The Psychobiography of Whitney Houston Based on Freuds Theory of Personality - Essay Example

The Psychobiography of Whitney Houston based on Freud’s Theory of Personality al affiliation The Psychobiography of Whitney Houston based on Freud’s Theory of Personality In establishing his theory of personality, Sigmund Freud studied troubled adults. He attempted to dig into their childhood memories in his experiments and examinations. He claims that a human mind consist of three main parts-id, ego, and superego- that control her behaviors. Each part operates on a principle. Freud said that a mature personality is that which has achieved a healthy balance among all the parts. Otherwise, an individual’s personality becomes unstable (Lothane, 2003). Whitney Houston’s psychobiography can be explored through Feud’s theory. Whitney was a very successful singer and actor who rose to fame through her hypnotizing performances that left the audience wanting more. However, she experienced problems in her personality that always threatened to steal away her career, marriage, and relationships. Based on Freud’s theory of personality, Whitney Houston suffered from personality weaknesses due to an incomplete balance between her id, ego, and superego. Freud’s theory of personality asserts that the structure of a human mind consists of three parts- id, ego, and superego (Engler, 2012). The id operates on the principle of pleasure. It is the most primitive part that functions unconsciously and seeks instant gratification. The ego and the superego regulate the id. It is the only part present from birth. Other parts emerge later after birth. On the other hand, the ego operates with reason on the principle of reality. It is less primitive and functions in partial consciousness. In contrast, the superego is the most modern part that works consciously and operates on the moral principle. The superego regulates the id based on issues of morality and social learning. Freud claims that there exist natural internal conflicts among the three parts at each of Fraud’s five primary stages of psychosexual development: anal, genital, oral, phallic, latency, and genital. Successful navigation of the conflicts results in mastery and shaping of each developmental stage, and finally to mature personality (Lothane, 2003). The legend singer was born in Newark, New Jersey on August 9, 1963. Houston seemed destined to become a great singer. Her mother Cissy Houston, godmother Aretha Franklin, and cousin Dionne Warwick were legendaries in American gospel and soul music. Cissy Houston was a choir minister at New Hope Baptist Church. It was at this place that young Whitney got her start. Even at her young age, her musical talent wowed audiences. Interviewer Diane Sawyer later gathered from her that a rapturous applaud from the congregation at the Church had a profound effect upon her. She believed then that her singing ability was an infectious gift that God had given her (Bio, 2012). Whitney Houston rose to stardom in the mid-1980s when she almost immediately became a smash pop sensation upon releasing her debut album Whitney Houston. Her album eventually topped on charts for fourteen consecutive weeks. She won a Grammy for her sensational single “Save All My Love for You.” Her second album, Whitney, which she released in 1987, went platinum many times and won her more Grammy Awards. Consequently, she toured the world, appeared at concerts, and founded the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children. By 1992, Houston maintained her enviable position as a record-setter in the world of music. She started acting equally excellent movies and releasing singles in each film (Bio, 2012). However, troubles began to catch up with the singer in 1998. Cracks began to deepen in her formerly passionate and loving marriage with Bobby Brown. Her first non-soundtrack studio album in many years,” My Love is Your Love”, earned more Grammies. However, the album failed to top the chart as previous ones. Her career almost began to take a nosedive due to her increasingly rocky marriage, battles with drugs, lifestyle excesses, bad behavior, and health-related problems. In 2002, many people speculated that Whitney was on the verge of a breakdown when she canceled several concerts and appeared far too thin and unhealthy in a particular TV interview (Bio, 2012). Her “Just Whitney”, meant to combat distracters, did not match her earlier works. In spite of all these, the Guinness World Records named Whitney Houston as the most-awarded female artist of all time in 2006. Whitney tried to repair her marriage and terminate her habitual drug abuse. Following her mother’s advice, she took a break from her career, parted ways with Bobby Brown, and secured sole custody of their child. She seemed to pull herself together when she released a new album “I Look to You” that topped charts. In early 2012, she went ahead and did a new musical film Sparkie. However, Whitney Houston met her demise on February 11, 2012 in Los Angeles (Bio, 2012). In the days before her death, Whitney had been seen out in one of her Grammy Award parties and other social places. On March 22 of that year, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office reported accidental drowing as the official cause of her death. A heart disease and cocaine drugs found in her system contributed to it. Freud’s theory of personality can be used to explain Whitney’s troubled personality. Whitney Houston’s crave for drugs, and high lifestyles show that her id component was not entirely regulated by the superego element. According to Freud, the id is fueled by pleasure principle, which strives for immediate gratification of desires (Cherry, 2012). Failing to meet these desires leads to tension and anxiety. Her id thus strived for immediate gratification from drugs, high lives, desires and wants to avoid anxiety and tension. Her career required her to remain confident and avoid anxiety and tension. However, the use of drugs, her exorbitant lifestyles, and bad behavior were socially unacceptable and disruptive. Whitney tried to pull herself from her unacceptable lifestyle by the help of the ego. Freud says that the ego is a part of personality that deals with reality. It ensures that an individual expresses her id’s impulses in an acceptable manner in the real world. The id’s desires can be gratified through delayed gratification- It is the ego, which will allow the behavior, but at the appropriate time and place. Thus, Whitney weighed the negative consequences of drug abuse and harmful behaviors in her marriage, music career, finances, and other areas of her life. She thus had to abandon them or manage how she uses her time and finances on pleasure at an appropriate place. Despite her problems, Whitney Houston had internalized some moral standards and ideals that she acquired from her parents and the society. Her superego held her sense of right and wrong. Having raised up in a Christian family, she knew the importance of helping the unfortunate ones. That is why she established a non-profitable charity to cater for the educational and other needs of children from poor families. Her single hit I Look to You demonstrated that she knew her faults based on morals internalized in her childhood. The ego ideal is a subsection of the superego, which includes the standards and rules for healthy behaviors (Cherry, 2012). The behaviors are those approved of by authority figures and parents. Obeying these rules make someone feel a sense of achievement, pride, and value. During her childhood, her mother probably taught her the importance of attending church and taking part in its activities. She humbly obeyed and participated in singing. Whitney thus felt valued especially when the congregation applauded when she sang. Another subpart of superego, the conscience, consists of societal and parental perceptions about bad things. The behaviors are often forbidden and result in severe consequences, feelings of guilt, punishment, and remorse. Whitney’s conscience superego seemed underdeveloped. She had not received deep rooting on information about harmful behaviors. That is why her adult personality witnessed drug abuse, dangerous behaviors, and lavish lifestyle. Although conflicts arise among id, ego, and superego due to many competing forces, Freud says that a person can effectively manage the conflicts if she has appropriate ego strength (Cherry, 2012). Ego strength is the ego’s ability to operate in spite of the dueling forces. Excess or too little ego strength can lead one become too disrupting or too unyielding. Freud suggests that a balance among all the three parts. The psychic power strikes a balance when the ego is in the middle, and all demands are satisfied. The result is an adjusted personality. However, a maladaptive personality occurs when there is an imbalance (Lothane, 2003). For instance, a dominant id can lead to an uncontrollable and impulsive individual, like a criminal. An overactive superego might result in an extremely moralistic person, like a television evangelist. On the other hand, an overpowering ego can create an individual caught up in reality (extremely rigid and cannot break rules and structure). The person cannot spontaneously express id impulses or lacks a sense of right and wrong. Based on this explanation, Whitney Houston had a personality that had not fully matured. She impulsively reached out for drugs to gratify her desire that emanated from the id. Her id seems to have been strong; although she tried to stop her drug abuse and harmful behaviors, she later found herself using them. For example, as stated in an official report about her death, Whitney had used cocaine. However, it does not mean that the id was completely in full control of her behaviors. Otherwise, she would have grabbed everything she ever wanted. She would have been like an infant who wants everything to herself, without considering other people’s needs. Fortunately, her ego and superego tried to suppress the id. For example, she realized that she had to be morally responsible when she started a non-profitable center to care for the needy children and when she sang to celebrate the life of other people. Whitney Houston was among the most celebrated musicians whose songs continue to touch many. However, some personality issues in her life frequently rocked her music career and life as a whole, and finally ended her life. Based on Freud’s theory of personality, she suffered all these due to some imbalances between her id, ego and superego parts of her personality. References Bio. (2012, February 21). Whitney Houston Biography. Retrieved from http://www.biography.com/people/whitney-houston-9344818#death-and-legacy Cherry, K. (2012, January 21). Id, Ego, and Superego: Freuds 3 Parts of Personality. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/personalityelem.htm Engler, B. (2012). Personality theories: An Introduction (3rd ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Lothane, Z. (2003). What Did Freud Say About Persons and Relations? Psychoanalytic Psychology, 24(3). Pervin, L. A., & John, O. P. (2001). Personality: Theory and research (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley. Read More