Personality Theories: Freud's Psychosexual Theory and Carl Rogers' Humanistic Approach

PERSONALITY THEORIES
PERSONALITY THEORIES
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PERSONALITY THEORIES
Introduction
The case presented is about Glen’s grandfather Jason, his monetary and self worth
struggles. The concepts that will be talked about in this analysis are the homosexual orientation
of Jason, the constant conflict between his self-concept and ideal self and the inevitable distance
that had grown between him and his immediate family. These issues will be discussed in the
light of Freud’s psychosexual personality developmental theory and Carl Roger’s humanistic
approach in personality development.
Summary of the Case
The present case is about Jason, who belonged to a poor family of a farmer. He had a
fairly tough childhood because of dire monetary conditions, given the fact that he was born just
before the Great Depression. He had moderately loving parents, but was essentially more
inclined towards his mother. The inclination however, stopped as he was made fun of by his
brothers at that tender age. Jason grew up to join the army, out of peer pressure, as he wanted to
be manly enough. He married and bore three children, however grew distant from his family
with the passage of time. He did not contribute much to the development of his children and was
excessively distant from his wife. He began having homosexual relationships after his wife
decided to stop having intercourse with him owing to his distant behavior. He justified this as not
infidelity as he did not sleep with other women and only started sexual relationships with men
when his wife decided to stop all sort of intimate relationships with him.

PERSONALITY THEORIES
Theory 1- Psychoanalytic Personality Developmental Theory by Freud
Freud’s psychoanalytic theory states that the personality of an individual is the interaction
between id, ego and superego, the three personality systems. Personalities, according to Freud,
are the outcome of all the conflicts at the five psychosexual developmental stages of an
individual (Ashcraft, 2012).
Homosexual relationships that Jason formed at the later stages can have two explanations. It is
understood that Jason had an Oral fixation, as he would nurse from his mother even at 3 years of
age, which suggests he was over gratified. Therefore at later stages of his life, when his wife
wanted to stop intimate relationships with him, he had to satisfy the urges of his id, while,
keeping intact his moral value, which in turn might have caused him to have homosexual
relationships and yet justify it as not infidelity. However, Freud’s explanation of homosexuality
is rooted in the third stage, or the phallic stage, which lasts from three to six years of age. This is
the stage when male children experience “Oedipal complex” or seeing the mother as a sexual
object and the father as the object of aggression. However, as the “castration anxiety” kicks in,
the child resolves the aggression and starts identifying with the father, while the love towards the
mother is projected as heterosexuality or attraction towards the opposite sex, here the id-ego
conflict is therefore successfully resolved (Gleason, 2018). In case, the child fails to resolve this
conflict and identifies with the mother while shifting the libidinal cathexis towards the direction
of the father (E, d, 2018). In Jason’s case, his brothers made fun of him because of his intimacy
with his mother, which might have led him to internalize the feelings towards his mother and
identify with her instead.