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Summary: The Psychodynamic Theory

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Summary: The Psychodynamic Theory
The Psychodynamic Theory

Abstract
The psychodynamic theory was the study of human personality, first popularized by psychologist Sigmund Freud. This essay will discuss the three different structures of personality: the id, ego, and superego. This essay will also discuss repression, projection, displacement, reaction formation, and regression which are the five defense mechanisms.

The Psychodynamic Theory
The psychodynamic theory is focused on understanding human personality. The theory is signified by Sigmund Freud 's idea of how conflict directly impacts personality (Rathus, 2013, p. 244). Sigmund Freud theorized that much of human personality derived from the “preconscious” …show more content…
The author states that “the automatic ejection of painful memories and unacceptable urges from conscious awareness” is repression (Rathus, 2013, p. 152). An example of repression is a person witnessing a loved one committing suicide and placing that memory in the far reaches of his or her mind. Projection is placing bad feelings or thoughts onto another person to make one 's self feel better. For instance the feelings of jealousy a person has for another person, he or she imagines the other person is actually jealous of him or her is projection. Another form of defense mechanism is displacement. This is when a person instead of acting out in an inappropriate manner towards one object or person and applying this impulse to something more appropriate (ALLPsych Online, 2003, para 7). For instance a person when angry instead of attacking another person they decided to chop firewood or exercise to channel this anger. Reaction formation is another form of defensive mechanism. Reaction formation can be defined as changing or hiding one 's own true feelings because these feelings cause anxiety (ALLPsych Online, 2003, para 11). For example a person that has a pornography addiction but instead on the outside to the world displays a very strong anti-pornography stance. Regression is when a person returns to a previous stage of development cause by anxiety (ALLPsych Online, 2003, para 12). For instance a person that begins to feel high levels of anxiety might begin to cry and revert back to the behavior of a small
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