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Chapter 6 The Neo-Freudian Theories: Relevant Research

Terms in this set (24)

Chapter Outlines
I. Anxiety and coping strategies
II. Psychoanalytic concepts and aggression
III. Attachment style and adult relationships
IV. Summary
I. Anxiety and Coping Strategies (1 of 3)
•Anxiety is an unpleasant emotional experience

•Types
-Realistic anxiety or objective anxiety - Response to a perceived threat in the real world
-Neurotic anxiety - Experienced when unacceptable id impulses are dangerously close to breaking into consciousness
§Leads the ego to use defense mechanisms
I. Anxiety and Coping Strategies (2 of 3)
-Moral anxiety - Brought about by the superego in response to id impulses that violate the superego's strict moral code
•Coping strategies: Conscious efforts to reduce anxiety in the face of a perceived threat
-Women report using more coping strategies than men
-Varies from person to person
I. Anxiety and Coping Strategies (3 of 3)
•How do you handle the anxiety in this situation? You might try to think of something other than what the dentist is doing, or think about the value of good dental hygiene. What you probably won't do is concentrate on the potential pain.
I. Identifying Basic Distinctions Useful for Researchers
•• Dividing coping strategies into those in which:
-People take an active role to deal with the problem
-People try to avoid the problem (avoidance strategies)

•Separating the active-role strategies into those:
- Aimed at the source of the stress (problem-focused)
- Focused on the emotional reaction to the experience (emotion-focused)
I. Types of Coping Strategies
•Problem-focused strategies
-Intended to take care of the problem and thereby overcoming the anxiety

•Emotion-focused strategies
-Designed to reduce the emotional distress that accompanies the problem

•Avoidance strategies
-People deal with their emotions by pushing the anxiety-provoking situation out of awareness
I. How Effective Are Coping Strategies?
•Active strategies
-More effective in helping people cope with stressors than avoidance strategies

•Avoidance strategies
-Rarely successful in reducing anxiety or helping people overcome tragedy
-Makes people more vulnerable to stress-related health problems
-Creates additional problems
I. Coping Flexibility and Resilience
•Ability to effectively adjust the use of different coping strategies according to a given situation

•Helps one to:
-Have higher sense of well-being
-Experience fewer emotional problems
II. Psychoanalytic Concepts and Aggression (1 of 2)
•Frustration-aggression hypothesis
-Aggression is always a consequence of frustration
-Occurrence of aggressive behavior always presupposes the existence of frustration
-Contrariwise, the existence of frustration always leads to some form of aggression

•Aggression ceases when people experience catharsis
II. Psychoanalytic Concepts and Aggression (2 of 2)
•Modified frustration-aggression hypothesis based on psychoanalytic theory
-Frustration leads to indirect expressions of aggression

•Indirect aggression can be expressed by:
-Displacing the aggression to a new target
-Attacking the source of frustration in an indirect manner
-Using sublimation
II. Frustration and Aggression (2 of 2)
Figure 6.1 Verbal and Nonverbal Aggression as a Function of Place in Line When Someone "Jumps" in Line
II. Displacing Aggression (1 of 2)
•People displace aggression from a frustrating source to an innocent target

•Triggered displaced aggression
-Overreacting aggressively to a small offence or a minor annoyance
II. Displacing Aggression (2 of 2)
Figure 6.2 Mean Number of Shocks Delivered
II. Catharsis and Aggression (1 of 2)
•Prediction from the frustration-aggression hypothesis
-Need to aggress is reduced after a cathartic release of tension

•Research indicates that aggression does not lead to tension-reducing catharsis

•Research indicates following reasons for why aggression-breeds-aggression
-Acting aggressively leads to a kind of disinhibition
-Presence of aggressive cues
-Cathartic release of tension feels good
II. Catharsis and Aggression (2 of 2)
Figure 6.3 - Anger After Cathartic Activity
III. Object Relations Theory (1 of 2)
•Emphasizes early childhood experiences

•Children develop an unconscious representation of significant objects in their environment
-The kind of attachment children feel with their parents influences their ability to develop meaningful attachments with significant others as adults
III. Object Relations Theory (1 of 2) Attachment theory**
•Emphasizes early childhood experiences

•Children develop an unconscious representation of significant objects in their environment
-The kind of attachment children feel with their parents influences their ability to develop meaningful attachments with significant others as adults
III. Object Relations Theory (2 of 2)
•According to attachment theory, infants who experience loving, secure relationships with their parents develop unconscious working models for secure, trusting relationships as adults.
III. Attachment Theory (1 of 2)
•Describes the attachment relationships between infants and their caregivers
-Secure
§Mothers are attentive and responsive to their child
§These children tend to be happy and self-confident
-Anxious-ambivalent
§Mothers in these dyads are not particularly attentive or responsive to the child's needs
§These children are the most anxious when separated from mother
III. Attachment Theory (2 of 2)
•Avoidant
-Mothers are not very responsive to the child
-Child becomes aloof and emotionally detached from the mother
III. Adult Attachment Styles
•There is general continuity between childhood and adult attachment styles. Research indicates that:
-Secure adults describe positive relationships with parents and a warm and trusting family environment
-Anxious-ambivalent people recall little parental support
-Avoidant people describe their relationships with family members as distrustful and emotionally distant
III. Attachment Style and Romantic Relationships (1 of 3)
•Adults with a secure attachment style:
-Are more satisfied with their relationships than people in the other categories
-Characterize their romantic relationship with love, strong commitment, and trust
-Accept and support their partner despite the partner's personal faults
-Have warmer and more intimate conversations
-Share personal information
III. Attachment Style and Romantic Relationships (2 of 3)
Figure 6.5 - Marriage Rates as a Function of Attachment Style
III. Attachment Style and Romantic Relationships (3 of 3)
•Research indicates that some may people change their attachment style to secure when they enter a secure, long-lasting adult relationship
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