General System of Individual Psychology - Essay Example

 Abstract Personality of an individual is what makes us all apart. In order to understand the human mind, it is important to analyze the behavior of the individual and to find the reason why an individual behaves in a particular manner. Psychology Psychology is a science which studies and analyzes a human mind and its behavior. The motive behind the research of the mind is to form an opinion regarding a particular thought or behavior shown by an individual. One of the most important fields in psychology is to analyze the personality of an individual. Various researches have been done in the past to understand the different causes which influence the personality of an individual. Personality is made up of certain characteristics which are unique to a particular person and these unique characteristics separates one individual with another. Personality is formed with number of characters like thoughts, feelings, skills and others. Personality is what defines us as individuals. Throughout the years there have been various theorists who have worked throughout their life in order to understand people’s personality and their characteristics. Theorists like Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler and Karen Horney have made significant contribution in analyzing personality traits of an individual. Out of all the psychiatrists born in the world, the most renowned and influential psychiatrist was Sigmund Freud whose theory of personality development has influenced many psychiatrists. Freud helped people to understand how the mind operates. He divided the mind into three stages conscious stage, pre conscious stage and unconscious stage. The conscious stage is that part of the mind which is aware of the thoughts which are inside the mind. It consists of thoughts that the person is currently thinking about. The preconscious mind is the memory of the mind. Individuals may not be thinking about the thoughts inside the memory but they are aware of it and if needed can retrieve them any time. The most interesting part of the Freud’s theory is the unconscious stage of the mind which is that part of the mind which we are not aware of and we cannot retrieve any information from it. Freud stated that although we may not be aware of it but they affect the personality of the person significantly. (Hindle & Smith, 1999) Freud also stated that apart from the above three stages of the mind, there are three more structures which are an important part of the human psyche. These three structures are ID, ego and super ego. The id of an individual is the most basic structure and all humans are born with an identification which exists in there mind unconsciously. The id of a human mind is driven by the animal instincts of sex and aggression. It works on the principle of maximum pleasure and minimum discomfort. Since it is driven with animal instincts hence the actions behind it has no rational. It tries to seek pleasure without bothering about the consequences or repercussions. As per Freud human mind may not be aware of their Id instincts but it is very much part of their personality. The next part of the human mind is the ego. As the child grows up and interacts with the rest of the world they come to know about their own self as individuals and recognize that they have their own desires and wants. The ego is very much part of the person’s identity and it is the ego part which controls the animal instincts of the human mind by making it aware of the consequences for a particular action. The last part of the human psyche is the super ego. As per Freud’s theory a child starts to develop super ego when they become aware of the society and its rules and values. The age when it starts to develop super ego is around five-six years. Moral principles are the main factors that are responsible for shaping out the super ego. Super ego too, is based on illogical factors and operates at conscious, pre conscious and unconscious stage of the mind. (Hindle & Smith, 1999) All three parts of the mind operate together with ego tries to satisfy the needs of id within the framework of super ego. Besides Freud there were many psychiatrists who have made considerable contribution towards analyzing personality traits of individuals. One of them was Carl Jung who was the founder of Analytical Psychology. It is interesting to note quite a few similarities and differences between Jung and Freud. The most notable difference between them was that Jung believed that psychology was not that structured as Freud believed it to be. Unlike Freud he did not focus much on sexuality but also relied on symbols and archetypes to analyze behavior of the individuals. Carl Jung believed that Freud’s concept of unconsciousness was incomplete as Freud though that unconscious mind is a pool of repressed thoughts but according to Jung unconscious mind could also be a source of creativity. Although Carl agreed on Freud’s theory of unconscious mind and its affect on individual’s personality but he took his unconscious model one step further by including collective consciousness where inherited memories and archetypes resides. Another psychologist who was influenced by Freud was Alfred Adler who invented individual psychology. Alfred agreed with Freud on the presence of the unconscious mind and its affect on the behavior but he did not agreed with Freud on instinctive psychology and focused more on goal oriented nature of human beings. Just like Freud he too believed that sex and aggression was one of the main driving forces behind human thoughts. (Stein, 2006) Another famous and renowned psychiatrist who was inspired by Freud was Karen Horney. Horney too believed in Freud’s theory of unconscious stage of mind as an important factor for driving human emotions and behaviors but she did not agree with Freud’s view that males and females were born with inherent differences in their personality. She countered Freud by citing various social and cultural explanations and she believed that men and female are equal if cultural restrictions are not put on women. Theorists like Freud, Jung, Adler and others have contributed tremendously in analyzing the behavior and personalities of an individual. There theories have made it easier for people to understand the reason for a particular behavior. Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis has been a major source of inspiration for many other psychiatrists to understand the characteristics of individual’s personality and the reasons behind their behavior. Freud had many followers and many of them were psychiatrists who took inspiration from Freud to develop their own theories which were accepted and appreciated throughout the world Although Freud was very popular and admired, he was also very strict and stubborn as far his beliefs were concerned. Freud did not encourage any counter arguments from his fellow theorists regarding his theories. In order to organize psychology he founded the psychoanalytic society which had many reputed members like Alfred Adler, Carl Jung and many others. Since Freud did not wanted to encourage debate against his views many of the society members broke away from his society in order to work on their analysis and founded new theories on personality development. Carl and Adler both who were members of Freud’s society developed different theories regarding personality development. Both of them principally agreed on the affects caused by the unconscious mind to a person’s personality but they wanted to put more substance in this regard. Their different approach was the prime reason why both did not share cordial relations with Freud despite the fact that they both used Freud’s theory to develop their own. Carl Jung and Freud were very close to each other. Freud thought of Carl as innovative and original in concepts and he saw him as his successor. Jung, who is known for developing Analytical psychology, believed that symbols, archetypes and inherited memories are also responsible for shaping out a persons personality. He also laid down the importance of religion and collective unconsciousness which have been passed on as genes from their parents. (Dunne, 2000) Adler too a close associate of Freud broke away from his camp to develop and form a new theory on personality. According to Adler, each individual was born with a sense of inferiority which we try to overcome by striving to become superior from people around us. (Stein, 2006) Even Karen Horney, who although was not part of the Freud’s club, followed his theory to form more modern and refined theory on personality development. Karen was not fully convinced with Freud’s theory and had strong reservations against the discrimination against men and women which was suggested by Freud. (Hitchcock, 2004) It is important to know that Freud has given all other theorists a platform to research and understand the human behavior. Without Freud’s theories of personality development, it would have been very difficult for other theorists to go further into the subject and derive theories which not only helps medical professionals to understand their patient but many investigation agencies which use psychology to solve civil or criminal cases. Work Cited Dunne, C. (2000). Carl Jung: Wounded Healer of the Soul. London: Parabola Books. Hindle, D., & Smith, M. (Eds.). (1999). Personality Development- A Psychoanalytic Perspective. London: Routledge. Hitchcock, S. (Ed.). (2004). Karen Horney-Pioneer of Feminine Psychology. New York: Infobase Publishing. Stein, H. (Ed.). (2006). The General System of Individual Psychology. Bellingham: Classical Adlerian Translation Project Read More