When I describe Freud ’s theory to undergraduates, I typically find two
different reactions. On one hand, some students are impressed with Freud’ s in-
sight into human behavior. Psychoanalytic theory helps them understand some
of their own feelings and behaviors and the conflicts they wrestle with. “It re-
ally applies to me, ”a student told me, “Now I see why I do some of the things
I do. Now I understand how symbolic some of my behaviors are. ”
On the other hand, some students eye Freudian theory with skepticism
and even ridicule. Sexual feelings in children, unconscious meanings in
dreams, Oedipal desires for one ’s opposite-sex parent and the like strike these
students as little more than a Freudian fantasy taken too seriously. Althoughwe probably embrace the personality theories that fit our own perceptions ofhuman behavior, a scientific approach requires more than faith in one theory
over another. What we need is evidence that Freud was correct in his charac-
terization of human nature and psychological processes. In short, we needresearch.
Critics of the psychoanalytic approach sometimes charge that Freud was un-
concerned with validating his theory. But that is not entirely correct. Freud’ s
writings are filled with “a passionate desire to discover ways in which the
validity of psychoanalytic findings could be established, ”wrote one historian.
“The search for validation pervaded his entire work” (Jahoda, 1977, p. 113).
Unfortunately, Freud ’s“validation ”relied on methods other than empirical
research, which left his work open to criticism. Fortunately, many other psy-
chologists have accepted the challenge of testing Freud ’s ideas through rigor-
ous experimental procedures. Although some aspects of Freud ’st h e o r yd o
not easily translate into experiments, investigators have succeeded in derivingseveral testable hypotheses from Freud ’s writings. In addition to direct tests
of Freudian theory, a great deal of research has been conducted on topics
either introduced or popularized by Freud. Hypnosis, slips of the tongue,
anxiety, early developmental experiences, and other subjects of interest toFreud have been studied in depth by personality psychologists. Results from
these investigations provide insight into many of the processes described by
Freud.
In this chapter, we’ ll examine four areas of research relevant to Freud ’st h e -
ory. We begin with research on dream interpretation, with an eye to Freud ’s
notions about the meaning and function of our dreams. Next, we look at howresearchers study some of the defense mechanisms proposed by Freud and his
followers, and how these defense mechanisms change as we move from childto adult. This work is follo w e db yr e s e a r c ho nF r e u d ’s ideas about humor.
According to psychoanalytic theory, unc onscious motives are often expressed
through jokes, cartoons, and the things we find funny. Finally, we look at thephenomenon that first piqued Freud ’s curiosity about the unconscious —hypnosis.
What is hypnosis, and why are some people more responsive to a hypnotist ’s
suggestions than others?“[Freud] was a per-
son with a passionate
thirst for truth,unbounded faith inreason, and unflinch-
ing courage to stake
everything on thisfaith.”
Erich FrommThe Freudian Approach 69