Learning by observing others...Psych 101...

Albert Bandura was born on December 4th, 1925, in the small town of Mundare, Canada. Bandura's father laid tracks for the trans-Canada railroad, and his mother worked at a general store in the town.
Bandura attended the only school in his town- it employed just two teachers- and as a result, Bandura had to take his own initiative when it came to education. Following high school, Bandura attended the University of British Columbia. While originally majoring in biological sciences, Bandura stumbled upon the subject of psychology through happenstance. Because he arrived at the university much earlier than his classes began, he decided to take "filler classes" to pass the time. After thumbing through a course catalogue one day, he ended up choosing a psychology course. 
In 1949, Bandura graduated from the University of British Columbia in just three years, majoring in psychology, and went on to attend graduate school at the University of Iowa, where he would also get his Ph.D. After he earned his Ph.D. in 1952, Bandura was offered a position at Stanford University, where he continues to teach today. 
Bandura is most known for his social learning theory, which showed that not all behavior was lead by rewards or reinforcements, as behaviorism claimed to be the case. Instead, he offered an alternative and somewhat more nuanced view of the social pressures that contribute to learned behaviors- a more modern approach which is still valued. 

1. A person can learn behavior through observation: This can be from a live model (an actual person performing the behavior), a verbal model that provides instructions (an explanation or description of a particular behavior), or a symbolic model (behaviors portrayed in books, television, and film). 

2. The mental state is an important aspect of learning: While environmental reinforcement is one aspect of learning a behavior, it is not the only one. Satisfaction, pride, and feelings of accomplishment are examples of what Bandura called intrinsic or internal reinforcement. In other words, internal thoughts can play an important role in learning a behavior. 

3. Learning does not mean that a behavior will necessarily change: Behaviorists believed that learning a behavior led to a permanent change in the individual's behavior, but Bandura shows that with observational learning, a person can learn the new information without having to demonstrate this behavior. Conversely, just because a behavior is observed does not mean it will be learned. For social learning to be a success, there are certain requirements: 

• Attention: To learn, one must pay attention, and anything that diminishes attention will negatively affect observational learning. 
• Retention: One must be able to store the information, and the at a later time be able to pull it back up and use it. 
• Reproduction: After paying attention and retaining information, the observed behavior has to be performed. Practice can lead to improvement of the behavior.
• Motivation: The last part of successfully learning observed behavior is that a person must be motivated to imitate the behavior. It is here where reinforcement and punishment come into play. If an observed behavior is reinforced, one might wish to duplicate that response; while if an observed behavior is punished, one might be motivated to not do such an action.

THE BOBO DOLL EXPERIMENT

To show that children observe and imitate behaviors around them, Bandura created the famous Bobo doll experiment.

In conducting his experiment, Bandura found that children who watched the aggressive models generally imitated a good deal more of the responses towards the Bobo doll than the children in the control or the children in the group who watched the nonaggressive models.

He also found that girls who watched the aggressive model expressed more verbally aggressive responses when the model was the woman, and more physically aggressive responses when the model was the man.The boys imitated physically aggressive acts more than the girls did, and they imitated the same-sex model more often than the girls did.

Through the Bobo doll experiment, Bandura was able to successfully show that the children learned a social behavior, in this case, aggression, by watching the behavior of someone else. With the Bobo doll experiment, Bandura was able to disprove a key notion of behaviorism that stated that all behavior is the result of rewards and reinforcement.

"Behavior is a mirror in which everyone displays his own image." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. 

~Bella

Helping Others Help Themselves... Psych 101...

Carl  Rogers was born on January 8th, 1902, in Oak Park, Illinois, to a strict Protestant family. As a teenager, he and his family moved to Glen Ellen, Illinois, where Rogers took an interest in agriculture. In 1919, Rogers started attending the University of Wisconsin, where he decided to major in agriculture. He would later change his major to history, and then once again to religion. 
During his junior year at the University of Wisconsin, Rogers and ten others were chosen to participate in an international Christian youth conference in China for six months. From this trip, Rogers began to question his choice of career. Following graduation in 1924, he attended the Union Theological Seminary, but transferred 1924, he attended the Union Theological Seminary but transferred to Teachers College, Columbia University, 1926. It was while at Teachers College, Columbia University, that Rogers took his first psychology courses. 

After earning his Ph.D. in psychology, Rogers worked at Ohio State University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Wisconsin. While working at the University of Wisconsin, Rogers developed one of his most significant contributions to the world of psychology: client-centered therapy. Believing that a client or patient was ultimately in charge of their happiness, Rogers changed the role of the therapist from a mere technician into someone that would be able to guide a client towards happiness. The therapist was to embody empathy, congruence, and positive regard. In addition to this, Rogers created his "self-theory," which provided a description of how a client viewed him or herself, and how therapy would be able to change this view. 
Today, the work of Carl Rogers would be considered "humanistic psychology." His ideas of how psychology should work focused less on diagnosing and more on how a person could help him or herself, with the ultimate goal to become what Rogers referred to as a "fully-functioning person." Carl Rogers died on February 4th, 1987. 

SELF- ACTUALIZATION

Clar Rogers rejected the claims of both behaviorism (which claimed behavior was the result of conditioning) and psychoanalysis (which focused on the unconscious and biological factors), instead theorizing that a person behaves in certain ways because of how he or she perceives a situation and that only people themselves can know how they perceive things. Rogers believed that people have one basic motive, the propensity to self-actualize. 

In its most basic form, self-actualization can be understood by using the metaphor of a flower. A flower is constrained to its environment, and only under the right conditions will it be able to grow to its full potential. 

Of course, humans are much more complex than flowers. We develop according to our personalities. Carl Rogers posited that people were inherently good and creative, and only became destructive when external constraints or a poor self-concept superseded the valuing process. Rogers claimed that a person with high self-worth, who has come close to attaining their ideal self, would be able to face the challenges they encountered in life, accept unhappiness and failure, feel confident and positive about his or herself, and be open with others. In order to achieve high self-worth and a degree of self-actualization, Rogers felt one must be in a state of congruence. 

CONGRUENCE

If someone's ideal self is similar to or consistent with their actual experience, then they are experiencing a state of congruence. When there is a difference between someone's ideal and their actual experience, this is known as incongruence. 

It is very rare for a person to experience a complete state of congruence; but, Rogers states, a person has a higher sense of worth and is more congruent when the self-image (how one sees oneself) approaches the ideal self that a person is striving for. Because people want to view themselves in ways that are compatible with their self-image, they may begin to use defense mechanisms like repression or denial to feel less threatened by feelings that might be considered undesirable.

Rogers also emphasized the importance of other people in our lives, believing that people need to feel that they are regarded positively by others because everyone possesses an inherent wish to be respected, valued, loved, and treated with affection. Rogers broke his idea of positive regard into two types: 

1. Unconditional positive regard: When people are loved and respected for who they are, especially by their parents, significant others, and therapists. This leaves a person unafraid to try new things and to make mistakes, even if the consequences of these mistakes are not good. When a person can self-actualize, he or she usually receives unconditional positive regard.

2. Conditional positive regard: When people receive positive regard not because they are loved and respected for who they are, but because they behave in ways others think are correct. For example, when children get approval from their parents because they behave the way their parents want them to act. Someone who always seeks approval from others most likely experienced conditional positive regard when he or she was growing up. 

~Bella

Bipolar Disorders... Psych 101...

BIPOLAR DISORDERS

When an individual suffers from a bipolar disorder- once referred to as manic- depressive illness- they experience extreme mood swings between depression and mania. The symptoms of mania include: 

• Feeling irritable
• Being extremely energetic
• Feeling high
• Feeling grandiose and having a very large self-esteem
• Feeling agitated
• Speaking in a fast manner
• Not needing to sleep in doing activities that bring pleasure, even if that means these activities can have harmful consequences
• Being impulsive
• Possibly having paranoia, delusions, and hallucinations

There are several types of bipolar disorder. These include:

Bipolar I Disorder

In bipolar I disorder, manic episodes or manic and depressive episodes last for at least seven days, or an individual will have such a strong manic episode that hospitalization is required. When people suffer from bipolar I disorder, they will generally also have depressive episodes that last for two weeks or longer. 

Bipolar II Disorder

This is a milder type of bipolar disorder where episodes of hypomania and depression are not as severe.

Bipolar Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (BP-NOS) 

This is when an individual suffers from symptoms of bipolar disorder- exhibiting symptoms that clearly stray from how the individual normally behaves- but does not meet the criteria needed to be diagnosed as having bipolar I or bipolar II. Symptoms in BP-NOS may last for too short an amount of time, or the individual may have too few symptoms. 

Cyclothymia

This is a less severe type of bipolar disorder. While a person with cyclothymia will experience the same symptoms of bipolar I disorder, they will never be in a total manic state or have a major depressive episode. In order to be diagnosed as having cyclothymia, an individual must have these symptoms for at least two years. 

"Bipolar disorder can be a great teacher. It's a challenge, but it can set you up to be able to do almost anything else in your life." - Carrie Fisher

~Bella

Mood disorders... Psych 101...

MOOD DISORDERS

When emotions take over

Mood disorders are when disturbances in an individual's emotional state are so extreme that they affect his or her thinking processes, social relationships, and behavior. These tend to be episodic, meaning the symptoms will come and go. There are two major types of mood disorders that can be broken down into several sub-types. They are depressive disorder and bipolar disorder. 

DEPRESSIVE DISORDERS

To be diagnosed with major depression, an individual has to experience a major depressive episode at least once. Major depressive episodes last for a period of two weeks or longer, and the individual will suffer from some, if not all, of the following symptoms:

• An overwhelming and consistent feeling of sadness or irritability
• Feeling guilty or worthless
• A loss of interest in doing anything, even previously enjoyable activities, and a lack of interest in being social
• Having very low energy
• Being unable to focus or make decisions
• Experiencing a change in eating patterns, either not eating well or eating too much
• Experiencing a change in sleeping patterns, either not being able to sleep or sleeping too much
• Experiencing recurrent thoughts of suicide or death

Interestingly enough, individuals that are extremely depressed will usually not commit suicide because, during their major depressive episode, they feel too apathetic and unmotivated to create a suicide plan and follow through with it. Instead, it is during the recovery process, when the individual has more major depression than men. While more women also attempt suicide than men, men are more successful with following through with their suicide than women. In addition to major depression, there are several other types of depression that share these symptoms:

Dysthymia Disorder

If a person experiences major depression symptoms for at least two years, then they have what is known as dysthymia disorder. It should be noted that people who suffer from this do not experience depressive symptoms at all times. There are moments when they do feel completely normal. 

Seasonal Affective Disorder

Appropriately referred to as SAD, seasonal affective disorder is when a person suffers from symptoms of depression because of the time of the year. The majority of people who experience the condition do so in the wintertime. 

Psychotic Major Depression

This is when an individual suffers from symptoms of major depression and also has hallucinations and delusions. 

Postpartum Depression

Postpartum depression occurs when a woman experiences depression following childbirth. This may be due to shifts in hormone levels, a lack of sleep, bodily changes in the woman's social or work relationships. 

Atypical Depression

This is a type of depression where an individual has many characteristics of major depression. Symptoms of atypical depression usually included a gain in weight and increase in appetite, excessive sleeping or always feeling tired, and feeling very sensitive to any type of rejection.

Catatonic Depression

This is a very rare type of depressive disorder where a person will become motionless for an extended period of time, or move in a violent or strange manner. People who suffer from catatonic depression will sometimes decide not to speak, or may even imitate the actions or speaking pattern of another individual. 

Melancholic Depression

This type of depression is characterized by losing interest and pleasure in many, if not all, activities. Individuals also find it very difficult to react positively when something good happens. Symptoms are generally worse in the morning, and early morning awakening can occur, where an individual wakes up on his or her own at least two hours too early without an external source causing the person to wake. 

Individuals suffering from melancholic depression also experience a very strong sadness that is obvious because of how different the person seems.

"Depression is a prison where you are both the suffering prisoner and the cruel jailer."- Dorothy Rowe

~Bella

Left and Right Brain... Psych 101

LEFT AND RIGHT BRAIN
Thinking from your side

The left and right sides of the brain have specific functions and are responsible for different types of thinking. Most interestingly, these two sides of the brain have the ability to operate practically independently of each other. In psychology, this is referred to as the lateralization of brain function. 

In the early 1960s, psychologist Roger Sperry began conducting experiments on epileptic patients. Sperry discovered that by cutting the structure responsible for connecting and communicating between the left and right hemispheres of the brain, known as the corpus callosum, seizures could be reduced and even eliminated.

Once the corpus callosum was cut, the patients- who originally appeared normal- began experiencing other strange symptoms. Many patients found that they could name objects that had been processed by the left hemisphere of the brain but could no longer name objects that were processed by the right hemisphere. From this, Sperry deduced that the left hemisphere of the brain was responsible for controlling language. Other patients struggled with the ability to put blocks together in the prearranged way. 

Sperry was able to successfully show that left and right hemispheres of the brain were responsible for different functions and that each hemisphere also had the ability to learn. In 1981, Roger Sperry was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work in brain lateralization. 

RIGHT BRAIN DOMINANCE
The right hemisphere of the brain, which is responsible for the left side of the body, is more capable in tasks that are expressive and creative-- also known as visual construction tasks. These include tasks such as expressing and reading emotions, understanding metaphors, discriminating shapes (like picking out an object that is camouflaged), copying designs, and making music. 

LEFT BRAIN DOMINANCE
The left hemisphere of the brain, which is responsible for the right side of the body, is more capable at tasks such as languages, critical thinking, logic, reasoning, and use of numbers.

THE SPIT-BRAIN EXPERIMENTS
In Roger Sperry's split-brain experiments, Sperry had a split-brain patient (someone with a cut corpus callosum) sit in front of a screen that would hide his or her hands. Behind the screen, Sperry placed objects that the split-brain patient could not see.

The patient would then focus their eyes to the center of the screen and a word would appear on the screen in the patient's left visual field. This information was then received by the right hemisphere of the brain (the nonverbal part). The result was that the patient was actually unable to tell Sperry the word that he or she had seen. 

Sperry would then ask the patient to use their left hand to reach behind the screen and choose the object that corresponded with the word. Even though the patient was not aware of even seeing a word, the patient was able to choose the correct object. This is because the right hemisphere controls the movement of the left side of the body. 

Through this experiment, Roger Serry was able to successfully show that the left hemisphere of the brain is responsible for controlling reading and speech and that the right hemisphere of the brain does not have the ability to process verbal stimuli. 

So I Know My Dominant Side... Now What?
Understand which hemisphere you are more dominant in can actually be incredibly useful when it comes to thinking of better ways to approach studying or learning. For example, if you are more dominant with your right hemisphere, you may have a harder time following verbal instructions, and might benefit from improving your organizational skills or writing directions down. 

"My brain has two sides, the right side and the left side. The right side has nothing left and the left has nothing right." 

~Bella

Dreams... Psych 101

DREAMS

What goes on when the lights are off

In psychology, dreams are defined as any thoughts, images, or emotions that person experiences while asleep. Psychologists have yet to agree on why we dream and what these dreams mean, but there are several significant theories. 

The "Science" of Sleep
Believe it or not, scientists still don't know the reason or purpose for sleeping in the first case!

FRAUD'S PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY OF DREAMS

Sigmund Freud believed that the contents of our dreams were associated with wish fulfillment and that our dreams represented the thoughts, motivations, and desires of our unconscious. Furthermore, Freud believed that the sexual instincts that the conscious represses appear in our dreams. In Freud's book, The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud broke dreams down into two components: 

• Manifest content - The actual thoughts, content, and images in the dream.
• Latent content - The psychological meaning in the dreams that is hidden. 

To understand the meaning being dreams, Freud broke dreams down into five distinct parts:

• Displacement: When a desire for something is represented by something or someone else. 
• Projection: When the wants and desires of the dreamer are pushed onto another person in the dream. 
• Symbolization: When the urges and desire that are suppressed are metaphorically acted out in the dream.
• Condensation: When a lot of information is compressed into one image or thought, making difficult to decipher. 
• Secondary Revision: The final stage of dreaming, where the incoherent elements become reorganized into a comprehensible dream.

While research has refuted Freud's theory of the latent content being disguised by the manifest content, the work of Sigmund Freud contributed greatly to interest in the field of dream interpretation.

CARL JUNG'S THEORY ON DREAMS

While Jung believed in much of what Freud did when it came to dreams, Jung thought dreams were not just an expression of repressed desires, but that they also compensated for those parts of the psyche that were undeveloped during waking life. Jung also believed dreams revealed the collective unconscious and personal unconscious and featured archetypes that were representative of unconscious thoughts. 

COMMON THEMES FOUND IN DREAMS

The following are ten of the most common themes people experience while dreaming, as well as the possible meanings of these themes according to Freudian theory.

1. Taking a test that you are not prepared for: This type of dream does not only pertain to an academic test, and will usually be specific to the dreamer. For example, an actor might dream about not remembering their audition or not being able to recognize the words on a script. This type of dream deals with the feeling of being exposed, and the test might symbolize being judged or evaluated by someone else. 
2. Being naked or inappropriately dressed in public: This type of dream relates to feelings of shame or vulnerability.
3. Being chased or attacked: This type of dream is much more common in children, whose dreams tend to focus on more physical rather than social fear. Additionally, their size can often make them feel as though they are more physically vulnerable. In adults, this type of dream can be a sign of being under stress.
4. Falling: Falling can represent feelings of being extremely overwhelmed with your current situation and having a loss of control. 
5. Being lost in transit: This often represents feeling lost or trying to get something or find your path and being unsure of how to do it. 
6. Losing a tooth: This can represent feeling unheard or unseen in a personal relationship, or feelings of aggression. 
7. Natural disasters: This can signify feeling so overwhelmed by personal problems that it seems they are raging out of control. 
8. Flying:  This can represent a desire to escape or be free from a situation.
9. Dying or being injured: This can represent something in the dreamer's everyday life that no longer thrives or is wilting away, like a personal relationship or personal attribute, and does not necessarily mean or imply true thoughts of death. 
10. Losing control of a car: This type of dream can result from feelings of stress and fear, and of not feeling in control of everyday life. 

While Psychologists still do not fully understand dreams, their interpretation plays a key role in modern psychology. From Freud's prominently used interpretation of dream analysis, which suggests dreams are connected to our unconscious and represent repressed desires, to the work of G. William Domhoff, who believed dreams were merely a result of neurological processes, understanding why dreams occurs and the various details and possible meanings behind them remains a very important part of psychology. 

"I am a daydreamer and night thinker." 

~Bella

Psych 101... PERSONALITY... What makes you... You?

When discussing personality, psychologists look at the thoughts, behaviors, and emotions that an individual has that make him or her unique- also known as a "mental system." Personality is individualized, and, for the most part, it will remain consistent throughout an individual's life. While there are many interpretations as to what constitutes personality, several key characteristics are

generally accepted in the field of study:

• In general, there is a consistency and noticeable order to behavior. People behave in the same or similar ways in different types of situations.
• Personality influences how a person behaves and responds to their environment, and is also the cause of behaving in particular ways.
• While personality is a psychological concept, biological processes have a large influence and impact on it.
• Behavior is not the only thing that displays personality. Personality can be seen in interactions with other people, relationships thoughts, and emotions.

TRAIT THEORIES

There are several theories and schools of thought that try to understand how personality develops, and many have already been discussed in depth. These include humanist theories (such as Maslow's hierarchy of needs), which emphasize the role of free will and the experience of the individual; psychoanalytic theories (like the work of Sigmund Freud) that emphasize early experiences and the unconscious); behavioral theories (like classical and operant conditioning), which suggest that the individual and his or her interaction with the environment lead to the development of personality; and trait theories, which are particularly noteworthy because of their emphasis on the difference between people. Trait theories, then, focus on finding and measuring the personality traits that comprise each individual. Throughout the history of psychology, there have been several trait theories. Among the most important are:

Allport's Trait Theory

In 1936, Harvard psychologist Gordon Allport, who also taught the very first personality psychology class in the United States, developed his trait theory of personality. Allport went through the dictionary and searched for every term he felt described a personality trait. With a list of over 4,500 words, Allport organized these traits into three categories:

1. Cardinal Traits: Traits that control and define the entire personality of an individual. As a result, these types of traits are often synonymous with the individual and are very rare. These traits include Christ-like, Narcissistic, and Machiavellian. 

2. Central Traits: Traits that are common. These include traits like friendliness, kindness, honesty, etc.

3. Secondary Traits: Traits that appear under particular conditions and circumstances. For example, becoming nervous prior to giving a speech in public. 

Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factors

Working off of Gordon Allport's theory, psychologist Raymond Cattell tookAllport's list of more than 4,200 personality traits and dwindled it down to 171 traits, by combining those that were similar to one another and removing traits that were uncommon. Cattell then created questionnaires that used these traits and tested a large population sample. Once Cattell had the results from the questionnaires, he identified any terms that were closely related and used a statistical process known as factor analysis to decrease the number of main personality traits even further. He concluded that a total of sixteen personality traits were the source of all personalities and that every single person had these traits to some degree. The sixteen personality factors Cattell identified are:

• Abstractedness: Being imaginative and abstract versus being grounded and practical.
• Apprehension: Being worried and insecure versus being confident and secure.
• Dominance: Being forceful and assertive versus being submissive and secure.
• Emotional stability: Being calm versus being emotionally unstable and high-strung.
• Liveliness: Being enthusiastic and spontaneous versus being restrained and serious.
• Openness to change: Being flexible and open versus being traditional and attached to the familiar. 
• Perfectionism: Being self-disciplined and controlling versus being undisciplined and flexible.
• Privateness: Being discreet and shrewd versus being open and unpretentious. 
• Reasoning: Thinking abstractly and being more intelligent versus thinking concretely and being less intelligent.
• Rule consciousness: Being conscientious and conforming versus being nonconforming and disregarding rules.
• Self-reliance: Being self-sufficient and individualistic versus being dependent.
• Sensitivity: Being sentimental and tender-hearted versus being unsentimental and tough-minded.
• Social boldness: Being uninhibited and venturesome versus being shy and timid.
• Vigilance: Being suspicious and skeptical versus being trusting and accepting.
• Warmth: Being outgoing and attentive to people versus being distant and reserved.

"If positive psychology teaches us anything, it is that all of us are a mixture of strengths and weaknesses. No one has it all, and no one lacks it all." - Christopher Peterson

~Bella

Psych 101...The Psychology of Women

KAREN HORNEY'S THEORY OF NEUROSES

Karen Horney's theory of neuroses in one of the best-known theories on the topic. She believed that interpersonal relationships created basic anxiety and that neuroses developed as a method to deal with these relationships. Horney identified three categories that neurotic needs could be classified under.  If an individual is well-adjusted, he or she will be able to apply all three categories. A person only becomes neurotic when one or more of these are overused. The categories are:

Needs that move an individual towards other people

These are neurotic needs that will make an individual seek out the acceptance, help, or affirmation from others in order to feel worthy. These type of people need to be appreciated and liked by those around them and may come off as clingy or needy. 

Needs that move an individual against other people

In an effort to feel good about themselves, people will deal with their anxiety by trying to force their power onto other people and control those around them. People that express these needs are seen as unkind, selfish, bossy, and controlling. Horney stated that people would project their hostilities onto others in the process she referred to as externalization. The individual would then be able to use this as a justification for his or her sometimes cruel behavior. 

Needs that move an individual away from other people

These neurotic needs are responsible for antisocial behavior, and a person may appear indifferent to other people. The mentality behind this approach is if an individual does not get involved with other people, then other people cannot then hurt the individual. This can lead to feelings of emptiness and loneliness.

Horney then identified ten neurotic need within these categories:

* Moving Towards Other People

        1. The need for affection and approval: This is the desire to meet other people's expectations, make others happy, and be liked. Those that experience this need is afraid of hostility or anger from other people, and are very sensitive to any rejection or criticism. 

        2. An individual's need for a partner that will control his or her life: This need involves a strong fear of being abandoned, and the belief that having a partner in one's life can resolve any trouble or problems that he or she may be having.

* Moving Against Other People

       1. The need to have power: Individuals with this need control and dominate others because they hate weakness but admire, and are desperate for, strength.

       2. The need to exploit other people: Individual with this need are manipulative and believe people exist to be used. Associations with other people are only used to attain things such as control, sex, or money.

       3. The need for prestige: These are individuals that need acclaim and public recognition. Social status, material possessions, professional accomplishments, personality traits, and even loved ones are judged based on prestige, and there is a fear of public embarrassment. 

       4. The need for personal achievement: Pushing oneself to achieve is perfectly normal. However, neurotic individuals may become desperate to achieve, and push themselves as a result of their own insecurities. There is a fear of failure, and the need to always accomplish more than others.

       5. The need for personal admiration: These are individuals that are narcissistic and wish to be viewed based off of an ideal version of themselves, instead of who they actually are.

*Moving Away from Other People

       1. The need for perfection: An individual with this need will commonly be in fear of personal flaws, and will search for these flaws so that he or she can quickly conceal or change them. 

       2. The need for independence: In an effort to not depend on, or be tied down to, other people, an individual exhibiting this need might distance him or herself from others. This creates a "loner" mentality. 

       3. The need to limit one's life so that it remains within narrow borders: The preference for individuals with this need is to go unnoticed and remain inconspicuous. These individuals will often undervalue their own skills and talents, will not demand much, will not desire material objects, are content with very little, and regard their own needs as secondary.

Karen Horney was incredibly influential to the world of psychology. Her views on neuroses as a way to deal with interpersonal relationships and her identification of neurotic need were truly groundbreaking, and by breaking away from the male-dominant views set forth by Sigmund Freud, Horney established herself as a strong voice for woman and female psychology.

"Life itself remains a very effective therapist."- Karen Horney

~bella