Self and Personality | Class 12 Psychology Notes

Psychodynamic Approach

Developed by Sigmund Freud, the psychodynamic approach emphasizes unconscious processes and internal conflicts shaping personality. Freud proposed three levels of consciousness: conscious (aware thoughts), preconscious (accessible thoughts), and unconscious (repressed desires and impulses). The unconscious stores instinctual drives, especially sexual and aggressive urges, often repressed due to social norms. Personality structure comprises three interacting forces: id (instinctual desires operating on the pleasure principle), ego (reality-oriented mediator operating on the reality principle), and superego (moral conscience internalizing parental and societal standards). The ego employs defence mechanisms like repression, projection, denial, reaction formation, and rationalization to manage anxiety arising from conflicts among these forces. Freud's five psychosexual stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) describe personality development, with fixation or regression resulting from unresolved conflicts. Post-Freudian theorists like Jung, Horney, Adler, Fromm, and Erikson expanded or modified Freud's ideas, emphasizing social and ego factors.

📊 Diagram: Fig.2.2 : Structure of Personality in Freudian Theory

🔗 Connection: Prepares for the behavioural approach to personality.