Freud Concepts of Instincts, Drives
Desires, instincts, and drives are central to Freud's psychoanalytical theory. Although Sigmund Freud altered his theories throughout the course of his career, the core concepts of instincts and drives remain relatively constant. Freud first expressed the basic human instincts as being hunger and sex. Later, his theories matured, and Freud deeply analyzed the nature of human sexual drives. In his writings, Freud focused much on the conflicts that generally arise between the individual's innate instincts and the rules and mores of the society. All human beings continually struggle through various stages of their psycho-social development to restrain and express their desires, drives, and instincts. Freud framed these conflicts between desire and civilization into two major groupings: the conflict between sexual drives and civilization; and the conflict between self-serving happiness and civilization.
Freud's views on human sexuality are notorious and controversial. His Oedipus complex and other theories of early childhood sexuality in particular cause dissention among social scientists. Regardless, Freud's description of sexual drives remains a reasonable means by which to understand the conflicts between innate desires, drives, and instincts, and the overarching social norms and values that guide our culture. Freud distinguished between sex and love, but also noted their being mutually exclusive. Love is more of an expression of selfless devotion than of erotic instinct.
Furthermore, according to Sigmund Freud,...
And moreover, the virtues that had been "automatically" accorded to Freud over the years -- "clinical acumen, wisdom in human affairs, dedication to his patients and to the truth" -- are now obscured by the skepticism that has come due to the deep questioning and investigation over time (Kramer, 1998, pp. 199-200). That skepticism among scholars has also been brought on by a lack of "accord" between what Freud
Super ego. In Freud's model, the final element of personality to develop is the superego. According to Cherry, "The superego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalized moral standards and ideals that we acquire from both parents and society -- our sense of right and wrong. The superego provides guidelines for making judgments" (2010, para. 3). Freud believed that the superego first starts to emerge during
Some, such as Carl Jung, reconceived the nature of the unconscious, while others, such as Melanie Klein, replaced drives or instincts with interpersonal ("object") relations as the pivot of the psyche. Others, such as Alfred Adler, placed relatively greater emphasis than Freud did on the ego, while lessening the emphasis on the sexual drives. In Freud's wake, many varieties of talking therapy were created, some ultimately with little connection to
Sigmund Feud is popularly referred to as "the father of psychoanalysis." He lived between 1856 and 1939. His work and ideas have greatly influenced psychological imaginations and popularized notions such as Freudian sleep and dream symbolism, defense mechanism, unconsciousness, and many more. These notions have greatly contributed to films, literature, and theories such as feminism, psychology, philosophy and criticism. Freud is also known for theories such as unconscious mind, specifically those
Not all humans exhibit the same jealously levels, behaviors, etc.); and, 2. Today, instinct theory has a more biological emphasis for specific motives and not all (like aggression and sex). but, there is still a strong instinct perspective in the study of animals (ethology) (p. 2). Notwithstanding this lack of consensus, there have been much attention directed to the relationship between instinct theory and the various dimensions of the human
Sigmund Freud and B.F. Skinner are two of the most important theorists within the history of psychology and psychological development as a theory, but perhaps no two thinkers have developed psychological systems of analysis that could possibly clash with one another more vehemently. Indeed, both men would have profoundly disagreed on the most basic levels of even considering what psychology's basic function is. Sigmund Freud focused on a conception of
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