Psychoanalytic Approach to Personality



Psychoanalytic Approach to Personality

Freud, Adler and Jung had proposed integral theories during the early years when the subject of psychology was getting developed. The perspectives and theories of all these different psychologists have a lot of differences in them and there is a difference in the approach of these psychologists, even then the contribution given by them is considered pertinent to the development of modern science which is studied and applied today (O'Boyle, 2006). The roots of psychological science lie in the theoretical analyses given by these psychoanalysts, and since new progresses are made in the world of science every day, these theories which were devised by the psychoanalysts remain important to the new discoveries.

Freud's Theories Compared to that of Jung and Adler

Freud was considered to be more than just an average person as he had a complete sense of forming opinions, which caused him to do a lot of research on psychoanalysis. Even though the psychoanalytical theories given by Freud were commonly considered to be controversial, they played an important role in the explanation of psychological functioning and personality of human beings. He devised the theory that the human psyche constituted of three essential components, namely the ego, superego and the very irrational id (Burger, 2010). According to him, the conflict which develops between the id, ego and superego is what is responsible for how a person's personality gets shaped. Even though Freud did psychoanalysis based on answering questions that were related to a person's life and Adler devised the theory that all of a person's activities are based on his main plan of life, they both still agreed that a person's personality characteristics are formed during the childhood. I agree with this concept that the attributes of one's personality are developed during his childhood, and the individual continues to get firm about those characteristics as he grows up, until it becomes an integral part of his personality. This is how people's habits and attitudes are formed, and their opinions then later transform into beliefs which they hold for the rest of their lives.

The psychoanalysts who worked after Freud included Carl Jung and Alfred Adler and their work is considered to be the most important. Jung had stated the theory that the individuation process was essential for all individuals in order for them to achieve wholeness, and this was possible by integrating the conscious with ...