Psychoanalytic Social
KAREN
Theory:
HORNEY
FEMININE
BIOGRAPHY
Born: September 16, 1885 in
Hamburg, Germany
Youngest and only daughter
Felt great hostility towards
her father, Berndt Danielson
Idolized her mother, Clotilde
Danielson
Resented the favored
treatment given to her older
brother
Compliant and clingy as a
BIOGRAPHY
At age 9, developed a
crush on her own brother
led to her first bout of
depression
One of earliest women to
attend medical school in
Germany
Married Oskar Horney in
1909
1910, gave birth to her
firstborn
BIOGRAPHY
1923, Oskar’s business
collapsed and he
developed meningitis and
her brother died of
pulmonary infection
Became depressed and
had suicidal thoughts
1930s, moved to US and
settled in Brooklyn
Later on, developed
theories on neurosis
BIOGRAPHY
Published “Neurosis and
Human Growth” in 1950
History of stormy
relationships
Established Karen
Horney Clinic in 1952
Died: December 4, 1952
Overview of the Psychoanalytic Social Theory
Social and cultural conditions, especially
childhood experiences, are largely responsible in
shaping of human personality.
Unsatisfied need for love and affection during
childhood develop basic hostility towards the
parents which results to basic anxiety.
Three fundamental styles of relating to others to
combat basic anxiety: (1) moving toward
Criticisms on Freud’s Theory
Strict adherence to orthodox psychoanalysis
would lead to stagnation in both theoretical
thought and therapeutic practice.
Psychoanalysis should move beyond
instinct theory and emphasize the importance
of cultural influences in shaping personality.
“Man is ruled not by the pleasure principle alone but by two
guiding principles: safety and satisfaction” (Horney, 1939,
p. 73).
She countered Freud’s ‘penis envy’ with ‘womb
Criticisms on Freud’s Theory
Personality cannot depend solely on
biological forces.
Questioned Oedipus complex, libido, and the
three-part structure of personality.
Sexual or aggressive forces versus Needs for
Security and Love
Her main quarrel with Freud was not so much the
accuracy of his observations but the validity of
his interpretations
Impact of Culture
Cultural influences provide intrapsychic
conflicts that threaten the
psychological health of normal people
and provide nearly insurmountable
obstacles for neurotics.
Culture provides for understanding of personality
differences at a certain extent.
Importance of Childhood Experiences
age from which the vast majority of problems
arise
Difficult childhood = neurotic needs
People rigidly repeat patterns of behavior =
interpret new experiences consistent with those
established patterns
No universal developmental stages and
inevitable childhood conflicts
Key factor: relationship of child and his or
Importance of Childhood Experiences
Childhood is dominated by safety needs: need
for security and freedom from fear
Child’s sense of security may be weakened or
prevented by the “basic evil” = parental
indifference (lack of warmth and affection)
Parental indifference is a matter of child’s
perception and not the parents’ intention.
BASIC HOSTILITY and BASIC ANXIETY
Feelings developed by a child towards the
parents when need for safety and satisfaction
was not satisfied.
Repressed hostility of the child towards the
parents that leads to profound feelings of
insecurity and a vague sense of apprehension.
Basic hostility = child’s anger response to
perceived parental indifference; when found
effective by the child, he may develop an
aggressive coping strategy
BASIC HOSTILITY and BASIC ANXIETY
However, most children find themselves
overwhelmed by basic anxiety = fear of
hopelessness and abandonment; suppress basic
hostility in order to survive; leads to the
development of compliance coping strategy
When neither aggression nor compliance
eliminates perceived parental indifference, they
resort to withdrawing from family involvement
BASIC ANXIETY: Foundation of Neurosis
ANXIETY – insidiously increasing, all pervading
feeling of being lonely and helpless in a hostile
world
Individuals feel small, insignificant, helpless,
deserted and endangered in a world that is out to
abuse, cheat, attack, humiliate, and betray.
Four ways to protect the self against basic
anxiety: (1) securing affection and love, (2)
being submissive, (3) attaining power over
others, and (4) withdrawing (psychological)
NEUROTIC
TRENDS/SOLUTIONS/ORIENTATIONS
Normal individuals are able to use a variety of defensive
maneuvers in a somewhat useful way, but neurotics
compulsively repeat the same strategy in an essentially
unproductive manner
MOVING TOWARD PEOPLE
- Normal people being friendly and loving
- a neurotic need to protect oneself against feelings of helplessness
- Desperate striving for affection and approval of others, or seeking a
powerful partner who will take responsibility of their lives -“morbid
codependency”
- Neurotics see themselves as loving, generous, unselfish, humble, and
sensitive to other people’s feelings
NEUROTIC
TRENDS/SOLUTIONS/ORIENTATIONS
MOVING TOWARD PEOPLE
1. Need for affection and approval. - attempt indiscriminately to
please others. They are quite uncomfortable with the hostility of
others as well as the hostile feelings within themselves.
2. Need for a powerful partner - Lacking self-confidence, neurotics
try to attach themselves to a powerful partner. This need includes
an overvaluation of love and a dread of being alone or deserted.
3. Need to restrict one’s life within narrow borders - Neurotics
frequently 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
NEUROTIC
TRENDS/SOLUTIONS/ORIENTATIONS
MOVING AGAINST PEOPLE
- Ability of normal people to survive in a competitive
society Basic motivation is for power, prestige, and
personal ambition.
- Move against others by appearing tough or
ruthless ; strong need to exploit others and to use
them for their own benefit.
- Seldom admit mistakes and are compulsively
driven to appear perfect, powerful and superior.
NEUROTIC
TRENDS/SOLUTIONS/ORIENTATIONS
MOVING AGAINST PEOPLE
4. Need for power - is usually combined with the needs for prestige and possession
and manifests itself as the need to control others and to avoid feelings of weakness
or stupidity.
5. 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. Need for social recognition or prestige -trying to be first, to be important, or
to attract attention to themselves.
7. Need for personal admiration. - inflated self-esteem must be continually fed by
the admiration and approval of others.
8. Need for ambition and personal achievement - have a strong drive to be the
best—the best salesperson, the best bowler, the best lover. They must defeat other
people in order to confirm their superiority.
NEUROTIC
TRENDS/SOLUTIONS/ORIENTATIONS
MOVING AWAY FROM PEOPLE
- An expression of needs for privacy, independence,
and self-sufficiency. Normal people exercise autonomy and
sereness
- Neurotics put emotional distance between
themselves and other people build a world of their own
and refuse to allow anyone to get close to them.
- Self-deceptive belief that they are perfect and therefore
beyond criticism. They prefer that their hidden greatness be
recognized without any effort on their part
NEUROTIC
TRENDS/SOLUTIONS/ORIENTATIONS
MOVING AWAY FROM PEOPLE
- Self-deceptive belief that they are perfect and
therefore beyond criticism.
- They dread competition
- They prefer that their hidden greatness be
recognized without any effort on their part
NEUROTIC
TRENDS/SOLUTIONS/ORIENTATIONS
MOVING AWAY FROM PEOPLE
9. Need for self-sufficiency and independence - a
strong need to move away from people, thereby
proving that they can get along without others.
10. Need for perfection and unassailability - dread
making mistakes and having personal flaws, and they
desperately attempt to hide their weaknesses from
others.
NEUROTIC
TRENDS/SOLUTIONS/ORIENTATIONS
INTRAPSYCHIC CONFLICTS
inner conflicts that both normal and neurotic
individuals experience
Intrapsychic processes originates from
interpersonal experiences; exists separately
as they become internalized
Two important intrapsychic conflicts:
The idealized self-image
Self-hatred
A. ) Idealized self-image
a desperate need of people to acquire a stable sense of
identity, can be solved only by creating an idealized
self-image
an extravagantly positive view of themselves that
exists only in their personal belief system
Neurotic glorify and worship themselves in different
ways.
Compliant people : good and saintly
Aggressive people : strong, heroic, and omnipotent
Detached neurotics : wise, self-sufficient, independent
Aspects of the Idealized self-image
1. The Neurotic Search for Glory
- comprehensive drive toward actualizing the
ideal self
In addition to self-idealization, it includes three other
elements:
Need for perfection – nothing short of
complete perfection is acceptable. “Tyranny of
shoulds”
Neurotic ambition – The compulsive drive
toward superiority. Neurotics have an
exaggerated need to excel in everything
The drive toward vindictive triumph – The
chief aim is to put others to shame or defeat
Aspects of the Idealized self-image
2. Neurotic Claims
Neurotics build a fantasy world
They proclaim that they are special and
therefore entitled to be treated in accordance
with their idealized view of themselves.
When neurotic claims are not met, neurotics
became indignant, bewildered, and unable to
comprehend why others have not granted their
claims
Aspects of the Idealized self-image
Neurotic Pride
A false pride based on a spurious image of the
idealized self
Based on an idealized image of self
usually loudly proclaimed in order to protect and
support a glorified view of one’s self
To prevent the hurt, they avoid people who refuse
to yield to their neurotic claims
they try to become associated with socially
prominent and prestigious institutions and
B.) SELF-HATRED
When neurotics realize that their real self does not
match the insatiable demands of their idealized self,
they will begin to hate and despise themselves.
Six major ways in which people express self-hatred.
1. Relentless demands on the self - tyranny of
shoulds
2. Merciless self-accusation - “No one knows it
but I’m really a fraud”
3. Self-contempt - “I just got lucky”
4. Self-frustration - “I don’t want to wear this,
it’s too showy”
FEMININE PSYCHOLOGY
Psychic differences between men and women =
cultural and social expectations
Basic anxiety = core of men’s need to subjugate
women and women’s wish to humiliate men
Oedipus complex = due to certain environmental
conditions and not to biology
no evidence for a universal Oedipus complex, it is
found only in some people and is an expression of the
neurotic need for love
FEMININE PSYCHOLOGY
There is no more anatomical reason why girls should
be envious of the penis than boys should desire a
breast or a womb
Women possess a masculine protest - a
pathological belief that men are superior than women.
This perception easily leads to the neurotic desire to
be a man.
The desire is not an expression of penis envy but
rather “a wish for all those qualities or privileges
which in our culture are regarded as masculine”.
PSYCHOTHERAPY
GOAL: “Help patients gradually grow in the direction
of Self-Realization”
Self Realization: requires an environment of
discipline and warmth, to develop feelings of security
and self-confidence and a tendency to move
1. Give up idealized self-image
2. Relinquish neurotic search for glory
3. Change hatred to acceptance of reals self
PSYCHOTHERAPEUTHIC TECNIQUES
1. Dream
Interpretation -
“attempts to solve
conflict”; solution can
be neurotic or healthy.
2. Free Association -
reveals idealized self
image and persistent
but unsuccessful
attempts to
Usefulness of the theory
1) Generates research - low
2) Falsifiable - low
3) Organizes data - average
4) Guides action - high
5) Internally consistent - moderately low
6) Parsimonious - high
Concept of HUMANITY
1) Determinism vs Free Choice
2) Pessimism vs Optimism
3) Causality vs Teleology
4) Conscious vs Unconscious
5) Biological vs Social
6) Uniqueness vs Similarities
