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
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