Psychoanalytic theory was developed Freud Sigmund. He asserts that personality and behavior of a person develops through the constant interaction that operate in three different levels the person is aware. The three levels of awareness include unconscious, preconscious and conscious. Psychoanalytic theory is the first theory to talk about personality. Psychoanalysis is the practice of psychiatry. The theory had many controversies and it influenced many societies around the world through different disciplines. The ideas of Freud did not only influence the discipline of psychology but it also had profound impact on film theory, art, cultural studies, philosophy and history. The theory of Freud is a theory that reflects ideas of the current world and they have a lasting impact in humanity.
The first level of awareness according to Freud theory of personality is the concept of awareness. He believed that the behaviors are because of ideas, wishes and thoughts that a person has in the brain. The conscious part of the brain does not access this unconscious part. This theory proposes that the characteristics of personality are a reflection of what the unconscious part of the brain contains. This leads to a conclusion that the brain knows things that the mind does not know. An example of a case is hysteria. Freud believed that the cause of hysteria was in the unconscious part of the brain that provoked thoughts without awareness. The unconscious part operates naturally. Freud suggested that the mind is like an iceberg floating in the ocean. He further said that the iceberg is floating 10% above and 90% below the water. The unconscious part makes up the majority part of the mind. The conscious part makes up the 10% of the behaviors that human beings are aware. This suggests that what controls the mind in terms of behaviors, feelings and thoughts is unknown to the mind (Freud, 2008). The unconscious guides the mind. He further suggested the subdivisions of the mind into three abstract classes: the superego, ego and id. This class helps in understanding how behavior and personality develops. It also helps in knowing how illnesses develop. The superego includes the moral concepts that a person learns and develops within the family unit and the society. It gives people a feeling of pride when they do something morally correct and a bad feeling when they wrong. The superego is unconscious and partly conscious (Engler, 2005). It is a barometer to the child and it creates a feeling of guilt and pride depending on the beliefs that the family and society have learnt.
The ego development starts developing in the childhood and its interpretation means “self”. It is partly conscious and unconscious. It operates in accordance with the reality principle because it differentiates between the reality and the imaginary. The ego helps the human being in satisfying the needs through reality. For example if a person is hungry, the ego helps the person to know how to get food.
The id is the division of the mind that includes the basic instincts, animalistic urges and inborn characters. This part of the mind is unconscious and that human beings are unaware of its works. It is not rational because it dreams, invents and imagines things that help the human being get what they ant. The id operates in accordance with the pleasure principle, which operates to satisfy the biological urges and drives of the human being (Carducci, 2006). The urges and drives include sex, thirst, hunger and the desires that bring pleasure.
The background, culture, gender and the social class of Freud had an influence in the development of the psychoanalytic theory. Freud’s own self-analysis is the core of the theory. He suffered emotionally after the death of his father and he experienced a series of dream. This showed him that love that he had for his father had a mix of feeling of hatred and shame. His father had two sons from a previous marriage. His father moved to Germany in 159 and later to Austria where Freud decided to settle. The political environment in Austria contributed to what Freud formulated in his theory. His gender as a man made him analyze the urges and the desires he had for sex.
References
Carducci, B. J. (2006). The psychology of personality. Oxford: Blackwell.
Engler, B. (2005). Personality theories: An introduction. Princeton, N.J: Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic.
Freud S. (2008). General Psychological Theory: Papers on Metapsychology. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Company.
