Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionII. Psychodynamic
Theories(^38) 2. Freud: Psychoanalysis © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2009
body in a state of excitation or tension; its aimis to seek pleasure by removing that
excitation or reducing the tension; and its objectis the person or thing that serves as
the means through which the aim is satisfied (Freud, 1915/1957a).
Sex
The aim of the sexual drive is pleasure, but this pleasure is not limited to genital sat-
isfaction. Freud believed that the entire body is invested with libido. Besides the gen-
itals, the mouth and anus are especially capable of producing sexual pleasure and are
called erogenouszones. The ultimate aim of the sexual drive (reduction of sexual
tension) cannot be changed, but the path by which the aim is reached can be varied.
It can take either an active or a passive form, or it can be temporarily or permanently
inhibited (Freud, 1915/1957a). Because the path is flexible and because sexual pleas-
ure stems from organs other than the genitals, much behavior originally motivated
by Eros is difficult to recognize as sexual behavior. To Freud, however, all pleasura-
ble activity is traceable to the sexual drive.
The flexibility of the sexual objector person can bring about a further disguise
of Eros. The erotic object can easily be transformed or displaced. Libido can be with-
drawn from one person and placed in a state of free-floating tension, or it can be rein-
vested in another person, including the self. For example, an infant prematurely
forced to give up the nipple as a sexual object may substitute the thumb as an object
of oral pleasure.
Sex can take many forms, including narcissism, love, sadism, and masochism.
The latter two also possess generous components of the aggressive drive.
Infants are primarily self-centered, with their libido invested almost exclu-
sively on their own ego. This condition, which is universal, is known as primary
narcissism.As the ego develops, children usually give up much of their primary nar-
cissism and develop a greater interest in other people. In Freud’s language, narcis-
sistic libido is then transformed into object libido. During puberty, however, adoles-
cents often redirect their libido back to the ego and become preoccupied with
personal appearance and other self-interests. This pronounced secondary narcis-
sism is not universal, but a moderate degree of self-love is common to nearly every-
one (Freud, 1914/1957).
A second manifestation of Eros is love, which develops when people invest
their libido on an object or person other than themselves. Children’s first sexual in-
terest is the person who cares for them, generally the mother. During infancy chil-
dren of either sex experience sexual love for the mother. Overt sexual love for mem-
bers of one’s family, however, ordinarily is repressed, which brings a second type of
love into existence. Freud called this second kind of love aim-inhibited because the
original aim of reducing sexual tension is inhibited or repressed. The kind of love
people feel for their siblings or parents is generally aim-inhibited.
Obviously, love and narcissism are closely interrelated. Narcissism involves
love of self, whereas love is often accompanied by narcissistic tendencies, as when
people love someone who serves as an ideal or model of what they would like to be.
Two other drives that are also intertwined are sadism and masochism. Sadism
is the need for sexual pleasure by inflicting pain or humiliation on another person.
Carried to an extreme, it is considered a sexual perversion, but in moderation,
sadism is a common need and exists to some extent in all sexual relationships. It is
32 Part II Psychodynamic Theories