A theory of personality development developed by Sigmund Freud. It was the first major attempt to conceptualize the structure of the personality and to explain the reasons for behavior is based on the idea that people could be helped to overcome their mental and emotional problems by becoming aware of, and understanding, their unconscious desires and memories. The theory is based on the following premises: 1. All behavior is a result or function of prior stimulation; 2. Each person has a conscious- unconscious dimension—that the mind is made up of three parts—the conscious, preconscious, and subconscious; 3. All behavior is ultimately determined by a set of unconscious drives or instincts. These drives comprise a person’s psychic energy and causes a tension that a person seeks to reduce through behaving in a particular manner. Freud hypothesized that the personality is divided into three major components; the id, ego, and superego qq.v. In general, personality can be viewed as a composite of biological aspects (id), psychological aspects (ego), and social aspects (superego). Our basic nature is irrational and selfish. Only social prohibitions and rules restrain our instinctive strivings emphasizes.
The ideas that underlie psychoanalysis, a theory of psychological development and an approach to treating mental illness first developed by Sigmund Freud.
The theory and practice of psychoanalysis as developed by Sigmund Freud in the 1890s and the decades following. At the heart of his theory was the idea that the instinctive sexual drive goes through important stages of development in early childhood and that many circumstances can disturb its natural development to produce neuroses. Psychoanalysis as a therapy seeks to bring disturbing past experiences to consciousness to reintegrate the fragmenting personality of the patient.
Freud asserted that we are not fully conscious of the instinctive drives of the id, the mental system with which an infant enters the world, the drive for immediate gratification without regard to any constraints: concern for others, dangers, morals, or what is possible. The id, he said, is guided by the pleasure principle. Freud believed that both our dreams and our everyday mistakes reveal these instinctive drives (most famously the Oedipus complex, the sexual attraction of a boy toward his mother). The ego is the conscious self, operating independently of others; it develops and acts as a control, modifying the demands of the id as the growing infant encounters disapproval, punishment, and difficulty. The ego is governed by the reality principle. The superego, the third subsystem of a person’s psychology, is the manner in which the ego internalizes socially required self-control, especially as learned from parents in early infancy. The ego is an individuals effective controller, finding a path between the demands of the id on the one hand and the prohibitions of the superego on the other.
A framework of concepts formulated by Sigmund Freud, which elucidates personality and conduct by referencing hidden desires and internal conflicts. Central focus was directed towards matters of sexuality. According to Freud’s perspective, a child traverses through three developmental phases in the early years: oral, anal, and genital. Subsequently, the child nurtures a romantic inclination for the opposite-sex parent and harbors a desire to supplant the other parent (Oedipus complex). Sexual sentiments undergo dormancy around the age of five but reemerge during puberty. Should fixation arise during a primitive stage, it might lead to the emergence of psychological issues.
Contemporary psychoanalysis has evolved beyond these initial concepts and now primarily rests on the observation that most emotional challenges stem from experiences during childhood. The objective of psychoanalysis is to liberate the individual from their history, facilitating their adaptation to the current circumstances.