Topic Summaries

The psychodynamic approach

A-Level > Psychology > AQA > A-Level Psychology Topic Summaries > Approaches in psychology > The psychodynamic approach
Previous Module
Next Module

Addiction

  • 👥 Freud (1923): focused on the role of the unconscious mind and its effect on our behaviour.
  • The structure of personality: Freud claimed that our personality is made up of 3 parts that all have different motives and desires. They all conflict and fight for priority.
    • Id: operates on the unconscious. It controls libido and functions based on the pleasure principle. It demands immediate gratification and is thus responsible for our impulsivity.
    • Ego: operates on the reality principle. It mediates between impulsive demands of the id and the requirements of the superego and the external world.
    • Superego: develops our sense of morality and judgement between wrong and right. It gives us our ability to feel guilt for our actions, operating on the morality principle.
  • Coping mechanisms: Freud claimed that when we are faced with a situation we can’t deal with or resolve, we use unconscious defence mechanisms which distort reality to reduce anxiety and negative emotions. They are considered unhealthy in the long run. They are:
    • Repression: we take the memory causing us stress and force it out of our conscious mind.
    • Denial: we refuse to acknowledge that this event occurred.
    • Displacement: we take out our negative emotions on a different target.
  • The psycho-sexual stages of development:
    • Oral stage (0–1 year): the mouth is the focus point of pleasure and the mothers breast is the hyperfixation – the consequence of unresolved conflict during this time would be developing an oral fixation later in life such as smoking or biting nails.
    • Anal stage (1–3 years): focus point of pleasure is the anus – this is linked to toilet training as the child begins to learn how to use the bathroom by themselves. During this time the ego is starting to develop and the child becomes aware of the demands of others. The consequence of unresolved conflict during this time would be the person becoming anal retentive (excessively organised) or anal expulsive (excessively messy) later in life.
    • Phallic stage (3–5 years): the focus point of pleasure is the genitals – linked to the ‘Oedipus complex’ where the son unconsciously wishes to possess his mother and replace his father. The consequence of unresolved conflict during this time is developing a narcissistic personality later in life.
    • Latent stage (5 years to puberty): conflicts become repressed.
    • Genital stage (puberty to adulthood): sexual desires become apparent during puberty. The consequence of unresolved conflict during this time would be difficultly developing heterosexual relationships.
      • Freud was one of the first psychologists to explore the importance of childhood, drawing links between childhood behaviour and how that has an impact on behaviour later in life. His work is arguably the foundation for the modern understanding of the unconscious mind.
      • Based on case studies: his work lacks generalisability as his theories were heavily based on a few individuals. His observations were very detailed and thorough, but modern psychologists have argued that we cannot make universal claims based on information from a few people. Additionally, the people he studied were particularly abnormal so likely not representative of the general population.
      • Lacks scientific credibility: his theories are broadly based on the unconscious mind which we cannot directly view or study due to the ambiguous nature of it. The claims are not falsifiable and cannot be empirically tested so are not scientific.
      • Freud’s theories overemphasise the importance of sex and approach psychological development from a Western and heteronormative lens that may not be not generalisable to the broader population.

Unlock The psychodynamic approach

Subscribe to SnapRevise+ to get immediate access to the rest of this resource.

Premium accounts get immediate access to this resource.

Previous Module
Next Module