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Psychoanalytic Social Theory Karen Horney

Karen Horney developed a feminist approach to psychoanalysis, emphasizing that culture rather than biology is responsible for differences between men and women. She identified 10 neurotic trends that can develop if the basic needs for safety and satisfaction are not fulfilled in childhood, leading to repressed hostility and anxiety. Erich Fromm also focused on basic human needs and how mechanisms of escape like authoritarianism can develop if these needs are not met, identifying productive and nonproductive character orientations. Both theorists emphasized addressing cultural influences and fulfilling human needs through techniques like open communication.

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68 views4 pages

Psychoanalytic Social Theory Karen Horney

Karen Horney developed a feminist approach to psychoanalysis, emphasizing that culture rather than biology is responsible for differences between men and women. She identified 10 neurotic trends that can develop if the basic needs for safety and satisfaction are not fulfilled in childhood, leading to repressed hostility and anxiety. Erich Fromm also focused on basic human needs and how mechanisms of escape like authoritarianism can develop if these needs are not met, identifying productive and nonproductive character orientations. Both theorists emphasized addressing cultural influences and fulfilling human needs through techniques like open communication.

Uploaded by

Avelino Jr. E. Frondozo
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© © All Rights Reserved
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PSYCHOANALYTIC SOCIAL THEORY

Karen Horney
 Born in Hamburg, Germany
 Physician
 Freud believed that men are superior because of biological factors
 Adler and Horney believed that it is based culture
 Feminist (started Feminist Psychology)
 Emphasized that culture is responsible for psychic differences in men &
women
 Feminine Psychology ---> womb envy
 Male would be
 Patterned to penis envy

Key Concepts:
 Safety & Satisfaction (needs to be fulfilled to be complete individual)
 If not fulfilled leads to
 Basic hostility (hostility towards parents)
 Which leads to because of repression
 Basic anxiety (repressed hostility towards parents) (feels isolated/helpless in a
hostile world)
 Which leads to upon realization that it should not be repressed
 Reactive hostility
*No certain age range unlike previous theories
*Social and cultural conditions are responsible for shaping our personality

Childhood experiences, if safety and satisfaction is not fulfilled, hostility is held unto
parents, which is repressed leading to basic anxiety,

PAWS - First Concept/ Old theory

Power, Prestige, Possession - Dominating others


Affection - Looking for affection
Withdrawal - wants to be independent
Submission - Looking for someone who can dominate

10 Neurotic Trends/Needs (M - ATA)

A. Moving Toward People - can be compared to herd of animals, compliant


personality, “if you love me you won’t hurt me
1.Neurotic need for affection and approval - lives to please others, reach others’
expectation; unassertive;
2. Need for powerful partner - wants a powerful partner, someone to depend on
3. Need to restrict one’s life within narrow borders - Settles for 2 nd best,
Restricting own ability; downgrades abilities,

B. Moving Against People - hostile/aggressive/ peacock(prideful), thinks that no one


can hurt me
4. Neurotic need for power - wants to control others to feel powerful, to avoid
feeling weak
5. Neurotic need to exploit others - ranks people by usefulness, wants to use other
people in order to not be used themselves
6. Neurotic need for social recognition or prestige - wants to be the first in order
to feel important/ gain attention
7. Neurotic need for personal admiration - needs others’ admiration to build self-
esteem/ self-esteem is based on others’ admiration
8. Neurotic need for ambition & personal achievement - wants to be the best
because you think that you are beating other people (similar to 6 but diff is here
you want to beat people)

C. Moving Away from People - lone animals,


9. Neurotic need for self-sufficiency & independence - can live alone,
10. Neurotic need for perfection & unassailability - hiding mistakes to show
perfection, wants to prove superiority

*Person is neurotic if they only use one trend among the 3 (M- ATA)

INTRAPSYCHIC CONFLICTS
1) Idealized self-image - Delusion of Grandeur (feeling like a god/ excessive
perception of self)
a) Neurotic search for glory - moving towards idealized self-image/
i. Need for perfection - tyranny of the Shoulds ( I should be…)
ii. neurotic ambition - impossible goal
iii. Drive for a vindictive triumph (reason for success is to beat others)
b) Neurotic claims - drive for superiority, feeling of entitlement because of
idealized self image
c) Neurotic pride - false belief to brag about idealized self
2) Self-hatred - Formed when our self-image does not fit true self

TECHNIQUES
 Dream Interpretation/Analysis - attempt to solve problems
 Free Association - Same as Freud but allows client to do whatever is comfortable
for them

HUMANISTIC PSYCHOANALYSIS
Erich Fromm
 Born in Germany
 Only child of orthodox Jewish parents (traditional/conservative)
 Analyzed by Hanns Sachs, a student of Freud
 Had relations with older women
 Relations with Karen Horney

CONCEPTS
 2 Fundamental Dichotomies
 Life & death
 Basic anxiety
 experienced because we are separated from natural world, reason for
isolation and loneliness
 gains the ability to reason but loss of basic instincts to adapt to the changing
world which leads to human dilemma
 Human dilemma
 Human needs - answer to basic anxiety and human dilemma

Human Needs
1) Relatedness - union with others through: submission; power; love.
 We can only solve our dilemmas and feel relatedness through love
 Cant attain relatedness through submission and power
2) Transcendence - the realm of purposefulness & freedom
 Need to find purpose in life
 Destruction or creation of life leads to finding of purpose
 Malignant aggression - kills others for reasons other than survival
3) Rootedness - need to establish roots & feel at home in the world.
 Not afraid to achieve because there is rootedness to home
 Fixation to mother because you are afraid to leave her
 Cannot be productive/reach goals because of this fixation

4) Sense of Identity - capacity to be aware of oneself as a separate entity.


 You know yourself, not afraid of compromise, agreeing but still knows self
identity
5) Frame of Orientation - roadmap to navigate the world
 Road to follow to attain goal

MECHANISM OF ESCAPE - similar to defense mechanism


 Used to escape from freedom that gives feeling of isolation and loneliness

 Burden of freedom - higher freedom = higher feeling of isolation


 Positive freedom - Key to solve basic anxiety and human dilemma,
Spontaneity in activities, has self-identity/purpose, has relatedness or
relationships with others, summary of relatedness

1. Authoritarianism - gives up independence to gain strength from others who are


stronger
2. Destructiveness - eliminate something/someone you feel is dangerous
3. Conformity - gives up independence and loses everything conforming to what
they want

CHARACTER ORIENTATIONS - How we react to the world

NONPRODUCTIVE CHARACTER ORIENTATION


1. Receptive - feel that the source of all good lies outside themselves & the only way
they can relate to the world is to receive things.
2. Exploitative - aggressively take what they desire
* both receptive and exploitative believe that good things come from outside
3. Hoarding - seek to save that which they have already obtained. Not letting go.
Afraid to let go.
4. Marketing - see themselves as commodities/ Adapt self to others needs

PRODUCTIVE CHARACTER ORIENTATION


1) Work - to achieve human needs and positive freedom
2) Reasoning - loss of
3) Love - care, responsibility, respect, & knowledge
 Biophilia -passionate love of life
If you have all, Syndrome of Growth

PERSONALITY DISORDERS
1. Necrophilia - love of death
2. Malignant narcissism - belief that everything one owns is of great value while
anything belonging to others is worthless
3. Incestuous symbiosis - an extreme dependence on one’s mother.

If you have all, Syndrome of Decay

TECHNIQUE
 Goal: to work toward satisfaction of the human needs
 Shared communication
 Treats clients as peers

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