Philosophy Theorists
Freud, Adler, Maslow, Erikson
What is Personality?
the quality or state of being a person.
 : the complex of characteristics that
distinguishes an individual.
 the totality of an individual's behavioral
and emotional characteristics.
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Nature vs. Nurture
Sigmund Freud

Known as Father of
Psychology
 Oldest of 8 children
 Father - Discipline
 Mother - Nurturer
 Born Czechoslovakia
 Father blue collar
worker
 Moved to Vienna when
father lost job
Freud Cont…
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Studied a patients
thoughts (Feelings,
not illness)
Studied Neurology
Strong
psychological
interest
Volumes of writings
Psychoanalytic
approach
Freud Famous Work
Iceberg theory
 1st 6 years of childhood are the most
important
 Nature - 100% instincts
 Oedipus complex
 ID, EGO, Superego
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Iceberg Theory
Iceberg Cont..
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According to Freud there are three levels of
consciousness to the mind
 Conscious (small) 10% - part of the mind that
holds what you are aware of.
 Preconscious (small-medium) 10-15% Regarded as ordinary memory. Not in
conscious but can be readily brought to
conscious
 Unconscious (enormous) 75-80% - Not
directly accessible to awareness. “Dump
box” for urges, feelings and ideas tied to
anxiety.
Iceberg Cont…
Much of Freud’s work on the ID, Ego,
Superego comes from this theory.
 Believes Information passes easily
between conscious and preconscious.
 To access truly unconscious information
from the mind you need a
psychoanalyst.
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ID, EGO, SuperEgo
ID, EGO, SuperEgo
ID - Pleasure seeking 100%. You are
here to serve me. Ex: An infant or
young child mentality.
 EGO - Reality somewhere between the
Id and Superego. May be one sided
more than others.
 SuperEgo - The giving altruistic person.
Always moral, law abiding.
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 Altruistic
- unselfish regard for or devotion to
the welfare of others.
Oedipus Complex
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Believes we all end up
married to someone
exactly like mother or
father.
At some point in an
infant/toddlers life they
will desire to possess
parent of opposite sex
and dispose of parent of
same sex.
Between ages 3-5
Becomes a repressed
feeling in the
unconscious.
Freud’s Stages of Development
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Believes we are all pleasure seeking
individuals. Focus’ on that for each stage
Oral stage - (0-2yrs) centered around the
sensitive area of mouth. Communication
develops
Anal stage - (2-3yrs) potty training
Phallic stage - (3-5yrs) start to realize gender
differences ex: oedious complex
Latency - (6-12yrs) play with same sex ignore
opposite.
Genital - (12yrs - ) puberty
Defense Mechanisms

Freud believes they come about when
the EGO can not deal with the demands
put on it. Three types of anxiety
 Neurotic
Anxiety
 Reality Anxiety
 Moral Anxiety
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Types of Defense Mechanisms - Denial,
Repression, Regression, Suppression,
Sublimation, Displacement.
Dream Interpretation
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Freud begins to analyze
dreams in order to
understand aspects of
personality as they
relate to pathology.
He believes that nothing
you do occurs by
chance
every action and
thought is motivated by
your unconscious