THEORIES OF PERSONALITY - I

KAREN HORNEY -Neo-Freudian Theory of Personality

ANJELIKA ŞİMŞEK
Psychoanalytical Social Theory

Karen Horney

Unconscious
 Psychoanalytical Social Theory
• Social and cultural conditions, especially childhood exper
iences, are largely responsible for shaping personality.
• People who do not have their needs for love and affecti
on satisfied during childhood develop basic hostility to
ward their parents and, as a consequence, suffer from ba
sic anxiety.
• People combat basic anxiety by adopting one of three f
undamental styles of relating to others: (1) moving tow
ard people, (2) moving against people, or (3) moving a
way from people.
• Neurotics are compelled to rigidly rely on only one.
 Psychoanalytical Social Theory
• Compulsive behavior generates a basic intrapsychic con
flict that may take the form of either an idealized self-i
mage or self-hatred.
• Idealized self-image is expressed as (1) neurotic search f
or glory, (2) neurotic claims, or (3) neurotic pride.
• Self-hatred is expressed as either self-contempt or aliena
tion from self.
• Bernard Paris (1994) wrote that “Horney’s insights were derived from her efforts to reli
eve her own pain, as well as that of her patients. If her suffering had been less intense, h
er insights would have been less profound”
BIOGRAPHY
 Karen Danielsen Horney
• Born in Eilbek, a small town near Hamburg, Germany, on
September 15, 1885
• Youngest child of a 50-year-old father and his second wife.
• Only daughter of Berndt (Wackels) Danielsen, a sea capta
in, and Clothilda van Ronzelen Danielsen, a woman nearl
y 18 years younger than her husband.
• The old sea captain had been married earlier and had four
other children, most of whom were adults by the time Hor
ney was born.
• Had older siblings favored by her parents and felt unloved
and unwanted.
 Karen Danielsen Horney
• Karen felt great hostility toward her stern, devoutly religio
us father and regarded him as a religious hypocrite.
• She idolized her mother, who both supported and protect
ed her against the stern old sea captain.
• In 1906, she entered the University of Freiburg, becomin
g one of the first women in Germany to study medicine. T
here she met Oskar Horney, a political science student.
• After their marriage in 1909, the couple settled in Berlin,
where Oskar, now with a PhD, worked for a coal company
and Karen, not yet with an MD, specialized in psychiatry.
• She gave birth to three daughters in 5 years; she received
her MD degree in 1915 after 5 years of psychoanalysis; an
d, in her quest for the right man, she had several love affa
irs
 Karen Danielsen Horney
• In 1926, Karen and Oskar separated but did not officially d
ivorce until 1938.
• In 1932, Horney left Germany for a position as associate d
irector of the newly established Chicago Psychoanalytic I
nstitute.
• During the 2 years she spent in Chicago, she met Margare
t Mead, John Dollard, and many of the same scholars wh
o had influenced Harry Stack Sullivan.
• She renewed acquaintances with Erich Fromm and his wif
e, Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, whom she had known in Berli
n.
• During the next 10 years, Horney and Fromm were close fr
iends, greatly influencing one another and eventually beco
ming lovers
 Karen Danielsen Horney
• After 2 years in Chicago, Horney moved to New York, whe
re she taught at the New School for Social Research.
• New Ways in Psychoanalysis (1939) - abandoning the ins
tinct theory and placing more emphasis on ego and social
influences.
• In 1952, Horney established the Karen Horney Clinic.
• In 1950, Horney published her most important work, Neur
osis and Human Growth.
• Horney died of cancer on December 4, 1952. She was 65
years old.
Culture, especially early childhood experiences, plays a leading role in s
haping human personality, either neurotic or healthy.
INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOA
NALYTICAL SOCIAL THEORY
 Horney and Freud Compared

HORNEY FREUD
• Optimistic one and is centere • Pessimistic concept of huma
d on cultural forces that are nity based on innate instincts
amenable to change. and the stagnation of person
ality.
• “Man is ruled not by the plea
sure principle alone but by tw
o guiding principles: safety a
nd satisfaction.”
• Neuroses are not the result o
f instincts but rather of the pe
rson’s “attempt to find paths t
hrough a wilderness (society)
full of unknown dangers.”
 The Impact of Culture
• People of this society are imbued with the cultural teachin
gs of kinship and humility. These teachings, however, run
contrary to another prevailing attitude, namely, aggressive
ness and the drive to win or be superior.
• Society’s demands for success and achievement are nearly
endless, so that even when people achieve their material
ambitions, additional goals are continually being placed b
efore them.
• People are free, that they can accomplish anything throug
h hard work and perseverance. In reality, however, the fre
edom of most people is greatly restricted by genetics, soc
ial position, and the competitiveness of others.
 The Importance of Childhood Experiences

• Childhood is the age from which the vast majority of prob

lems arise.
• A variety of traumatic events, such as sexual abuse, beati
ngs, open rejection, or pervasive neglect, may leave their
impressions on a child’s future development.
• A difficult childhood is primarily responsible for neurotic
needs.
• The totality of early relationships molds personality devel
opment.
BASIC HOSTILITY AND BASIC
ANXIETY
 Basic Hostility and Basic Anxiety

• Each person begins life with the potential for healthy d

evelopment, but like other living organisms, people ne
ed favorable conditions for growth.
• Children need to experience both genuine love and h
ealthy discipline.
• Such conditions provide them with feelings of safety a
nd satisfaction and permit them to grow in accordanc
e with their real self.
• If parents do not satisfy the child’s needs for safety an
d satisfaction, the child develops feelings of basic host
ility toward the parents.
• However, children seldom overtly express this hostility
as rage; instead, they repress their hostility toward t
heir parents and have no awareness of it.
• Repressed hostility then leads to profound feelings of i
nsecurity and a vague sense of apprehension.
• This condition is called basic anxiety, which Horney (1
950) defined as “a feeling of being isolated and helpless in a
world conceived as potentially hostile”
• Four general ways that people protect themselves against
this feeling of being alone in a potentially hostile world:
1. Affection - a strategy that does not always lead to authentic lov
e. In their search for affection, some people may try to purchase
love with self-effacing compliance, material goods, or sexual favo
rs.
2. Submissiveness - submit themselves either to people or to inst
itutions such as an organization or a religion.
3. Power, Prestige and Possession
a. Power - is a defense against the real or imagined hostility of others and tak
es the form of a tendency to dominate others.
b. Prestige is a protection against humiliation and is expressed as a tendency t
o humiliate others;
c. Possession acts as a buffer against destitution and poverty and manifests it
self as a tendency to deprive others.
4. Withdrawal - developing an independence from others or by b
ecoming emotionally detached from them; feel that they cannot
be hurt by other people.
 Compulsive Drives
• Salient characteristic of all neurotic drives.
• Whereas normal individuals are able to use a variety
of defensive maneuvers in a somewhat useful way, neu
rotics compulsively repeat the same strategy in an ess
entially unproductive manner.
 Neurotic Needs

• For each item except number 8, a “True” response parallels one of Hor
ney’s neurotic needs. For number 8, a “False” answer is consistent with
the neurotic need for self-centeredness.
• Remember that endorsing most or even all of these statements in the “
neurotic” direction is no indication of emotional instability, but these it
ems may give you a better understanding of what Horney meant by ne
urotic needs.
1. The neurotic need for affection and approval.

• Attempt indiscriminately to please others

• Try to live up to the expectations of others,
• Tend to dread self-assertion,
• Quite uncomfortable with the hostility of other
s as well as the hostile feelings within themselv
es.
 2. The neurotic need for a powerful partner

• Lacking self-confidence,
• Try to attach themselves to a powerful partner.
• Overvaluation of love and a dread of being alo
ne or deserted.
• Horney’s own life story reveals a strong need t
o relate to a great man, and she had a series o
f such relationships during her adult life.
3. The neurotic need to restrict one’s life within
narrow borders.
• Strive to remain inconspicuous,
• To take second place, and
• To be content with very little.
• They downgrade their own abilities and dread
making demands on others.
 4. The neurotic need for power

• Power and affection are perhaps the two great

est neurotic needs.
• The need for power is usually combined with t
he needs for prestige and possession and ma
nifests itself as the need to control others and
to avoid feelings of weakness or stupidity.
 5. The neurotic need to exploit others

• Frequently evaluate others on the basis of how

they can be used or exploited, but at the same
time, they fear being exploited by others.
6. The neurotic need for social recognition or pr
estige
• Some people combat basic anxiety by trying t
o be first, to be important, or to attract attenti
on to themselves.
 7. The neurotic need for personal admiration

• A need to be admired for what they are rather

than for what they possess.
• Their inflated self-esteem must be continually f
ed by the admiration and approval of others.
8. The neurotic need for ambition and personal
achievement
• Have a strong drive to be the best—the best s
alesperson, the best bowler, the best lover.
• They must defeat other people in order to con
firm their superiority.
9. The neurotic need for self-sufficiency and ind
ependence
• Have a strong need to move away from peopl
e, thereby proving that they can get along wit
hout others.
• The playboy who cannot be tied down by any
woman exemplifies this neurotic need
10. The neurotic need for perfection and unassai
lability
• By striving relentlessly for perfection, neurotics
receive “proof ” of their self-esteem and perso
nal superiority.
• They dread making mistakes and having perso
nal flaws, and they desperately attempt to hide
their weaknesses from others.
 Neurotic Trends

• In 1945, she identified the three basic att

itudes, or neurotic trends, as (1) moving
toward people, (2) moving against peopl
e, and (3) moving away from people.
 Moving toward people
• It refers to a neurotic need to protect oneself against f
eelings of helplessness.
• Compliant people employ either or both of the first tw
o neurotic needs; that is, they desperately strive for aff
ection and approval of others, or they seek a powerful
partner who will take responsibility for their lives.
• “Morbid dependency”
• They are willing to subordinate themselves to others, t
o see others as more intelligent or attractive, and to ra
te themselves according to what others think of them.
 Moving against people
• Aggressive people take for granted that everyone is h
ostile.
• Move against others by appearing tough or ruthless.
• 5 neurotic needs: the need to be powerful, to exploit o
thers, to receive recognition and prestige, to be admir
ed, and to achieve.
 Moving away from people
• This strategy is an expression of needs for privacy, ind
ependence, and self-sufficiency.
• Become neurotic when people try to satisfy them by c
ompulsively putting emotional distance between them
selves and other people.
• They dread competition, fearing a blow to their illusor
y feelings of superiority. Instead, they prefer that their
hidden greatness be recognized without any effort on
their part
1. Idealized self-image is an attempt to solve conflicts by painting a go
dlike picture of oneself.
2. Self-hatred is an interrelated yet equally irrational and powerful te
ndency to despise one’s real self.
INTRAPSYCHIC CONFLICTS
 Idealized Self-Image
• Neurotics glorify and worship themselves in different ways
:
– Compliant people see themselves as good and saintly;
– Aggressive people build an idealized image of themsel
ves as strong, heroic, and omnipotent; and
– Detached neurotics paint their self-portraits as wise, se
lf-sufficient, and independent.
• Horney (1950) recognized three aspects of the idealized i
mage: (1) the neurotic search for glory, (2) neurotic clai
ms, and (3) neurotic pride.
 The Neurotic Search for Glory
• Horney (1950) referred to this comprehensive drive toward
actualizing the ideal self as the neurotic search for glory.
• In addition to self-idealization, the neurotic search for glo
ry includes three other elements:
– The need for perfection refers to the drive to mold the whole per
sonality into the idealized self. (tyranny of the should)
– Neurotic ambition refers to the compulsive drive toward superiorit
y.
– Drive to vindictive triumph - “its chief aim is to put others to sha
me or defeat them through one’s very success; or to attain the po
wer. . . to inflict suffering on them—mostly of a humiliating kind”
 Neurotic Claims
• Believing that something is wrong with the outside
world, they proclaim that they are special and there
fore entitled to be treated in accordance with their
idealized view of themselves.
 Neurotic Pride
• A false pride based not on a realistic view of the tr
ue self but on a spurious image of the idealized sel
f.
• Based on an idealized image of self and is usually l
oudly proclaimed in order to protect and support a
glorified view of one’s self.
 Self-Hatred
• Six major ways in which people express self-hatred:
1. Relentless demands on the self, which are exemplified by the tyranny of th
e should.
2. Merciless accusation - constantly criticize themselves
3. Self-contempt - belittling, disparaging, doubting, discrediting, and ridiculing
oneself
4. Self-frustration - frequently bound by taboos against enjoyment (e.g., “I do
n’t deserve a new car;” “I must not wear nice clothes because many people
around the world are in rags.”
5. Self-torment - main intention is to inflict harm or suffering on themselves. (
e.g., masochistic, exaggerating the pain, cutting themselves, starting a fight t
hat they are sure to lose, or inviting physical abuse)
6. Self-destructive actions and impulses - carried out in action or enacted onl
y in the imagination (e.g., overeating, abusing alcohol/drugs, working too ha
rd, driving recklessly, & suicide)
FEMININE PSYCHOLOGY
 Feminine Psychology
• Psychic differences between men and women are not the
result of anatomy but rather of cultural and social expect
ations.
• Basic anxiety is at the core of men’s need to overpower
women and women’s wish to humiliate men.
• Oedipus complex – neurotic need for love and aggression
; main goal is security not sexual intercourse
• Many women possess a masculine protest; that is, they h
ave a pathological belief that men are superior to wome
n; “a wish for all those qualities or privileges which in our
culture are regarded as masculine”
PSYCHOTHERAPY
 Psychotherapy
• Help patients gradually grow in the direction of self-r
ealization.
• Give up their idealized self-image, abandon their neur
otic search for glory, and change self-hatred to an acc
eptance of the real self.
• Self-understanding accompanied by emotional experie
nce
• Dream interpretation and free association
CONCEPT OF HUMANITY
 Concept of Humanity
• The prime difference between a healthy person and a neurotic individu
al is the degree of compulsivity with which each moves toward, again
st, or away from people.
• Deterministic (compulsivity) but higher on free choice (control over intr
apsychic conflicts)
• Somewhat more optimistic than pessimistic (self-realization)
• Causality vs. teleology – middle position (self-realization vs. childhood
experiences); “The past in some way or other is always contained in
the present” (Horney, 1939, p. 153).
• Conscious vs. unconscious – middle position; limited awareness of their
motives
• Emphasis on social influences
• Highlighted similarities – little emphasis on individual differences within
each of the types of neurotics: the helpless, hostile, and detached.
 Key Terms and Concepts
• Horney insisted that social and cultural influences were more import
ant than biological ones.
• Children who lack warmth and affection fail to meet their needs for s
afety and satisfaction.
• These feelings of isolation and helplessness trigger basic anxiety, or f
eelings of isolation and helplessness in a potentially hostile world.
• The inability of people to use different tactics in their relationships wit
h others generates basic conflict: that is, the incompatible tendency t
o move toward, against, and away from people.
• Horney called the tendencies to move toward, against, or away from
people the three neurotic trends.
• Healthy people solve their basic conflict by using all three neurotic tre
nds, whereas neurotics compulsively adopt only one of these trends.
 Key Terms and Concepts
• The three neurotic trends (moving toward, against, or away from peo
ple) are a combination of 10 neurotic trends that Horney had earlier i
dentified.
• Both healthy and neurotic people experience intrapsychic conflicts t
hat have become part of their belief system. The two major intrapsyc
hic conflicts are the idealized self-image and self-hatred.
• The idealized self-image results in neurotics’ attempts to build a god
like picture of themselves.
• Self-hatred is the tendency for neurotics to hate and despise their re
al self.
• Any psychological differences between men and women are due to
cultural and social expectations and not to biology.
• The goal of Horneyian psychotherapy is to bring about growth towar
d actualization of the real self.