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Subject PSYCHOLOGY Paper No and Title Paper No 5: Personality Theories Module No and Title Module No 16: : , H. Hartmann Module Tag PSY_P5_M16

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Learning Outcomes 2. Introduction 3. Biographical Sketch: Anna Freud 4. Ego Psychology: Anna Freud 4.1 Ego Defense Mechanisms 5. Biographical Sketch: Heinz Hartmann 6. Ego Psychology: Heinz Hartmann 6.1 The Ego Re-conceptualized 6.2 Ego Functions 6.3 Ego Defenses 6.4 Adaptation and Accommodation 7. Evaluative Comments 7.1 Criticism and Controversies 7.2 Contributions 8. Summary

PSYCHOLOGY PAPER No. : 5: Personality Theories MODULE No. : M16 Ego Psychology: Anna Freud, H. Hartmann

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1. Learning Outcomes

After studying this module, you shall be able to

 Know about the development of , after the death of  Learn about the defense mechanisms as modified by Anna Freud  Understand how the ego can be autonomous and independent, as postulated by Heinz Hartmann  Learn about the functions of the ego and how the ego helps in adaptation  Learn how ego psychology is different to orthodox psychoanalytical theory, yet loyal to traditional psychoanalytic enterprise as developed by Sigmund Freud

2. Introduction

Sigmund Freud’s in 1939 led to major developments in the psychoanalytic theory. Upon Freud’s death, many of his followers decided to amplify aspects of Freud’s system, to make some of Freud’s postulates more explicit, to refine the descriptions of some of the basic concepts, and to expand the range of phenomena that was covered by traditional psychoanalysis.

The most striking development in psychoanalytic theory since Freud’s death is the new theory of the ego or ego psychology. Freud had never granted the ego an autonomous position, even though he considered it as the executive of personality. For Freud the ego always remained subservient to the id. Some psychoanalytic theorists, after the death of Freud, in contrast to his perspective, suggested a more significant role of ego in personality.

The major change these Freudian loyalists introduced into psychoanalysis is an expansion of the concept of the ego (Hartmann, 1964). Instead of being the servant to the id, the ego’s role was extended. The ego was believed to be more independent of the id. The ego, according to these Freudian loyalists, possesses its own energy, which is not derived from the id. Further, these neo- Freudian analysts suggested that the ego is free of the conflict produced when id impulses press for satisfaction.

Two major figures that are associated with ego psychology are Anna Freud and Heinz Hartmann.

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3. Biographical Sketch: Anna Freud

Anna Freud is known to be the first of the ego psychologists and one of the founders of the child psychoanalytic movement (Edgcumbe, 2000). She was also the appointed heir of psychoanalysis after her father’s death (Young- Brueh, 2008). Anna Freud ultimately became her father’s intellectual heir. The search of Sigmund Freud for his intellectual heir, earlier, was excessively unsuccessful with colleagues like Carl Jung. Sigmund Freud conducted Anna’s training analysis, and Anna ultimately became her father’s intellectual custodian

Anna Freud was the youngest of the six children of Sigmund Freud. She was the only one of their children who devoted her life to psychoanalysis. The birth of Anna, in 1895, was symbolic because it coincided with the birth of psychoanalysis and because Anna would be the only Freud child to follow her father’s path and become an analyst. Anna became interested in her father’s work. From the age of 14, she would sit in a corner at the meetings of the Psychoanalytic Society, absorbing everything that was said. At the age of 22 Anna was psychoanalyzed by her father. In 1924, Anna read her first scholarly paper to the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. Entitled Beating Fantasies and Daydreams, it was allegedly based on the case history of an anonymous patient, but it was actually about her own fantasies. She described dreams of an incestuous father- daughter love relationship, a beating, and sexual gratification through masturbation. The paper was well received by Freud and his colleagues and earned her admission to the society. Anna Freud is known best for her work on the ego and its defense mechanisms, as described in her classic book, Das Ich und die Abwehrmechanismen (1936) translated as The Ego and Mechanisms of Defense in 1937. This book was a strong push for the development of ego psychology. It was also was a pioneering effort in the growth of adolescent psychology. Unlike the succeeding ego psychologists, Anna Freud theorized the ego in a manner that was similar to the orthodox analytic view of the interrelatedness of the id, ego, and the superego. During the Second World War she recounted her work in Young Children in Wartime (1942), Infants Without Families (1943), and War and Children(1943). Anna Freud made conceptual as well as technical modifications in psychoanalysis. She realized that free association was of little use with young children. Her work in England with children ravaged by the traumatic events of World War II convinced her that an exclusive focus on intrapsychic conflict is inadequate with children. According to her, it is rather, a child’s past and present external reality that can greatly influence his/her behavior and pathology.

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In 1938, Anna Freud and her father, who was ill due jaw- cancer escaped from Nazi-dominated . It was Anna who was responsible for all of the plans, finances and logistics of this move (Young-Brueh, 2008). She later settled in London and worked at a Hampstead nursery until 1945. Anna Freud, in 1947, founded the Hampstead Child Therapy Course and Clinic, London, and served as its director from 1952 till her death in 1982. She worked thoroughly with parents, believing that the analysis should have an informative influence on the child. A summary of her thought is found in her book, Normality and Pathology in Childhood (1968). Anna Freud never married. She devoted her life to the application of psychoanalysis, emotionally disturbed children, and to the care of her father during his long illness. Anna Freud had never earned a higher degree, but her work in psychoanalysis and child psychology is regarded as a major contribution to the field of psychology. She had a deep influence on , who later on expanded psychoanalysis and ego psychology. Research in Freudian Psychology was influenced by Anna Freud. She standardized the records for children with diagnostic profiles, recommended the pooling of observations from multiple analysts, and pushed for long-term studies of development from early childhood through adolescence. Despite the modifications made by Anna Freud in ego psychology, her formulations are regarded to be as consistent with her father’s emphasis on the impulses of the instinct. She never compromised her basic loyalty to her father’s work and dedicated her life in safegaurding the legacy of her father.

4. Ego Psychology: Anna Freud

Anna Freud revised orthodox psychoanalytic theory, expanding the role of the ego as it functions independently of the id.

4.1 Ego Defense Mechanisms

Defense mechanisms are unconscious processes and are believed to originate in the psychosexual developmental phases. Efforts that are directed at modifying these defense mechanisms lead to anxiety and are often resisted by the individual. These resistances operate unconsciously. When the defense mechanisms work as protective functions or maximize , they are adaptive, but when they minimize coping, they can be maladaptive.

Anna Freud elucidated and expanded the defense mechanisms that enables the ego to master the environment and shapes the forces of each individual’s psychopathology.

Initially, and for many years, defense mechanisms were defined only with respect to repression. According to Sigmund Freud, repression was the predominant defense mechanism, which was available to the ego to defend itself against the environment and the id impulses. Therefore, the main thrust of analysis was to unravel and comprehend the repressed material.

Over a period time, and as ego psychology developed, a number of defense mechanisms would be enumerated, which include - regression, reaction-formation, isolation, undoing, projection, PSYCHOLOGY PAPER No. : 5: Personality Theories MODULE No. : M16 Ego Psychology: Anna Freud, H. Hartmann

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introjection, turning against the self, and reversal into the opposite. Many of these defense mechanisms were illustrated by Freud (1900, 1905, 1924).

It was Anna Freud, however, who had illustrated the origins and functions of these defense mechanisms. In her work The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defense (1936), Anna Freud explicated upon the intricacies of these defense mechanisms with sensitively written clinical vignettes. She elaborated upon and clarified the use of the defense mechanisms in protecting the ego from anxiety. The names and definitions for the defense mechanisms assigned by her are still the benchmark terminology of psychoanalysis - repression, denial, reaction formation, undoing, rationalization, intellectualization, sublimation, displacement, and several others.

Anna Freud’s rich articulation of the defense mechanisms directed many analysts towards the examination of the dynamic processes that operate in the ego. She, however, suggested that analysis of the ego paled by comparison with analysis of the id. In this way, Anna Freud, being distinct to the succeeding ego psychologists, theorized the ego in a manner that was similar to the classical analytic view of the interrelatedness of the id, ego, and the superego.

Following are a list of some of the defense mechanisms elaborated by Anna Freud (Source: Benenfeld, D. (2006). Psychodynamic Theories for Clinicians, Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins):

Ego Defense Mechanisms Definition Repression An involuntary exclusion of conflictual/ painful impulses, thoughts, memories from conscious awareness Denial A failure to recognize external reality Reaction Formation An exaggeration of an emotional trend to help repress the opposite emotion Undoing A symbolic/actual negation of an unacceptable thought/action that was previously unacceptable Rationalization An elaboration of socially acceptable reasons that justify feelings/actions that are determined unconsciously Intellectualization An overuse of reasoning/logic to avoid awareness of feelings and impulses Sublimation A partial gratification of an impulse by altering the aim/object to make it more acceptable socially Displacement An affect that was originally attached to one object is transferred to a more innocuous object Introjection An assimilation of characteristics of an object into one’s own ego/superego Identification The modeling of one’s self on another person/ PSYCHOLOGY PAPER No. : 5: Personality Theories MODULE No. : M16 Ego Psychology: Anna Freud, H. Hartmann

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group, which is less in intensity and completeness as compared to introjection Idealization An overestimation of positive qualities and an underestimation of negative qualities of a desired object Projection An attribution of one’s own unaccepted and unrecognized feelings to impulses of another person Regression A return to a previous level of function or psychosexual stage

Source: Benenfeld, D. (2006). Psychodynamic Theories for Clinicians, Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

5. Biographical Sketch: Heinz Hartmann

Heinz Hartmann, psychoanalyst and physician, is considered to be the father of ego psychology. He was in an upper class Viennese family of distinguished academicians, in 1894. He belonged to a family that was known to be distinguished for many generations. One of his grandfathers, Moritz Hartmann, was a well-known poet, essayist, professor, and Member of Parliament. The other grandfather, Rudolf Chrobak, was an renowned physician and professor. His father, Ludo Hartmann, was a professor of history and founder of public libraries and adult education. His mother, Grete Chrobak, was a successful sculptor and pianist.

After his graduation, Hartmann pursued several careers before turning to psychoanalysis. In 1924, he published a paper that corroborated Freud’s theory of symbolization. This paper made Hartmann into a prominent figure in psychoanalysis. In 1926, he undertook training in psychoanalysis in Berlin.

Although Hartmann was trained as an academic psychiatrist as the staff of the University of Vienna Psychiatric Clinics, he grew to be highly deferential of the contributions of Sigmund Freud. Freud was, however, initially distrustful of Hartmann, because the psychiatric establishment was ambivalent towards psychoanalysis.

In 1934, Hartmann resigned from his post at the University Clinic to gain a professorship. Initially, Anna Freud was also doubtful of Hartmann’s concepts, but later with her consent, Hartmann began to make others accept his idea of the role of the ego in adaptation. PSYCHOLOGY PAPER No. : 5: Personality Theories MODULE No. : M16 Ego Psychology: Anna Freud, H. Hartmann

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When Hartmann left the University Clinic in Vienna, he was offered a professorship Johns Hopkins Institute by Adolph Meyer who is known as the father of American psychiatry. Freud countered this move by him to continue his training analysis, free of charge, if he stayed in Vienna. Hartmann accepted and entered his second analysis in 1934, which continued to 1936.

Hartmann, in 1937, presented a paper on ego psychology to the Vienna Society. He later developed the paper into a book called Ich-Psychologie und Anpassungsproblem (1939) (later published in English as Ego Psychology and the Problem of Adaptation; 1958). This paper is considered to be the beginning of ego psychology. Along with Anna Freud's book The Ego and Mechanisms of Defense, this work of Hartmann became a crucial landmark in extending psychoanalysis into the area of ego psychology that would be central for the next several decades.

In 1938, Hartmann with his family moved to Paris when the Nazi annexed Austria. There he joined the Paris Psychoanalytic Institute. After that he moved to Geneva and then to Lausanne, Switzerland. He finally settled in New York in 1941.

In New York, Hartmann became a member of the New York Psychoanalytic Institute and became a teacher and training analyst like he was earlier at Vienna and Paris. He enhanced the reputation of the New York Psychoanalytic Institute and helped to resolve many of its conflictual elements.

Hartmann lived a life of a liberal humanist. He is believed to an exceptional human being. He is known for his theoretical ability and for his loyalty to traditional psychoanalytic psychology. He is also remembered as a brilliant teacher, his intellect, his unbending integrity, and his devoutness for his family.

Hartmann was considered a major clinical analyst, teacher, theoretician, and metapsychologist, who extended the ideas and findings of Freud. He did not restrict himself to one discipline and welcomed views from various disciplines such biopsychosocial thinking, general biology, neurobiology, and medicine. He also welcomed ideas from psychology, developmental theory, history, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, ethology, mythology, and art. He believed psychoanalytic psychology to be as central to a general psychology. (Eissler & Eissler, 1964; Eissler & Loewenstein, 1970).

As the father of Ego Psychology, Hartmann is considered to be the psychological architect who was responsible to move psychoanalysis to a general theory of human development from its roots of intrapsychic focus of drive/defense and psychopathology.

6. Ego Psychology: Heinz Hartmann

6.1 The Ego Re-conceptualized

According to Hartmann, the id and the ego develop simultaneously and function in an independent manner. Both the id and the ego evolve from an undifferentiated matrix and influence each other in a reciprocal manner, emerging as products of differentiation (Hartmann, 1950). They have their own biological roots as well as source of energy (Austrian, 2002).

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Hartmann suggested that the id and ego are formed in an undifferentiated phase early in life. He believed that ego does not surface from an inborn id. Instead, each system originates from inherent predispositions and has its own course that develops independently. Thus, the ego and the instincts develop and function in an independent and complementary manner. As a result of this, the central role of the ego in development is to facilitate conflict between the agencies of the mind (the id, ego, and superego). Apart from this, the ego also plays a role in adaptation to the environment. The ego is the special organ of adaptation. Due to this infants are quickly prepared to fit into their environment (Hartmann, 1950). This is a marked difference from what the ego that was conceptualized by Sigmund Freud. For Freud, the ego is always subservient to the id, and is not independent. The ego develops as a consequence of three sets of factors, which are - inherited ego characteristics (and their interaction), influences of the instinctual drives, and influences of outer reality (Hartmann, 1950).

6.2 Ego Functions

There are two main functions of the ego – primary autonomous functions and secondary autonomous functions (Hartmann, 1939). Primary autonomous ego functions are ego characteristics that are innate and free of conflict. It comprises the cognitive functions of perception, intelligence, thinking, comprehension, language, and learning. Secondary autonomous ego functions are the functions that were once involved in conflicts during the developmental periods. These conflicts are oral, anal, or phallic/ oedipal which were later freed due to them being resolved by the process of neutralization (Hartmann, 1950). For example, the ability of a child to think clearly may be adulterated by conflicts around sexuality or aggression. Secondary autonomy of that function results in clear, definite thinking, which is followed by those conflicts being resolved (Hartmann, 1939). These ego functions that become independent of the id and the ego can use the obtainable energies in the adaptation and mastery.

6.3 Ego Defenses

Hartmann suggested that the ego mobilizes the defense mechanisms to protect itself from four types of dangers. These dangers are (1) conflict among the id, ego, and superego, (2) conflict in interpersonal relationships, (3) conflict with respect to social norms, and (4) the disruption that occurs in response to traumatic experiences. Ego defenses, according to Hartmann, do not have to be pathological or negative in character. They may serve healthy purposes in the formation of personality. Hartmann believed that a defense may become independent of its origin in combating the instincts and serve the functions of adjustment and organization.

6.4 Adaptation and Accommodation

Adaptation is a reciprocal and evolving process. Two changes take place with respect to adaptation – alloplastic change and autoplastic change. Alloplastic change takes place when individuals alter the environment in order to cope with the challenges that they may experience.

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In contrast, autoplastic change occurs when individuals shift to accommodating to the environment by modifying their aspects to deal with reality. There are four ego tasks that involve the reconciliation of inter and intrasystemic conflicts, occur for successful adaptation. These four tasks are (a) maintaining a balance between the individual and external realities; (b) establishment of harmony between the id and its competing instinctual drives; (c) maintaining a balance between the three competing mental agencies, that is, the id, ego, and the superego; and (d) maintaining a balance between the role of the ego in helping the id and its own independent role that goes beyond the gratification of instincts (Hartmann, 1939).

7. Evaluative Comments

7.1 Criticisms and controversies

Ego psychology has had its share of criticisms. The psychologists Robert Holt (1965) critically evaluated the concept of the autonomy of ego in Hartmann’s writings and concluded that it will not come to occupy an important place in psychoanalytic thinking. He, instead, suggested to emphasize on the relative roles of drive, external stimuli, and various inner structures in determining behavior, and the complex interactions between them. (1973) fervently attacked ego psychology. He strongly criticized the ego psychologist’s concept of the healthy ego. Lacan challenged all the major concepts of ego psychology, such as the concept of adaptation and that of the ego being an autonomous entity. According to Lacan, the ego is the enemy. He believed that the ego is something cannot be trusted because it is unable to discriminate the individual’s own desires from the desires of others. Lacan further suggested that the ego is not an autonomous entity, but it is subordinated and alienated to the people and images with which it identified itself during its development. Ego psychologists responded by doubting whether or not Lacan applied his approach to clinical work that involved real patients having real illnesses, with specific ego functions that mediated those illnesses, and specific histories.

7.2 Contributions

Ego psychology appealed to many psychologists because it focuses on the traditional subject matter of psychology, namely, perception, memory, learning, and thinking.

Anna Freud, Hartmann, and other ego psychologists set out to make psychoanalysis part of scientific psychology. They achieved this goal by translating, simplifying, and operationally defining Freudian ideas. They also encouraged experimental investigation of psychoanalytic hypothesis, and modified psychoanalytic psychotherapy (Steele, 1985). In the process, they fostered a more conciliatory relationship between psychoanalysis and academic experimental psychology.

Ego psychology also appeals to many psychologists because it emphasizes the characteristic processes and behavior of the normal person in contradistinction to the deviant processes and behavior of a patient population. It also gives a theoretical background for restoring psychosocial

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functioning that is abnormal as well as enabling a better fit of an individual’s psychological needs with respect to the society and its normative expectations.

Further, ego psychology tends to place more emphasis on the rational, conscious, constructive aspects of human personality, instead of the emphasis placed on the unconscious and irrational by classical psychoanalysis. It is said to be more humanistic than orthodox psychoanalytic theory.

Ego psychology helped to move psychoanalytic psychology from its roots of focusing on intrapsychic drives and psychopathology to a general theory of human development. With the emergence of ego psychology, psychoanalytic psychology, from a secluded, independent treatment method developed into a comprehensive academic discipline, which indirectly encouraged contributions from non-psychoanalytic approaches. Specifically, Hartmann’s success led to emergence of some of the subsequent psychoanalytic schools such as , self-psychology, and attempts to integrate psychoanalytic psychology with biopsychosocial notions.

8. Summary

. Sigmund Freud’s death in 1939 led to major developments in the psychoanalytic theory. . The most striking development in psychoanalytic theory since Freud’s death is the new theory of the ego – ego psychology. Anna Freud, Sigmund Freud’s daughter is the first of the ego psychologists. Heinz Hartmann is regarded as the father and architect of ego psychology . Anna Freud elucidated and elaborated the major psychological defense mechanisms, which are still broadly accepted. . Heinz Hartmann re-conceptualized the ego as independent, autonomous, that is not subservient to the id. . For Hartmann psychological development takes place in relation to adaptation and the defense mechanisms, which allow the ego to fit together with its environment. . Ego psychology focuses on this process as the major element of normal functioning and psychopathology. . The theory of ego psychology proposes the presence of an undifferentiated matrix of psychic structure from birth, and that the id, ego, and the superego are differentiated from it.

PSYCHOLOGY PAPER No. : 5: Personality Theories MODULE No. : M16 Ego Psychology: Anna Freud, H. Hartmann