Issues in Personality



Ego Psychology

Freud (1940): "This oldest portion [the id] of the mental apparatus remains the most important throughout life…"The id and its instincts express "the true purpose of the individual organism's life."

Ego/I – always remains subservient to the id.

- gratifies instinctual impulses

- mediates between the id, the superego, and external reality

Ego Psychology

- proposed an autonomous ego system

- ego processes can be independent of purely instinctual objectives

- emphasis on adaptive functions using cognitive processes: perceiving, remembering, and thinking

- emphasizes processes and behavior of normal persons

- emphasizes rational and conscious aspects of personality

Anna Freud – the first ego psychologist

- known for developing the defense mechanisms

- maintained Freud's emphasis on instinctual impulses

Shift: the ego functions, not to gratify the id, but to adapt to the world

Hartmann – ego autonomy

- the ego has its own goals

Adler – the healthy ego strives for increased competence

Loevinger – the evolving ego

- ego is the function of adapting to the world

- ego evolves when its functions are out of step with reality

- influenced by heredity and life circumstances

An added dimension: Psychosocial

- personality is social

- develops in relationships with other people

Erikson – personality develops within a social environment

Horney – minimize "basic anxiety," by providing a warm, loving home

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