Freud’s Theory of Personality

Summary

This chapter describes the nature of personality and the way in which it functions. According to Freud mental processes occur on a number of levels, the unconscious being the most important of these. Also mental processes can be divided into three different types: biological rational and moral.

In order to illustrate how the personality (as Freud envisaged it) works, a set of processes known as defence mechanisms will be described. A consideration of these will demonstrate how types of psychological function operate on different levels.