Primary - Object relations theory. Object relations theory within psychoanalytic psychology describes how experience affects unconscious predictions of others' social behaviors, with repeated experiences of the caretaking environment forming internalized images, which usually depict one's mother, father, or primary caregiver,[1] and later experiences only somewhat reshaping these early images.[2] Object relations theory further holds that the infant mind initially comprehends objects by their functions, which are termed "part objects,"[2] which in a "good enough" "facilitating environment" eventually become a comprehension of whole objects that corresponds to tolerance of ambiguity.[2] Object relations theory derives from psychodynamic theory.
History[edit] Otto Rank, coiner of the term "pre-Oedipal," was the first to create a modern theory of "object relations" in the late 1920s. Freud originally identified people in a subject's environment with the term "object" to identify people as the object of drives. Primary - Thought suppression. When an individual tries to suppress thoughts under a high cognitive load, the frequency of those thoughts increases and becomes more accessible than before.[3][4] Evidence shows that people can prevent their thoughts from being translated into behavior when self-monitoring is high; this does not apply to automatic behaviors, though (e.g., the skinhead scenario), and may result in latent, unconscious actions.[5] This phenomenon is made paradoxically worse by increasing the amount of distractions a person has, although the experiments in this area can be criticized for using impersonal concurrent tasks, which may or may not properly reflect natural processes or individual differences.
Ironic process theory[6] is one cognitive model that can explain the paradoxical effect seen above. However, given the mixed evidence and commensurate with the latest research, it is suggested that such a model needs to account for individual differences. Empirical work[edit] Improved methodology[edit] Primary - Minimisation (psychology) 'Reduction words...are words that we often use to minimize unethical behavior: sort of/barely/no big deal/not more than/only a little/all I did was/kind of/once/just/merely'.[3] Similarly ' renaming is the use of benign or benevolent words to replace words that have negative connotations...using the word "collateral damage" removes us from the horror of its meaning'.[4] Minimisation may take a number of forms and appear in several different contexts.
Minimisation may take the form of a denial of intentionality. '"I just opened my umbrella", said the man who hit the woman in the eye with it. "Just" is the great give-away word. Minimization may take the form of a manipulative technique: observed in abusers and manipulators to downplay their misdemeanors when confronted with irrefutable facts.[6][7]observed in abusers and manipulators to downplay positive attributes (talents and skills etc.) of their victims and facilitate victim blaming.[8] Primary - Compartmentalization (psychology) Compartmentalization is an unconscious psychological defense mechanism used to avoid cognitive dissonance, or the mental discomfort and anxiety caused by a person's having conflicting values, cognitions, emotions, beliefs, etc. within themselves. Compartmentalization allows these conflicting ideas to co-exist by inhibiting direct or explicit acknowledgement and interaction between separate compartmentalized self states.[1] Otto Kernberg has used the term bridging interventions for the therapist's attempts to straddle and contain contradictory and compartmentalized components of the patient's mind.[5] Compartmentalization may lead to hidden vulnerabilities in those who use it as a major defense mechanism.[6] Those suffering from borderline personality disorder will often divide people into all good versus all bad, to avoid the conflicts removing the compartments would inevitably bring, using denial or indifference to protect against any indications of contradictory evidence.[7]
Primary - Sublimation (psychology) The first thinker to use the word in a psychological sense was the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.[3] In the opening section of Human, All Too Human entitled ‘Of first and last things’, Nietzsche wrote: There is, strictly speaking, neither unselfish conduct, nor a wholly disinterested point of view. Both are simply sublimations in which the basic element seems almost evaporated and betrays its presence only to the keenest observation. All that we need and that could possibly be given us in the present state of development of the sciences, is a chemistry of the moral, religious, aesthetic conceptions and feeling, as well as of those emotions which we experience in the affairs, great and small, of society and civilization, and which we are sensible of even in solitude.
But what if this chemistry established the fact that, even in its domain, the most magnificent results were attained with the basest and most despised ingredients? C. Primary - Introjection. Introjection is a psychoanalytical term with a variety of meanings. Generally, it is regarded as the process where the subject replicates in itself behaviors, attributes or other fragments of the surrounding world, especially of other subjects. Cognate concepts are identification, incorporation,[1] and internalization. To use a simple example, a person who picks up traits from their friends (e.g., a person who begins frequently exclaiming "Ridiculous! " as a result of hearing a friend of theirs repeatedly doing the same) is introjecting. Projection has been described as an early phase of introjection.[2] Torok/Ferenczi[edit] However, this meaning has been challenged by Maria Torok as she favours using the term as it is employed by Sándor Ferenczi in his essay "The Meaning of Introjection" (1912).
According to Freud, the ego and the superego are constructed by introjecting external behavioral patterns into the subject's own person. Relational mechanisms[edit] According to D. References[edit] Primary - Identification (psychology) Identification is a psychological process whereby the subject assimilates an aspect, property, or attribute of the other and is transformed, wholly or partially, by the model the other provides.
It is by means of a series of identifications that the personality is constituted and specified.[1] The roots of the concept can be found in Freud's writings. The three most prominent concepts of identification as described by Freud are: primary identification, narcissistic (secondary) identification and partial (secondary) identification.[1] While "in the psychoanalytic literature there is agreement that the core meaning of identification is simple - to be like or to become like another", it has also been adjudged '"the most perplexing clinical/theoretical area" in psychoanalysis'.[2] Freud distinguished there three main kinds of identification. Narcissistic identification is the form of identification following abandonment or loss of an object.
. ^ Jump up to: a b Laplanche, J. and Pontalis, J. Primary - Altruism. Giving alms to the poor is often considered an altruistic action. Altruism or selflessness is the principle or practice of concern for the welfare of others. It is a traditional virtue in many cultures and a core aspect of various religious traditions and secular worldviews, though the concept of "others" toward whom concern should be directed can vary among cultures and religions. Altruism or selflessness is the opposite of selfishness. Altruism can be distinguished from feelings of loyalty. Pure altruism consists of sacrificing something for someone other than the self (e.g. sacrificing time, energy or possessions) with no expectation of any compensation or benefits, either direct, or indirect (e.g., receiving recognition for the act of giving).
Much debate exists as to whether "true" altruism is possible. The notion of altruism[edit] The concept has a long history in philosophical and ethical thought. Individual variations[edit] A 1986 study estimated that altruism was half-inherited. Primary - Postponement of affect. Negative postponement: repression[edit] Grief[edit] In the affect of grief, postponement seems to be an essential component.
What happens in mourning is nothing other than a gradual "working-through" of an affect which, if released in its full strength, would overwhelm the ego'.[2] John Bowlby considered the first of the "four phases of mourning" to be a 'Phase of numbness that...may be interrupted by outbursts of extremely intense distress and/or anger'.[3] Thus one can speak of 'a rather typical postponement of grief':[4] '"I feel hurt about something and then automatically this kind of shields things up and then I feel like I can't really touch or feel anything very much"...postponement...
[of] the weepiness'.[5] Conversely, Eric Lindemann, describing 'the symptomatology and management of acute grief following the Coconut Grove night-club fire...showed that people who do not "break down" and express feelings appropriate to a bereavement may suffer from delayed or distorted grief'.[6] Primary - Displacement (psychology) In Freudian psychology, displacement (German Verschiebung "shift, move") is an unconscious defense mechanism whereby the mind substitutes either a new aim or a new object for goals felt in their original form to be dangerous or unacceptable.[1] A term originating with Sigmund Freud,[2] displacement operates in the mind unconsciously, its transference of emotions, ideas, or wishes being most often used to allay anxiety in the face of aggressive or sexual impulses.
Freud initially saw displacement as a means of dream-distortion, involving a shift of emphasis from important to unimportant elements,[3] or the replacement of something by a mere allusion.[4] As he himself put it, “in the case of Verschiebung, 'displacement', the German term is closer to the idea of that veering off of signification that we see in metonymy, and which from its first appearance in Freud is represented as the most appropriate means used by the unconscious to foil censorship”.[11] Arthur J.
Primary - Humour. Humour or humor (see spelling differences) is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in the human body, known as humours (Latin: humor, "body fluid"), controlled human health and emotion. §Theories[edit] An April fool in Denmark, regarding Copenhagen's new subway. Some claim that humour cannot or should not be explained. Postcard from France, early 20th century. Illustration by Henry Gerbault. Funny faces made with shells, painting made by Jan van Kessel the Elder (1626–1679) Many theories exist about what humour is and what social function it serves.
The benign-violation theory, endorsed by Peter McGraw, attempts to explain humours' existence. Others believe that 'the appropriate use of humor can facilitate social interactions"[3] §Views[edit] Some claim that humour cannot or should not be explained. §Sociological factors[edit] Primary - Anticipation (emotion)
Anticipation is the process of imaginative speculation about the future. As a defence mechanism[edit] George Eman Vaillant considered anticipation as one of "the mature ways of dealing with real stress... You reduce the stress of some difficult challenge by anticipating what it will be like and preparing for how you are going to deal with it".[1] There is evidence that "the use of mature defenses (sublimation, anticipation) tended to increase with age".[2] Desire[edit] "Anticipation is the central ingredient in sexual desire More generally, anticipation is a central motivating force in everyday life - 'the normal process of imaginative anticipation of, or speculation about, the future'.[5] To enjoy one's life, 'one needs a belief in Time as a promising medium to do things in; one needs to be able to suffer the pains and pleasures of anticipation and deferral'.[6] Phenomenology[edit] For Husserl, anticipation is an essential feature of human action.
External links[edit] References[edit] Primary - Cognitive dissonance. In psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values.[1][2] Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance focuses on how humans strive for internal consistency. When inconsistency (dissonance) is experienced, individuals tend to become psychologically uncomfortable and they are motivated to attempt to reduce this dissonance, as well as actively avoiding situations and information which are likely to increase it.[1] Relationship between cognitions[edit] Individuals can adjust their attitudes or actions in various ways.
Consonant relationship – Two cognitions/actions that are consistent with one another (e.g., not wanting to get intoxicated while out, then ordering water instead of alcohol) Magnitude of dissonance[edit] Reducing[edit] Theory and research[edit] Examples[edit] E. Primary - Undoing (psychology) Undoing is a defence mechanism in which a person tries to 'undo' an unhealthy, destructive or otherwise threatening thought or action by engaging in contrary behaviour. For example, after thinking about being violent with someone, one would then be overly nice or accommodating to them.
It is one of several defence mechanisms proposed by the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud during his career, many of which were later developed further by his daughter Anna Freud. The German term “Ungeschehenmachen” was first used to describe this defence mechanism. When translated, it literally means "un-make-happen,” which is essentially the core of “undoing.” Undoing refers to the phenomenon whereby a person tries to alter the past in some way to avoid or feign disappearance of an adversity or mishap. (Laplanche & Pontalis, 1973)[1] Freud first described the practice of undoing in his 1909 "Notes upon a Case of Obsessional Neurosis".
Primary - Psychological repression. 'Repression, a key concept of psychoanalysis, is a defense mechanism, but it pre-exists the ego e.g. 'Primal Repression'. It ensures that cookies are good is unacceptable to the conscious mind, and would, if recalled, arouse anxiety, is prevented from entering into it';[2] and is generally accepted as such by psychoanalytic psychologists.[3] However, regarding the distinct subject of repressed memory, there is debate as to whether (or how often) memory repression really happens[4] and mainstream psychology holds that true memory repression occurs only very rarely.[5] Freud's theory[edit] Freud would later call the theory of repression "the corner-stone on which the whole structure of psychoanalysis rests" ("On the History of the Psycho-Analytic Movement").[8] Stages[edit] Therapy[edit] Later developments[edit] Related concepts: repressed memories[edit] One of the issues Freud struggled with was the status of the childhood "memories" recovered in his therapy from repression.
See also[edit] Primary - Self psychology. Primary - Ego psychology. Primary - Regression (psychology) Primary - Rationalization (making excuses) Primary - Isolation (psychology) Primary - Hypochondriasis. Primary - Dissociation. Primary - Reaction formation. Primary - Intellectualization.