Psychodynamic Perspective

Overview

• Originally developed by Sigmund Freud, also expanded by others.
• Main assumption: Influences on behavior often come from the unconscious mind.

Key Concepts

• Unconscious Mind:

  • Plays a significant role in shaping behavior.
  • Contains unresolved conflicts affecting behavior and experiences.
  • Conflicts manifest in fantasies and dreams, often in disguised forms (symbols).

• Structure of Personality:

  • Id:
    • Innate pleasure-seeking desires; present from birth.
  • Ego:
    • Develops later, controls the id's desires.
  • Superego:
    • Moralistic component developing through interactions with authority figures (e.g., parents); acts as a conscience.
  • Role of the ego: Maintain balance between id and superego.

Psychosexual Stages of Development

1. Oral Stage
2. Anal Stage
3. Phallic Stage (3-5 years old)
   • Establishes sexual identification; includes the Oedipus complex for boys.
4. Latency Period
5. Genital Stage

Strengths of the Psychodynamic Perspective

• Explains a wide variety of phenomena; some believe it can explain all human life.
• Led to the development of therapies for mental disorders.
  • Freud’s methods:
    • Initially used hypnosis, later developed free association.

Criticisms of the Psychodynamic Perspective

• Highly subjective; challenging to test scientifically.
• Based largely on case studies, which are:
  • Non-representative (small sample sizes).
  • Individualistic and non-replicable, leading to reliability issues.
• Subjective interpretations by psychologists can lead to bias.
• Lack of scientific methods or findings to support claims.