The role of conscious, pre-conscious and unconscious forces in personality

Each level of consciousness helps in shaping human thought and behavior. The conscious mind refers to an individual’s present awareness, which allows them to make decisions based on present information. All thoughts, sensations, and perceptions from the outside world, along with the memories, help bring about the conscious experiences of an individual, and this helps shape the personality in its current state. Dreams are created in the subconscious state. Every experience thought, and impression an individual has ever had is stored in the subconscious.

A person’s success in life, work, and relationships is determined by the habits developed over time. Setting priorities and completing daily tasks requires both mental and physical strength, which over time becomes a habit; learning through repetition and practice until it becomes ingrained in the subconscious. As a result, these routines become an indelible part of an individual’s behavior. Finally, the unconscious mind is made up of thoughts, memories and instinctive desires deeply buried below an individual’s conscious awareness. Based on this, an individual is unaware of their existence, but they tend to have a significant impact on their personality. An individual’s feelings, motives, and decisions from past experiences are stored in the unconscious, and if triggered, they may affect the personality of a person. For example, PTSD is part of the unconscious and can affect the personality of an individual.

Instincts: The driving forces in personality

Freud defined two types of instincts that drive the personality of an individual. Eros is also known as the sexual instinct and is perceived to be compatible with self-preservative instincts. Thanatos is also called the death instincts; they are a natural desire to re-establish a state of things that were disturbed by the emergence of life. Both instincts are opposed to each other; eros is opposed to Thanatos. Instincts affect the personality of an individual in that people are guided and influenced by emotions. Instincts serve to steer emotions by triggering, activating, amplifying, supporting, and reinforcing specific feelings. These emotions have the effect of creating evident functional behavioral steerage levels for a person’s instincts. Based on this, instincts guide emotions which shape the personality of an individual.

Defense mechanisms

Defense mechanisms are behaviors that individuals use to separate themselves from unpleasant actions, events, or thoughts. A person can use defense mechanisms to help the mind cope with uncomfortable or traumatic emotions and situations. However, there are people who use defense mechanisms as a way of avoiding their feelings and emotions or even excusing their behavior. For example, a person facing a traumatic event may keep saying that they are alright, depicting a person with strong mental strength. These kinds of responses and behaviors are defense mechanisms to help the person avoid mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. Continued application of defense mechanisms to cope eventually shapes the personality of the individual.

Theory of psychosexual development

Freud believed that the personality of an individual developed through a series of childhood stages in which the pleasure-seeking energies of the id become focused on certain erogenous areas. Early experiences play a large role in personality development and continue to influence behavior later in life. Each stage of development is marked by conflicts that can help build growth or stifle development, depending upon how they are resolved. If these psychosexual stages are completed successfully, a healthy personality is result. Based on this, a person’s personality is the product of early experiences through the five psychosexual stages, which are the oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital stages, which serve as a source of pleasure.

Freud’s theory of humor

According to Freud, there are three types of humor jokes, comic and mimetic. Humor is part of the unconscious content, and thus, individuals are not aware of its existence since they are expressions of thoughts suppressed by society. The superego allows the ego to generate humor. Not everyone is capable of formulating humor, as a very harsh superego suppresses the formulation of humor. Individuals who are capable of formulating humor are perceived to be funny and are even called upon to make others happy by cracking jokes. This ability to formulate humor helps shape the personality of an individual into a humorous person.

Hypnosis and hypnotic responsiveness

Hypnosis is a trance-like state in which an individual has heightened focus and concentration. When an individual is under hypnosis, they feel calm, relaxed, and more open to suggestions. This kind of therapy can be used to help individuals gain control over undesired behaviors. They can help a person cope better with anxiety or pain. This kind of treatment can help individuals gain control and become more open to suggestions; it can be used to shape and reinforce the behavior of a person and hence influence their personality.