The Psychodynamic Perspective on Personality: Study with Video Lessons, Practice Problems & Examples

The psychodynamic perspective on personality, primarily developed by Sigmund Freud, emphasizes the influence of unconscious conflicts and motivations. Freud's theory includes three components: the id, representing primal desires; the superego, acting as a moral compass; and the ego, which mediates between the two. Defense mechanisms, such as repression and denial, help alleviate internal conflicts. Freud's psychosexual stages outline how childhood experiences shape adult personality, highlighting the importance of resolving conflicts at each stage to avoid pathologies like anxiety or depression.

Introduction to the Psychodynamic Perspective

In this video, we're just going to be introducing the psychodynamic perspective on personality. So the psychodynamic perspective is a very broad psychological perspective that focuses on unconscious energy dynamics or movement within an individual. So that's where the name comes from. We're thinking about the dynamics or the movement of unconscious energy through a person. So some famous psychodynamic psychologists that you may have heard of before include Sigmund Freud, who kind of started the entire party, as well as several of his followers.

We have Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson, Carl Jung, and Anna Freud, Freud's daughter. For the purpose of this course, we're just going to be focusing on Freud and his contribution to creating this entire theory. So Freud developed psychoanalytic theory, which is a specific theory that falls under the umbrella of psychodynamic. So this is a theory of personality that really emphasizes unconscious conflicts and motivations within people. So there's a really strong emphasis and interest in the unconscious.

The idea that we have thoughts and feelings that we aren't ever aware of, but they still influence our thoughts and our behaviors. So we're going to spend the next couple of videos going over psychoanalytic theory in more detail, but I'm going to just talk about a few basic assumptions of it here. So the first basic assumption of psychoanalytic theory is that humans have a need to balance unconscious desires with societal expectations or societal norms. So a really common theme you're going to see as we discuss this theory in more detail is the idea that humans have essentially these kind of unconscious primitive needs and wants, and they have to balance that with what society is expecting of them in order to behave in what would be considered a typical healthy way. Now going off of that, Freud believed that if you fail to balance those two things, if there are imbalances, then that is going to lead to pathologies.

So "abnormal" personality traits or what Freud would have called back in his day hysteria. Obviously, we don't use the term hysteria anymore but quite often what Freud was describing is what we would now call depression or anxiety. So overall, the idea here is that you need to find a way to balance these unconscious desires with societal norms. And if you fail to do that, we're probably going to see some consequences for mental health or behavior. One final tenet of this theory is the idea that adult personality is formed by experiences in childhood.

Freud placed a lot of importance on childhood, and this idea sounds very obvious to us nowadays. Like, obviously, childhood has consequences for our adult personality and mental health later on in life. But back in Freud's day, this was actually quite a revolutionary idea. So we can thank Freud for getting the ball rolling on understanding the importance of childhood in personality and mental health. Alright.

So that is our introduction to the psychodynamic perspective, and I will see you guys in the next one. Bye bye.

The Psychodynamic Perspective on Personality Example 1

Alright, for this example, we have 5 statements here. We're going to be putting a check mark next to the statements that are an assumption of psychoanalytic theory and we're going to be putting an x next to the statements that are not assumptions of psychoanalytic theory. So our first one is that adult personality is based on childhood experiences, and that is absolutely one of the core tenets of psychoanalytic theory where it placed a lot of importance on childhood. The next one reads, personality is composed of stable traits like openness, neuroticism, agreeableness, and extroversion. Freud was not into that.

That sounds more like trait theory, which came way later, so that is not part of psychoanalytic theory. Our next one is an imbalance of unconscious desire with societal norms can lead to pathologies, and that is exactly what Freud believed. He thought if we weren't balancing those two things correctly, that's where we end up with issues with personality or mental health. We'll put a check mark. Our next one is unconscious thoughts and desires affect personality.

You see the word unconscious, it definitely is Freud. Right? So we'll put a check mark there. He was big on the unconscious. And then finally, we have an individual's ultimate goal is to reach self-actualization.

That sounds very nice, but that is not part of psychoanalytic theory. That would be part of humanistic theory. So we're going to put an x there, and there you have it. See you in the next one.

True or False: if false, choose the answer that best corrects the statement.
Psychoanalytic theory and psychodynamic perspective refer to the same concept.

• A. True.
• B. False: the psychodynamic perspective includes Freud's psychoanalytic theory as well as others.
• C. False: the psychodynamic perspective is the name for the therapy Freud created, while psychoanalytic is the name for Freud's theory of personality.
• D. False: The psychodynamic perspective describes personality as a series of stable traits while psychoanalytic theory focuses on the unconscious.

Answer: (B)

The Structure of Personality

This video, we're going to get into the structure of personality according to Freud. So Freud's theory of personality really kind of centers on the tension and, more importantly, the balance of 3 components. So according to Freud, there are basically 3 components or 3 pieces of personality and those pieces are the id, the superego, and the ego. So we're going to go through what each of these is meant to do. So according to Freud, the id essentially represents your most primitive desires.

So the desire for food, for sex, for pleasure, like really, really basic stuff. So the function of the id essentially is to help you pursue pleasure, avoid pain, and seek immediate gratification at all times. Now according to Freud, this is the only component of personality that is present at birth. So we are born with our id fully intact, ready and raring to go. And this was kind of Freud's explanation for why infants behave in this way.

They're always, you know, seeking pleasure, and they always want immediate gratification. So that was Freud's explanation for that. Their id is basically fully intact and in charge. Now based on Freud's theory, the id is meant to be fully unconscious, so we are never actually aware of the thoughts of our id, but they are going to be influencing our conscious thoughts and behaviors. Now quite often you will see these 3 components depicted as an iceberg.

Obviously, icebergs are partially above water and partially below water, so the above water part is meant to represent the conscious and then underwater is the unconscious. So if we're looking at our iceberg here this piece of it would represent the id because it is fully underwater. It is fully unconscious. So we'll label that as our id. Next up, we have our superego, which is conceptually the complete opposite of the id.

So the superego essentially represents the concepts and norms that you learn from society. So, you know, laws, rules, norms, expectations, etc. And so the function of the superego is basically going to be to act as your moral compass, and it's going to be doling out moral emotions like guilt and shame anytime you don't live up to societal expectations or fit into societal norms correctly. Now Freud believed that this was going to be developing around five years old. So it has to come a little bit later because the superego essentially develops based on our experience in society.

So we need some time to kind of live in society, integrate into it, and become aware of the laws and rules and norms. So it develops a little bit later. And based on his theory, the superego is conscious and unconscious. So it is here on our iceberg both above and below water. Now as you can see, the id and superego are kind of representing 2 extremes, and neither of them is super healthy on its own.

So if your id is in charge of everything, you're going to be a really unpleasant person. Right? You're going to be hedonistic, constantly seeking pleasure. You're going to be brutish and rude and just kind of not going to fit into society very well. Right?

But on the other hand, if your superego is in charge and driving your behavior, you're probably going to be really, like, uptight and rigid, overly moralistic, possibly constantly feeling guilt and shame, and that's not healthy either. Right? So what we need to do is balance them. Everything is all about balance, and the balance comes from the ego, according to Freud. So the ego is basically meant to represent rationality and reason.

Freud sometimes called the ego like our good sense. So the function of the ego is going to be essentially to mediate the id's demands and the superego's expectations. So basically, we have the id saying, we need to do this, and the superego is like, no, no, no, no, no. We need to do it this way, and the ego listens to both sides and says, alright, here's what we want, here are the barriers, Here's how we're gonna behave in order to, you know, function in society and still kind of get what we're hoping to achieve. So that is the purpose of the ego.

So the ego, theoretically, should be in charge for a healthy person. It should be balancing out the id and superego at all times. You don't want either of them to be in charge. Now according to Freud, the ego is going to begin developing around ages 1 to 3, so kind of in like the toddler years. So basically, and this does kind of make sense developmentally.

This is the age that we begin to see children, you know, learning those kind of delay of gratification skills, learning that we can't constantly seek pleasure. We have to delay a little bit sometimes. So according to Freud, that was the ego kind of beginning to take over and kind of tamp the id down a little bit. And based on his theory, it is both conscious and unconscious. So on our iceberg, it is over here both above and below water, much like our superego.

So we'll label that as our ego. One last thing I have for you is a little memory tool. Sometimes students get a little bit confused because they see the term superego and they think, well, it's super, so it's supposed to be the strongest one. Right? And that logic totally makes sense, but the superego is not meant to be in charge.

The ego is meant to be the strongest one. So if you do have that problem, I would encourage you to basically think about the superego as almost being too strong. Like, imagine a superhero who can't control their superpower. Their power is, like, too strong, and they can't control it, and they need help reining it in. So the ego is going to be the thing that kind of helps keep the superego in check, helps it rein in its powers a little bit.

You can also think of it kind of developmentally. The superego never exists without the ego based on Freud's theory. You have to kind of have the ego in place and then the superego develops a little bit later and the ego is already there to help kind of balance it out and keep it in check. Alright. So that is the structure of personality, again, according to Sigmund Freud, and I will see you guys in our next one.

Bye bye.

The Psychodynamic Perspective on Personality Example 2

Alright. So this one is asking us: for this situation here, what would be the role of the id, ego, and superego? So our situation is Gavin returns to his dorm to find his roommate has made cookies for a mutual friend's birthday party. Gavin forgot to eat lunch, is very hungry, and no one else is home right now. So if that was the case, odds are the id, which always wants pleasure, immediate gratification, is driving those primitive desires.

It would probably say, "Hey. Let's eat those cookies." It would not care who those cookies are for. It just wants the pleasure immediately. Now the superego is going to be representing societal norms and expectations. It's going to be doling out emotions like guilt and shame, and it's going to probably say something like, "That's mean" or "That's rude. Those aren't our cookies." And it would say, "Everyone would hate us. It would be terrible. It would be a catastrophe. Our friends would be so mad at us," and it would be freaking out and saying, "We can't eat them."

Then the ego would have to balance those two things and would probably come to some kind of nice conclusion, kind of mediating the two. Saying something like, "You know what? We're going to go to the party later, so we will get to have a cookie later. We're going to have to delay that gratification. Let's have a snack now to help with that hunger and help us wait until the party."

So the ego would help to balance those two and come to a conclusion that gets us what we want eventually, but is also in line with societal expectations and norms. Alright. I will see you guys in our next one. Bye bye.

According to Freud, which component of personality represents moral consciousness that is learned from society?

• A. Id.
• B. Ego.
• C. Superego.
• D. Self.

Answer: (C)

Which component of Freud's theory of personality is present at birth?

• A. Id.
• B. Ego.
• C. Superego.
• D. Self.

Answer: (A)

Which of the following components are at least partially unconscious?
I. Id
II. Superego
III. Ego

• A. I & II.
• B. II & III.
• C. I & III.
• D. I, II, & III

Answer: (D)

Defense Mechanisms

In this video, we're going to be going over Freud's defense mechanisms. So Freud came up with quite a few different defense mechanisms. We're going to go over the 6 most commonly talked about ones here. And it might seem like a lot, but don't be intimidated because I would bet that you've actually heard most of these terms before. His defense mechanisms have kind of worked their way into pop culture over the last few decades, and most of us actually use these terms quite casually now.

So you'll probably be familiar with most of these terms already. Now according to Freud, defense mechanisms are essentially cognitive distortions that are designed to alleviate conflict, between the id and superego. So these are going to be essentially deployed by the ego in particularly stressful situations when it's really, really hard for whatever reason to kind of mediate or alleviate that conflict between the id and superego. The ego will kind of, you know, dish out one of these defense mechanisms to kind of distort our cognitions, change our way of thinking, in what is logically or technically like a flawed or inaccurate way in order to alleviate that tension and, you know, make us feel a bit better. And these are typically going to be unconscious, so they are deployed unconsciously.

We don't know that this is happening. So we're going to go over again the 6 most common ones. So we're going to start with repression. So the idea behind repression is that essentially our ego is going to be prohibiting specific memories or emotions from ever becoming conscious. So before those things can even enter consciousness, they are kind of getting cut off, and we basically cannot access them.

So, for example, not remembering a traumatic car accident. Now, to be clear, this is not exactly how memory works, so, you know, memorize this definition as a definition of repression according to Freud. Don't take this as an actual fact or how memory and forgetting works. Just keep that in mind. Alright.

Next up, we have denial, and denial is essentially a refusal or an inability to accept a fact or situation. And, again, this is happening unconsciously, so it's kind of like getting cut off from the source before it could ever become conscious. So, for example, just like an inability to accept that you have been given a terminal health diagnosis, that would be denial. Next up, we have displacement. So displacement is essentially when we are directing emotions or actions toward unrelated people or objects.

So, for example, a child breaking a toy when they are mad at their parents or if you ever get angry at somebody and, like, slam a door. So you're feeling the emotion toward, you know, this person and then you displace that emotion onto a different person or a different object. That is displacement. Next up, we have projection. And projection is when you basically attribute your own negative thoughts or feelings onto somebody else.

So if you have ever had the experience of, like, being in a really bad mood and, like, weirdly every other person that you seem to encounter also seems to be in a bad mood, that may have been projection. No judgment. It happens to everybody. So for example, you know, asking your partner, why are you so annoyed? When, like, you are the annoyed one.

That would be projection. Next up, we have regression. So the idea of regression is essentially a person reverting to a previous stage of psychological development. So for example, a 4-year-old begins acting like a baby when their parents bring home a newborn. Now to be clear, developmentally speaking, we don't see regression in typically developing healthy children.

What you might see are behaviors that we would expect in a younger child. So this does happen sometimes. You know, this 4-year-old might start asking to be fed with a bottle or asking to sleep in a crib, behaviors that we associate with younger children. But this child has not literally reverted to a previous stage of development. They're still cognitively a 4-year-old.

They're just developing or showing some behaviors that we associate with younger kids. So again, in typically developing children, we do not see actual regression. And then our final defense mechanism is reaction formation. So the idea of reaction formation is that we unconsciously replace threatening inner desires with the complete opposite feeling. So, for example, this is kind of a famous example, but a man who feels threatened by his own homosexual thoughts would act homophobic in response.

So he has these, you know, threatening inner feelings, or maybe he's attracted to another man. He finds that threatening for whatever reason, and so he decides to kind of respond with the opposite behavior, in this case acting homophobic. So that would be an example of reaction formation. Alright, so those are some of Freud's famous defense mechanisms, and I will see you guys in our next video. Bye bye.

The Psychodynamic Perspective on Personality Example 3

Alright. So for each of these situations here, we're going to write which defense mechanism is at play according to Freud's theory. So our first situation is Sonia receives a rude email from a colleague that makes her upset. On her commute home, she shoves a person getting onto the subway harder than necessary. It sounds like what's happening here is that she is angry at her colleague but then she is displaying that anger at an unrelated person.

So she has displaced that emotion onto somebody unrelated. This would be an example of displacement. Next up, we have James, who is insecure about his body as he goes through puberty. He starts mocking his classmates for their appearance and says they aren't man enough.

What seems to be happening here is that James feels this way about his own body. He feels like he's not man enough and he is projecting that onto his classmates. So this would be an example of projection. Finally, we have our last scenario: Mikaela can't remember an assault that took place when she was a child.

This would be an example of Freud's repression, the idea that these memories are cut off at the unconscious and she would be completely unable to access those memories. That is repression. Alright. So those are our examples, and I will see you guys in the next one. Bye bye.

Which of the following statements describes regression?

• A. Attributing one's negative thoughts to someone else.
• B. Directing one's negative emotions at someone or something else.
• C. A refusal to accept a situation or fact.
• D. Reverting to a previous stage of development.

Answer: (D)

Emily, a high-achieving student, has a huge crush on Jaxon,, a boy in her class who has a reputation for being a 'bad influence' and doing drugs. Rather than acknowledge her feelings, she begins acting rude toward him. What type of defense mechanism is this an example of?

• A. Denial.
• B. Projection.
• C. Regression.
• D. Reaction Formation.

Answer: (D)

Introduction to Psychosexual Stage Theory

This video is going to be an introduction to Freud's psychosexual stage theory. Freud developed this theory because he really believed that personality development is based on childhood experiences, and he believed that to understand adult personality and adult pathologies we have to understand what's happening in childhood. This is considered one of the first developmental theories. Freud not only pioneered personality psychology but he also pioneered developmental psychology as well. We're going to go over broadly what happens at each of the stages, and then we'll talk about the stages in more detail in our next video.

Within each stage, what we're first going to see is that pleasure-seeking urges sent by the id are basically going to focus their energy on different erogenous zones in the child's body depending on their age. This movement of sexual energy goes through children, focusing on different parts of their body at each stage. As an example, in infancy, he believed that this energy was focused on the mouth and the act of sucking. So, we have these pleasure-seeking urges sent by the id moving through the child's body, and then what's going to happen is that there's going to be interference by adults or society that's going to create a conflict.

There is some kind of conflict that the child is going to have to overcome, and then the way that children resolve that conflict or potentially fail to resolve it is then going to affect their adult personality. If they fail to resolve the conflict, we may begin to see abnormal personality traits or pathologies. That's the general idea behind the theory. Now, I want to make a note because obviously, this does not stand up to modern scientific standards and, to us nowadays, the idea of sexual energy moving through children just sounds bizarre, and that's totally fair if that's what you're thinking right now. But I do think that it's worth talking about this theory within its historical context because there really was an internal logic to where Freud was coming from.

It's important to remember that during Freud's time and in the culture he was immersed in, sexuality was an extremely taboo topic. People did not discuss it, they were discouraged from even thinking about it and processing their feelings about it. Freud surmised that inner conflict or anxiety might stem from repressed sexual urges. To be fair, Freud wasn't totally off the mark on that. We know nowadays that suppressing and never processing feelings about sexuality is very unhealthy and can lead to mental health problems. We also know that it's perfectly healthy and normal for children to explore their bodies and be curious about sexuality in age-appropriate ways, and that discouraging children from that exploration can be very unhealthy. So again, there was an internal logic to this theory. Freud wasn't totally off the mark, but to be very clear, this is not considered scientific by our modern standards. Alright, I will see you guys in our next video to go over these stages in more detail.

Bye bye.

The Psychodynamic Perspective on Personality Example 4

Alright. So this one asks us which of the following statements are true about Freud's psychosexual stage theory. So let's read through these and see what we have. The first one reads unresolved conflicts contribute to personality features later in life, and that is absolutely part of Freud's theory. He believed that if children fail to resolve these conflicts that arise at each stage, that could affect personality in adulthood.

So that one is true. Our next one reads, childhood experiences shape adult personalities, and absolutely that is, like, the core tenet of the entire theory. Right? So that one is true. And then finally, we have, pleasure seeking from the ego is directed at different parts of the body at different stages.

That one is tricky but it is false. What we actually see in his theory is that pleasure-seeking urges from the id are going to be directed to different body parts at each stage. So based on this, it looks like both statements 1 and 2 are true, and there you have it. Bye bye.

The Psychosexual Stages of Development

Alright. So now we're going to get into those psychosexual stages. For each stage, we're going to talk about the need or kind of those pleasure-seeking urges being sent by the id. We'll talk about the major conflict that arises and then some potential negative outcomes on adult personality that we may see as a result of not resolving the conflict. So our first stage is the oral stage.

This takes place between birth and about 1 year of age and the need is oral gratification, which Freud believed would be gained through breastfeeding or bottle feeding, basically just sucking on a nipple. Now the conflict arises right around 1 year of age, and that is weaning. So suddenly adults are taking away the breast, they're taking away the bottle, and children can't get that oral gratification from sucking anymore. And Freud believed that if they could not resolve that conflict, they may end up with an oral fixation later in life. So basically, a need to have something in their mouth or be using their mouth all the time.

Behaviors like smoking, overeating, nail biting, constant gum chewing, all of those would be considered oral fixations. Next, we have the anal stage, which takes place from 1 to 3 years, so kind of like the toddler years, and here the main need is to have control over the retention and expulsion of feces. So basically, children learning to control their sphincter muscles. And then the major conflict is toilet training. So suddenly adults in society are telling them when and where they can use the bathroom and they kind of lose that control.

And Freud believes that there are 2 possible personality types that may emerge if children fail to resolve that conflict, one of which I bet you've probably heard of before. So our first one is an anal retentive personality. So if you've ever heard somebody say like, "Oh my god, he's so anal about that," in that context, anal is short for anal retentive.

So an anal retentive person is very rigid, uptight, controlling, and bossy, And then we could also see the complete opposite. We could have someone with an anal explosive personality. So somebody who is very messy, disorganized, their life is just chaotic, and they can't seem to get it all together. So that is what Freud believed may result from not resolving the anal stage. Next, we have the phallic stage.

This takes place from ages 3 to 6, so kind of like our preschool years, and here the main need is exploration of genitals and the beginnings of masturbation or masturbatory behaviors. The conflict here is probably the most famous conflict in all of Freud's theories. This is the Oedipus complex. We call it the Oedipus complex for boys and we call it the Electra complex for girls. This is, of course, named after Oedipus from Greek mythology who, in fairness to Oedipus, accidentally married his own mother.

So the Oedipus complex is basically when children end up having a desire for their opposite-sex parent. So boys desire their mothers, girls desire their fathers, and then they feel a rivalry with their same-sex parent. So boys have a rivalry with their fathers, girls have a rivalry with their mothers. And Freud believed that the resolution to this complex was basically for children to kind of realize that they can't compete with their same-sex parent. And so they basically end up actually identifying more with their same-sex parent and that kind of quells the desire that they have for their opposite-sex parent over time.

And based on his theory, if children can't resolve this conflict, they end up being attention-seeking, promiscuous, and having low self-worth. Next up, we have our latency stage, which takes place from 6 to 12, so kind of our childhood years, and this is exactly what it sounds like. So during this time, sexual energies are basically latent or dormant. And so children are believed to have an interest in nonsexual things as well as really to focus on friendships with same-sex peers. And there's no real consequence for adult personality from this time according to Freud.

And then finally, we have the genital stage, which takes place in adolescence, so kind of like 12 and older. And here, the main need is sexual exploration and sexual behavior. And so the major conflict that's going to arise is basically children learning to keep their sexual behaviors in line with societal expectations. So, you know, in this context, you know, in this cultural context, whatever it may be, am I allowed to hold hands? Am I allowed to kiss? Am I allowed to date? You know, keeping all those sexual urges or sexual behaviors in line with societal norms. And Freud believed that if children were not able to do this, then they may have difficulties with intimacy and relationships. Now, I'm going to talk really, really briefly about some kind of pros and cons of this theory. So to be totally fair, keep in mind this was made in the early 1900s.

We did not know about standard developmental milestones back then, and Freud actually noticed some really common developmental behavioral patterns that we see today. So just to give you some examples, during the toddler years, bodily autonomy is really, really important. We actually consider children demanding bodily autonomy to be a milestone for toddlerhood nowadays, and he did notice that. We also notice that masturbation and exploration of genitals does typically happen for the first time, consistently around the preschool years. And during the preschool years, children often begin to identify more and mimic the behaviors of their same-sex parent.

We also see that during the childhood years, children typically tend to prefer same-sex friendships, and we also have evidence that children being able to engage in age-appropriate relationship behaviors during the teenage years does kind of set them up with some interpersonal skills that they can then take into their relationships in adulthood as they become more mature. So, he did notice some common developmental trends. However, the idea of the id sending these urges and then children resolving a conflict and any of these specific negative outcomes on adult personality, that stuff is not well supported by modern-day research, and none of this is considered scientific by today's standards. So Freud noticed some developmental trends, but overall, the theory is not considered scientific. It has its place in history, though, and we'll talk about that a little bit in our next video.

So, I will see you there. Bye-bye.

According to Freud, during what stage does the Oedipal/ Electra complex form?

• A. Oral Stage.
• B. Anal Stage.
• C. Phallic Stage.
• D. Genital Stage.

Answer: (C)

Summary of Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory

Alright, to sum up this section, we are just going to go over some things that make Freud's theories noteworthy as well as some limitations. So in terms of notability, like we have talked about, Freud developed the first theory of personality. And I think it's important to really think about what an ambitious thing that this was. You know, this was back in the early, early 1900s, late 1800s even, and he decided to sit down and create a complete and comprehensive theory explaining why people are the way that they are. That's a big question, and, obviously, his theory doesn't really stand up to modern-day scientific standards, but he really did kind of lay that foundation and did kind of take that ambitious first step.

Also worth noting, some of his defense mechanisms are supported by both research and the clinicians who still use his therapeutic practices. So, for example, in particular, denial and reaction formation both have empirical evidence behind them. So not all of his defense mechanisms are scientifically validated, but some of them are. And then also, like we've talked about, Freud created essentially the first developmental theory in psychology and really kind of kick-started and sparked that interest in the importance of childhood. Again, something that sounds so obvious to us nowadays, obviously, childhood experiences can affect adult personality and mental health, but we have Freud to kind of thank for that, and he kind of began that entire field as well.

Now, I do want to be extremely clear. Freud being the first does not make his work good. It does not make his work scientific. His work will never be known for scientific rigor or accuracy. We still talk about Freud's work because he essentially laid the groundwork for the fields of both personality psychology and developmental psychology.

Now you can kind of think of Freud's work as being like the bedrock that a lot of psychology is built off of. And to be perfectly honest, psychology would be a very, very different field, for better or for worse, without Freud there, though it has a lot of historical relevance. That's why we're still talking about this stuff. Now there are many, many limitations of Freud's theories. I'm going to go over kind of 3 of the biggest ones, but definitely be aware of any specific ones that your professor brings up as well.

So our first really big issue is that many of the concepts that Freud developed in his theory are difficult or straight up impossible to empirically test. So just to kind of give you a quick comparison, if you remember back in our developmental psychology chapter with Piaget's theory, you can test to see if an infant has developed object permanence or not. That's a testable idea. You can't test to see if the id is present in somebody. You can't test to see if the ego is balancing the id and superego.

Those are completely untestable ideas, and so it's very hard to take Freud's theory, you know, seriously as a scientific theory when it's really not scientifically testable for the most part. So big issue there. Next up, a lot of his theories are based on his case studies of non-representative samples. Freud mainly worked with his own clients. Freud's clients, for the most part, were upper-class people experiencing some kind of psychopathology.

They were seeing Freud because they had a mental health issue for the most part. So he's basing these general theories of personality and these theories of typical childhood development on these relatively non-representative samples. That's a big issue. And finally, when Freud was creating his developmental theory, he actually did not study children. He based that developmental theory on the retrospective accounts of his adult clients.

Again, these nonrepresentative adult clients. And what happens when you do this is that it creates what we call an illusion of causality. Essentially, people are talking about their childhood and they're saying, oh, this thing happened to me in childhood, and now I have anxiety. And it's very easy to kind of make the fallacy of saying, oh, so this thing in childhood causes anxiety. But the issue is you don't actually know that.

And with the methods that Freud was using, he has no way of actually testing that. So that is a big limitation of his developmental theory as well. So all in all, big, big, you know, takeaway here is that Freud's work is historically relevant, but it does have a lot of limitations. Alright. Great job with this section, guys, and I will see you in the next one.

Bye bye.

The Psychodynamic Perspective on Personality Example 6

Alright. So this one asks us, which of the following is not a limitation of Freud's work? So let's read through these and see what we have. The first one reads, he created the first comprehensive theory of personality, and that's definitely not a limitation. If anything, it's kind of a strength of his work or at least something that makes his work noteworthy in history.

We're going to put a little check mark there. That one actually looks pretty promising. Next, we have, his theory was based on clinical samples, which may not be representative. This is definitely a limitation of his theory. It's obviously important to study clinical samples, but it does make your work much less generalizable, especially when you're trying to create these general theories of adult personality and these general theories of typical development.

Only using clinical samples is not ideal. Next, we have Freud never actually studied children when creating his developmental theory, and that is also definitely a limitation. Again, in fairness, he did notice some developmental trends fairly accurately, but if we're going to make a developmental theory, we should also be studying children and not only using retrospective accounts of adults. And then we have many of these concepts are impossible to prove empirically, and that is a huge issue with his theory. If you're going to make a scientific theory, it has to be scientifically testable.

So our answer here is a. In creating the first comprehensive theory of personality, Freud definitely made a contribution to the field of psychology, at least from a historical perspective, and this is absolutely not a limitation of his work. Alright. There you go.