Respond to two other students who were assigned a theory different from your own by comparing and contrasting the way different theories deviated from Freud's original thinking. references and in site citations

The three theorists are Adler, Jung, Ericson

Student one:

Neo-Freudians are psychologists who were influenced by Freud's work, but branched out and expanded on his original theories. Although there were many great names in Neo-Freudian psychology, one that stood out was Erik Erikson. Similarly to Freud, Erikson also believed that development happened throughout one's life in stages; however, instead of the stages focusing around psychosexual themes, they centered around psychosocial themes (Funder, 2019). Erikson's psychosocial stages were heavily influenced by Freud's psychosexual stages, but determined the stages to be more related to social issues that are required to be learned for proper social development in an individual (Funder, 2019). For example, Erikson's third stage of social development states a child will begin to think about the future and how they picture their life as an adult, thus triggering the start of initiative thinking (Funder, 2019). However, Erikson stresses that parental response is key in this stage, as it can increase initiative thinking or create guilt regarding the matter, thus inhibiting a child's drive (Funder, 2019). As the goal of this stage is for parents to guide a child in their learning of right and wrong for independent thinking, instead of overly incentivizing or criminalizing behavior (Funder, 2019).

Although neo-Freudian psychology was a popular topic of study right after Freud, today there are few, if any, neo-Freudian psychologists (Funder, 2019). However, Erikson's theories on how one's identity develops over time has influenced generations of psychologists to how an individual becomes themselves, and what influences different aspects of one's psychosocial development. For example, Buckingham et al. (2023) examined how one's cultural identity shares one's individual identity, acknowledging a modern approach in psychology that culture makes a significant impact on how one perceives themselves. Referencing heavily on Erikson's psychosocial development theory, Hartman and Anderson (2021) studied if an individual's thoughts on their free time influenced their psychosocial development, finding that those who knew how to spend their free time "wisely" (as in, ways in which will improve their overall lives and goals) were more in tune to their identity and were more achieved in their development. Just as Erikson did with Freud's work, psychologists today are using Erikson's theories and expanding them with a fresh view, leading to new insight into old questions. Future psychologists will do the same as we are now as psychology continues to expand and grow to the needs of the modern generation.

Buckingham, S. L., Schroeder, T. U., & Hutchinson, J. R. (2023). Knowing who you are (becoming): Effects of a university-based elder-led cultural identity program on Alaska Native students' identity development, cultural strengths, sense of community, and behavioral health. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1037/ort0000683

Funder, D. C. (2019). The personality puzzle (8th ed.). W. W. Norton. https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9780393421866

Hartman, C. L., & Anderson, D. M. (2021). Psychosocial identity development and perception of free time among college-attending emerging adults. LEISURE SCIENCES, 44(1), 77-95. https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1080/01490400.2018.148385

Student two

Hi everyone,

How was this theory influenced by previous theories? Freud had a lot of influence on the ideas of Carl Jung as he was one of Freud's earliest disciples, as well as close friend and colleague for many years (Funder, 2019). Additionally, Jung was also influenced by natural laws like physics. Over the years, Jung's theories branched out from Freud's and differed so much so that the two could not get along any longer. Freud especially disagreed with Jung's ideas about synchronicity which was explained as the inner rhythm of the universe and the collected unconscious (Funder, 2019). Unlike Freud, Jung was very intuitive and placed his focus on mystical and spiritual matters (Funder, 2019).

One of Jung's ideas included the following archetypes which included innate human memories and ideas we all share with each other as a result of the evolution of our species. Some of these archetypes which he believed were the root of how we think and feel about the world included "the hero", "supreme being", or "the snake". Prototypes or concepts of other we have today such as "wife", "husband", "healer", "lover", "teacher", "I", "you", "other", "school", "holiday", etc. seem to align well with this idea of Jung's. Additionally, he introduced the concept of anima and animus to describe the female and male prototype for an ideal being, respectively, (Funder, 2019). Jung believed that males could only perceive and understand the female through the lens of the anima prototype and females understand the male through the animus prototype and that problems can arise when our prototypes or snapshots of the other gender do not align with the reality of how someone really is (Funder, 2019).

I am truly fascinated by most of Jung's ideas, but the one I find the most intriguing is the concept of the persona which he regarded as the false social mask that we all wear since there are parts of ourselves we want to keep private. If this persona were not false, it would not be a persona at all as we would be acting in accordance to our real selves. According to Jung, an individual might mistake their persona for their real self and become shallow with no aim or purpose in life other than seeking social success (Funder, 2019).

Has the theory changed over time?

Carl's theories when they were aligned with Freud heavily relied on including human sexuality in them but as he branched out from Freud, he focused more on intuition and individuation. His theory changed over time in a way which seems very different from Freud but at the core of it are still grounded in Freud's work, but is just easier to accept as it includes more wholesome explanations and incorporation of the world in our psyche. His ideas seemed to change overtime by first being about the unconscious and archetypes then getting closer to everyday culture, topics that people could relate to in their everyday life.

Reference

Funder, D. C. (2019).The personality puzzle(8th ed.). W. W. Norton & Company.