Knowing more about your personality can be a great tool for self-knowledge and self-help. And what better way to know a little more about your personality than with the father of psychoanalysis?
Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, is known for having devised the therapeutic technique known aspsychoanalysis, in addition to other well-known theories.
Similarly, Freud was one of the first to recognize the importance of events that occur during childhood.
And although some of his theories have been refuted, most of his work remains to date correct and current.
In this article we tell you all about Freud’s theory of personality.
What is Freud’s theory of personality?
Among many of Freud’s achievements is the Freudian theory of personality. This theory has been criticized by many, however, there are many successes.
According to Freud, the adult personality emerges as a kind of composite of childhood experiences, based on how they are consciously and unconsciously processed within the stages of human development, and how these experiences shape our personality.
It should be noted that not all people complete the necessary tasks of each stage of development. According to Freud, each person develops his personality according to the experiences, memories, and experiences of childhood.
Features of Freud’s theory of personality
Sigmund Freud’s theory of personality discusses the organization of personality, and the dynamics between the various stages of personality development and libido in humans.
Psychoanalytic theory was published in the late 19th century and has been frequently refined ever since. For this reason, Freud is considered the father of psychoanalysis.
On the other hand, it has been widely valued, but also Sigmund Freud’s theory has been criticized by many and remains a controversial topic to this day, due to its relevance.
Freud, one of the most brilliant minds in psychology of the 20th century along with Carl Gustav Jung, presented the idea of the dualism of the life drive and the death drive, among other topics in Freudian theory, where he proposed a model of personality structural. According to this model, there are three parts of the personality: the id,The ego , and the superego.
It’s structural
Freud proposed a model of structural personality. According to this model, there are three parts of the personality: the id, the ego, and the superego.
The id represents a primitive basis of one’s own personality, since it is guided by impulses (sex, hunger, thirst, sleep) that seek immediate gratification.
Therefore, according to Freud, the pleasure principle guides the id, since the impulses and the pleasure principle seek immediate gratification without taking into account the long term.
On the other hand, the self would become the conscious part of the mind, which takes into account the demands of day to day and the repercussions of our actions, it is that voice that tells us what is right and what is wrong.
And finally, the superego operates as a kind of moral conscience, it is the ethical component of the personality and provides the moral standards by which the ego operates.
The superego’s criticisms, prohibitions and inhibitions form a person’s consciousness, and its positive aspirations and ideals represent one’s idealized self-image.
Explains all the functioning of the human being
According to Freud’s theory of personality, personality is very complex and consists of various components.
In fact, he subdivided personality into three elements that work together to create complex behaviors that make us unique and interact to have an impact on each person.
Proposes models that interact with each other
Although there are several contradictions between the personality types that Freud proposed, they can be understood both as complementary theories or as updates to other essential concepts.
Behavior and personality operate at levels of consciousness
Freud divided consciousness into three levels: conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. Each of these different levels corresponds and overlaps with Freud’s ideas about the id, the ego, and the superego.
The conscious level encompasses all the things we are aware of, what we know about ourselves and our environment.
While the preconscious is mostly what we should pay attention to and is also where memories are stored.
Freud interpreted the preconscious as unrepressed unconscious thoughts. Therefore, they are available to be easily remembered.
On the other hand, the unconscious is about everything that is outside of consciousness, including various memories, thoughts, and impulses that we are not aware of.
Personality conditions acting in the face of circumstances
According to Freud, the personality of each individual can condition the way in which they behave in different circumstances.
According to his model of personalities, there are five types of personalities that we will see below: topographic, dynamic, economic, genetic and structural.
Models of Freud’s theory of personality
Freud’s theory of personality focuses on structures, which are very useful tools for understanding how the Human Psycheworks . We will look at each one separately below.
Topographic
To refer to this type of personality, Freud used the metaphor of an icebergto facilitate the understanding of the three parts of the mind. The top of the iceberg represents awareness and the use of logic.
The sunken part of the iceberg still visible would be the preconscious part. It has to do with all the memories.
The main part of the iceberg, which is not seen, is the unconscious that stores all the memories, feelings and thoughts that the conscious mind cannot access, such as fears, traumas, painful and disturbing memories.
Dynamic
This model of Freud’s theory of personality has to do with the struggle between impulses that seek instant gratification against defense mechanisms that try to curb those impulses.
The basic objective of this dynamic personality is to regulate our impulses to ensure that we adapt to social environments.
This is clearly seen in behaviors such as repression, fixation, regression, projection, introspection, and sublimation.
Economic
It is about the way energy works in our psyche. It evolved thanks to the scientific and philosophical spirit of the father of psychoanalysis.
Sigmund Freud believed that psychic processes were related to the circulation and distribution of energy.
According to this model, it is likely that the energy of our psychic apparatus increases, decreases or remains stable.
According to this theory, the psychic apparatus is responsible for the transformation of energy, the postponement of discharge and the elaboration of experiences.
Therefore, we could describe this perspective as all those charges, discharges, overloads and equivalences that are mobilized in our psychic apparatus.
Genetic
This model has the five stages of life and psychosexual development and seek gratification in the erogenous zones of the body.
They change as we get older, and according to Freud both adults and children find satisfaction in these areas.
Too much gratification or sudden frustration during these stages can lead people to develop certain kinds of personalities.
According to Freud there are 5 stages of psychosexual development in his theory of personality:
- Oral stage: 0-18 months. The mouth as a source of pleasure: sucking, kissing and biting. This stage could lead to an oral receptive personality, that is, the person will seek pleasure through the mouth. For example: smoking, eating. On the other hand, it could also lead to a verbally aggressive personality.
- Anal stage: 18 months-4 years. The anus as a source of pleasure can represent holding and pushing. This can lead to a stingy and withholding personality. In the opposite scenario, it could lead to a laid-back and spendthrift personality.
- Phallic stage: 4-7 years. The source of pleasure is centered in the genitals. This is the stage in which we resolve (or not) the Oedipus complex, which helps us to accept social norms.
- Latency stage: 7-12 years. During this period, the sexual drive is reduced to adapt to our environment.
- Genital stage: 12 years and older. This part is when the sexual impulse arises during adolescence, where the sexual identity of the individual is reaffirmed.
Structural
According to Freud’s theory of personality, this model divides our mind into three parts, which develop throughout childhood.
Each part has its own functions at different levels of the mind. But they work together to form a personality.
These parts are the id (the primitive and instinctive part of the personality). Then there is the ego (which functions as a mediator between the id and the superego). And finally, the superego (morality and ethics, laws and regulations).
Importance of Freud’s theory of personality
Today, thanks to advances in neuroscience, we have learned more about the human brain than ever before.
Although Freud was correct in many of his theories and many of his discoveries, today several aspects of Freud’s theory of personality are considered outdated.
It should be noted that for the time, Freud was a great reference, whose theories and ideas are still valid today and many of the practices of modern psychology, such as psychoanalysis, exist thanks to him and his work.
While today Freud’s stages of psychosexual development are no longer very relevant, they are the basis of many modern theories about development, and are a must for people who have ever wondered how they have developed their own personality.
Freud, in addition to being a close friend of greats such as Carl Jung and Joseph Breuer, lived firsthand the barbarism of the world war that, after the definitive dissolution of the Habsburg Empire, gave way to resignation.
Ultimately, her work on psychosexual theory and various models laid the foundation for the work of Jacques Lacan and inspired the cinematic work of Alfred Hitchcock and the works of the renowned feminist, Bertha Pappenheim (better known as Anna O).
University Professional in the area of Human Resources, Postgraduate in Occupational Health and Hygiene of the Work Environment, 14 years of experience in the area of health. Interested in topics of Psychology, Occupational Health, and General Medicine.