Question

What is Freud’s greatest contribution to the field of psychology and personality theory?

Answer 1

Psychoanalysis was the child of Sigmund Freud’s genius. He put his stamp on it from the very beginning, and it can be fairly stated that, although the science and theory of psychoanalysis has advanced far beyond Freud, his influence is still strong and pervasive.In the decade from 1887 to 1897, Freud immersed himself in the serious study of the disturbances in his hysterical patients, resulting in discoveries that contributed to the beginnings of psychoanalysis.He believed that to really know their problems you need to dive in their unconscious. He developed free-association, where his patient said anything that came to their mind, didn't matter if it was embarrassing. He tried hypnosis. He believed that this revealed clues to their unconscious. Freud also was a huge impact on personality. He divided personality into three: id, ego, and superego . Id was a bad guy, it looked for immediate gratification and pleasure. It went for whatever felt right. This was in the unconscious. Ego was the executive, it mediated the superego and the id. It balances both. It acted based on the reality principle, conscious. Superego was the moral compass. It told the ego to not only consider the reality principle but also the ideal. Superego focused on how we ought to behave.

Freud also created the psychosexual stages.

• Oral stage (18 months) (mouth)
• Anal stage (18-36)potty training
• Urethral stage (Transitional stage between anal and phallic stage)
• Phallic (1-6) Oedipus complex, a boy would find their mother attractive and would be jealous of his father.
• Latency - developing defense mechanisms / didn't think about anything sexual/ learning too place
• Genital (12+) reaching full sexual maturity

Freud also talked about dreams.Freud believed that some memories that are too painful are repressed. These can be retrieved in the pre-conscious. Repressed ones are blocked! They can come out in slips of the tongue and dreams.

Overall, Freud contributed greatly to the study of human psychology.