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CHAPTER III

THE PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY OF MOTIVATION

One of the paradigms for the present study of human motivation


is Psychoanalytic theory. Before going specifically into the details of
the motivational theory, we shall attempt a survey of Psychoanalytic
theory.

3.1 Historical Background of Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis was one of the most influential theories of 20th


century, but it was no less controversial. Both chance and self-
determinism played their role in the development of the theory.
Chance, because Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, had
been dragged into the field of psychiatry for personal reasons.
Determinism because, Freud's obsessive nature and penchant for
rejecting people who did not totally agree with him largely
determined the history of psychoanalysis (Boeree). Freud owed
influences both to his contemporaries in the field of psychiatry and to
the scientific tradition of his time (Burns 70).

Freud was born on the 6th of May 1856 in Freiberg in a small


town in Moravia- a part of Austria- Hungary. Hailing from a middle-
class Jewish family, he graduated in medicine and started his research
career involving the dissection of nervous system of eels. Following
this, he worked for the next six years in the Psychological Laboratory
under Brucke, from where he acquired the outlines of physical
sciences in general (Strachey 13). Here he worked on the anatomy of
central nervous system. Unable to support his family with the
earnings from laboratory studies, in 1882 he left Brucke and began to
work at Vienna General Hospital. In 1885 he started work at
Salpetrere, the famous Parris Hospital for nervous diseases, with
Charcot, the then reigning figure in psychiatry. Freuds career with
Charcot influenced much of his later theories. In 1886 Freud returned
to Vienna and got married. He set up a private clinic there to practise
as a consultant for nervous diseases.

Charles Darwin in On the Origin of Species rejected the special


divine status of man, and henceforth mind became a legitimate subject
for scientific investigation. The concept of psychic energy governed
much of Freuds theories. The channelling out, displacement and
sublimation of the energy played a key role in defence mechanisms
and neurotic behaviour in Freudian psychoanalysis. These concepts
were much influenced by the then emerged notion of law of
conservation of energy, according to which energy can neither be
created nor be destroyed. Freud's application of these principles into
his concept of psychic energy led him to the postulation of
sublimation and displacement of that energy.

The laws of thermodynamics (which gave rise to much of


20th-century physics) dominated scientific thinking then.
These proposed that energy is never lost simply
transformed. Nineteenth-century Europe was
economically booming; its industry driven by mechanical
innovations such as trains, factory presses, ships engines,
all based on harnessing conserved energy. Whether
water, steam, or internal combustion engines, they all
demonstrated the enormous power of damming up energy

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and channelling its escape through a restricted outlet.
Freuds ideas of the human mind are shot through with
this metaphor whether blocked instinctual drives or
repressed memories, he believed our greatest destructive
and creative achievements stemmed from forces denied
their natural release (Burns 70).

Freud was a thoroughgoing determinist. Being influenced by the


nature of physical sciences, the then predominant trend in psychology
was concerned with conscious contents of mind. Freud deviated much
from this standpoint and postulated the role of unconscious mental
activities in interconnecting the isolated conscious psychic activities.

The conscious contents, Freud observed, are isolated acts


and are to be interconnected with psychic activities,
which are not conscious or observable, for a fuller
explanation of psychic phenomena. So, according to
Freud, in psychoanalytic theory, the mental processes
are essentially unconscious, and those which are
conscious are merely isolated acts and part of the whole
psychic entity (Strachey 16).

The Freudian psychoanalysis was developed out of the


observation and the analyses of data derived from his clinical practice.
However, there are three major practitioners who influenced Freuds
theories. They are Anton Mesmer (1734-1815), Jean Charcot (1825-
1893) and Joseph Breuer (1842-1925).

Franz Anton Mesmer, a distinguished German neurologist, was


the one who suggested the influence of gravitational force on animal

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spirit. The notion of gravitational force was later replaced with the
magnetism and his theory is known as animal magnetism. He treated
his patients by putting them into trance using magnetised bar over
them. The method known as mesmerism is essentially one of
suggestion. Later, mesmerism came to be known as hypnotism.

Jean Charcot, who is considered as the father of modern


neurology, was more concerned with the neurology of motor
disorders, resulting diseases, aneurysms and localisation of brain
functions. He used hypnosis in tracing women with hysteria1. He
associated hysteria with weakness in the nervous system and found
that hypnosis brings the patients in a state similar to that of hysteria.
Charcot however was only interested studying hysteria, not in curing
it (Boeree).

Joseph Breuer experimented with his patients using hypnosis in


a slightly different way. During the hypnotic trance, Breuer asked the
patients about their problems and conflicts, and discussed them in
depth. The result was a marked relief from the symptoms and the
development of insight into their problems. Freud worked in
association with Breuer and they together proposed the influence of
some unconscious elements in the obvert behaviour of human beings.
This was one of the important developments in the history of
psychopathology.

Breuer and Freud also found that it is therapeutic to recall and


relieve emotional trauma that has been made unconscious (in a process
called repression) and release some of the emotional material became
known as catharsis (Barlow and Durand 24). The understanding of

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the inner material causing the obvert symptoms was referred to as
insight. Breuers systematic treatment of hysterical symptoms of Anna
O provided scientific considerations about the effect of catharsis in
treating neurotic illness (Barlow and Durand 24).

The method of using catharsis during hypnotic trance was


replaced by Freud by the method of free-association. In free-
association, the patient repeats all ideas and impulses regardless of
their significance (Page 417). This is regarded as the therapists
gateway to the patients unconscious mind. The method of treatment
consisted in patients gaining insight into his/ her own repressed
memories and conflicts.

3.2 An Outline of the Psychoanalytic Theory

The term psychoanalysis has three distinct meanings. Firstly it


is a school of psychology, which emphasises psychic determinism and
dynamics. As a school of psychology it also emphasises the
importance of childhood experiences in moulding ones adult
personality and behaviour. Secondly, psychoanalysis, with its
emphasis on the role of unconscious in determining human behaviour,
is a specialised method for investigating the unconscious mental
activities. Finally, psychoanalysis is a therapeutic method for the
investigation and treatment of mental disorders, especially the neurotic
disorders (Page 179).

Our concern here is the theoretical one, taking psychoanalysis


as a study of psychic determinants of human behaviour.
Psychoanalysis as a psychological theory has undergone constant

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revisions both during Freud's time and afterwards. Psychoanalysis is
considered to be a High-Level theory containing various sub theories
such as levels of consciousness, psychic structure of personality,
psychosexual development, defence mechanisms and theory of
instincts, and it serves to unify them to some extent (Farrel 21).

It is to be noted that much of psychoanalytic theory was derived


from Freuds clinical experience in treating neurotic patients. So the
theory focused more on the origin of abnormal behaviour in the
formulation of the concept of mind. It is also to be considered that the
distinction between sanity and insanity is not that of type but that of
degree. The defence mechanisms that serve to compensate for the
frustrations of the sane human, in exaggeration lead to the
abnormality, of both neurotic and psychotic. Hence it can be seen that
clinical data may not be insufficient for the formulation of a theory of
mind.

3.2.1 The Theory of Instincts

Freud recognized two fundamental motivating forces. The first


one is the constructive one called the Eros or life urges and the other is
the destructive one called the Thanatos or the death urges (Freud,
BPP). Eros finds its output through drives known as Self-preservation
drive or ego drive and sex drive which play a significant role in
Freudian psychoanalysis.

The sex drive in the organism is based on a special form of


energy called libido. This has its seat in that part of personality called
id, which is essentially unconscious. The libido or sex energy is best

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released through amorous activities. However, society can see no
more menace to its culture than would arise from the liberation of
sexual impulses and a return to their original goal (Page 180). In
psychoanalysis,

.... major importance is attached to the sex and


aggression drives, since their development and expression
are thought to determine, in large measure, the happiness
and mental health of mankind. Love and hate, as viewed
by psychoanalysts are not necessarily mutually
antagonistic. Often the two are inseparably fused (Page
179-80).

The motivating principle in life is the pleasure principle, which


according to psychoanalysis, is the tendency to avoid pain and to seek
pleasure. This dominates in sex drive. As one attains maturity, this is
supplemented by the reality principle, which is the voice of reason
that aims at rational acts to avoid future pains. The Nirvana principle
is expressed in death drive, which is aimed at the final return of living
matters to the inorganic state. A detailed account of the theory of
instincts is taken up later in this chapter.

3.2.2 Levels of Consciousness

Deviating from the view held during his time, Freud introduced
the threefold division of mind into conscious mind, pre-conscious
mind and unconscious mind. Of these three divisions of mind, it is the
conscious mind of which we generally are aware. The conscious mind
is constituted by events, memories, fantasies and the sensations from
sense organs along with the feelings emotions and the like, of which

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one is aware at the moment. In the next moment when one is not
aware of these mental images they become latent. Some of the latent
memories can come back to conscious mind again to form the content
of the moment and thus it becomes conscious. The activity of
conscious mind is not governed by its constituents alone. The
unconscious mental processes, much different from those observed in
conscious mental states, act behind the latter. These two -the
unconscious and the conscious- functionally differentiate into two
levels of mind, the conscious mind and the unconscious mind.
Between these two levels is the third level called the pre-conscious
mind.

The pre-conscious mind (the contemporary term is available


memory) consists of the past psychic experiences and desires which
are readily recallable and is the storehouse for conscious mind. Freud
explains,

The majority of conscious processes are conscious only


for a short time; very soon they become latent, but can
easily become conscious again.in the condition of
latency they are still something psychical. We call the
unconscious which is only latent, and thus easily become
conscious, the preconscious and retain the term
unconscious for the other ( NIL 102-103).

The unconscious proper - excluding the preconscious from the


whole realm of unconscious - consists of the buried memories,
thoughts, emotions and impulses for which conscious mind has no
direct voluntary access. Neither the social or moral rules nor the

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categories of space and time have any relevance in this psychic
division. While conscious and preconscious mind are characterised by
internal consistency, temporal arrangement and adaptability to outer
world, the unconscious is timeless, chaotic, infantile and primitive
(Page 184).

The unconscious has two sources for its contents -of inheritance
and of experience. The inherited contents are primitive, pleasure
dominated, and brutal instincts. The contents formed out of
individuals experience are repressed in nature. These inherited
instinctual drives and repressed memories have no direct access to
conscious mind. However, they exert a profound influence on the
conscious mental processes.

Freud, basically being a neurologist always believed that


physical treatments (medicine) would eventually be the cure for
mental illness (Burns 44). This is because he thoroughly believed in
the neurological foundation of mind and the possibility of reducing
psychology to neurology. Freud belongs to the materialistic tradition
in the history of psychology (Stokes 139).

The Freudian concept of conscious mind is analogous to the


modern notion of qualia or subjectivity of conscious experience. His
notion of pre-conscious mind and unconscious mind may be compared
with those neural processes that never give rise to consciousness. In
this way it can be seen that Freuds triple division of conscious, pre-
conscious and unconscious mind are not ontological entities, but only
the functional levels of consciousness. It is significant here to note

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that Freud never mentioned the notion of self-consciousness in his
description of the levels of consciousness.

3.2.3 The Psychic Structure of Personality

Freud distinguished three parts or functional principles within


the mind; the id, the ego and the superego. The dynamics of interplay
between these functions determines ones actions and obvert
behaviours. These principles of psychic dynamism are central to the
interpretation of abnormal behaviour in psychoanalysis.

Id is the prime-mover; it is the source of all psychic energy.


The psychic energy or drive within it called the libido, if left totally
unchecked, will lead to amorous activities and if fully checked will
lead to damming up of libido. Both are dangerous, to the society and
to the individual respectively.

Id is governed by the pleasure principle, with an overriding


goal maximising pleasure and eliminating tensions and conflicts
associated with achieving pleasure. The characterising way of
processing information or thinking by id is referred to by Freud as
primary process. The primary process is primarily emotional,
irrational, illogical and filled with fantasies and preoccupations of
sex, aggression, selfishness and envy (Barlow and Durand 25). This
dark and inaccessible part of personality functionally belongs to the
unconscious mind.

... the logical laws of thought do not apply in the id, and
this is true above all of the law of contradiction. Contrary
impulses exist side by side, without cancelling each other

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out or diminishing each otherno alterations in its
mental processes is produced by the passage of time
(Freud, NIL 106).

The instincts or drives are dominated by the pleasure principle


(the chief characteristic of psychic energy) and are inherited. And id
is the part of personality from where the fundamental instincts seek
their first outlet.

Id contains everything that is inherited, that is present


at birth, that is fixed in the constitution- above all,
therefore, the instincts, which originate in the somatic
organization and which finds their first mental expression
in id in forms unknown to us (Freud, OP 2).

Fortunately, according to Freud, the dangerous and selfish drive


does not go unchecked. The instinct of id, which is primitive and
somewhat brutal, seeking its direct expression in activities, is faced
with dangers from external world. So a portion of id- that has been
expediently modified by the proximity of the external world with its
threats of dangers- called ego (Freud, NIL 109), modifies the
instinctual needs of id to match for the needs of society. The ego
forms the second part of personality, which is partially conscious and
partially unconscious. Freud explains,

This system is turned towards the external world, it is the


medium for the perceptions arising thence, and during its
functioning the phenomenon of consciousness arises in it.
It is the sense organ of the entire apparatus; moreover it is
receptive not only to excitations from outside but also to

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those arising from the interior of the mind The ego
controls the approaches to motility under the ids orders;
but between a need and an action it has interposed a
postponement in the form of the activity of thought.In
that way it has dethroned the pleasure principle which
dominates the course of events in the id without any
restriction and has replaced it by reality principle, which
promises more certainty and greater success what
distinguishes the ego from the id is a tendency to
synthesise in its contents, to a combination and
unification in its mental processes which are totally
lacking in the id (NIL107-09).

The ego is governed by reality principle instead of pleasure


principle that governs the id. The information-processing or thinking
of ego is characterised by logic and reason and is referred to as the
secondary process. Ego is drawing power from the id while
controlling it as a rider on a horse. The horse in this metaphor is id;
the primitive and animal like source of energy. The rider is the ego
which may be weak or strong, clumsy or skilful. The rider can direct
the energy (if skilfully and well-controlled) towards positive aims.

The third part of personality called the super-ego is the moral


censor, which is identified with the voice of conscience. The super-
ego is partially unconscious and partially conscious. So, the man in
psychoanalysis is a primitive being, driven by pleasure dominating
principles, being exposed to external world. Ego meets the demands of
id by channelizing it to the activities acceptable to external world that

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are being censored by the super-ego. About the formation of superego,
Freud says,

The long period of childhood, during which the growing


human being lives is dependence upon his parents, leaves
behind it a precipitate, which forms within his ego a
special agency in which this parental influence is
prolonged. It receives the name of super-ego (OP 3).

The role of ego is to mediate the conflict between the id and the
superego. Ego must find some outlet for the instincts of id and at the
same time it has to restrict them within the demands of superego.
According to Freud, ego is often caught between the id and the
superego and also it has to compensate for the demands of external
world.

We are warned by a proverb against serving two masters


at the same time. The poor ego has things even worse: it
serves three severe masters and does what it can to bring
their claims and demands into harmony with one another.
These claims are always divergent and often seem
incompatible. No wonder that the ego so often fails in its
task. Its three tyrannical masters are the external world,
the super-ego and the id (Freud, NIL 110).

The relationship between the structure of personality and the


levels of consciousness is compared by Freud himself to an iceberg
floating on water. Only one third of the iceberg is visible and the
visible part (conscious mind) is largely controlled by the invisible
(unconscious mind).

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Conscious Level

Pre-conscious Level

Unconscious Level

Fig: 3.1 The levels of consciousness and the structure of personality


(modified from Boeree)

3.2.4 Anxiety and Defence Mechanisms

The immoral, anti social, brutal and primitive instincts of the id


are rarely given a direct outlet to the external world. Ego regulates and
transforms them to meet the demands of the external world and the
super ego. As noted earlier, the aim of ego is to harmonize the
demands of the three tyrannical masters it serves. In the process of
harmonizing the needs of id, superego and the external world, ego
often becomes the battleground of conscious and unconscious
conflicts.

We have noted earlier that ego essentially is the part of id that is


functionally modified to meet the requirements of external world. Any
split in this constitution shown by the inability of ego to satisfy the
demands of the id, indicates the weakness of the ego. On the other
hand, if the ego is to satisfy ids demands then it shows the strength of
the ego. So Freud asserts,

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On the other hand the ego is identical with the id, and is
merely a specially differentiated part of it. If we think of
this part by itself in consideration to the whole, or a real
split has occurred between the two, the weakness of the
ego becomes apparent. But if the ego remains bound up
with the id and indistinguishable from it, then it displays
its strength.2

Anxiety: In the earlier analogy of the horse and its rider, the riders
privilege to guide the powerful animal to meet his aim is not always
warranted; at times the horse takes the route at its will. In doing so, the
weakened ego falls into the state of anxiety; realistic, moral or
neurotic.

The ego, driven by the id, confined by the superego,


repulsed by reality, struggles to master its economic task
of bringing about harmony among the forces and
influences working in and upon it If the ego is obliged
to admit its weakness, it breaks out in anxiety- realistic
anxiety regarding the external world, moral anxiety
regarding the superego and neurotic anxiety regarding the
strength of the passions in the id (Freud, NIL 110-11).

Ego need not always to fall into neurotic anxiety. The


instinctual needs of the id may be given indirect outlet in satisfying the
id. The Ego achieves this with various dynamic processes. These
processes include defence mechanisms such as fantasy, identification,
sublimation and displacement, and other mental activities such as
dreams. In many of these processes the thirst of id is satisfied through

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symbolized acts. The symbolization enables the ego to meet the needs
of id and repressed unconscious contents without committing the
individual to the dangers from external world, which would have been
imposed on him/ her if a direct outlet to these instincts was given.

Defence Mechanisms: Defence mechanisms are unconscious


activities; they are not directly known to the person. They are
individualistic too; different individuals use different sets of them.
They are considered to be normal, and only if exaggerated beyond
limit they give rise to abnormality. It is to be noted that the primary
intention of them is to meet the demands of id without being in
conflict with the external world. Some of them are given below.

a) Denial: It is the non-perception of reality that is anxiety


generating as in the case of going for a second diagnosis by
denying the credibility of the first one, when a critical illness
is diagnosed.
b) Fantasy: It is the conjuring of an imagined scenario to
replace a real one. It is done in all day dreaming.
c) Compensation: A deficit in a particular area is compensated
using the skill in a different area as in the case of student
who is poor in his studies performs well in sport.
d) Projection: Placing ones own unacceptable impulses on
others as in the case of blaming the question setter for low
grade in the examination.
e) Displacement: Redirecting the impulses on a low risk target
as done in slamming the door instead of hitting a person.

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f) Sublimation: Redirecting the impulses through socially
approved channels. This is obvious in ones interest in
expelling his aggression by working as a butcher.
g) Reaction Formation: This is to do actions opposite to ones
actual motivation. This happens when an alcoholic works in
anti-liquor movement.
h) Regression: It is the instance of ones return to earlier stage
of development. An adult crying on listening to a bad news
is an example.
i) Repression: It is the defence mechanism that is most
important in psychoanalysis. In this the unfavourable events
are pulled back to unconscious. Even though it can never
become explicit, it has profound influence on the later
behaviour of the individual. This is done when a girl, for
example, is sexually harassed in her childhood. The memory
becomes latent and is never recollected in her life, but may
be expressed as a fear to be alone in house or workplace.
Most of the psychoanalytic clinical techniques are intended
to investigate into the repressed unconscious memories that
give rise to the neurotic symptoms. In doing so, the patient
gains insight into his/her mental dynamics and this reduces
the symptoms.

3.2.5 Dreams

Dream is the process through which the ego maintains its


strength without having a dissatisfied id. The interpretation of dreams
plays a significant role in psychoanalysis as a therapeutic technique.
Dreamanalysis is significant also in psychoanalytic theory as a mode

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of revealing the unconscious; other processes being slips of tongue,
fantasies, inner conflicts, mental symptoms and the like. Freud finds
that sleep fulfils one of the necessary conditions for psychosis in the
sense that it is turning away from reality. In psychosis, the mental
symptoms like hallucination and delusion are repressed experiences
and unconscious conflicts that find expression through actions.
Similarly dream as a wish-fulfilling activity (Freud, Dreams)
fulfils the expressions of the days residues in terms of stressful
thoughts and repressed experiences.

Dream as a wish fulfilling activity is not accomplished through


any direct means. It is one of the ways that provide an outlet for the
repressed content in the unconscious. However, the contents of dreams
are not the direct expressions of the repressed contents but are
censored by the ego. The censoring makes it necessary to interpret the
dream in order to reveal the unconscious. Often the contents of a
dream as observed in the process of dreaming, which Freud calls the
manifest dream, are symbolized acts. They express the conflicts and
stress, the meaning of which is to be found in latent-dream. The
practical task of transforming the manifestdream to latentdream and
explaining how the latter has become the former is known as dream
interpretation or dream work.

The latent- dream, which is the actual meaning of dream, is


censored through various processes and it becomes necessary to unroll
these processes before the manifest contents are interpreted. The
processes through which the latent content is transformed to the

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manifest content are condensation, displacement, representation and
secondary revision.

Condensation is the means through which many elements of the


latent dream are represented through a single manifest dream. So
condensation results in the dreams multiple layers of meaning; the
censorship is served by the apparently superficial association through
which the composite figures are formed (Roth 47).

Displacement is the shifting of accent from one dream element


to another. So displacement is the principal means of dream distortion
and hence it becomes necessary to identify the way the distortion is
done here in order to interpret it.

Representation is the way of forming symbols in dream.


Through this, complex and vague concepts are converted into dream
image. Dream symbols are mostly sexual in meaning and are
disguised verbally.

Secondary revision is the final stage of dream work. Freud used


the method of free association to discover the latent dream content.
Secondary revision covers up the contradiction between the dream and
the dreamers everyday life.

So in psychoanalysis, dreams, the royal road to the unconscious


(Lear 88), can be interpreted as the egos endeavour to satisfy the
essential needs of the id without imposing any harm either from the
superego or from the external world.

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3.2.6 Psychosexual Development

The psychic energy supplied by id takes a child through three


stages of development in becoming an adult. They are (a) infantile
sexuality (b) latent period and (c) genital stage. The psychic energy -
specifically called the libido- is sexual in nature. It manifests in its
biological, social and psychological form during these stages of
development. During these development processes, the sexual instinct
may undergo more or less serious failures to pass through certain
stages of development called the fixation of the instinct. The fixation
will have serious consequences in later life as it determines certain
characteristic traits of the individual.

i) Infantile Sexuality: The period of infantile sexuality stretches from


the birth of the child till the age of six years. There are three specific
stages of development in this.

a) Oral state: Dominated by pleasure principle, oral stage


last for first two years of infancy. Mouth becomes the source of
pleasure and sucking, biting and related activities that bring
pleasure are reckoned to be sexual in nature. In Freuds own
words,

The first organ to make appearance as an erotogenic zone


and to make libidinal demands upon mind is, from the
time of birth onwards, is mouth. The babys obstinate
persistence in sucking gives evidence at an early stage of
a need for satisfaction which, although it originates from
and is stimulated by the taking of nourishment,
nevertheless seeks to obtain pleasure independently of

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nourishment and for that reason may and should be
described as sexual (OP 12).

At this stage, the child knows the world through mouth.


Character fixation at this stage is marked by the interest in the
activities like eating, gum chewing, smoking and talkativeness
in later life.

(b) Anal Stage: During the age of two to four years the child
becomes aware of himself as an independent individual, who
can control the emotions of his parents at will, with toilet habits.
Pleasure is derived from expulsion and retention. The psychic
force -the libido- is turned towards oneself to form what is
called self-love or narcissism. The reality principle starts ruling
over the pleasure principle. Fixation at this stage is
characterized by liking of yellow colour, orderliness, rigidness
etc. Further,

Sadistic impulses already begin to occur sporadically


during the oral phase along with the appearance of the
teeth. Their extent increases greatly during the second
phase, which we describe as the sadistic-anal phase,
because satisfaction is then sought in aggression and in
the excretory function (Freud, OP 12).

(c) Phallic stage: During the age of four to six, little boys fall
in love with their mother and hate their father and little girls like
their father and hate their mother. This phenomenon is called
Oedipus complex. The girl-father relation is specifically known
as Electra complex. During this stage, the instinctual sex energy

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gets localized in genital organs. Narcissism gives way to libido
to make parent of opposite sex to become its object. Infantile
masturbation is common among children at this stage.

ii) Latent Stage: From the end of phallic stage to puberty, there is an
apparent renouncement in the sexual interest of the child. During this
period the child becomes interested in both the parents. Narcissistic
interests are being reduced. With the beginning of education, moral
and intellectual growth predominates other interests.

iii) Genital Stage: Genital stage lasts from puberty to maturity.


Firstly, the oral, anal and phallic stages of infantile sexuality are
revived at the onset of puberty. The first phase of this stage called
homoerotic stage is marked with the libido concentration on children
of the same sex. By this, the child overlooks his heterosexual
interests, which the society discourages at this early life. The child
feels more comfortable with peer group of same sex and is even afraid
of the opposite sex. The homoerotic period is followed by the period
of heterosexuality. The narcissistic drive still persists. It is expressed
in the early adolescent love affairs as this intends to demonstrate the
ability to attract members of opposite sex. This allows the individual
to attain self-confidence in sexual maturity. The genital stage starts
with a dominating pleasure principle that in turn gives way to reality
principle in attaining sexual maturity.

3.3 Criticisms of Psychoanalytic Theory

The criticisms of Psychoanalytic theory arise mainly from two


quarters. The first one is from within the realm of psychoanalysis

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itself, directed mainly against the theory of sexuality. The other comes
from outside the sphere of psychoanalysis and is intended mainly to
question the scientific status of the theory and its methodology.

Around 1912, Alfred Adler (1870-1937) and Carl Gultsuv Jung


(1875-1961), both pupils of Freud departed from the mainstream of
psychoanalysis with their dissent to the libido theory. However, they
had not much in common. Both departed from the Freudian
orientation and moved in their own way, establishing their own
schools of psychology- Individual Psychology and Analytical
Psychology respectively.

3.3.1 Alfred Adler

Adler attacked the sexual aetiology of neurosis. He replaced the


libidinal theory with the theory of inferiority feeling. He finds the
feeling of inferiority in human being to be universal as it has its root in
the very childhood, since the child by virtue of his being helpless and
smaller before the adults. This inborn feeling of inferiority is
supplemented by the attitudes of parents during the development
period of the child.

This feeling of inferiority necessitates the compensation for the


feeling of inferiority that the individual ego is subjected to. In general,
this is achieved in two ways. In the first way, through the flight into
illness, one becomes able to manipulate the factors affecting the
significance of the inferiority and also to gain the attention of others.
The childs control over these factors helps him to assume a sense of
superiority. The second way is that of direct compensation. In this, the

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lack of ability to get attention because of the childs inferiority is
overcome through a direct struggle to master his inferiorities. This is a
struggle to achieve power, the struggle to become a complete man.

It is this striving to become the complete man or the


striving for superiority, which in Alders theory is the
guiding fiction. This determines the human action and
development. By this the search for power in Alders
theory replaces the idea of sexual instinct in Freudian
psychoanalysis. Adler even goes to the extent of
interpreting sexual act as nothing but a struggle of two
people to have power over each other (Thompson 157).

Freuds criticism of Adler goes like this,

From a highly composite unit one part of the operative


factors is singled out and proclaimed as the truth; and for
the sake of this one part the other part, as well as the
whole, is repudiated. If we look at a little closer, to which
group of factors it is that has been given the preference,
we shall find that it is the one that contains what is
already known from other sources 3

Thompson criticizes Adler for his attempt to build a whole


system on the basis of a partial view but finds the positive aspects of
Adlers theory. She argues,

He (Adler) was the first to observe that much which was


at that time called constitution is itself to a great extend
the products of attempts at adaptation He was the first

114
person to describe a part of the role of the ego in
producing neurosis and to show that the direction in
which a person is going, that is, his goals, significantly
contribute to his neurotic difficulties Another
important contribution of Alders has been his awareness
of cultural factors (160-61).

3.3.2 Carl G. Jung

Jung had acquired a wide knowledge of symbolism, literature


and philosophy of many cultures. This influenced very much the
theoretical and therapeutic aspects of his version of psychoanalysis.
Without an open conflict with Freud and without depending upon the
sexual theory of Freud, Jung developed his theory side-by-side with
that of Freud until he departed from mainstream psychoanalysis in
1912. Jung stresses the effect of parental neurotic difficulties on the
development of the difficulties in the child. Since the childs mind is
more sensitive and mouldable, during the developmental period, it is
subjected to a deeper impression from the childs interaction with his
parents. Jung emphasizes the significant role of mother in the
development of child. This maternal influence is strong in the child
even before the development of Oedipus complex and is regressive in
nature. For Jung, regression is an important neurotic craving and is in
its final analysis the desire to return to mothers womb as the symbol
of security or rebirth.

Jung finds that symbols are not limited to sexual interpretation.


In this respect he presents a wider interpretation of the symbols than
that of Freud. Thompson explains,

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For Jung, the symbol also had a forward-moving
significance, that sexual symbolism can be saying
something about the future, about a positive purpose in
life. So he points out that instead of concluding that all
symbolism has a sexual meaning, sex itself is sometimes
used as a symbol of something else (163).

In Psychology of the Unconscious, Jung introduced the term


primal libido, which essentially is a life force. This is the
undifferentiated energy and a major part of this is sexual in nature.
The sexual origin of libido is denied. According to Jungs theory of
collective unconscious, the significant memories of the human race are
a part of every ones heritage. This heritage includes not only human
traits but also residues from the animal past. This collective
unconscious represented the wisdom of the ages and hence it is
viewed as superior to the individual values. This view influenced
Jungs therapeutic approaches, which involves, in part, bringing the
patient in contact with his collective unconscious. The interpretation
of dream is used for this purpose.

Jungs approach to repression is different from that of Freud.


For Freud, repression contains memories and instincts, which the
individuals ego is unable to tolerate because of their negative nature.
Jungs idea of repression contains positive aspects of personality as
well. He views education as a factor that introduces conflict in the
individuals life. Education forces a person to divert from his
individual line of life developing spontaneously. Finding out this
individual line of life or self-realization then forms a major aspect of

116
his system of therapy. Jungs goal of therapy is different form that of
Freud. Freuds therapy is a retrospective analytic understanding of the
past. In Jungs analytical psychology the functional analysis looks at
the future in order to find the meaning in the present and future. So
self-realization forms an important guiding force in Jungs therapeutic
technique. According to Thompson,

As the Jungian school has developed, process of cure has


tended to become rigid and ritualized, and patients are
said to go through various stages until they finally reach
self-realization. One cannot achieve this until after
middle life. The system as it stands today has the quality
of a religion. Jung believed that people needed a religious
attitude, by which he seems to mean a respect for the
dignity of human life, and a belief that it has a meaning.
There is a quality of respect for the patient in Jungs
thinking too often not indicated in other analytic
approaches (168).

This approach to therapy has been subjected to severe criticism.


In this the patient is taken away from reality, which is substituted with
mystical and semi- religious fantasies of life. This substitution does
not root out the patients problem, but an obsession of something else
rules over the patients problem. This is the classical mechanism of
obsessional neurosis (Thompson 169). Jungs contribution includes
the emphasis on parent-child relationship, viewing therapy as a
patient-analyst mutual interaction and an attitude of respect for the
patient and his neurosis. His mode of therapy also includes the

117
revealing of the repressed positive potentialities. This helps in
developing the undeveloped aspect of patients personality.

3.3.3 B. F. Skinner

B.F. Skinner (1904-1990), the great exponent of Behaviourism,


in his essay Critique of Psychoanalytic Theory has levelled serious
criticisms against psychoanalysis. These criticisms, by and large attack
the methodology of psychoanalysis. According to Skinner, Freud took
his mental apparatus as real rather than a scientific construct. By
mental apparatus, Freud meant the conscious, pre-conscious and
unconscious mind and the dissection of personality into id, ego and
superego. The dynamism includes the interplay of forces, which are
necessarily derived from psychic energy. Skinner says,

No matter what logicians may eventually make of this


mental apparatus, there is little doubt that Freud accepted
it as a real rather than a scientific constrict or theory. One
does not at the age of 70 define the goal of ones life as
the exploration of an explanatory fiction. Freud did not
use his mental apparatus as a postulate system from
which he deduced theorems to be submitted to empirical
check. If there was any interaction between the mental
apparatus and empirical observations, such interaction
took the form of modifying the apparatus to account for
newly discovered facts (78).

Another criticism of Skinner is about the use of analogies for


explanation in theoretical psychology. Keeping in mind Freuds view

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that analogies, it is true, decide nothing, but we can make one feel
more at home, we may listen to Skinners words,

Freud was aware of the problems of Scientific


methodology and even of the metaphorical nature of
some of his own constructs. When this was the case, he
justified the constructs as necessary or at least highly
convenient. But awareness of the nature of the metaphor
is no defense of it, and if modern science is still
occasionally metaphorical, we must remember that,
theory wise, it is also still in trouble. The point is not that
metaphor or construct is objectionable but that particular
metaphor and constructs have caused trouble and are
continuing to do so (79).

From a behaviourist point of view, Skinner criticises Freud on


the use of introspection as a means for observing mental life. Further
the manipulation of this mental life as a means for treatment is also
questioned. This is done from a standpoint observing Freud as a
thoroughgoing determinist and dualist. One further criticism on
psychoanalysis is made on Freuds use of terms such as forces,
processes, and mechanism from other disciplines. Skinner argues,

Although it is occasionally necessary to refer to mental


events and their qualities and to states of consciousness,
the analyst usually moves on in some haste to less
committal terms such as Forces, processes,
organizations, tensions, systems, and mechanisms. But
they imply terms at a lower level. The notion of

119
conscious or unconscious force may be a useful
metaphor, but if this is analogous to force in physics,
what is the analogous mass that is analogously
accelerated? Human behavior is in a state of flux and
undergoing changes that we call processes, but what is
changing in what direction when we speak of, for
example an affective process? (86, authors emphasis)

3.3.4 Karl Popper

Now we come to the criticism against the scientific status of


psychoanalysis. The main exponent in this field is the Austrian- born
British philosopher of science, Sir Karl Popper (1902-1994). Poppers
attacks on what he called pseudo-sciences were mainly directed
against three theories. They are Marxs theory of history, Freuds
psychoanalysis and Adlers Individual Psychology. It is the
possibility of being refuted, and not that of confirmation, which he
says, determines the scientific status of a theory. And in this sense
both versions of psychoanalytic theories (that of Freud and Adler) are
not refutable. The logical problem of induction requires infinite
number of confirmatory evidence in order to prove a theory to be true.
This is obviously impossible. Both the theories mentioned earlier,
Popper says, are able to explain the whole realm of human behaviour.
They are even potent enough to explain the explicitly conflicting
behaviour with the same strength. He observes that these theories
always fitted were always confirmed-which in the eyes of their
admirers constituted the strongest argument in favour of these

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theoriesthis apparent strength was in fact their weakness (Popper
35).

Popper denies the scientific status of these theories on the


ground that they are non-testable and irrefutable. The argument goes
on like this,

The two psycho-analytic theories were in a different


class. They were simply non-testable, irrefutable. There
was no conceivable human behaviour which could
contradict them. This does not mean that Freud and Adler
were not seeing certain thing correctly: I personally do
not doubt that much of what they say is of considerable
importance, and may well play its part one day in a
psychological science which is testable. But it does mean
that those clinical observations which analysts naively
believe confirm their theory cannot do this any more than
the daily confirmations which astrologers find in their
practice. And as for Freuds epic of the Ego, the Super
ego, and the Id, no substantially stronger claim to
scientific status can be made for it than for Homers
collected stories from Olympus. These theories describe
some facts, but in the manner of myths. They contain
most interesting psychological suggestions, but not in a
testable form (Popper 37-38).

Poppers attitude to psychoanalysis may be viewed from two


perspectives. Firstly, we can question the very status of the scientific,
and sideline it to be one among the various ways of looking into facts,

121
and thus deny scientific status to psychoanalysis without undermining
its meaning and significance. In Poppers own view,

... the problem which I tried to solve by proposing the


criterion of falsifiability was neither a problem of
meaningfulness or significance, nor a problem of truth or
acceptability. It was the problem of drawing a line (As
well as this can be done) between the statements, or
systems of statements, of the empirical sciences, and all
other statement -whether they are of a religious or of a
metaphysical character, or simply pseudo-scientific (39).

3.3.5 Adolf Grnbaum

The second way of looking into Poppers view is to deny the


argument that psychoanalysis is unscientific. This is the position that
Adolf Grnbaum had held. Grnbaum disagreed with popper. He,
while maintaining the falsification criteria of Popper shows that
psychoanalysis is scientific. Grnbaum explains this with what he
calls Freuds Master Proposition, also known as the Necessary
Condition Thesis (NCT). NCT explains that, ONLY psychoanalysis can
produce a durable cure of psychoneurosis. This, Grnbaum says, is a
strong statement that could be falsified if, for example, another form
of therapy such as behavior therapy cured someone of a neurosis, or
even if spontaneous remission occurred. This falsifiability makes
psychoanalysis scientific. Grnbaum further argues that NCT is in fact
falsifiable, and falsifiable in a number of ways. This, according to him
makes psychoanalysis a bad science.

122
Ned Block and Gabriel Segal evaluate Grnbaums argument
and put forward a modified NCT. Some of Grnbaums arguments
against NCT were the spontaneous remission of neurosis, the outcome
of psychoanalytic treatment as that of placebo effect and Freuds own
position that psychoanalysis often offers only temporary cure. Block
and Segal offer their version of NCT (NCT*) like this:

(NCT*) Other things being equal, a patient under analysis


would get better unless some of the analysts interpretations were
correct.

The hedge other things being equal allows for the


possibility of exceptional cases of improvement caused
by such things as spontaneous remission or placebo
effect. And the reference to durable cures has been
replaced with the more realistic idea of the patients
getting better; some of their symptoms disappearing or
lessening (Block and Segal 65).

They conclude,

None of this goes to demonstrate conclusively that the


theory is correct and Grnbaum is therefore right to the
point to the possibility that other things might be true
causes of the phenomena that psychoanalysis seeks to
explain; but at the moment there is little by way of
serious competition. Psychoanalysis is at least the best
explanation that is currently on offer (66, emphasis
added).

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3.4 Motivation as Cause

As we have seen earlier, Skinner describes Freud as a


thoroughgoing determinist. Determinism in psychology means the
denial of the concept of free will. This is to assert that every
psychological event is necessarily subjected to psychological laws. Or,
in other words, it is the theory of psychic causation.

The term causation when described under the subject of


psychology requires a further analysis. This is necessitated by the fact
that the word causation is primarily used to describe the
interconnection between the material objects or phenomena. When we
work with psychological events, the elements that contributed from
outside the human mind, we call stimuli; and that from within the
mind, motivation. Here it is worth to remember Schopenhauers words
that Motivation is causality seen from within (Schopenhauer 214).
That is to say, when the causal elements under consideration are
psychological in nature, it is appropriate to use the word motivation to
describe their casual aspect. When the phenomena under consideration
are physical objects, the cause is attributed to an agent external to it.
Richard D Charms explains,

... the laws of mechanical cause chains are based on the


assumption that the locus of causality for any movement
(behavior) of physical object will be found external to
that object. We have, therefore, two alternatives: (a) we
can supply this principle to human (and animal) behavior
and give up the notion of an internal locus; or (b) we can
investigate the ubiquitous phenomenologically supported

124
conception of human being (and animals) as originators
of causal sequences and as having loci of causation
internal to themselves i.e., as motivated (46).

Even when we replace the word cause with motivation, in the


psychic realm, we are confronted with two major problems that are
necessarily involved with the concept of causation. Firstly, whether
the concept of motivation alone is sufficient to explain the whole
psychic phenomena? This obviously raises the problem of plurality of
causes of the causal theories. The second problem is the status of
intentions and volitions in the mental causation; whether they stand
external to the causal chain and still influence the causal process? If
so, it guarantees the possibility of free will.

Among these, the first one compels us to examine the concepts


of necessary and sufficient cause. J.S Mill explains cause as always a
sufficient condition. In his words,

The cause, then, philosophically speaking, is the sum


total of the conditions, positive and negative taken
together; the whole of the contingencies of every
description, which being realized, the consequent
invariably follows (217).

This sense of cause is much different from the one we normally


have. We normally attribute cause to the single event or factor. In
saying that the spark caused explosion in a laboratory, the condition
under which the inflammable gas is formed in the laboratory is not
taken into account. It is obvious that without the inflammable gas
formed, the explosion could not have taken place. In Mills sense it is

125
the whole of the situation that led to the explosion and he describes
this as cause or the sufficient condition. But the sufficient condition
may also include factors that are irrelevant. John Hospers explains,

Sometimes too much is included in the statement of the


sufficient condition. If pulling the plug is sufficient for
the radio not to play, then pulling the plug plus the moon
being full is also sufficient: every time you pull the plug
and the moon is full the radio stops playing. But we do
not consider the moon a casual factor because the radio
stops playing when you pull the plug whether the moon is
full or not. In this example the irrelevance of the moon is
easy to see, but other examples are not quite so obvious
(296).

The necessary cause on the other hand is the condition in the


causal process in the absence of which the effect fails to occur. We
may say that oxygen is a necessary cause of fire we mean that in the
absence of oxygen there cannot be an instance of fire. Our endeavour
to explain cause as necessary or sufficient condition is determined by
our specific intention towards the effect (Copi 450). We search for
cause as a necessary condition when our aim is to cease the effect. We
can remove the necessary element from the sum total of existing
conditions and hence remove the effect. On the other hand where the
effect is desirable or we want to produce the effect, we may view
cause as a sufficient condition. Now it may also be seen that all
necessary conditions put together form the sufficient condition.

126
If Mills sufficient condition is taken as cause, the lack of any
one element among the sufficient condition will not yield the effect.
So, cause may be viewed as the element which when introduced to an
already existing condition makes it sufficient to produce the effect.
This concept of cause is essentially that of necessary condition. Our
search for this element which is the one introduced mainly depends on
our specific interest. Cohen and Nagel maintain a similar view.
According to them,

The search for causes may therefore be understood as a


search for some invariable order between various sorts of
elements or factors. The specific nature of this order will
vary with the nature of the subject matter and the purpose
of inquiry. Moreover, the specific nature of the elements
between which the order is sought will also differ for
different inquiries

The kind of elements or changes for which we look


depends on the structure of the order in which we are
interested. The answer to question, Who killed the
Archduke Ferdinand at Sarajevo? must be of the form:
The person A,B,C and so on, are the assassins of the
Archduke. On the other hand, the question, What killed
the Archduke? must be answered according to the kind
of specific order for which we are in search, and
according to the purpose of inquiry What is an
adequate answer to one question will not, in general, be
adequate to another (248-49).

127
So, finally we see that the attribution of cause to a single event
among others mainly depends on our specific interest. Then, in
analyzing the psychic phenomena, we are apt to consider the external
factors as more or less insignificant (though not irrelevant) and
attribute their cause to psychic elements. This does not deny the
importance of external or of physical factors. It may be noted that the
external factors sometimes become irrelevant in the sense that the
subject does not take it seriously. Whether a persisting noise of a
machine will distract me from my reading or not largely depends on
the way I take it. Hence, it only means that we are now considering the
significance of psychic elements in determining an action. This
particular element, which leads to an action, we call motive. And in
the realm of psychology, motivation may be viewed as causation.
Obviously a motive cannot be the cause in the sense of sufficient
condition but may be seen as necessary cause and hence it is the cause
that we intend to investigate.

The second problem we stated viz. the status of intentions and


volitions as factors of psychological causation may be examined
specifically within the context of psychoanalytical motivational
theory.

In the Outline of Psychoanalysis, Freud called the force that acts


behind the needs of id (which we saw earlier, as the prime mover) the
instincts. They represent the somatic demands upon mental life. These
instincts or drives the satisfaction of which is the prime intention of
mental activity are essentially somatic needs. The aim of Eros one
among the two fundamental motivating forces that Freud recognized-

128
(will be described later) is selfpreservation and preservation of the
species. Such instincts, which are basically connected with the
preservation of self and of species, may be considered as needs. These
needs are not psychologically manifested enough for a direct
observation. They are rather inferred from psychic activities.
Intentions and volitions may be seen as manifestations of underlying
instinctual needs. So they may be reckoned cause in a secondary sense
only. To state it otherwise, intentions and volitions are the secondary
elements in the chain of psychological causation. The first element,
which is instinct, is necessarily unconscious. According to Freud,
instincts act not only behind intentions and volitions but also behind
all psychic activities.

3.5 The Psychoanalytic Theory of Motivation

The motivational theory of psychoanalysis has developed


through two major phases. In the first phase, with his most important
essay on motivation, Instincts and their Vicissitudes, Freud described
the fundamental motivation factors as instincts and examined their
characteristics. Here, the motivating factors were taken to be sexual in
their nature and were based on the pleasure principle alone. Later in
1922, with the publication of Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Freud
introduced the concept of death instinct. This concept, finding its
expression in aggressive and destructive activities, has profoundly
changed Freuds view on motivation. This, according to Cofer and
Appley may be attributed to three factors:-

(1) dissatisfaction with the earlier explanation of


aggression as a manifestation of the sexual instincts (The

129
widespread occurrence of cruelty and destruction of the
First World War profoundly impressed Freud); (2) the
conviction that the repetition - compulsion principle was
more fundamental and all-pervasive than the more limited
sexual and self-preservative instincts could explain; and,
most important, (3) the need to find a force to counteract
the then monistic life instincts (603-04).

In Instincts and Their Vicissitudes, Freud distinguished between


instincts and stimuli. Instincts, according to him, are principal
motivating factor of behaviour. Stimuli, on the other hand refer to the
external factors affecting the organism. Freud originally used the
German word Trieb to express the motivating factor. Literally the
word Trieb means the mechanical provocation to action (Bolles 61).
Its translation into English as instinct created confusion since the
original English meaning of instinct varies marginally from that of
Trieb. Fenchel points out,

However, the expression Trieb which Freud used does


not signify exactly the same thing as the English
expression instinct, as it is customarily translated.
Inherent in the concept of instinct is the idea that it
represents an inherited and unchangeable pattern; in the
German concept of Trieb this exchangeability is by no
means implied. On the contrary, the Trieb obviously are
changed in aim and object under inferences stemming
from the environment, and Freud was even of the opinion
that they originated under the same influence. This

130
incorrect equating of instinct and Trieb has created
misunderstandings.4

Freuds theory of motivation is essentially a stimulus intensity


reduction theory, according to which the intention of every motive is
to keep the nervous system to the lowest level of stimulation. The
stimulus reduction approach to the theory of motivation is arrived at
from Freuds initial concept of equilibrium (Bolles 58) according to
which the tendency of nervous system is to discharge any increase in
excitation. But the energy can be discharged through pre-established
channels. The psychic structure of personality, we have seen earlier,
does not permit the direct outlet to all instincts necessitate the instincts
to be reduced through channelization through the personality structure.
So in stimulus intensity reduction, the excitation created by the
instincts is reduced without having a direct discharge.

According to Freud, instincts are characterized by their impetus,


aim, object and source. Impetus is the obvert expression of the
instinct. The aim is to reduce the intensity of the instinctual drive.
Object is the means through which the organism establishes its aim. In
determining the object, dream and various defence mechanisms like
fantasy, sublimation displacement etc. play their role. This is because
the direct expression of the instinct to the motivated object might not
be warranted either by super-ego or by the external world. In Freuds
own words,

By the impetus of an instinct we understand its motor


element, the amount of force or the measure of the
demand upon energy which it represents. The

131
characteristic of impression is common to all instincts, is
in fact the very essence of them .

The aim of an instinct is in the every instance


satisfaction, which can only be obtained by abolishing the
condition of stimulation in the source of the instinct
this remain invariably the final goal of every instinct .

The object of an instinct is that in or through which


it can achieve its aim. It is the most variable thing about
instinct and is not originally connected with it, but
becomes attached to it only in consequence of being
peculiarly fitted to provide satisfaction .

By the source of an instinct is meant that somatic


process in an organ or part of the body from which there
results a stimulus represented in mental life by an
instinct. We do not know whether this process is
regularly of a chemical natural or whether it may also
correspond with the release of other, e.g., mechanical,
forces. The study of the sources of instinct is outside the
scope of psychology; although its source in the body is
what given the instinct its distinct and essential character,
yet in mental life we know it merely by its aims (Instincts
121-22).

Here it may be noted that in the description of the source of


instinct, Freud maintains a biological explanation and leaves it outside
the realm of psychology. Then it becomes implicit that he allows a
biological explanation of organic behaviour (the contemporary

132
psychiatry) distinct from the psychological account. This differentiates
between the neurobiology of consciousness and folk psychology (the
contemporary name for the Freudian tradition).

3.5.1 The Basic Instincts

As stated earlier, Freud recognised two fundamental motivating


factors; the life instincts (Eros) and the death instincts (Thanatos).
Some reasons for Freuds postulation of the death instinct are to be
discussed in the last section. Further, Freud noticed the inevitable
significance of death as the final state of all organisms. He also based
this postulation on the idea of the returning of all things to their origin.

It must rather be an ancient starting point, which the


living being left long ago, and to which it harks back
again by all the circuitous paths of development. If we
may assume as an experience admitting of no exception
that everything living dies from causes within itself, and
return to the inorganic, we can only say The goal of all
life is death, and, casting back, the inanimate was there
before the animate (Freud, BPP 47).

Further the introduction of death instinct is influenced by the


stimulus reduction nature of Freuds theory. The struggle for reduction
of intensity and maintaining it at a constant level is the removal of
inner stimulus tension (the nirvana principle), a struggle which
comes to the expression in the pleasure principle (Freud, BPP 71) is
one strong reason for Freuds belief in death instinct.

133
The aim of life instinct is the preservation of the individual and
the species. The former is expressed through the drives such as thirst
and hunger and the latter through sexual urges. During the
development through psychosexual stages, the objects and the aim of
sexual instincts become varied and the failure to pass through certain
stages fixes the development at that stage. As seen earlier this
determines some of the characteristic traits of the individual. Even
though Eros is explained as consisting of two drives- the ego drive and
sex drive - Freud recognized the principal energy behind both of them
to be the same. He called this energy libido or sex energy. Libido is
the principle of unification. This aims at preservation and
maintenance. In Freuds own words,

Our discussion so far results in the establishing of a sharp


antithesis between the ego instincts and the sexual
instincts, the former impelling towards death and the
latter towards the preservation of life, a result which we
ourselves must surely find in many respects far from
adequate. Further, only for the former can we properly
claim the conservative -or, better, regressive- character
corresponding to a repetition compulsion. For according
to our hypothesis the ego instincts spring from the
vitalizing of inanimate matter and have as their air the
reinstatement of lifelessness. As to the sexual instincts on
the other hand: it is obvious that they reproduce primitive
states of the living being, but the aim they strive for by
every means is the union of two germ cells which are
specifically differentiated (BPP 54).

134
The death instinct on the other hand is the principle of
alienation. Here lies the contrast between Eros and death instinct. The
death instinct seeks return to an earlier state of the organism- the
physical constituent states; the life instinct aims at reunion. Freud
explains,

The aim of the first of these basic instincts is to establish


ever greater unities and to preserve them thus-in short, to
bind together, the aim of the second, on the contrary, is to
undo connections and so to destroy things. We may
suppose that the final aim of the destructive instinct is to
reduce living things to an inorganic state. For this reason
we also call it the death instinct. If we suppose that living
things appeared later than inanimate ones and arose out of
them, then the death instinct agrees with the formula that
we have stated, to the effect that instincts tend towards a
return to an earlier state. We are unable to apply this
formula to Eros (the love instinct). That would be to
imply that still living substance had once been a unity but
had subsequently been torn apart and was now tending
towards re-union (OP 6).

The basic instinct, Freud says, cannot be localized to any region


of the mind. The whole available energies of Eros- libido, he says, is
present as yet undifferentiated ego-id and serve to neutralize the
destructive impulses which are simultaneously present. And Freud
illustrates such interaction between life and death instincts in
biological functions such as eating and sexual act. Eating is a
destructive activity with the object of incorporating it finally and

135
sexual act is an act of aggression having has its purpose in the most
intimate union. However it is difficult to identify the source of death
instinct. Coffer and Appley explain,

The death instinct is, more or less silent as long as it


operates internally and is expressed outwardly only
through the act of aggression. This makes it difficult to
identify its source very clearly (605).

3.6 Some Observations on the Psychoanalytic Theory of


Motivation

Noted below are some of the key observations on the


Psychoanalytic theory of motivation that will be useful in formulating
the final conclusion of this work.

3.6.1 Stimulus Intensity Reduction Nature

This is a version of tension reduction theory of motivation. This


model, according to Coffer and Appley, is perhaps the most widely
met motivational hypothesis in biology and psychology (601) and is
the key to the psychoanalytic theory of motivation. Freud correlates an
increase in mental stimulation with pain and its decrease with pleasure
thus,

Even the most highly developed mental apparatus is


subject to the pleasure principle, i.e. is automatically
regulated by feeling belonging to the pleasure un-pleasure
series, we can hardly reject the further hypothesis that
these feelings reflect the manner in which the process of

136
mastering stimuli takes place-certainly in the sense that
unpleasurable feelings are connected with an increase and
pleasurable feelings with a decrease of stimulus (Freud,
Instincts 120).

3.6.2 The Dual Principle


The dual principle on which the Psychoanalytic theory of
motivation is based is life instinct and death instinct. This enables the
theory to explain psychic phenomena on the basis of one or both the
principles.

This is an outcome of what Freud calls the necessary postulate


regarding the functioning of the nervous system, which in Freuds
conception is to master stimuli (Atkinson and Birch 209). Freud
explains the stimulus intensity reduction thus,

The nervous system is an apparatus having the function


of abolishing stimuli which reach it, or of reducing
excitation to the lowest possible level, an apparatus which
would even, if this were feasible, maintain itself in an
altogether un-stimulated conditions (Freud, Instincts
120).

3.6.3 Arousal Aspect


Charms explains the tension arousal aspect of Freudian
motivational theory. According to him,

Freud makes it particularly clear that he feels it


necessary to account for the apparent pleasurable aspects
of increasing stimulation in his account of sexual

137
forepleasure. He depends primarily on the ultimate
reduction of tension for his explanation, but it is clear that
the contradiction of the theory implicit in evidence that
some tension is sought out and apparently pleasurable
bothered him. In dealing with these phenomena, he
comes close to an arousal jag type position (83).

3.6.4 The Origin of Instincts


From the interaction between life and death instincts and their
counter balancing as suggested by Freud, it will be reasonable to
search for a common source for both these instincts. To state it
otherwise, the possibility of both the instinct to have arisen out of a
single psychic principle or characteristic cannot be ruled out. Such an
origin if discovered will be of immense value as it will enable us to
bring the whole of psychic phenomena, which Freud brought under his
theory of motivation, under one principle that unifies both the
motivating principles of Freud.

3.6.5 Dialectical Interplay of the Basic Instincts

Freud called the death instinct ego instinct and explained that it
springs from the vitalising of inanimate matter, and have as their aim
the reinstatement of lifelessness (Freud, BPP 54). In An Outline of
Psychoanalysis, Freud states that We shall be justified in saying that
there arises at birth an instinct to return to the intra-uterine life that has
been abandoned- and instinct to sleep (27). And in New Introductory
Lectures on Psychoanalysis, Freud speaks of the phantasy of
returning into the mothers womb (120). All these show the
importance of death instinct in Freuds theory.

138
It is significant here to note that birth (the acquiring of separate
identity- alienation) is the primary realisation of the death instinct,
which is governed by the nirvana principle. Death (the physical
decomposition- identification) is the final realisation of the life
instinct, which is governed by the pleasure principle. And life is a
striving for the dialectical synthesis of birth and death, and is governed
by reality principle.

Freuds shift from a single motivating principle to the dual one


can be seen necessitated by the insufficiency of a single principle to
explain the dynamics of psychic life. The dual principle fulfils it in the
way mentioned above. Hence life is a process of dialectical evolution
aimed at the realisation of an ultimate motivating factor. Once such a
stage is attained all principles (pleasure, nirvana and reality) becomes
insignificant.

3.6.6 Relation to Indian Theories of Mind

Freuds theory of levels of consciousness, has got a striking


similarity with the Upanisadic concept of the levels of mind described
in the last chapter. The levels of consciousness described in
Upanisads, jgrat, swapna and susupti correspond to Freuds notion of
conscious, preconscious and unconscious minds respectively.
However, there is no parallel in Freuds theory for the concept of
turya- the level of transcendental reality. Another similarity can be
seen between Freuds theory of structure of personality and the
Smkhya- Yoga theory of gunas (to be explained in the next chapter).

It may be seen that the similarity between Freudian theories and


the Indian theories of mind are not necessarily the one of accidental

139
coincidence. Freud was aware of the Upanisadic tradition as he had
referred to the comparison of the dual nature of motivation with
division of the primal reality into two as described in
Brihadranyakopanisad (Freud, BPP 74-75). His remark here that
Plato might have been influenced by this notion of Upanisads in his
formulation of the concept of Zeus shows Freuds regard for the
traditional Indian theories of mind.

NOTES

1 Hysteria: The neurotic illness which can have both physical and
mental symptoms. Also known as conversion disorders its
physical symptoms are characterised by its flight into incapacity.
The mental symptoms are characterised by dissociation states.

2 Freud quoted in (Roth 68)

3 Freud quoted in Thompson (159)

4 Freud quoted in Charms R.D (79)

140
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