Comparing and Contrasting Psychoanalytic and Existential/Humanistic Perspectives
Introduction
This essay is about comparing and contrasting two out of the eight personality theories commonly used to decipher one’s personality. Those two are the psychoanalytic perspective and the existential/humanistic perspective. Both perspectives are equally important as they play a major role in understanding personality in different ways and explaining them as well. Freud’s psychoanalysis helps us to understand the individual’s personality from its early years right up to adulthood while existential and humanistic theorists postulate the interpretation that personality changes throughout the lifetime. The contents of this essay include the comparing and contrasting between the structure, concepts, methods, theorists, and strengths of the psychoanalytic perspective and the existential and humanistic perspectives.
Structures of the Psychoanalytic and Existential/Humanistic Perspectives
The psychoanalytic perspective contains the structures of the Id, Superego, and the Ego. Freud defined the Id as the lustful and aggressive part of our personality and works on the pleasure principle in which it satisfies its pleasure and reduces inner tension (Dennen, 1896). This energy is also known as libido, the energy of life instincts, such as sex, hunger, and thirst (Lahey, 2011). The Superego is made up of the norms, values, and ideals that upbringing and education have developed in us (Berg, 2009). However, it can be seemingly selfish in its own way since it is instantly moral seeking in the same way the Id strives to attain pleasure (Berg, 2004). The ego, unlike the id and superego strives for immediate satisfaction without regard for the well-being of the individual, tries to achieve compromises or sacrifices between the id and superego (Sagan, 1988). It is located in the conscious and pre-conscious part of the mind.
The existential/humanistic perspective on the other hand, contains the structure of the Spirit and the concept of Being-in-the-world (Friedman
This essay is about comparing and contrasting two out of the eight personality theories commonly used to decipher one’s personality. Those two are the psychoanalytic perspective and the existential/humanistic perspective. Both perspectives are equally important as they play a major role in understanding personality in different ways and explaining them as well. Freud’s psychoanalysis helps us to understand the individual’s personality from its early years right up to adulthood while existential and humanistic theorists postulate the interpretation that personality changes throughout the lifetime. The contents of this essay include the comparing and contrasting between the structure, concepts, methods, theorists, and strengths of the psychoanalytic perspective and the existential and humanistic perspectives.
Structures of the Psychoanalytic and Existential/Humanistic Perspectives
The psychoanalytic perspective contains the structures of the Id, Superego, and the Ego. Freud defined the Id as the lustful and aggressive part of our personality and works on the pleasure principle in which it satisfies its pleasure and reduces inner tension (Dennen, 1896). This energy is also known as libido, the energy of life instincts, such as sex, hunger, and thirst (Lahey, 2011). The Superego is made up of the norms, values, and ideals that upbringing and education have developed in us (Berg, 2009). However, it can be seemingly selfish in its own way since it is instantly moral seeking in the same way the Id strives to attain pleasure (Berg, 2004). The ego, unlike the id and superego strives for immediate satisfaction without regard for the well-being of the individual, tries to achieve compromises or sacrifices between the id and superego (Sagan, 1988). It is located in the conscious and pre-conscious part of the mind.
The existential/humanistic perspective on the other hand, contains the structure of the Spirit and the concept of Being-in-the-world (Friedman
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