create the analytical psychology theory, which was just as important as Freud’s, even if not as popularly recognized. 

References

Cherry, K. (2013). The conscious and unconscious mind. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/consciousuncon.htm on September 30, 2013.

Feist, J. & Feist, G. J. (2009). Theories of personality (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Psy/400 - Peacemaking

Peacemaking

In the modern world we are living in, understanding the different ways to promote peacemaking is crucial in both a personal way and a global way. Peacemaking can be defined as the action of bringing hostile parties into an agreement. The term can be applied in a family setting, between husband and wife, or between brothers and sisters, but also in a global setting, when nations across the world struggle to find peace amongst each other. Myers (2010) explains that when a group of people, large or small, interacts with each other, their needs and goals may conflict, causing social dilemmas to arise. It is usually easier to resolve these dilemmas within smaller groups, since they can self-manage more easily. There are many aspects of social life that can cause conflicts, the primary ones being the disagreements over the equality of contributions, justice, or the division of benefits. 

An article written by Julian Ouellet in 2003 explains a lot of the important elements that constitute the search for peace. The interesting article reviews peacemaking in different settings, but focuses on the conflicts that arise from different nations negotiating with each other. To start, the author explains the definition of the term “peacemaking”, and how the United Nations must constantly interfere to add to the conflicting parties’ own efforts to settle and come to an agreement. According to the author, when that agreement can’t happen without a third party being involved, the United Nations Secretary General is called and asked to exercise his “good offices”, in hopes of facilitating the resolution of the current dilemma in a peaceful way. 

The author moves on to explain that when a third party is called in to interfere and help the conflicting parties to reach an agreement, it is most likely that outside interveners will try to avoid sacrificing their own troops in the search for peace. Because of that, they usually try to focus on actions like negotiation, mediation and arbitration before resourcing to armed forces. Although nations can’t always interfere with another nation’s affairs just by not agreeing with what is happening at that certain place, there are explicit cases when States that are part of the Geneva Conventions and the United Nations Charter are obligated to intervene, such as in case of genocide, disturbances to the international peace and cases of human devastation. 

The article also explains some of the most traditional methods of peacemaking, like the ones specified by the United Nations Charter, which lists negotiation, enquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, and resorting to regional agencies or arrangements as peaceful ways of intervention in the occasion of a violent conflict. However, non-peaceful methods like sanctions, blockading and violent intervention are also listed as methods to restore peace between conflicting states. As an example to an intervention that was successful in achieving peace between conflicting nations, the author gives the example of the conflicts in Bosnia-Herzegovina, that was “rife with civil violence”, as Oullet explains. The Operation Deliberate Force, which begun on August 29, 1995, was a bombing campaign against Serbia and Bosnian-Serb targets designed to halt Serbian attacks on safe areas and bring Serbia to the negotiating table. The plan was successful, and the active military intervention, combined with first-track diplomatic efforts and peacekeeping forces, let to the General Agreement Framework. 

With this example, the author explains that although peacemaking efforts can work differently, an effective peacemaking mission will use all the available possible ways to finally achieve peace. She then explains the difference between first and second generation peacekeeping: “First-generation peacekeeping was simply to guarantee ceasefires with neutral interposition forces. Second-generation peacekeeping has evolved to allow flexibility of function and mission, from guaranteeing ceasefires to election monitoring to subsequent peace enforcement” (Oullet, 2003). 

Conflict is a constantly present element in the social word, as it seems to be inevitable among individuals, groups and nations. When it comes to solving conflicts amongst international nations, the hope is that preventive diplomacy will stop and prevent violent conflicts. Since that is not always the case, it is important to understand that peacekeeping and peace building must work together with preventive diplomacy in hopes of finally achieving world peace. Peacemaking is a tool to be used against violent conflicts, but it can’t stand alone.

References

Myers, D. (2010). Social Psychology (10th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

Oullet, J. (2003). Peacemaking.  Retrieved from http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/peacemaking  on September 15th, 2013.

Psy/400 - The Self

The Self

One of the most challenging questions individuals face at some point in their lives is the one that lies at the very core of a human’s existence. Sooner or later, every person will have to face the dilemma of self-knowledge and self-awareness, and search for answers to the infamous question of “who am I?” Although most individuals spend most of their time trying to please society and fit in amongst peers and colleagues, no true level of success can be achieved unless that individual searches within his or her soul and deep thoughts, in hopes of finding a better understanding and clarification of their own personal traits, characteristics, dreams and ambitions. There are many different aspects that together form the “self”. Self-awareness, self-esteem, self-concept and self-efficacy, combined with the influences presented by the environment around the individual determine how individuals will present themselves in society and how they interpret themselves. 

Self-concept is the way individuals see themselves. There are many factors that can affect that image, some of the most influential ones being the important people in one’s life. Self-concept is what allows individuals to see their flaws, strengths and weaknesses, and as people grow older, that image becomes more specific and clear. It can be challenging to accomplish self-awareness and examine themselves looking for answers and understanding, while at the same time trying to fit in and function in a social world. Society and the environment are constantly presenting challenging situations that demand that the individual finds a way to adapt and respond. One of the main characteristics of the “self” is its capability of self-preservation and self-protection, or in other words, its ability to remain stable and balanced (Myers, 2010). Self-concept can be explained as a collection of self-perceptions, as it is the mental picture someone paints about themselves. 

Self-concept, like many different topics studied by psychology, has been observed in different ways. For instance, a theory known as Social Identity Theory explains that self-concept has two different parts, which are personal identity and social identity. The former includes the individual’s personality traits and the characteristics that guarantee that person is unique; the later, on the other hand, includes all the different groups an individual can belong to, such as school, work, religious groups, etc. (Cherry, 2013). Self-concept should be a simple subject, as it’s all about self-knowledge and understanding ourselves. Technically, it should be easier for us to understand ourselves than to understand those around us, but that is not always the case. I personally define myself in the way others see me: a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, etc. I have a really hard time identifying who I am outside of my social life. 

Carl Rogers, a humanistic psychologist, explained that there are three part of self-concept, which are self-image, self-esteem, and ideal self. Self-image is the way we see ourselves. A lot of times that image is not quite realistic, as people tend to both inflate their self-image, and believe they are better than they actually are, or the opposite, when they exaggerate their flaws and weaknesses and believe they are much worse than in reality (Cherry, 2013).

Self-esteem is how much we value ourselves. There are many factors that can influence our self-esteem, many of them involving the social world. Individuals tend to often compare themselves to others, and that can have a negative or a positive impact. When comparing ourselves to someone and realizing that we can do something better than that other person, that will have a positive impact on our self-esteem. However, when the opposite happens, and the comparison ends up being negative, that can really damage the way we value ourselves. Personally, I consider my self-esteem average. There are days when I feel great about myself, and think that I can conquer anything. On other days, my goals seem so out of reach that I feel overwhelmed, and like a failure. When it comes to my physical image, there are days when I feel good, but most of the time I feel like I’m not pretty enough and should lose some weight. 

The third element in Rogers’ theory is the ideal self, which represents what we wish we could be. A lot of times, the way we see ourselves and the way we wish we would see ourselves are completely different. Most individuals tend to always wish they had more, or looked different, or were smarter, or more charming. It is very rare to find an individual that is completely satisfied with the way he or she is at the moment (Cherry, 2013). 

Self-efficacy is the way individuals believe they affect the world, and the effectiveness of that impact (Myers, 2010). “The ability to undertake and surmount challenges and persevere in the attainment of goals perpetuates a stronger sense of accomplishment and a greater sense of self-efficacy” (Sachs-Ericsson, Medley, Kendall–Tackett, & Taylor, 2011). In other words, the way individuals see their level of self-efficacy is related to their ability of reaching goals and meeting challenges, and how committed they are to succeeding in those tasks. Personally, I unfortunately have to admit that my level of self-efficacy has been very low. I have been feeling overwhelmed with work and school, while at the same time taking care of my family. I haven’t been reaching my goals at work or in my personal life, and things seem to be falling apart around me. Sometimes I just want to give up, although that is not really an option.

There are several experiences that affected my personal development. The first one that comes to mind was moving to the United States from Brazil, by myself, when I was 21 years old. I wanted to travel, meet new people and live new experiences, away from my mother’s rigid watch. I planned on only coming here for six months, but ended up meeting my husband and staying. Leaving my family in Brazil was the hardest thing I ever had to do, but being away from my mother made our relationship so much stronger. We are much closer today than we were when we lived under the same roof, and today I strive to be a good mother like she was, even if I didn’t see it that way when I was younger.

The other experience that affected my personal development was having my daughter, who is now two years old. Before she was born, I was selfish and rarely thought about anyone else but me. She completely changed that, as today I put not only her, but also my husband and my family, in the first place. While before I didn’t really care about becoming a successful person, today I want to be as good as I can, because of her. She made me aware of my strengths and weaknesses, and she makes me want to face my problems instead of running from them.

The self is a conglomerate of several aspects, that when combined create who we are. Even though the self is who we are inside, it is highly influenced by the social world, combined with one’s self-esteem and self-efficacy. The experiences we go through throughout our lives have a meaningful impact on the “self”, as it can be a constantly changing concept. I am always changing and evolving, and my “self” evolves with me. I still have a long way to go before I am completely comfortable with who I am, but I know that I’m on the right track.

References

Cherry, K. (2013). What is self-concept?.  Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/sindex/f/self-concept.htm on August 26th, 2013.

Myers, D. (2010). Social Psychology (10th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.

Sachs-Ericsson, N., Medley, A. N., Kendall–Tackett, K., & Taylor, J. (2011). Childhood abuse and current health problems among older adults: the mediating role of self-efficacy. Psychology of Violence, 1(2), 106-120. doi: 10.1037/a0023139

Psy/400 - Social Psychology

Social Psychology

Social Psychology is one of the most interesting fields of psychology, as it studies and analyzes how individuals’ thoughts, behaviors and feelings are impacted and influenced by other individuals around them. There are many different aspects involved in the study of social psychology, some of them being group behavior, social perception, leadership, non-verbal behavior, conformity, aggression and prejudice (Cherry, 2013). In other words, social psychology tries to understand and explain causal and correlational human nature relationships. Although one of the key elements of social psychology is the influence society has on individuals, social perception and social interaction are also areas of interest in this field.

Definition of Social Psychology

The formal definition of social psychology can be explained as the discipline that uses scientific methods to explain and understand the thoughts, behaviors, and feelings as individuals interact with other individuals (Myers, 2010). This discipline’s main focus is on the way humans live and behave in society, and what shapes their interactions with others. 

How Social Psychology Differs from Related Disciplines

To understand the importance of social psychology, it is necessary first to be able to differentiate this discipline from others like personality psychology and sociology. The main aspect that differentiates social psychology from folk wisdom is the fact that the former relies mainly on subjective interpretation and personal observations, while the latter values the empirical study of social phenomena and the scientific methods (Cherry, 2013). The primary difference between personality psychology and social psychology is that personality psychology focuses mainly on individual traits and characteristics, while social psychologists are interested in how society impacts an individual’s attitudes and behaviors. Finally, it is also important to differentiate social psychology and sociology, since the two sciences are constantly mistaken for each other. Although sociology and social psychology study similar topics, what changes is the perspective from which the individual is being observed. Sociology has its main focus on the “cultures and institutions that influence how people behave, while psychologists instead focus on situational variables that affect social behavior” (Cherry, 2013).

Role of Research in Social Psychology

In order to better understand human nature, it is often that social psychologists propose theories and try to test hypothesis. Myers (2010) explains that theories are "integrated sets of principles that explain and predict observed events" (p. 17), or in other words, theories are ways of explanation to otherwise not completely understood observations. To be able to predict or explain behaviors, social psychologists develop studies and run experiments that observe humans and the way they interact. By observing and researching human behavior, scientists are able to understand the way individuals think, behave and relate to each other, and because of that research is a crucial element in social psychology. There are many different methods that may be used to conduct a research on social psychology topics, all of which allow researchers to test theories and hypothesis and try to find a relationship between variables. While conduction a research in social psychology, it is important for the scientist or psychology that always keep in mind the rule that correlation does not imply causation. “Although information on correlating variables may be valuable, it is not a reliable indicator of a causal relationship or whether another variable is involved” (Myers, 2010). 

The most often used methods of social psychology research are correlational or experimental. The correlational method tries to identify if two or more factors are associated, and to obtain answers and results scientists often use systematic survey methods and real world settings, like studies. Experimental research, on the other hand, tries to find evidence that supports a cause and effect relationship, and to prove that relationship scientists often manipulate and control some of the variables. “Experimental research is designed to explore cause and effect by controlling and manipulating variables and by random assignment. Such isolation and manipulation may provide enough evidence to attribute any resulting difference to one or another of the variables” (Myers, 2010). 

Conclusion

Although social psychology has very similar traits to other fields, its use of scientific method and understanding of the behaviors and thought processes of individuals in a society make it different from any other field of study in psychology. A better understanding in social psychology allows for psychologists and scientists to help individuals with personal growth and overall well-being, as well as adaptability and a successful life in society.

References

Cherry, K. (n.d.). What Is Social Psychology - An Introduction to Social Psychology. Psychology - Complete Guide to Psychology for Students, Educators & Enthusiasts. Retrieved March 25, 2011, from http://psychology.about.com/od/socialpsychology/f/socialpsych.htm

Myers, D. G. (2010). Social psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill.