Unit 4.4: Psychodynamic and Humanistic Theories of Personality
AP Psychology | Unit 4: Social Psychology and Personality
🎯 Exam Focus
Master two major personality perspectives. Psychodynamic (Freud): personality structure (id/pleasure principle, ego/reality principle, superego/morality), consciousness levels (conscious, preconscious, unconscious), defense mechanisms (repression, projection, displacement, sublimation, etc.), psychosexual stages (oral, anal, phallic/Oedipus complex, latency, genital), and neo-Freudians (Jung's collective unconscious/archetypes, Adler's inferiority complex, Horney's basic anxiety). Humanistic: Rogers (self-concept, unconditional positive regard, congruence, conditions of worth) and Maslow (hierarchy of needs, self-actualization). Understand criticisms of each approach. This foundational topic appears frequently on both multiple-choice and FRQ sections. Be able to compare/contrast theories and apply to scenarios.
🧩 What is Personality?
Personality is an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving. It's the relatively stable and enduring aspects that distinguish one person from another.
Different theoretical perspectives attempt to explain where personality comes from and what shapes it. This unit covers two major approaches: psychodynamic (emphasizing unconscious forces and early childhood) and humanistic (emphasizing free will, growth, and self-actualization).
These theories differ dramatically in their assumptions about human nature, what drives behavior, and whether we're controlled by unconscious forces or have freedom to shape ourselves.
🎭 Psychodynamic Theory: Sigmund Freud
Core Principles
Sigmund Freud founded psychodynamic theory, which emphasizes unconscious psychological forces shaping personality and behavior.
Key Assumptions:
- Behavior is determined by unconscious drives and conflicts
- Early childhood experiences shape adult personality
- Personality is shaped by how we resolve psychosexual conflicts
- Mental life is like an iceberg — most is below the surface (unconscious)
- Psychological problems stem from unresolved unconscious conflicts
Structure of Personality: Id, Ego, Superego
Freud proposed personality has three components constantly interacting and often in conflict:
Id (The Primitive Self)
The id is the primitive, instinctual part of personality operating on the pleasure principle — seeks immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and needs.
- Present at birth
- Entirely unconscious
- Irrational, impulsive, demanding
- Contains basic drives (hunger, sex, aggression)
- "I want it NOW!"
Example: A baby crying for food immediately, an urge to lash out when angry
Ego (The Realistic Self)
The ego is the rational, logical part operating on the reality principle — mediates between id's demands and reality's constraints.
- Develops around age 2-3
- Mostly conscious
- Rational, realistic, problem-solving
- Delays gratification when necessary
- "Let's figure out a realistic way to get what we want"
Example: Wanting dessert but waiting until after dinner, planning how to approach an attractive person
Superego (The Moral Self)
The superego is the moral, ethical part representing internalized societal and parental standards. Contains conscience and ego ideal.
- Develops around age 5
- Partly conscious, partly unconscious
- Judges right from wrong
- Strives for perfection, not pleasure or reality
- Creates guilt when we violate moral standards
- "You shouldn't want that — it's wrong!"
Example: Feeling guilty about lying, conscience preventing you from cheating
The Balancing Act
Healthy personality results when ego successfully mediates between id's demands ("I want!"), superego's restrictions ("You shouldn't!"), and reality's constraints ("You can't!"). Anxiety results when conflicts between these three become too intense.
Levels of Consciousness
1. Conscious Mind
Thoughts and feelings we're currently aware of. Small portion of mental life — "tip of the iceberg."
2. Preconscious Mind
Memories and stored knowledge we can access when needed. Not currently thinking about it, but can bring to awareness (your phone number, what you ate yesterday).
3. Unconscious Mind
Largest part of the mind. Contains unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. We can't directly access it, but it powerfully influences behavior. Revealed through dreams, slips of the tongue (Freudian slips), and free association.
🛡️ Defense Mechanisms
What Are Defense Mechanisms?
Defense mechanisms are unconscious strategies the ego uses to protect itself from anxiety by distorting reality. They reduce anxiety but don't solve underlying problems.
Repression
Pushing threatening or traumatic thoughts, feelings, or memories into the unconscious. The most basic defense mechanism.
Example: Forgetting a traumatic childhood experience, having no memory of an embarrassing event
Denial
Refusing to acknowledge or accept reality or facts. Blocking external events from awareness.
Example: Alcoholic refusing to admit they have a drinking problem, smoker denying cancer risk
Projection
Attributing your own unacceptable thoughts or feelings to someone else. Seeing your faults in others.
Example: You're angry at your friend but accuse them of being angry at you; cheating spouse accusing partner of cheating
Displacement
Redirecting emotions from the original source to a safer, substitute target.
Example: Boss yells at you, you yell at your spouse, spouse yells at child, child kicks dog (displacement chain)
Sublimation
Channeling unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable activities. The most mature/healthy defense mechanism.
Example: Channeling aggressive impulses into competitive sports, transforming sexual energy into creative art
Rationalization
Creating logical excuses or justifications for unacceptable behavior or feelings.
Example: "I didn't want that job anyway" after rejection, "everyone cheats on taxes" to justify your behavior
Regression
Reverting to immature, childlike behaviors when stressed.
Example: Adult throwing a tantrum when frustrated, child who was potty-trained starts wetting the bed after new sibling arrives
Reaction Formation
Behaving in a way opposite to your true feelings. Overcompensating to hide true feelings.
Example: Treating someone you dislike with excessive kindness, homophobic behavior masking same-sex attraction
👶 Psychosexual Stages of Development
Overview
Freud proposed personality develops through five psychosexual stages where pleasure-seeking energies (libido) focus on different erogenous zones. How conflicts at each stage are resolved affects adult personality.
Key Concept: Fixation
If needs are frustrated or overindulged at any stage, the person may become fixated — "stuck" at that stage, leading to specific personality characteristics in adulthood.
1. Oral Stage (0-18 months)
Erogenous zone: Mouth (sucking, biting, chewing)
Conflict: Weaning from breast or bottle
If fixated: Oral personality — smoking, nail-biting, overeating, excessive talking, dependence, gullibility
2. Anal Stage (18 months - 3 years)
Erogenous zone: Anus (bowel and bladder elimination)
Conflict: Toilet training
If fixated — two types:
- Anal-retentive: Overly orderly, obsessive, stingy, stubborn (from strict toilet training)
- Anal-expulsive: Messy, disorganized, reckless (from lenient toilet training)
3. Phallic Stage (3-6 years) ⭐ MOST IMPORTANT
Erogenous zone: Genitals
Conflict: Oedipus complex (boys) / Electra complex (girls)
Oedipus Complex (Boys):
- Boy develops unconscious sexual desire for mother
- Views father as rival for mother's affection
- Fears castration by father (castration anxiety)
- Resolves by identifying with father, internalizing masculine role and moral standards
Electra Complex (Girls):
- Girl develops unconscious attraction to father
- Experiences penis envy
- Competes with mother for father's attention
- Resolves by identifying with mother
If fixated: Sexual dysfunction, authority problems, confusion about gender identity
4. Latency Stage (6 years - puberty)
Erogenous zone: None (sexual feelings dormant)
Focus: Developing social and intellectual skills, same-sex friendships
Note: Sexual impulses repressed; energy channeled into schoolwork, hobbies, sports
5. Genital Stage (Puberty onward)
Erogenous zone: Genitals (sexual feelings reawaken)
Focus: Mature sexual intimacy, forming romantic relationships
If earlier stages resolved well: Healthy, balanced personality capable of love and work
👥 Neo-Freudians
Carl Jung
Jung agreed with unconscious influence but expanded it and de-emphasized sexuality.
Collective Unconscious
A reservoir of shared human memories and experiences inherited from our ancestors. Contains archetypes — universal, symbolic images and themes.
Examples of archetypes: The Hero, The Mother, The Shadow (dark side), The Wise Old Man
Alfred Adler
Adler believed social factors (not sexual) drive personality development.
Inferiority Complex
Feelings of inadequacy and insecurity drive us to strive for superiority and overcome weakness. This striving for superiority is the primary motivating force.
Birth order theory: Position in family (oldest, middle, youngest) shapes personality
Karen Horney
Horney challenged Freud's ideas about women and emphasized social/cultural factors.
Basic Anxiety
Childhood feelings of helplessness and insecurity in a hostile world. Results from inadequate parenting. People cope by moving toward, against, or away from people.
Rejected Freud's penis envy: Said women's envy is of men's social power, not anatomy
🌟 Humanistic Theory
Core Principles
Humanistic psychology emerged as a reaction against both psychodynamic (too negative, deterministic) and behaviorist approaches (too mechanical). It's called the "third force" in psychology.
Key Assumptions:
- Free will: People have choice and control over their behavior (not determined by unconscious or environment)
- Inherent goodness: Humans are naturally good and motivated toward growth
- Self-actualization: Primary drive is to fulfill potential and become best self
- Phenomenology: Focus on subjective experience and personal reality
- Present-focused: Emphasizes here-and-now over past or future
- Holistic: Views person as integrated whole, not collection of parts
Carl Rogers: Person-Centered Theory
Carl Rogers developed person-centered approach emphasizing self-concept and conditions for growth.
Self-Concept
Your organized, consistent set of beliefs and perceptions about yourself. Has three components:
- Self-image: How you see yourself currently
- Self-esteem: How much you value yourself
- Ideal self: Who you wish you could be
Congruence vs. Incongruence
Congruence: When real self and ideal self match — leads to authenticity, healthy self-esteem, psychological well-being
Incongruence: Gap between real self and ideal self — leads to anxiety, defensiveness, psychological problems
Unconditional Positive Regard
Acceptance and love given freely without conditions or judgment. Essential for healthy development.
- "I love you for who you are, not what you do"
- Allows people to be authentic and take risks
- Promotes congruence and self-actualization
Opposite — Conditions of Worth: "I'll love you IF you do X" — creates incongruence as person acts to please others rather than being authentic
Fully Functioning Person
Rogers' ideal of psychological health. Characteristics: open to experience, lives in the moment, trusts inner feelings, creative, authentic, accepts self and others.
Abraham Maslow: Hierarchy of Needs
Abraham Maslow proposed we're motivated by hierarchy of needs that must be satisfied in order. Lower needs must be met before higher needs emerge.
The Pyramid (Bottom to Top):
1. Physiological Needs (Bottom - Most Basic)
Food, water, shelter, sleep, air — biological survival needs
2. Safety Needs
Security, stability, protection from harm, law and order
3. Love and Belongingness Needs
Friendship, intimacy, affection, acceptance, being part of a group
4. Esteem Needs
Achievement, recognition, respect from others, self-respect, competence
5. Self-Actualization (Top - Highest)
Fulfilling your potential, achieving personal growth, peak experiences, creativity, meaning
Self-Actualization
The pinnacle of Maslow's hierarchy. Becoming everything you're capable of becoming. Few people reach this level.
Characteristics of self-actualized people:
- Accurate perception of reality
- Acceptance of self and others
- Spontaneous and creative
- Problem-centered (not self-centered)
- Peak experiences (moments of profound insight/joy)
- Autonomy and independence
⚠️ Criticisms of Each Approach
Criticisms of Psychodynamic Theory
- Not scientifically testable — concepts like unconscious, id are difficult/impossible to measure
- Based on case studies, not controlled experiments
- Overemphasizes sexuality and unconscious processes
- Deterministic — suggests we have little free will
- Biased against women (penis envy, inferior superego)
- Focuses too much on pathology, not healthy development
- Many concepts unfalsifiable (can't be proven wrong)
Criticisms of Humanistic Theory
- Too optimistic — ignores capacity for evil and destructiveness
- Vague concepts difficult to test scientifically (self-actualization, unconditional positive regard)
- Based on Western, individualistic values — may not apply to collectivist cultures
- Overemphasizes free will, underestimates unconscious and environmental influences
- Self-centered focus on individual needs may promote narcissism
- Limited empirical support compared to other theories
📝 AP Exam Strategy
Multiple Choice Tips
- Know id/ego/superego: Id (pleasure principle, unconscious), ego (reality principle, conscious), superego (morality, conscience)
- Master defense mechanisms: Know examples for repression, projection, displacement, sublimation, rationalization, regression, denial, reaction formation
- Memorize psychosexual stages: Oral, anal, phallic (Oedipus complex), latency, genital — know ages and fixation results
- Distinguish neo-Freudians: Jung (collective unconscious, archetypes), Adler (inferiority complex), Horney (basic anxiety)
- Know Rogers concepts: Unconditional positive regard, congruence, self-concept, conditions of worth
- Memorize Maslow's hierarchy: Physiological → Safety → Love/Belonging → Esteem → Self-actualization (bottom to top)
- Understand criticisms: Psychodynamic (not testable), humanistic (too optimistic)
Free Response Question (FRQ) Tips
- Apply defense mechanisms to scenarios: Identify which mechanism fits the behavior and explain why
- Explain Freudian concepts fully: Don't just name id/ego/superego — explain their functions and conflicts
- Use correct terminology: "Unconditional positive regard" not "accepting someone"
- Compare theories when asked: Psychodynamic (deterministic, unconscious, past) vs. humanistic (free will, conscious, present)
- Show understanding: Explain mechanisms, not just definitions (HOW does projection work?)
- Apply Maslow's hierarchy: Explain why lower needs must be met first
- Connect Rogers to development: Show how unconditional positive regard promotes congruence
✨ Quick Review Summary
🔑 The Big Picture
Psychodynamic (Freud): Personality shaped by unconscious forces and early childhood. Structure: id (pleasure principle, unconscious), ego (reality principle, mediator), superego (morality, conscience). Defense mechanisms protect ego from anxiety: repression (push into unconscious), projection (attribute to others), displacement (redirect emotion), sublimation (channel into acceptable outlet), rationalization (justify), regression (childlike behavior), denial (refuse reality), reaction formation (opposite behavior). Psychosexual stages: oral, anal, phallic (Oedipus complex — boys desire mother, fear father), latency, genital; fixation at any stage affects adult personality. Neo-Freudians: Jung (collective unconscious, archetypes), Adler (inferiority complex), Horney (basic anxiety). Humanistic: Emphasizes free will, inherent goodness, growth. Rogers (person-centered): self-concept, unconditional positive regard needed for congruence (real self matches ideal self); conditions of worth create incongruence. Maslow: hierarchy of needs (physiological → safety → love → esteem → self-actualization); must satisfy lower before higher emerge.
💡 Essential Concepts
- Sigmund Freud
- Psychodynamic theory
- Id, ego, superego
- Pleasure principle
- Reality principle
- Conscious, preconscious, unconscious
- Defense mechanisms
- Repression
- Projection
- Displacement
- Sublimation
- Rationalization
- Regression
- Denial
- Reaction formation
- Psychosexual stages
- Oral stage
- Anal stage
- Phallic stage
- Oedipus complex
- Latency stage
- Genital stage
- Fixation
- Carl Jung
- Collective unconscious
- Archetypes
- Alfred Adler
- Inferiority complex
- Karen Horney
- Basic anxiety
- Humanistic theory
- Carl Rogers
- Self-concept
- Unconditional positive regard
- Congruence
- Conditions of worth
- Abraham Maslow
- Hierarchy of needs
- Self-actualization
📚 AP Psychology Unit 4.4 Study Notes | Psychodynamic and Humanistic Theories of Personality
Master Freud, Rogers, and Maslow for exam success!