Freudian View of Human Nature - Essay Example

The idea of the three systems of personality, the id, ego, and superego being in constant unconscious battle within a person makes sense to me, as I liken it to a person’s continual debate of what is right and wrong, and then behaves according to his moral decisions.  Such decisions are affected by what society dictates as well as what the person truly desires for himself.       

• How is anxiety explained from the psychoanalytic perspective?

          Anxiety is a state of tension that propels us to do something.  It stems from a conflict between the id, the ego, and the superego over control of the person’s decisions.  Anxiety warns the person of impending danger. 

WASHINGTON - A gay advocacy group Tuesday demanded an apology from the

Pentagon's top general for calling homosexuality immoral.

 WASHINGTON - A gay advocacy group Tuesday demanded an apology from the Pentagon's top general for calling homosexuality immoral.

1. “As an individual, I would not want (acceptance of gay behavior) to be our policy, just like I would not want it to be our policy that if we were to find out that so-and-so was sleeping with somebody else's wife, that we would just look the other way, which we do not. We prosecute that kind of immoral behavior," he said.”

          The act of General Pace calling gay people in the military immoral made him “rationalize” his hurtful statement that it was against his upbringing and that immoral acts such as sex between homosexuals should not be condoned.  His rationalization only proves at least to himself that he is only doing his duty to protect the morality of citizens.

2. “The newspaper said Pace did not address concerns raised by a 2005 government audit that showed some 10,000 troops, including more than 50 specialists in Arabic, have been discharged because of the policy.”

          General Pace was exhibiting the defense mechanism of “displacement” by focusing more on defending his explosive statement rather than addressing an act that has directly affected a lot of people.

3. "General Pace's comments are outrageous, insensitive, and disrespectful to the 65,000 lesbian and gay troops now serving in our armed forces," the advocacy group Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said in a statement on its Web site.” –

          The advocacy group may be exhibiting “denial” by insisting that General Pace’s comments were insensitive and disrespectful.  Society does not openly accept homosexuality and those who still feel certain guilt for being the way they are.  Being faced with a strong comment like that of General Pace makes them deny that what they are struggling to keep is unacceptable.

Jungian Concept of The Persona/ Shadow

          In an attempt to understand personality and human behavior, Carl Jung, a renowned psychologist conceived of highly interesting constructs.  One is archetypes or facets of personality.  Among these archetypes are the persona and the shadow.

          The persona is a mask or public face that we wear to cover our true selves.  Sometimes, when what we feel inside is not socially acceptable or appropriate, we struggle to keep it inside and put on a smile and a happy façade even when deep inside, we are fuming and feel like breaking things and strangling the people who cause us pain and anger.  We wear this persona to survive.  If we go around “naked” without this persona, we run the risk of being thought of as a sociopath with uncontrollable, aggressive urges and perhaps being labeled as a danger to society.

          This brings us to another archetype, the shadow.  It has the deepest roots in our unconscious and is the most dangerous and powerful of archetypes.  It represents our dark side – our thoughts, actions, and feelings that we want to disown and project outward.  For example, we feel hostility towards our co-worker, and in our time alone with ourselves, think the worst of him and even wish bad things to happen to him. We can project it to appear that our co-worker is the one who has hostile feelings towards us and it is rightful for us to avoid him.  We keep our shadows hidden deep inside us.

          The persona and the shadow are essential parts of our personality, as it helps us face people without fear of judgment for our innate, primal “badness” and be accepted as productive members of society.  It helps us control our impulses in order to project a more civilized persona.