Simplify the following in point form
Life instinct and death instinct
According to Freud (1901), instincts are the basic motivational drives
that provide the basis for personality. They are understood as mental
representations of internal stimuli that cause a person to take certain
actions. Let us take hunger as an example. A basic internal need such as
this initiates a physiological reaction. This bodily need then gets
translated into a mental representation of how we should behave in order
to fulfil that need (e.g. looking for food to satisfy our hunger).
Freud grouped instincts into two broad categories: life instincts and
death instincts. The life instincts (eros) serve the need for survival and
development (an example would be hunger), and ensure the
reproduction of the species (an example would be sexual desire) (Engler,
2013). The psychic energy manifested by life instincts is called libido.
The death instincts (thanatos) represent the destructive force of
human nature. Freud suggested that all people have an unconscious wish
to die. This wish to die is transformed into an aggressive drive which
individuals act out on others. This implies that we all have the potential
to be destructive.
- Instincts are basic motivational drives that provide the basis for personality
- Instincts are mental representations of internal stimuli that cause a person to take certain actions
- Life instincts (eros) serve the need for survival, development, and reproduction of the species
- Psychic energy manifested by life instincts is called libido
- Death instincts (thanatos) represent the destructive force of human nature
- Freud suggested that all people have an unconscious wish to die
- This wish to die is transformed into an aggressive drive which individuals act out on others
- This implies that we all have the potential to be destructive