Sigmund Freud Journal Summaries - Research Paper Example

Sigmund Freud Journal Summaries Submitted When considering the theorist, Sigmund Freud, this is a person who was a researcher thatfocused primarily on psychoanalysis as well as other aspects of psychological development. Sigmund Freud came up with stages of development that are focused on the study of sexual-centric aspects in life. He became a landmark person in these theories of study but also has been ridiculed for some of the components of psychoanalysis and personal development by several researchers since he completed his studies. The following information will look at three different journal articles that discuss Freud’s contributions to society and also how some of his theories may apply today. These articles have been composed by experts in the field of psychology and psychoanalysis and are scholarly journals that all discuss his theories. Journal Article Summaries In the article, Ibsen and Freud: A Study of Hedda Gabler from a Psychoanalytical Perspective by P.S. Mangang, this article was not completely about Freud himself but discusses the book by Henrik Ibsen called Hedda Gabler in 1890. The main character, Hedda Gabler, can be analyzed using Freud’s psychoanalysis tactics at a time when Freud was merely emerging with some of his theories about human behavior. Henrik is called the ‘father of modern drama’ and Freud is the ‘father of psychoanalysis,” (Mangag, 2011) and the comparisons between the two, though one is an author and one is a theorist, are strangely similar though the story was written a decade before any of Freud’s research was published. In his book, Ibsen writes about his character with a centralized theme of individual psychology. Hedda is a person who is neurotic and she has some abnormal behaviors. During the time of publication, these behaviors that the author wrote about in his fictional story were not even theories that people ever discussed or were aware of. This book was made into a play and many of Ibsen’s critics were baffled by the meaning behind the storyline. When study of human behavior became more popular, only then was this storyline more acceptable. Hedda has a stronger bond with her father and has more masculine tendencies. Relating more to a parent of the opposite sex is much like the Oedipus theory that Freud developed. In comparison to Freud’s analysis of psychoanalysis, Hedda likes to play with her father’s guns, indicating that she is in Freud’s phallic stage of development in which the person is shying away from the tendencies of their born gender and act more like the opposite sex. The inability to move on from this stage creates repression and Hedda resembles this because she is mentally unbalanced and considered neurotic. Since Hedda could never fulfill what she wished to attain, she does go ahead and marry a man but not out of love but instead for security. Freud’s theories indicate that when a person is stuck in a certain stage in life, they are incapable of moving beyond it. Hedda has signs of suppression and no interest in sexuality. For her to act more female results in hysteria and she rejects her marriage and pregnancy, becoming depressed. She has much resentment and treats others in hateful ways and is often destructive or violent and according to Freud, this is transference, or redirecting one’s feelings from childhood toward a new situation. This journal was a way to look at a real life person and be able to see Freud’s analysis of human behavior so transparently. Though Ibsen and Freud were not collaborative on anything, they were on the same page. Ibsen’s play puts Freud’s theory into a situation that could be based on any person that had similar behavioral tendencies. Ibsen understood some of these behaviors before Freud could ever even discuss his research. In the article, Motivation-related values across cultures by O. Iguisi in 2009, the discussion of the article talks about research across different cultures, particularly in European countries and Nigeria to see what motivates people to perform. The cross-cultural differences are discussed between the countries of France, Italy, Netherlands and Scotland and then compared to the African country through a questionnaire. Freud’s theories were used to support some of the reasons that different people across different cultures may be motivated by different things whether it be personal achievement, economic stability or other cultural situations. Motives are recognized to be needs and are the explanation of why a human behaves a certain way. Some people are driven by wants and needs or even impulses. Freud discussed that many times, people often did not know what motivated them. The motivation of some people was something of the subconscious and it was not something that could be defined or pinpointed as to why certain things caused motivation rather than others. Motivation could be defined as something that is arousing, creates a sense of direction and may meet a person’s individual needs. Different levels of culture may differ based on organizational culture, occupational or business atmospheres, gender, social class, religion, generation, age, ethnicity and other demographical statistics. A place of socialization and the emphasis that family and society, a person’s educational institution or a workplace can all determine the values and practices of a person’s motivation to do something. Nigerian people were pleased with the time left for personal and family life than those workers in European countries. Nigerians also were more apt to be living in an area that was more desirable for themselves and their family. The Europeans were harder to please but still had better job security. Europeans were more likely to be motivated to serve their country than Nigerians. Freud’s influence shows that in any situation, even though these behaviors are not targeted as abnormal, are indicative of what motivation is. Freud said that there would be more motivation for people to accomplish things if there was some sort of reward that was satisfying to the libido in one way or another. These motivations in this study never discussed that type of reaction even though Freud said that those desires were the motive behind everything that any person ever did. In a 2012 article by S. Ahmed, entitled Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory Oedipus complex: A critical study with reference to D.H. Lawrence’s “Sons and Lovers,” the article discusses the Oedipus theory of behavior that became one of the most well-known theories that Freud developed. This theory indicates that young boys have the desire to be loved by their mothers and may sometimes have a jealousy or coldness to their father or the male figure in their lives. The person who has this complex is more concerned with love and acceptance of pleasing the mother than with pleasing anyone else. The desire to do this brings that person great pleasure as well and there may be a slight obsession that a young boy has for the maternal figure in his life. Freud believed that young boys around the age of five had a deep desire to have a mother’s love. Feelings of this nature are unconscious means of motivation as defined by Freud. This article tells of the phenomenon and how it is portrayed D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers. Freud’s studies on psychoanalysis have been controversial though Lawrence has been considered a modern writer that has been greatly influenced on Freud’s theories, particularly the Oedipus complex. His novel has also been controversial because of the emphasis on this concept and it has been seen as a way to promote the theory by many of the author’s critics. While Freud’s theories were based on sexual motivations, many of Lawrence’s novels were about relationships between a man and woman, having published other controversial novels that were labeled as pornographic. In Lawrence’s book, the child, Paul, is deeply attached to his mother, Mrs. Morel. The boy becomes a shadow of his mother, watching her every move and enjoys watching her movements. He liked to sleep in the same bed with her and admired her while he watched her dress. His goal in life was to merely earn a little bit of money in his lifetime and then take up residence back with his mother after his father died. The mother takes comfort in his love as her husband is a drunk and often beats her. She then begins to move passionately toward her son to make up for feeling unsatisfied by her husband. This author almost completely mirrors Freud’s theory of the Oedipus complex. References Ahmed, S. (2012). Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory Oedipus complex: A critical study with reference to D.H. Lawrence’s “Sons and Lovers.” Internal journal of English and literature 3(3): 60-70. March 2012. doi: 10.5897/IJEL.11.137 Iguisi, O. (2009). Motivation-related values across cultures. African journal of business management 3(4): 141-150. Retrieved from http://www.academicjournals.org/AJBM. Mangang, P.S. (2011). Ibsen and Freud: A study of Hedda Gabler from a psychoanalytical perspective. The Criterion: An international journal in English 2(4): 1-6. Retrieved from http://www.the-criterion.com. Read More